Oregon Gets Revenge, Sacks Washington 37-9
May 4, 2025 - Arena Football One (AF1)
Oregon Lightning News Release
The final game of Week 8 would take place between a set of familiar foes. The Washington Wolfpack would again welcome the Oregon Lightning to the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington. The two squared off there during Week 2 of this season with the Wolfpack bringing home a 35-28 victory. That's not the only meeting between the two squads though. They also tangled during Week 7 - only in Oregon's neck of the woods. That game would also be won by the Wolfpack in a game where they got out to a huge lead and had to fend off a phenomenal comeback attempt. The final score of that one would be 41-30. This game would be a big one for both teams as they both sit right on the precipice of a playoff spot.
And game three of the series would prove to be Oregon's revenge. The squad managed to pull out to a lead and then didn't give it back. Despite a solid defensive effort from Washington, the Lightning took the contest by a score of 37-9. Let's take a look at how everything went down on Sunday.
On the Board Early
While points were at a premium on Sunday, it didn't take Oregon too long to get on the board. They struck first and in a way that would become common place in this one. Dalton Cole found Maurice Ashley for a 17-yard score. Ashley would be a popular target from there on out. He saw five passes thrown his way over the course of the game and converted four to catches. He tallied 80 yards, the majority of which came during his next touchdown - that one for 45 yards.
Although it was Oregon that was getting the action started early, Washington wasn't waiting around much either. They answered the call back quickly with a 3-yard strike to popular target, Deshon Williams. Although he did see plenty of targets throughout the game, that would be the only completion to Williams as he struggled against this Oregon secondary.
Sacked Lunch
Defense was the name of the game in this one. Not only did the score stay low throughout the game, but the pressure on the quarterbacks was intense early and often. Twice on the opening drive of the game, Oregon managed to get to Adam Kuse. Over the course of the game, they racked up nine sacks with Mike Fields and Miquel Smiley each getting three a piece. Those sacks not only paid dividens for Oregon in terms of field position, but they looked to do a number on quarterback Adam Kuse.
It was a similar story on the other side of the ball, as Dalton Cole took a beating behind the line of scrimmage as well. He was sacked only four times, but Chei Hill did the bulk of that work. He snatched three sacks on his own including a big drive ender.
Ball Protection at Premium
One of the big stories early in this game was Oregon's inability to protect the ball. Despite jumping out to a quick lead in the game, the Lightning struggled to pull away early due to turnovers. Quarterback Dalton Cole struggled to find his receivers as Wolfpack defenders feasted on the mishaps. Caleb Brown, Machiah Lee and Jadarius Byrd all came away with interceptions that kept the Wolfpack in the game. Additionally, the Lightning would also stall out a drive with a fumble after marching down the majority of the field.
Despite not putting up quite as impressive of numbers early in the game, the Wolfpack did protect the ball. Adam Kruse kept things in check without throwing a single interception. He did fumble twice, but only lost one of them. Outside of that, it was mostly just incompletions that kept the scores low on Sunday. Adam Kruse attempted 26 passes in the game, but only managed to complete 11 of them.
That heavy number of incompletions, along with the score, led coach JR Wells to pull Kuse for backup Rodney Raines. Raines was also not super successful when it came to completing passes, getting just one of the four he threw to his own team. He completed the same number to members of the Lightning. Fabian McNichols found one of the final passes of the game and took it to the house. Some of that is surely due to the fact that he was trying to come back in the game late and taking a few more risks than he would have otherwise. That pick six game Oregon 37 points and put an exclamation point on the victory.
Statistical Leaders
Although Dalton Cole had a bit of trouble when it came to protecting the ball, he did put up numbers for his offense. He completed 14-of-24 passes on the game, which went for 171 yards. The two touchdown passes to Maurice Ashley were complemented by one to Kris Lewis for just seven yards. He also got a fair bit of action going on the ground as well. He rushed three times, which included a rushing touchdown to put his final number at four scores for the day.
With Kuse having such a quiet day on offense, there wasn't much to talk about with Washington. Ledarian McAllister did manage to put up numbers like he usually does - at least considering the circumstances. He reeled in five of the eleven passes thrown his way on the night and put them together for 54 yards.
After week 8, Oregon picks up their second win of the season and moves to 2-5. The win sets Washington back to 2-5 as well as they both now cling to hopes of a playoff spot. Next up, Washington will look to get back in the win column as they visit a skidding Billings team on Saturday. Oregon's Week 9 matchup will see them welcome the Corpus Christi Tritons to town. The following week - Week 10 - these two squads will meet one more time, again in Oregon. All AF1 games can be caught on EVERGREENNOW each week.
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Arena Football One Stories from May 4, 2025
- Oregon Gets Revenge, Sacks Washington 37-9 - Oregon Lightning
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