Heroes Fall 61-57
February 4, 2007 - American Indoor Football Association (AIFA)
Huntington Heroes News Release
The Huntington Heroes first game in its new home didn't quite turn out how they wanted. First year team Carolina Speed visited Big Sandy Superstore Arena and out gunned the Heroes 61-57.
The Heroes would start the scoring in a busy first quarter on a Nick Kelly field goal. The Speed would fire right back two plays later and take a 7-3 lead. On the Heroes next possession Jimmy Skinner would connect with Shane Holsinger for his first of of six TD passes on the night. The teams would trade scores throughout the quarter with the Heroes holding a slim 25-21 lead to end the quarter. The scoring in the first period was highlighted by Lamont Moore's kick return for a TD and Nick Kelly got his got his first of two Uno's in the first.
The Heroes appeared to be running away with the game mid way through the second quarter but the Speed would not go away. Carolina would strike first in the quarter to take a 28-25 lead. The Heroes would answer right back with a James Hawkins TD catch. The Heroes defense finally made a stop and forcing the Speed to attempt a field goal from deep within their own endzone. On the attempt the holder dropped the snap and the Heroes quickly pounced to get the safety and take a 34-28 lead. The Heroes offense could not capitalize though when Jimmy Skinner forced a pass resulting in a Speed interception. The Speed would take advantage of the miscue and answer with a score of their own a missed PAT resulted in a tie at 34. The tie would not last long as Jimmy Skinner found Gerald Clark who made a catch over the wall to give the Heroes the lead once again. Nick Kelly's PAT attempt went wide to give the Heroes a slim 6 point lead. The Speed would take the lead for a short time on another TD of their own, but Nick Kelly gave the Heroes a 44-41 lead at the half with a 40 yard field goal to end the half.
The offensive fireworks would calm for the third quarter with each team scoring a touchdown. The Speed scored first to take the lead once again at 47-44. Jimmy Skinner connected with Brad Bates to regain the lead again and Nick Kelly hit another field goal to give the Heroes a 51-47 lead heading into the final quarter.
The Speed would get two touchdowns in the fourth, before the Heroes offense could get back on track. Speed backup QB Paul Piskorik scored from 2 yards on the first play of the fourth to give Carolina the lead 54-51. The Heroes had the ball on the Carolina 16 after a long kickoff return, but did not score any points turning it over on downs. Carolina used two time consuming drives, the second ended with a Jimmy Bell 9 yard TD run. On the Heroes next possession the offense could not answer giving it right back. With time winding down and trailing 61-51 the Heroes defense made a stop to give the offense a chance. The Heroes offense didn't disappoint as Skinner hit James Hawkins again for a 17 yard TD to close the gap to 61-57 with one minute remaining. The Heroes would attempt an onside kick, but the Speed recovered and ran out the clock to come away with the win.
With the loss the Heroes start the season 0-1 and will travel to Johnstown next week to take on the 0-1 Riverhawks. Coach Garry McPeek spoke of the loss and the upcoming road trip, "We're backed into a corner, we'd like to start 1-0 but it didn't happen. We didn't play well early defensively and when you do that you just got to keep scoring. You can't flinch, the first one to flinch loses. The guys battled the whole way through and we'll come back to work this week and get ready for next Friday."
Coach McPeek also spoke of the performance of Jimmy Skinner, who was 16 of 34 for 194 yards passing with six TD passes in his Heroes debut. "I feel like Jimmy played really well," said McPeek, "he had some real good plays early, and had a couple picks there at the end but all in all for a first game he played really well. He's a good competitor and he did a nice job."
Jimmy Skinner, who is less than three months removed from his last game with the Marshall Thundering Herd, spoke of his night. "It's good to get back out here." said Skinner, "It was a lot of fun, but it's not the outcome we wanted. We'll get back out on the practice field and get back to work and try to get a win next week." Skinner commented on the differences in the indoor game and division I college football. "It's a lot faster. The angles are different, but its a lot of fun."
The Speed were led by QB Barry Marrow who passed for 152 yards on 10 of 21 passes with 6 TD's, five in the first half.
The Heroes will travel to Johnstown, PA to take on the Riverhawks on Friday night. The next home game will be February 17 when the defending AIFA champion Canton Lengends visit Big Sandy Superstore Arena.
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American Indoor Football Association Stories from February 4, 2007
- Heroes Fall 61-57 - Huntington Heroes
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