Heroes Push Win Streak To Five
May 13, 2007 - American Indoor Football Association (AIFA)
Huntington Heroes News Release
The Heroes punched it's ticket to the AIFA playoffs in a convincing 56-14 win over the visiting Danville Demolition on Saturaday night. The defense again came up big forcing seven turnovers and out scoring the Demolition by themselves scoring three touchdowns on the evening.
If you just look at the stat sheet it appears that the Heroes offense had an off night, only putting up 166 total yards, but they were aided by the stifling defense. The Heroes put pressure on the Demolition all night and gave the offense a short field. Donte Newsome finished with 3 touchdown runs, and Dane Damron turned in an uncharacteristic 14 of 22, 162 yards 1 TD and 1 interception. "The defense came out and played well," said Damron. " They outscored them. We didn't have a chance to get into an offensive rhythm. It was a hard game to come out and play. We went up to their place and beat them pretty handily and then had an off week and had to play them again."
On defense the Heroes forced seven turnovers and scored touchdowns on three of them. Kevin Washington scored on a 45 yard interception return, Kool Aid Owens scored on a 31 yard fumble return and Connie Brown scooped up a fumble and ran it 35 yards for the defense's final TD. Desmond Maul and Daveoion Smith each recorded a pick and Owens had another fumble recovery. "They played great," said Heroes head coach Garry McPeek of his defense. "They've been solid all season long. The offense went 20 minutes I think without getting on the field because they did such a great job. They said they were gonna score 28 and they got 21." Even though Danville scored 14 points only six can be put on the defense. The Demolition's eight other points came off of one of the strangest plays you will ever see. Early in the third quarter Donte Newsome had the football knocked out of his hands and straight into the hands of coach McPeek. The result was an illegal touching penalty and a touchdown being rewarded to the Demolition. "The ball came to me. When it comes to you, you catch it. That one was on me," said McPeek of his first career touchdown catch.
The Heroes now prepare for a huge Northern division show down with Reading Express. The Express previously embarrassed the Heroes 48-18 earlier in the season. "We didn't play real well against them last time, we'd like to redeem ourselves," said McPeek. "We got a big one next week," said defensive coordinator TJ Maynard. "We have to continue to get pressure on the quarterback. That's a key in the league. We did a good job of that tonight and the secondary is coming along we are getting a lot better. We've been gearing up all season to this point now we're gonna see what we're made of with these last three games. We have a chance to get a home playoff game and hopefully a drive towards the championship."
The Express will bring in a 12-1 record after defeating the Johnstown Riverhawks this evening. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm next Saturday at Big Sandy Superstore Arena.
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American Indoor Football Association Stories from May 13, 2007
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