Law Offense Soars, Falters in Loss to Wichita
May 26, 2014 - Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL)
Dodge City Law News Release
The Dodge City Law fell 47-38 to the Wichita Wild on Saturday night at United Wireless Arena and in doing so most likely lost the opportunity to host a home game during the first round of the CPIFL Playoffs.
The first quarter and a half of the game was reminiscent of the Law's 40-7 loss to Wichita in March.
Dodge City trailed 14-0 midway through the second quarter following a 3-yard touchdown pass from Rocky Hinds to Joe Kassanavoid and an interception returned for a touchdown by defensive back Kendrick Harper.
Then, suddenly, the Law caught fire and scored 28-unanswered points. With 9:09 left in the second quarter running back James Cody scored on a 45-yard run. Cody's touchdown was followed by a pair of rushing touchdowns by quarterback Joshua Floyd and a touchdown pass from Floyd to wide receiver Mo Young.
It appeared that the Law would go into the locker room at halftime with a two-touchdown lead, but Wichita was able to score one more time before the break.
With only :20 left in the half, the Wichita kick returner Tywon Hubbard brought the ball out to his own 15-yard line. The ball was then advanced 20 yards further after Dodge City's Brandon Venson was called for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Hinds took advantage of the short-field situation and threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Kassanavoid to narrow the scoring deficit to 7 points.
Wichita evened the score with 12:26 left in the third quarter when Hubbard, now at the running back position, scored on a 3-yard run.
In the final minutes of the third quarter, Floyd was finally able to put the Law back on top when he scored his third rushing touchdown of the night.
From there, with the exception of a field goal by Dodge City's Jared Wood, Wichita controlled the game on both sides of the ball and did all of the scoring.
A pair of field goals by Wichita kicker Ernesto Lacayo, another rushing touchdown by Hubbard, and a touchdown pass from Hinds to Jarrel Kelley enabled the Wichita to overcome Dodge City's advantage on the scoreboard.
If the story of the first half was the Law's sudden offensive explosion, the story of the second half was the Law's offensive implosion. Dodge City only mustered 29 yards rushing in the final two quarters and allowed the Wichita defense to sack Josh Floyd four times.
Still, Law Head Coach Sean Ponder placed the blame on himself for the loss.
"This one is on me," Ponder said. "I didn't do a very good job of making decisions down the stretch and I decided to go for it a couple of times when we probably should have kicked a field goal."
The Law will have to wait two weeks until their next opportunity to play. After having a bye week next Saturday, the Law will host the Kansas Koyotes on June 8 in the regular season finale.
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Champions Professional Indoor Football League Stories from May 26, 2014
- Law Offense Soars, Falters in Loss to Wichita - Dodge City Law
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