Morays-Kreatures game preview
May 20, 2005 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL)
Miami Morays News Release
Old Foe: Miami Morays (6-2) will take to the field against the Kissimmee Kreatures (2-7) on Ford Allen Field at the Miami Arena...Saturday, May 21st at 7:05 p.m. ET.
Last Meeting: Despite Derrick Vickers throwing for three touchdowns and Leroy McFadden running for the three touchdowns, the Miami Morays were stunned by the Kissimmee Kreatures 38-yd game-winning field goal with .02 seconds left in the game to win 51-48.
The Kreatures jumped out to a quick 14-0 first quarter lead by capitalizing on a sluggish Morays offense. Kreatures running back Andreal Curry opened up the score with a 3-yd touchdown run, followed by quarterback Rob Harding's 40-yd bomb to TJ Simmons for the touchdown.
The Morays offense got on track in the second quarter, scoring 19 points on two Leroy McFadden runs and two touchdown catches by Ethenic Sands. The Morays closed out the first-half when linebacker Jimmy Williams intercepted the ball on the Miami 5-yd line. The teams headed to the locker rooms with the score 28-19 in favor of the Kreatures.
In the third quarter, the Morays tied the game up at 34 apiece with a Vickers 2-yd bootleg run.
The Morays got a scare in the fourth quarter when defensive back Vic White had to be carried off on a stretcher after suffering a dislocated elbow. The injury came after a Kreatures touchdown run by Andreal Curry to pull ahead 47-34. White was discharged from the hospital shortly after the game.
After a 30-minute delay, the game resumed with Vickers leading a three-play scoring drive that culminated in a 12-yd Sands touchdown grab. With the score, the Morays cut the Kreatures lead to 48-40. Vickers ended the night by going 22-39 for 237 yards, while Ethenic Sands led Morays receivers with six catches for 82 yards.
The Morays defense forced a quick turnover-on-downs to give the Morays the ball back. Vickers led the team down to the Kreatures 5-yd line as the two minute warning came. McFadden got his third touchdown of the game on a 2-yd touchdown run with 1:18 left, and with the 2-pt conversion pass to Patrick Rouzard, the Morays tied the game up at 48 apiece.
But the Kreatures offense drove the ball to the 19-yd line, and despite two consecutive defensive plays that culminated in loss of yards, the Kreatures sent on their field-goal kicking unit. James Panui's 38-yd field goal gave the Morays their first loss of the season.
Morays Last Game: With a season-high 72 points and 349 yards of offense, the Miami Morays (6-2) rolled over the New Jersey Xtreme (0-8) to retake sole possession of first place in the Atlantic South.
The Morays jumped out to a 40-18 lead by half-time behind three touchdowns from Leroy McFadden. McFadden was unstoppable as he pulled in two touchdown receptions of 17 and seven yards, while rushing for one touchdown of 20 yards.
With new offensive coordinator Leslie Shepherd taking the reins, he split the quarterback duties each quarter between Derrick Vickers and Travis Wilson in order to get them acclimated to the new system. Vickers went 10-13 for 159 yards and four touchdowns and one interception, and Travis Wilson 7-14 for 120 and four touchdowns and one interception.
Ethenic Sands was the leading receiver this game, catching five balls for 115 yards and three touchdowns. His 115 yards was also a season-high for receivers. Kevin Jackson also had a strong game, pulling in five balls for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
The Morays held New Jersey to a total of 168 yards of offense and got three sacks and five solo tackles from Arpedge Rolle, while Quincy Sorrell recovered a fumble for a 25-yd touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Kiss. Last Game: A pair of touchdown runs by Adreal Curry and the passing of Rob Harding helped Kissimmee build two leads of 14 points through three quarters, then saw the effort evaporate in the fourth quarter when Lakeland's defense stepped up and made stops to give the ThunderBolts a 41-31 come-from-behind win over the Kreatures in a National Indoor Football League game on Ray Lewis Field at the Lakeland Center.
Lakeland backup quarterback Michael Peeples spelled an injured Jeremy Martin in the fourth quarter and threw two touchdown passes and ran for another as the ThunderBolts (3-5) broke a 4-game losing string and get back in the Atlantic South Division race.
But it was the Lakeland defense that saw a missed Kissimmee field goal and an interception by the âBolts' Aramis Haralson turn into scores that gave the momentum burst back to the home team.
Head coach Marquette Smith said his Kreatures (2-6) were âfractured' by then, meaning he had lost two key offensive linemen to injuries and penalties " were killing us." Starting center Jason Bush went down at the end of the first series possession in the 3rd quarter and guard Corey Haynes was hurt. Coach Smith said he believed Bush's injury was an ACL. "I think when we lost them, we lost our multi-faceted offense," said Smith. "We just didn't make the plays after that and we will have to make better reads on offense to, if we are to get back on track. "
Coach Smith went out last week and brought in seven new players, and defensive back Lorenzo Guess came in last wee before going on the Wyoming trip. Guess started on defense against Lakeland along with newcomer DB Harold Jacobs. DB Bishlar Penson and lineman Roger Williams were used in backup roles. New kicker Matt Fields, out of Rhodes College, was three-for-three on extra points, missed field goals of 48, 40 and 27, but converted a 19 yarder with 2:23 left in the game that gave Kissimmee a 31-28 edge.
Interestingly, the newest trio of Jacobs, Guess and Penson had four of the five interceptions the Kreatures snagged. Jacobs, out of the University of Minnesota, had a two picks.
Curry shared rushing duties with LaFann Williams and had 19 carries for 50 yards and Williams' 15 rushes garnered 24 net yards a score. Harding, was 13 of 23 for 125 yards and one touchdown. He was visibly upset especially after the interception by Haralson, which put the game away for the ThunderBolts.
On the receiving side, Thomas Simmons had a marvelous night with nine catches for 103 yards even though he was shutout from the endzone. Backup quarterback Brock Jones got playing time at wide receiver and he wasted no time on the left wide out side and caught a six-yard pass with 38 seconds left in the first quarter which, after Fields extra point boot, gave the Kreatures a 14-0 lead.
Curry's 1-yard rush at the 4:12 mark of the 3rd quarter gave Kissimmee a 28-14 lead.
Veteran lineman-linebacker Derek Coakley collected his 52 all-time indoor sack, but was also used on offense at the left guard slot when Kissimmee succumbed to injuries in the second half.
Moray Leaders: Derrick Vickers and Ethenic Sands are making an impact on the offensive side of the ball for the Morays.
Vickers is fourth in the league with a 109.6 quarterback rating, third in passing yards, and third in total offense. In seven games, he has completed 135 of 203 passes for 1535 yards, with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Despite an offense that spreads the ball around and possesses many weapons, receiver Ethenic Sands is also making an impact on the league leader charts by averaging 4.88 catches a game which leaves him ranked seventh in the NIFL. Sands 90 points leaves him ranked 9th in the league in scoring.
On the defensive side of the ball, Defensive end Lashawn Pugh is tied for third in the league with two forced fumbles, and Jimmy Williams is tied for first in the league with three fumble recoveries. Arpedge Rolle is second in the league with eight sacks and tied for 3rd in the league with 10.5 tackles for a loss.
Kreature Leaders: TJ Simmons is eighth in the league with 50.9 yards receiving a game. On the year, TJ has caught 41 passes for 458 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The Morays old nemesis, James Panui, is also making an impact in the NIFL. Panui is eighth in the league in all-purpose yards with 111.7 yards-per-game, and is seventh in the league by averaging 20.8 yards per kick-off return.
Defensively, Derrick Coakley is tied for third in the league in forced fumbles with two, and tied for first, along with teammate Joe McClendon, with three fumbles recovered. Coakley is also tied for fifth in the league with 7.5 tackles for a loss.
New Faces: The Morays defensive back-field has seen several new faces suiting up recently. A former Hurricane and Virginia State Cavalier, Damacio Green has played in two games for the Morays, making 9.5 tackles. A product of Piper High School, Dwight Devaughn has played in one game and has made one tackle.
Rafael Cooper also made his debut for the Morays returning kicks and seeing spot duty at the running back position. A native of Detroit, Cooper attended Louisville and spent some time with the Detroit Lions and Tennessee Titans. Cooper has returned two kickoffs for a total of 37 yards.
Playoff Outlook: The Morays currently hold a half-game lead on the Daytona Beach Hawgs for first place in the NIFL. Currently the series is tied at 1-1 with the next match-up coming on June 4th, which will be a non-divisional game. The Hawgs have the advantage in the tie-breaker by out-scoring the Morays 106-95 in the two meetings.
Both teams play the undefeated Everett Hawks twice this season, with Daytona already dropping one decision to the Hawks so far. The Morays play a home-and-home series on June 12th and 17th, while the Hawgs meet up with the Hawks on May 27th.
The Hawgs remaining games are against Kissimmee, Miami, Rome, and Fayetteville. The Morays remaining games are against the Hawks twice, Rome, Daytona Beach, and Fayetteville.
Head-to-Head: Number is the ranking in the 22 Team NIFL and/or yards per game.
Miami Kissimmee
Scoring Offense: 6th (50.6) 15th (40.6)
Scoring Defense: 5th (37.9) 18th (48.8)
Total Offense: 4th (265.1) 15th (207.3)
Total Defense: 1st (165.1) 9th (210.1)
Pass Offense: 3rd (202.0) 16th (135.9)
Pass Defense: 2nd (131.1) 3rd (131.6)
Rushing Offense: 14th (63.1) 11th (71.4)
Rushing Defense: 3rd (34.0) 15th (78.6)
Turnover Margin: 7th (+5) 12th (+2)
Sacks By: 1st (24) 5th (12)
Sacks Against: 20th (13) 8th (5)
First Downs: 5th (143) 4th (143)
Penalties: 18 (61.6) 22nd (106.1)
Red-Zone Offense: 1st (85 %) 2nd (82.5 %)
Red-Zone Defense: 6th (62.9 %) 20th (81.8 %)
Past and Future: The schedule and standings so far:
MIAMI MORAYS (6-2)
Date: Opponent: Result:
March 19 @ New Jersey W 54-18
March 26 @ Lakeland W 58-45
April 2 LUBBOCK W 53-13
April 9 @ Lakeland W 35-31
April 16 @ Kissimmee L 51-48
May 1 DAYTONA BEACH W 58-53
May 7 @ Daytona Beach L 37-53
May 15 NEW JERSEY W 72-39
May 21 KISSIMMEE
May 28 @ Rome
June 4 DAYTONA BEACH
June 12 EVERETT
June 17 @ Everett
June 25 FAYETTEVILLE
Standings: TEAM W L PF PA
Miami 6 2 405 303
Daytona Beach 6 3 375 288
Lakeland 3 6 348 366
Kissimmee 2 7 365 449
Next Home Game: The Morays head to Daytona on May 7th before returning home to Ford Allen Field at the Miami Arena to take on the New Jersey Xtreme on May 15th for a 7:05 pm. Kickoff. Tickets are available at the Miami Arena Box Office or through Ticketmaster. For additional information about the Miami Morays, please call Mark Fischel at 305-374-8950 X308 or visit us at www.miamimoraysfootball.com
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National Indoor Football League Stories from May 20, 2005
- Drillers look to snap losing streak by going on the road - Beaumont Drillers
- Morays-Kreatures game preview - Miami Morays
- Capitols Travel to Billings - Lincoln Capitols
- Fever set to battle Hammerheads - Tri-Cities Fever
- Kissimmee's James Panui is back - Kissimmee Kreatures
- Kissimmee names interim coaches - Kissimmee Kreatures
- Kreatures have rematch with Miami; visit Daytona Beach Hawgs Monday - Kissimmee Kreatures
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