Muskegon Thunder Gets Huge Win Over Explosion
April 7, 2008 - Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)
Muskegon Thunder News Release
MUSKEGON - The Muskegon Thunder poured every ounce of energy they had into Friday night's game against Eastern Division rival Kalamazoo. Then the undefeated Xplosion arrived at L.C. Walker Arena for the Continental Indoor Football League contest.
Before the kickoff even took place, the entire organization had put in countless hours of preparation for what could only be called the biggest game in the team's two year history. As the front office staff greased the promotional wheels and local media provided additional hype to the highly anticipated matchup, the players -having already spent long nights watching film of every Kalamazoo game -headed to area elementary schools to read to students and hand out free vouchers.
As fans from both teams poured through the turnstiles before the game, it was obvious this was not just another game. This one had playoff-like electricity and it didn't take long for the sparks to begin to fly as the two teams set aside mutual respect in favor of an intense dislike for each other as trash talk was as mandatory as helmets and pads.
The Xplosion scored the first 12 points but Muskegon had the last laugh in an inspired 44-37 overtime victory that gave the hosts early control of their own destiny in their bid to earn the automatic playoff berth that goes with a divisional title in the CIFL's Great Lakes Conference. With eight regular season games still remaining, including a rematch at Kalamazoo's Wings Stadium on May 3rd, there is still plenty of work to be done, both on and off the field. But this rewarding win has the potential to propel the Thunder to new heights and expectations in 2008.
Muskegon finally saw results for all of its prep work late in the first quarter when kicker Mike Brennan's 34-yard field goal sailed through the uprights, cutting the deficit to 12-3. The Thunder then got another big play from a defensive unit that has already recorded 28 stops this season (an average of seven per game) as Maurice Simpson made a diving interception of a Randy Hutchison pass.
Two plays later Thunder quarterback Dan Richard hit a streaking Preston Garris with a 40-yard touchdown pass to further narrow the gap to 12-10 at the 13:10 mark of the 2nd quarter. Muskegon has been opportunistic with miscues, turning 13 opponent turnovers into 10 scores this season, all going for touchdowns.
Kalamazoo responded with a Hutchison to Brian Dolph connection from seven yards out to push the lead back to 20-10 for the visitors after the pair also combined for the 2-point conversion. It was Hutchison's third and final TD strike of the night after hitting Brent Lesniak and Dan Musielewicz on 10- and 9-yard tosses, respectively, in the opening quarter. The Xplosion offense would not cross the goal line again over the final 29:45 of regulation and overtime as the studious Thunder defense seemed to be a step ahead of their foes the rest of the night.
Thunder receiver Tremaine Rembert, who has made several key contributions since replacing injured wideouts Nathan Wruble and Richard Gills in Week 2, hauled in a 31-yard reception on a third-and-ten play down to the Kalamazoo one yard line to keep the ensuing drive alive. Richard then ran through a gaping hole on the next play to again pull the home team within three at 20-17.
The Xplosion then drove to the Thunder 14 yard line with just under a minute to play in the first half. On fourth-and-two, Hutchison looked for Dolph but a hustling Ernest Bentz of the Thunder broke up the pass, giving Muskegon one final chance to grab the lead before halftime.
Two consecutive Richard to Rembert passes left the Thunder with a first-and-goal at the guests' six yard line with time for one final play. Richard lobbed the ball to the back of the end zone for 6-foot-7 target Tony Terrell but David Gater (6-1, 200), the league's premier defensive back, picked off the pass as the horn sounded. As a few Thunder players relaxed, having thought Gater had been pushed into the back wall during the interception, others seemed to believe the scoreboard buzzer had signaled an end to the play as Gater continued to weave his way out of the end zone and down the left sideline. A stunned crowd and shocked Muskegon team looked on helplessly as Gater finished his momentum-swinging stroll to paydirt as Kalamazoo headed to the locker room with 27-17 advantage.
The Xplosion defense opened the second half with yet another spectator-silencing play as defensive linemen Jodie Clemons and Andy Storey created another score. Clemons chased down a scrambling Richard and popped the ball loose from behind. Storey (6-7, 265) recovered the fumble and rambled 40 yards, upping the Kalamazoo lead to 34-17 after Brad Selent's point after kick.
Last year such a series of events would likely have led to a Thunder collapse, but the 2008 version has shown incredible resilience, coming from behind in every game this season. It would again be defensive coordinator Ryan Hodges' posse that started the Muskegon uprising.
After forcing a three-and-out, Selent's kick from inside his own 5-yard line hit the scoreboard, giving Muskegon's offense the ball at the Xplosion 23 yard line. Richard zipped the ball to Garris who did the rest and in one play Muskegon's hopes were rekindled, trailing 34-24 with 2:40 left in the 3rd quarter.
On the next series Bentz dropped Xplosion back Kelly Baraka for a six yard loss and Hutchison misfired on a pair of passes to set up a fourth-and-16 at the Kalamazoo 17. Long snapper Scott Russell then airmailed his delivery as a leaping Selent could only knock the ball down. Thunder linebacker Mitch Cumings stormed through the line and scooped up the ball, running the final five yards across the goal line as the crowd erupted. Brennan's successful kick got Muskegon to within 34-31 with 13:45 left in regulation.
Muskegon's 8th man then responded to a challenge from head coach Shane Fairfield, who earlier in the week told Thunder fans to "give âem hell" whenever Kalamazoo had the ball in a Muskegon Chronicle newspaper article.
After Brennan pinned the guests at their own 3 yard line with a perfectly placed kickoff, the revved up crowd wreaked havoc on Hutchison and his teammates who tried to work from a silent count. By third down the crowd had worked itself into such a frenzy that the Xplosion committed three consecutive penalties, including two false starts, backing themselves up inside their own one yard line. Former Kalamazoo player Jon Horn, who signed with Muskegon 10 days ago, then broke up a pass intended for Dolph, forcing another impossibly long field goal attempt by Selent. This one never made it to the scoreboard, however, as Thunder noseguard Adam Pringle pushed his way through and deflected the kick which was then recovered by Simpson at the Kalamazoo 21 yard line.
Richard then misfired on two straight passes, but the third time was the charm as he rifled the ball between two defenders to a sliding Rembert, who took a punishing hit but held onto the ball for the score at the 6:58 mark. Muskegon had their first lead of the night at 37-34 but Brennan booted the point after wide, leaving the door open for an Xplosion rebuttal.
That reply came moments later when Selent, the reigning CIFL Special Teams Player of the Year, nailed a 29-yard field goal with 3:57 left on the clock to knot the score at 37-37.
Brennan then had not one but two chances to win the game in regulation. First he missed from 32 yards away and got a second shot at glory after Horn picked off former teammate Hutchison with 39 seconds remaining. This time Brennan narrowly missed a 31-yard attempt with just three seconds left, meaning the Thunder would be playing their first-ever overtime game while Kalamazoo, a bit more familiar with the scenario, were headed to the extra session for the third time in five starts this season.
Muskegon got the ball first and return specialist Ryan Moore nearly took it to the house, weaving his way through traffic for a 33-yard runback to the Xplosion 17. Richard then hit three straight passes, the last one covering the final 6 yards to Garris who has scored six touchdowns in his last two games.
Kalamazoo then drove to the Muskegon 9 yard line and faced a 4th-and-four situation. With the crowd again at fever pitch, Pringle shot into the Xplosion backfield and sacked Hutchison for a 15-yard loss to end the game and give the Thunder their biggest win to date.
Despite the back-and-forth nature of the scoring, the statistical battle was one-sided with Muskegon out gaining Kalamazoo 246-122, as the Xplosion were held to 31 second half yards.
Richard guided the Thunder to their third straight victory, hitting 18-of-43 passes for 250 yards including 4 TD's with one interception. Garris totaled 100 yards on six catches while Rembert also had six grabs for 75 yards. Terrell contributed five receptions for 66 yards and Matt Bolles added one catch for 9 yards.
Hutchison connected on 16-of-32 attempts for 135 yards with 3 scores and two picks. Dolph gained 71 yards on 7 catches, Musielewicz added 36 yards on 3 grabs and Little John Flowers chipped in a single catch for 14 yards. Lesniak, who scored 14 TD's for Muskegon in 2007, posted 5 catches for just 14 yards and L.J. Parker, who also suited up for Muskegon last year, was held without a single catch after scoring in each of the Xplosion's four previous games.
The Thunder's miserly defense was led by cornerback Dominic Thocher's 8.5 tackles and also got 6.5 stops and 3 pass break ups from Horn. Free safety Tim Gough tallied 4 stops with 2 tackles for loss. Pringle had the team's lone sack.
Kalamazoo got 8 tackles from Ben Richardson and 4.5 stops from Gater, whose interception was his league-leading 10th of the season. Clemons and T.J. Smith each recorded a sack.
Kalamazoo (4-1) will try to keep their perfect home record intact when they host the Chicago Slaughter (2-2) on Friday, April 11th. Muskegon (3-1) hosts the Fort Wayne Freedom (1-2) the following night.
NOTES:
A HUGE SIGHTING Bill Simonson, host of The Huge Show, performed the coin toss at the game Friday. He also broadcast his statewide three hour radio show live from Brann's Steakhouse & Grille in Muskegon earlier that afternoon, interviewing Thunder coach Shane Fairfield and injured receiver Nathan Wruble during the program.
MEDIA BLITZ In addition to The Huge Show, Friday's game was covered by television crews from WZZM 13 and WXMI Fox 17. The Muskegon Chronicle and sports editor Tom Kendra provided newspaper coverage. ESPN Radio 1660 AM out of Kalamazoo carried the game live as did the Muskegon Thunder for the CIFL Radio Network.
OVERTIME OVER TIME After the CIFL saw just one overtime game in each of its first two seasons of play, the league has already seen three games go past 60 minutes in 2008 with Kalamazoo appearing in all three. The Xplosion knocked off Chicago and Rock River before falling to the Thunder.
PASSING ON THE RUNNING GAME Kalamazoo managed only 2 rushing yards on the night against Muskegon on 10 attempts and would be a -13 yards when the sack was figured in. The Xplosion have been out rushed by all five of their opponents this season.
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