Nighthawks hold off Prowlers for fourth straight, 39-32

July 8, 2002 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Norfolk Nighthawks News Release


The Norfolk Nighthawks forced three turnovers and got another stellar performance from quarterback Chris Wallace to earn their first road win of the season and fourth in a row overall, 39-32, over the Greensboro Prowlers Saturday night.

Norfolk recovered two Prowlers fumbles, both inside the 10-yard line to halt scoring chances for Greensboro. The stingy Nighthawks defense also recorded a safety and an interception, DS Chris Pointer's second of the season. OL/DL Abdul-Aziz Shabazz-Wiggins second safety of the year gave Norfolk an early 16-7 advantage.

Greensboro (3-11) scored first on a 15-yard Antoine Calloway reception on the first drive of the game. Wallace, named the game's MVP, answered back with two strikes of his own, a 26-yard pass to WR/LB Travis Burns and a 20-yarder to WR/DB Dominic Banks. Following Shabazz-Wiggins' safety, Wallace hit OS Anthony Stringfield for his first touchdown reception of the season, a 23-yard toss to give Norfolk a 22-7 lead midway through the second quarter. Stringfield, the Nighthawks' all-time leading scoring, played in his first game since the 2001 season.

Just as Norfolk (7-6) seemed to be in complete control of the game, Greensboro WR/DB Walter Ford ran back a kickoff 57-yards for a touchdown getting the Prowlers back to within eight, 22-14. Ford's runback gave the Prowlers six straight games with a kick return for a touchdown. Norfolk K Matt McNew split the uprights on a 34-yard field goal before giving Greensboro one more chance in the first half.

The Prowlers next drive ended with what could have been the biggest play of the game and by far the biggest hit. As QB Chris Weibel took off from the 15-yard line, dashing towards the goalline, he was met by Norfolk DS Desmond Washington. Washington put his shoulder right into Weibel's ribs spinning him around into the endzone for the score, making it 25-22. Both players lay still for about five minutes, neither one returning to the game in the second half. With Weibel out, the Nighthawks defense took advantage. Back-up QB Travis Pender's third pass attempt was intercepted by Pointer while Stringfield and Banks each hauled in third quarter touchdowns, 6-yards and 30-yards, respectively.

The majority of the fourth quarter, 9:09 seconds, was taken up by a Prowler drive, which started at their own two-yard line and ended with a Pender fumble on the Nighthawks' one. After McNew's 64-yard attempt sailed out of bounds Greensboro accounted for the lone fourth quarter score, a 24-yard Calloway reception with 1:58 second to play. The game ended with a 30 yard, third-down grab by Banks to seal the win.

Banks earned game IronMan honors as he caught a game-high 121 yards on six receptions. Defensively, Banks recorded a team-high 6.5 tackles and forced one critical fumble. Pointer, an ADT Defensive Player of the Game nominee, finished the game with 4.0 tackles, all solo, recovered one fumble, had one interception and two pass breakups. ADT honors went to Greensboro DS Jermaine Toney as he finished with 10.0 tackles (9 solo) and one pass breakup. Wallace finished the game 20-for-37 for 284 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. Stringfield caught five passes for 53 yards and two scores and Burns finished with 4 catches for 47 yards, returned three kicks for 44 yards and grabbed 4.5 tackles on defense.

Post game reports on the two players involved in the big collision at the end of the first half were that Washington just got a "stinger" in his shoulder and shouldn't miss any games, while Weibel was being taken to the hospital for x-rays following the game.

The win marked the first for the Nighthawks in Greensboro and gave them a 4-2 series advantage. Norfolk will return home for the season finale at the Norfolk Scope, where they have won six straight, to face the Roanoke Steam (7-7). The game is Saturday, July 13 and kickoff is set for 7:10PM.

BUILT FORD TOUGH Player of the Game

Head Coach Tony Missick wasted no time naming his Built FORD Tough Player of the Game after Saturday victory. DS Chris Pointer, playing with a broken hand and wearing a cast halfway up his forearm, recorded four solo tackles, had one fumble recovery, two pass breakups and got his second interception of the season, which he returned 23 yards on the prowlers first drive of the second half. Once teammate, and fellow DS, Desmond Washington went out at halftime, Pointer was called on to protect the secondary for the remainder of the game. Along with Antwon Robinson, who filled in for Washington, they held the Prowlers to 73 yards passing in the second half and 162 for the entire game. Pointer, who was Norfolk's 2001 Defensive MVP, is the team's career leader with 11 interceptions.



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