Mohegan Uses Overtime to Down Ninjas
May 24, 2002 - arenafootball2 (af2)
New Haven Ninjas News Release
New Haven, Conn. â With the ball on the Mohegan two yard line, the Wolves' Brandon Stoker forced quarterback Jarrod Rouanzoin to fumble the football, and Chris Smith recovered, running 40 yards for the touchdown to give Mohegan (3-5) a 36-30 overtime victory over the New Haven Ninjas at the New Haven Coliseum. Mohegan won the coin toss to gain first possession in overtime, but Damon Richardson intercepted Cable Davis' second pass of the drive to give New Haven (2-5) the ball. It was Richardson's second pick of the game.
"It's every lineman's dream," said Smith on his winning touchdown. "I almost lost control of the ball near the goal line, but managed to hold on."
The two teams traded touchdowns throughout the first half. Mohegan ended the first half scoring with a Brandon Burnside touchdown, but the Wolves' extra point attempt was blocked, giving the Ninjas a 21-20 edge. Burnside finished the night with seven catches for 112 yards.
The Wolves rushed out with 10 straight points to start the second for a 30-21 lead. With the ball in the Ninjas' possession, Rouanzoin completed three consecutive passes and ran it in from the two for his second rushing touchdown of the game. Two plays into Mohegan's possession, Richardson intercepted his first ball. New Haven worked the ball to its own 21, and Dennis Wuestkamp hit a 44 yard field goal to knot the game at 30.
The pace of the game was drastically slowed by 28 penalties being called, for a total of 126 yards. Ryan Bland led the Ninjas with 80 receiving yards.
The two quarterbacks combined for seven interceptions. The Ninjas' Peter Clarke and Anthony Comer each picked off passes to go along with Richardson's two. Carlos McLaurin intercepted two of his own for the Wolves, and Brent Burnside snagged one as well.
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