Raptors fall to Horsemen at VBC

May 23, 2005 - United Indoor Football Association (UIF)
Tennessee Valley Raptors News Release


HUNTSVILLE-- The Tennessee Valley Raptors hoped to turn their season around Saturday night in the friendly confines of the Von Braun Center.

They didn't.

The Lexington Horsemen beat the Raptors 58-47 before an announced crowd of 3,281 at the VBC. The Horsemen improved to 6-3 while Tennessee Valley fell to 2-6 with its third straight loss and first at home of the United Indoor Football season.

"They scored more points than we did," Raptors coach Dick Adams said. "I thought (quarterback) Chris Gunn played a good game, our offense put points on the board. But you never know. In this game 70 sometime is not enough. You've got to be able to make plays, make good stops. We made two or three but not enough to win the football game."

In his first start, Gunn completed 11-of-23 passes for 126 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

"Average," Gunn said of his performance. "Came out early, got off to a slow start. I wasn't playing my game, rookie mistakes. I improved and went back down as we got behind and tried to get some early scores."

Lexington quarterback Dusty Bonner completed 20-of-29 passes for 210 yards, six touchdowns and one interception.

"We had some bad calls (by officials) tonight," said Raptors defensive end Azriel Woodson, who was playing in his first game. "But we'll jump back into the race. We had a couple of bad plays but overall we played good ball. The defensive line did a good job and everything. We've just got to execute more. We'll learn from our mistakes, got no problem making it up."

The Raptors opened the scoring at 11:47 in the first quarter with a 29-yard field goal by Steven Lee for a 3-0 lead.

Lexington struck right back with a 2-yard touchdown run by Derek Homer, capping a six-play, 30-yard drive. Justin Hutton's kick made it 7-3 Lexington at 8:46.

The Horsemen made a defensive stand on the ensuing possession and blocked a field goal attempt to gain possession on the Raptors' 3. Bonner connected with Chad Spencer three plays later for a 3-yard touchdown pass. Hutton kicked the lead to 14-3.

But the Raptors rebounded with a 52-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Luke McArdle at 3:57, cutting the deficit to 14-9.

Lexington answered again with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Bonner to Randy Bell at 3:09 for a 20-9 lead. That ended the first-quarter scoring.

Homer caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Bonner at 7:08 in the second quarter, capping a 10-play, 47-yard drive for a 27-9 advantage.

The Raptors cut the deficit to 27-15 on Gunn's 9-yard touchdown pass to Durocher Miller. Tennessee Valley added Gunn's 2-yard touchdown run at 1:07, cutting the deficit to 27-21.

But that left too much time for the Horsemen who needed only one play for Bonner's 38-yard touchdown pass to Homer. Eric Magrini added a 2-point conversion run for a 35-21 lead.

Tennessee Valley answered with only 13 seconds left on Keith Glover's 3-yard run and Lee's kick for a 35-28 deficit at the half.

Lexington continued its onslaught after intermission with Homer's 6-yard run, capping a four-play, 35-yard drive. Hutton kicked the margin to 42-28 at 12:43 in the third quarter.

The Raptors drew within 42-35 on Gunn's 4-yard touchdown pass to Miller and Lee's kick at 10:54.

The Horsemen upped their lead to 45-35 with Hutton's 21-yard field goal at 4:22.

Gunn's 22-yard touchdown run at 3:23 closed the gap to 45-41 but Lee missed another extra point attempt.

Lexington upped its lead to 52-41 at 2:04 on Bonner's 1-yard touchdown pass to Spencer and Hutton's kick. That was the score at the end of the third quarter.

The Horsemen added a 10-yard touchdown pass reception by Magrini. Tennessee Valley got a 3-yard touchdown run by Kevin Galbreath with 55 seconds left.



United Indoor Football Association Stories from May 23, 2005


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