Muskegon Thunder Defense Rocks Raptors

March 22, 2008 - Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)
Muskegon Thunder News Release


MUSKEGON - When Muskegon Thunder players headed out to celebrate a hard-fought 44-36 victory over visiting Rock River on Friday night, there was no doubt the offense would be picking up the tab. After all, it was the 'D' that bailed out Muskegon's sputtering offense on numerous occasions to post the team's first Continental Indoor Football League win of the young 2008 season.

In the first half alone, Muskegon thwarted four Rock River drives that ended inside the Thunder's red zone without points. For the game, the Thunder defense, under the direction of first year defensive coordinator Ryan Hodges, turned in seven stops, forcing a pair of fumbles that both led to Muskegon touchdowns.

Already leading 6-3 late in the opening quarter, the Raptors had a fourth-and-goal play at the Thunder 3-yard line when they called for a naked bootleg by quarterback Steve LaFalce. Linebacker Mitch Cumings, playing in his first game since suffering a torn ACL last March, read the play perfectly, and drilled LaFalce for a five yard loss and change of possession.

After a Tristin Burge interception, the Raptors were knocking at the door again. Facing a third-and-goal from the Thunder 2-yard line, Rock River again looked to pound the ball down Muskegon's throat behind their massive offensive line made up of center Craig Howard (6-4, 321) and guards Luke Davis (6-7, 330) and Renard McDaniel (6-5, 320). Muskegon countered with the quickness of down linemen Eric Malloy (6-3, 260) and Adam Pringle (6-0, 272), who combined to halt Terrell Goldsmith for a loss back to the 4-yard line. After a procedure penalty pushed the visitors back further, they eventually missed a 25 yard field goal attempt.

On the next possession, Raptors defensive end Anthony Harris sacked Thunder quarterback Ryan Ferguson for a nine yard loss back to the 2-yard line on the final play of the first quarter. Ferguson, who was named the CIFL Offensive Player of the Week on opening weekend, struggled to find a rhythm, going 2-of-8 for 10 yards and two interceptions and watched the remainder of the game from the bench as backup Dan Richard was summoned from the bullpen.

Patrick Jackson, who also picked off Ferguson in the opening frame, then returned Muskegon's long field goal attempt to the host's 12-yard line. The Thunder defense again rose to the occasion as end Ernest Bentz's sack of LaFalce was sandwiched by a pair of incompletions. On fourth-and-17, LaFalce scrambled to the six-yard line before defensive backs Corey Sullivan and Dominic Thocher converged to end the drive.

Offensive coordinator Brent White and head coach Shane Fairfield then collaborated and their decision to send Richard into the fray paid immediate dividends as his second attempt resulted in a 44-yard scoring strike to Richard Gills. Kicker Mike Brennan, who earlier kicked the franchise's first-ever field goal from 36 yards out, converted the PAT for a 10-6 Thunder lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, Justin Opengo lost the handle on the ball and Thunder free safety Tim Gough, a Jackson native, recovered it at the Rock River 17-yard line. Three plays later Richard hit running back Preston Garris with a 12-yard TD pass that pushed the home team in front 17-6 after another successful try by Brennan.

LaFalce answered with a methodical march down the field that eclipsed nearly six minutes off the game clock and had the Raptors knocking on the door again, but a Randy Bell rush on yet another forth-and-goal play was snuffed out by Pringle and Gough at the Thunder 3-yard line.

Jackson then took matters into his own hands, picking off Richard, and taking it all the way to the end zone to cut the deficit to 17-13 after Travis Paul, the reigning CIFL Special Teams Player of the Week booted the PAT. Jackson, who had just one interception for the Raptors in 2007 playing under the United Indoor Football banner, already has four thefts in two games since the team joined the CIFL this season.

Reserve running back Ryan Moore, the smallest player on the field at 5-foot-6 and 170 pounds, electrified the Thunder faithful with a huge play, returning the ensuing kickoff 35 yards to the Raptors 15-yard line. Richard then capped a three play drive with a 1-yard plunge that regained Muskegon's momentum and 11 point advantage with just 9 seconds left in the half.

Another special teams miscue doomed the guests as Bell bobbled the kick return near his own goal with the kick coverage team in hot pursuit. As Bell attempted to secure the ball and vacate his own end zone a head-on collision with Gough popped the ball loose and Thocher pounced on the pigskin for a Thunder touchdown as time expired. Rock River blocked the extra point, but trailed 30-13 at the intermission as Muskegon reeled off 27 points in the final 10:20 of the quarter.

The Raptors found themselves in a similar position a week earlier when they trailed the Kalamazoo Xplosion 23-9 at the midway point. Coach Rik Richards' adjustments allowed Rock River to rally in that game and force overtime, before eventually losing 33-26. Richards again worked his magic in the L.C. Walker Arena locker room Friday night as his squad came out determined to get their first-ever CIFL victory.

Rock River got a much-needed spark from LaFalce who broke containment for a 28-yard scramble and then found favorite target Willie Tolon for a 12-yard scoring toss narrowing the gap to 30-20 with Paul's successful kick. It was the first passing TD of the season for LaFalce, who finished the game hitting 13-of-22 for 89 yards without a pick, improving on last week's debut effort when he tossed three passes to Xplosion players.

Domonique Dunbar then stepped in front of a Richard pass and ran the pickoff all the way back to Muskegon's 13-yard line. Another LaFalce to Tolon hookup then set up an easy 2-yard burst by Bell, who also scored on a 25-yard burst on Rock River's first play from scrimmage, to pull the resurging Raptors to within 30-27.

The Thunder had a golden opportunity to stop the bleeding, but it was the Raptors defense who stepped up with a goal line stand of their own, halting Muskegon three yards short of the end zone as the third quarter neared completion.

The Raptors were not done, however. LaFalce drove the team 38 yards in 7 plays, collecting 30 yards on a connection with Tolon and three short completions to Opengo. The comeback continued when Paul delivered a 25-yard field goal to knot the score at 30-30 with 12:30 left in the game.

A three-and-out by the now ice cold Thunder offense set up a field-length field goal try by Brennan which was blocked by the 6-foot-4 Harris, who also batted down three kicks last season. The Raptors took over at the Thunder 7-yard line and the comeback was complete when Bell sliced through a gaping hole to give the visitors an unlikely 36-30 lead. The PAT was blocked by Bentz, but the damage was done as Rock River had reeled off 23 straight points.

Richard then looked to his biggest target, 6-foot-7 wideout Tony Terrell, and the Muskegon native responded with a diving 28-yard reception as he slammed into the back boards. Brennan then had to kick the all-important PAT three different times as the Thunder committed penalties on the first two tries, making his final kick a field-goal sized 29-yarder. Brennan punched it through anyway to give the hosts a 37-36 lead with 7:50 remaining in the see-saw contest.

The Thunder defense then reappeared as Bentz, who tallied 2.5 tackles for loss, got a handful of LaFalce's jersey and spun him around as the Raptors signal caller lost the ball on his way to the turf and a mad scramble ensued. Muskegon's Maurice Simpson finally secured the prized possession as the understandably nervous crowd erupted.

Garris, another Muskegon native who helped Grand Valley State win a pair of Division II National Championships, then sent the still buzzing crowd into full frenzy mode when he crashed over the goal line from a yard out to push the Thunder's lead to 44-36 with 2:40 still on the clock. The Mona Shores High grad finished with 85 all-purpose yards and has scored a total of four touchdowns in his first two indoor games played.

Bell, who excelled at the three R's (rushing, receiving and returning) with 147 everything yards on the night, then showed off his speed and power again, running around and through would-be tacklers, en route to a 32-yard kickoff return to Muskegon's 8. Three plays later the Raptors had lost two yards and faced a do-or-die fourth-and-goal from the Thunder 10. LaFalce patiently looked downfield but with all receivers covered, decided to make a run for the end zone himself. As he crossed the 5-yard line, Cumings lunged and got just enough of the former Western Illinois standout to bring him down short of the goal line.

With that final stand, the Thunder defense could finally celebrate as the offense ran the final 35 seconds off the clock. Fittingly, the ball ended up in the hands of Richard, who capped the wild victory with a five yard run as time expired. The 27-year-old semi-pro veteran finished the game hitting only 7-of-19 passes for 114 yards with two interceptions, but his three scoring tosses and rushing score were enough to help the Thunder even their record at 1-1 with a trip to Milwaukee to take on the Bonecrushers looming March 29th.

Thocher led Muskegon with 8 tackles and exceptional special teams play, while Cumings added 7.5 stops and Sullivan chipped in with 5 tackles and blocked the Raptor's first extra point attempt.

Gills led the offense with three catches for 65 yards but left the game in the second quarter with a possible wrist fracture.

The Raptors were led defensively by Jackson's 4.5 tackles and a pair of pass break ups for both Maurice Simpkins and Dunbar. Tolon paced the offense with six grabs for 70 yards.

Rock River (0-2) continues to search for its first win and will host the Chicago Slaughter on March 29th.



Continental Indoor Football League Stories from March 22, 2008


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