Virginia Destroyers Beat Defending Champ Locos 34-17
September 24, 2011 - United Football League (UFL 1)
Virginia Destroyers News Release
VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA (September 24, 2011) The Las Vegas Locomotives won the United Football League championship in each of the past two years. But on Saturday night the Virginia Destroyers made a major statement about this season, beating the Locos 34-17 before 12,167 fans in Virginia's inaugural home opener at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex.
The Destroyers dominated the game for three quarters before Las Vegas got a couple of late scores after the outcome had already been decided.
"They played extremely well - as good as any team has played in three years in this league," Las Vegas coach Jim Fassel said. "In football, you don't out-scheme people. It's just a bunch of 1-on-1 battles, and tonight they whipped us."
Veteran quarterback Chris Greisen and the running back tandem of NFL stars Dominic Rhodes and Adrian Peterson led the Destroyers to 343 yards of offense. Greisen completed 18 of 23 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns. Rhodes ran for 80 yards and caught six passes for 53 yards. Peterson rushed 11 for 61 yards.
"The offensive line was why we were able to do so well," Greisen said. "I only hit the ground twice all night, and they were opening holes for Adrian and Dominic."
But Destroyers coach Marty Schottenheimer was quick to give a large portion of the credit for Saturday night's performance to his 35-year-old quarterback.
"I can't for the life of me figure out why he's not playing in the National Football League," Schottenheimer said of Greisen. "Because he is clearly an NFL player. There are some people who just have this certain intangible quality, and he has it - he has that ability to get people to respond to him so that they go where he wants them to go."
The Destroyers got touchdowns from four different players, as well as two field goals from Delbert Alvarado.
Virginia led 31-3 after three quarters, but Las Vegas got two fourth-quarter touchdown passes from backup quarterback Brian Brohm to wide receiver Hakim Hill. The Locos put up 273 yards of offense, but more than half of them came in the fourth quarter after the game was out of reach.
The Destroyers (2-0) are the only unbeaten team in the UFL. The Locos fell to 1-1.
The Destroyers took a 3-0 lead on Delbert Alvarado's 31-yard field goal, and then Adrian Peterson capped a 73-yard drive with a 1-yard scoring run to put the Destroyers up 10-0 at the end of the first quarter. In that period, Virginia held the ball for more than 12 minutes and had nine first downs; the Locos held the ball for less than three minutes and had no first downs.
In the second quarter, Rhodes scored from 1 yard out to make it 17-0, and with 3:25 left in the half, Greisen did a pump fake and then threw a 35-yard strike that hit Aundrae Allison on stride in the back of the end zone to put the Destroyers up 24-0.
The Locos finally got on the board in the third quarter after the Destroyers muffed a punt when a blocker backed into return man Clifton Smith on a fair catch. An apparent touchdown pass by Chase Clement was called back on a holding penalty, and the Locos settled for a 45-yard field goal from Clint Stitser.
The Destroyers scored again late in the third quarter when Greisen hit Huey Whittaker for a 31-yard touchdown pass. Alvarado's PAT made it 31-3 in favor of Virginia.
The Locos finally reached the end zone midway through the fourth quarter when Hill caught a pass from Brohm and powered his way into the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown pass to cut Virginia's lead to 31-10.
Las Vegas scored again late in the fourth quarter when Hill made a spectacular catch in the end zone on a 6-yard pass from Brohm.
Alvarado kicked a 34-yard field goal with two minutes left for a 34-17 lead.
Fassel spoke of his disappointment in the Locos' execution but vowed to turn it around.
"We have a week off now," he said, "and I plan to use it. We're going to change some attitudes and find out who wants to play football."
Schottenheimer, on the other hand, tried to keep things in perspective after his team's strong showing.
"Our goal, from the start, has been to win one game each week," Schottenheimer said. "We did that this week. Now we'll take a week off, and we'll try to do it again - just win one game each week."
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