Sports stats



AAF Salt Lake Stallions

Salt Lake Stallions Post Game Notes

March 2, 2019 - Alliance of American Football (AAF)
Salt Lake Stallions News Release


ORLANDO APOLLOS vs. SALT LAKE STALLIONS Saturday, March 2, 2019 | Rice-Eccles Stadium | Salt Lake City, Utah

Team captains for the Stallions were No. 57 OLB Gionni Paul and No. 6 QB Josh Woodrum.

RB Branden Oliver rushed for 71 yards on 17 attempts before getting hurt in the third quarter. QB Josh Woodrum completed 16-22 passing attempts and had a passer rating of 93.2.

The Orlando Apollos took the first lead of the game as K Elliott Fry connected on 43-yard field goal with 1:05 remaining in the first quarter. The Stallions were able to even things up at 3-3 in the second when K Taylor Bertolet made a 41-yard field before the Apollos struck back on the enusing drive as Fry tallied his second 40-plus yard field goal of the day on a 42-yard attempt.

Orlando QB Garrett Gilbert led the Apollos to their first touchdown a 91-yard touchdown drive in the second half where it was capped off by Gilbert completing a 20-yard pass to WR Donteea Dye Jr. The Apollos also connected on their two-point conversion to increase their lead to 14-3.

Salt Lake cut the lead to 14-11 with 0:27 left in the third quarter as RB Joel Bouagnon rushed for a 14-yard touchdown. Josh Woodrum then completed a pass to RB Terrell Newby for the two-point conversion.

Apollos' RB Akeem Hunt pushed the lead to 14-11 in the fourth quarter as he scored on a two-yard touchdown run giving Orlando the 20-11 lead to end as the final score.

Player Notes

RB Joel Bouagnon's 14-yard rushing touchdown extends the streak to three consecutive games tallying rushing touchdown, a Stallions franchise record.

Woodrum completed a Stallions' franchise long 38-yard pass to WR Adonis Jennings. WR Brian Tyms finished with four receptions and 32 receiving yards. Jennings led the Stallions with 43 total receiving yards.

FS Micah Hannemann returned to the field for Salt Lake finishing with seven solo tackles, tallying nine total tackles. LB Greer Martini remained disruptive throughout the game with two quarterback hits, two tackles for loss, nine total tackles and one pass defended. LB Gionni Paul finished with six solo tackles, one tackle for loss and nine combined tackles.

P Austin Rehkow had a 65-yard punt which marks as the second-longest in AAF history.

SALT LAKE HEAD COACH DENNIS ERICKSON On facing Orlando Head Coach Steve Spurrier: "It was a good experience. I didn't like how it turned out, but they've got a good football team and they played really well. Offensively, the quarterback threw it really well. We couldn't get them off the field the second half. We just couldn't get them off the field. That says a lot about them. They're a good football team. Offensively, we moved it up and down the field we just couldn't get any points. At the end, you try and get back in the game, and they control the ball a lot of the second half. But, he's one of my best friends and he got me this time. We'll see [about next time]."

On the status of RB Branden Oliver: "He's got a pulled groin. We won't know [the status] until tomorrow or Monday I would guess. He played pretty well when he was in there, I thought. He's our starter now, and did a lot of good things, then he got hurt. [RB] Joel Bouagnon [also] did a good job."

On the loss: "Our issue was not scoring touchdowns. Moving the ball and getting in the red zone - I think we were 1 for 9 on third down. It was awful. You can't win games doing that. That's what happened. They were 5 for 13. In the second half, I don't know if they had very many third downs [to convert]. They moved the ball and threw it really well. We couldn't get to the passer. That's the outcome of the game. When we scored there at the end of the third quarter, I thought we could get some things going. But we just couldn't slow them down on offense. Like I said, they're a good team. We didn't play very well, and they played [well]."

On the struggles getting to the red zone: "I think part of it was first downs. A couple times we ended up being second and long, or third and long, and then we're fourth and one and we miss an assignment. A guy comes through and hits us for a loss. Just a lot of mental mistakes probably more than anything. We've got to look and see what we're doing. I think we're doing the right things, it's just a matter of executing. If we're doing too much, we've got to look at it. We

can't make those mistakes. We can't have a lineman let somebody go free on fourth and short."

On the performance of the defense: "We played pretty good until today. What [Orlando Head Coach] Steve [Spurrier] does - he'll throw it to set up the run. They threw it really good and then they started running sprint draw when we were getting up the field. They ended up running the ball pretty good too. They controlled the clock in the second half. We've just got to get better. We've played [well] twice and didn't play good tonight. They made some throws and we played a lot of man coverage. In the first half, we played zone and they were picking us apart. They protected [well], we couldn't get to them."

On the Orlando pass protection: "They did the same things they've done for four games. We just couldn't get there. It's the same on both teams - when you can only bring four or five guys it's hard to manufacture pressure. We couldn't manufacture enough pressure. They did a good job of protecting." On the impact of the weather conditions: "The conditions weren't all that bad. Obviously, they adapted just as well as we did, or better. It's harder to get a pass rush because you're slipping around. Coverage is harder. But, then you drop balls. There were some dropped balls by both teams. Once the game started, it didn't seem to bother us as far as being cold. It was pretty slippery out there, that eliminates a little bit of what you do."

ORLANDO HEAD COACH STEVE SPURRIER On the game: "It was a fun one. It was a good game. The Stallions played pretty well. They outplayed us a good portion, but we kept them out of the end zone. We were able to get a couple of touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters to put us ahead pretty good, and we were able to drive the ball and consume a bunch of the clock. Any win is a good win. Proud of the entire team, and we're happy to get out of here with a win."

On preparing for the Utah weather conditions: "Yesterday we flew in and walked around and it was beautiful. [It was] about 45 degrees with no wind and I said 'man, this is football weather here.' And then of course it blew in a little bit today. But, you just go play and the referees and the ball boys kept the balls nice and dry."

On playing against Head Coach Dennis Erickson: "It's just our team against his team. They're events, that's all it is. We go back as buddies. He was always in our golf group so he's a good friend in the coaching profession and I wish him well. They've got a good team. Most [of[ these games are so close. If you can score touchdowns in the red zone, you've got a chance to win and they got in one the times they were down here. But shoot, they made a bunch of first downs. [But in the end], it worked out for us."

On converting third downs: "Third downs are crucial to keep grinds going and our guys were much better on third downs. We're running the same plays but better on execution, as simple as that."

On playing in Utah: "We enjoyed flying in. It's beautiful up here. This is beautiful country, I can say that. I'm glad to get out of here with a win because chances are, I'll never coach here again. But who knows, we may be here next year."

SALT LAKE QUARTERBACK JOSH WOODRUM On the struggles inside the red zone: "I think it goes both ways, obviously [with our] lack of execution and [the Orlando Apollos] defense playing well. The field gets tighter down there, so we have to do a better job of executing our plays and making plays when [the ball] gets down there."

On executing the deep threats: "I think we just need to make plays when they're there. You win games by getting chunk yards and tonight we didn't have a lot of those. We'll get back to the drawing board, get some plays drawn up, get some more shots down the field and make some more plays. That's the biggest thing. We just have to make them when they're there."

On the impact of the weather conditions: "'Honestly, we kind of knew there was going to be some bad weather so, it really didn't change our game plan at all. I thought we responded well to it. I really didn't think it affected us that much. Like I said, we just have to make more plays. We have to put ourselves in better situations and then make the plays when they're there."

On whether he was caught by surprise by the Orlando Apollos defense: "No, not really. They're paid to play defense, too. They're not just high school kids out there. They did exactly what we thought they were going to do, we just have to execute better."

• Discuss this story on the Alliance of American Football message board...

Alliance of American Football Stories from March 2, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Salt Lake Stallions Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central