Knights Keep Wardogs \'Caged\', Cruise to a 55-21 Victory
Published on June 9, 2002 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Macon Knights News Release
MACON, Ga. â The Macon Knights didn't need to dominate the statistics to completely dominate the Columbus Wardogs Saturday night in Macon. The Knights (8-2) defeated the division-rival Wardogs (2-7) 55-21 in a game that the Knights ran away with.
Knights QB John Rayborn was voted the game MVP. Rayborn completed 13-of-20 passes for 150 yards and three touchdowns. Rayborn also rushed for one touchdown.
The Knights receivers were led by Gabe Amey who filled in at OS for Jacques Rumph who took the night off to recover from an injury. Amey caught seven passes for 78 yards. The Knights' Tremaine Neal caught three passes for 32 yards and two touchdowns. Playing in his first game for the Knights, Norman Mason seemed to fit the offense well. Mason caught two passes for 14 yards and one touchdown.
Leading all receivers was the Wardogs' Clifton Robinson. Robinson caught eight passes for 118 yards and one touchdown. The Wardogs used two quarterbacks against the Knights. Starting QB Billy Luckie completed 14-of-26 passes for 124 yards. The Wardogs substituted Jeff Welsh for Luckie on a few possessions throughout the night. Welsh completed 9-of-16 passes for 136 yards and one touchdown.
The Knights defense came up with big plays all night long. Led by ADT Defensive Player of the Game, Elton Davis, Macon forced three Columbus turnovers. One of those turnovers came on an interception by Davis returned for 25 yards. The other two came by way of the Ironman of the game, Denario Smalls. Smalls picked one pass, returning it for 11 yards, and recovered a fumble by the Wardogs.
The Wardogs scored the first touchdown of the game but it would be the third quarter before they would score again. The Knights scored six unanswered-touchdowns, ending the first half with the Knights up by 27 points. The Knights scored three touchdowns in the second half and held the Wardogs to just two.
Statistically, the Wardogs looked better than the Knights. The Knights ran 41 plays for 228 yards, while the Wardogs ran 48 plays for 243 yards. Columbus passed for 244 yards, while Macon passed for only 190. A big part of the reason Macon trailed in the stats was due to the great field position the Knights had at the onset of several drives.
The Knights are back in action Friday, June 14th at Jacksonville.
arenafootball2 Stories from June 9, 2002
- Knights Keep Wardogs âCaged', Cruise to a 55-21 Victory - Macon Knights
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