Slaughter Breaks IFL Season Scoring Record In 83-49 Win Over ThunderHawks
May 29, 2010 - Indoor Football League (IFL)
Chicago Slaughter News Release
Hoffman Estates, IL - The Chicago Slaughter (6-5) defeated the West Michigan ThunderHawks (5-6) 83-49 at the Sears Centre Arena on Friday evening, gaining sole possession of the final wild card playoff spot in the IFL United Conference. The Slaughter scored 83 points giving them the highest total score in the IFL this season. The Slaughter also broke a team record scoring 46 of their total points in the 2nd quarter. QB Randy Hutchison and WR Reggie Gray led the Chicago offense by combining on five touchdown passes. Hutchison finished the day going 23-33 for 281 yards and five touchdowns, while Gray finished with 8 catches for 123 yards. WR Shatone Powers caught five passes for 63 yards scoring 3 TDs in this high scoring fast paced rout.
"This was an important game for us because it gave us the confidence that we can go out and score," said Hutchison. "The offense played really well, and the defense too. During the first quarter, we shot ourselves in the foot offensively, but by the second quarter, we got back on track and went from there."
The teams swapped missed field goals to begin the game, West Michigan scored on a 45-yard catch and run from QB Brad Iciek to WR Charles Barber to put the ThunderHawks up 7-0. The Slaughter responded with a 35-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3 with three minutes left in the quarter. The Slaughter defense responded on the next series, as LB Lenny Radtke ripped the ball away from a ThunderHawk receiver to give the ball back to the Slaughter. Hutchison scrambled on a broken play and found WR Shatone Powers for a 15-yard touchdown to put Chicago up 10-7 as the quarter expired.
The ThunderHawks started the second quarter with a bang with 25-yard pass touchdown strike to put West Michigan ahead 14-10 early in the quarter. The Slaughter took advantage of two 15-yard ThunderHawk penalties to start their next drive at the opposing 7-yard line and capped off their scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass from Hutchison to Powers to put the Slaughter up by three. The ThunderHawks attempted a long field goal on their next drive, which fell just short of the uprights. Slaughter WR Reggie Gray returned the kick 58 yards for a touchdown to extend the Slaughter lead to 23-14 after a missed extra point.
The Chicago defense put some points of their own on the board as DL Anthony Moore tackled Iciek in the ThunderHawk end zone for a safety on a botched running attempt. The offense kept the momentum rolling as Hutchison threw touchdown passes to Gray and WR Irani DeAraujo on consecutive drives to put Chicago up 39-14 with three minutes left in the first half. Iciek found WR Nate Collins in the end zone to cut the lead to 39-21, but Hutchison responded finding Powers once again, this time for a 36-yard yard score, to push their lead to 46-21. The defense struck again, as recently acquired DL Mike Berry recovered a fumble in the ThunderHawks end zone to make the score 53-21 with just under a minute left in the half. West Michigan tacked on one more touchdown to make the score 53-28 going into halftime.
Slaughter DB Chris Rodgers recovered an on-side kick to start the second half and the offense took advantage with Hutchison hooking up with Gray for a 17-yard touchdown to make the score 60-28. On the next series, Radtke laid a big hit on Iciek to force a fumble that Slaughter DL Malcolm Woolridge recovered. Hutchison took the opportunity to connect with an 11-yard TD pass to Gray to make the score 67-28. Gray and Hutchison connected again on their next series with a 5-yard score to extend the lead to 74-28 to end the third quarter. Iciek tossed a 2-yard touchdown to Barber to start the 4th quarter and cut the lead to 74-35. Hutchison and Gray worked their magic again for the fifth time of the game, this time on a 36-yard touchdown strike, to increase the score 80-35. West Michigan returned an on-side kick for a touchdown to cut the lead to 80-42 on the ensuing kickoff, but Slaughter K Chris Nendick connected on a 53-yard kick to push the score to 83-42 to end the game.
"The defense kept us in this game particularly in the first half," said Powers. "To me, that shows it's a real team game. It's not just one side of the ball or the other. Tonight, we separated ourselves from a lot of teams in the league. I suspect the future opponents will see this film and will prepare differently."
The next home game for the Slaughter will be Saturday, June 12th, at the Sears Centre Arena against the LaCrosse Spartans; kickoff will be at 7:05. The Slaughter will travel to Rochester to take on the Raiders on June 5th. For more information on the June 12th home game or on the Chicago Slaughter, please call the team office at (847) 310-3190 or visit www.ChicagoSlaughter.com.
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- Slaughter Breaks IFL Season Scoring Record In 83-49 Win Over ThunderHawks - Chicago Slaughter
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