Wild Bounce Back with Big Win over Edge
Published on April 12, 2013 under Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL)
Wichita Wild News Release
Wichita, Kan. - The Wichita Wild (5-1) returned to their winning ways in Bloomington against the Edge (2-3) Saturday night in a final score, 49-35. Most notably, Tywon Hubbard's return to the field this week after his absence in the Wild's loss to the Kansas City Renegades last week proved the importance of his role on the team with two touchdowns on the night as well as a fantastic special teams performance. Joe Kassanavoid and Tim Simmons also tallied two touchdowns apiece on the night to help lead the Wild to a huge victory over the tough Edge.
In the first drive of the game against Bloomington, Wichita came out hot with a quick start and good field position, but on a fourth and goal attempt and a failed conversion, the Wild turned the ball over on downs on the Edge 5 yard line. With a quick drive and the Edge offense poised to score, Wild linebacker Anthony Smith produced a huge stop, tackling quarterback David Knighton for a loss, causing only a field goal attempt which was missed by Edge kicker Pete Christifal to keep the score 0-0. A personal foul penalty on Edge linebacker Ross Cochran would set the Wild up for a first and goal and a second try at producing points. On the next play, Wild quarterback Rocky Hinds threw an interception in the endzone, but on the very next play, defensive back Dan Kontz took the ball right back with an interception off of Kighton's first pass of the drive. The Wild would fail to score before the first quarter came to a close, leaving the score tied at 0-0.
As the Wild opened the second quarter with a third down situation, an 11 yard run by Hubbard followed by a 7 yard catch by Joe Kassanavoid, set up for a 2 yard rush by Hubbard and a touchdown with a missed extra point to give the Wild a 6-0 lead. Bloomington would hit back almost immediately with an incredible 46 yard field goal by Christofilakos . Then off of the Edge's kick-off, Hubbard broke through the Edge special teams to make it to the Bloomington 20 yard line. On another third down situation, Hinds scrambled and narrowly avoiding a sack, found Kassanavoid for a 17 yard catch in the endzone, and with the extra point, the Wild began to heat up extending their lead, 13-3. After another squandered opportunity by Bloomington, Hubbard continued his outstanding play with another kick-off return for 36 yards, leaving the Wild with great field position at the Edge 21 yard line. Hinds found Simmons for a Wild touchdown, although a bad snap would cause Alex Fambrough to be unable to convert on the extra point. Wild defensive back Dan Kontz caused a safety for the Wild to convert on their second of the night to give the Wild a 23-3 lead. With under 2 minutes left in the half Knighton rushed seven yards for an Edge touchdown and with a missed extra point, brought the score 23-9 with the Wild still in the lead.
Shortly after the start of the third quarter, Bloomington put together a strong drive let by Knighton which would eventually end in a 23 yard touchdown pass to Jasonus Tillery and with a missed extra point, the Edge cut the lead, 23-15 still in favor of the Wild. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a mental mistake by the Edge gave Wichita excellent field position at the Bloomington 21 and a chance to extend their lead which seemed to be dwindling. A pass complete to Simmons from hinds and a five yard rush put the Wild in scoring position, but with two consecutive sacks on Hinds, they would settle for a field goal from Fambrough to keep their lead at double digits, 26-15. Bloomington fired back on a short field with a pass from Knighton complete to Marcus Lewis for a 13 yard touchdown to cut the Wild lead to just 5 at 26-22. With an incredible special teams play, Hubbard returned the kick-off for a 56 yard touchdown and with the extra point missed, the Wild continued their lead 32-22. Although Bloomington set up a strong drive, they would not convert before the end of the quarter.
At the start of the final quarter, Bloomington's Andre Raymond ran the ball in three yards to make the score 32-29 as the Wild clung to a three point lead. On the next drive, Hinds found Kassanavoid for the second time of the night with a 26 yard pass to extend Wichita's lead to 10, 39-29 with nearly 11 minutes left in the game. An excellent defensive stand by the Wild defense held Bloomington to just a field goal try, but Wichita's Chris Hemphill blocked the kick to allow the Wild to maintain their 10 point lead. As Hinds attempted to build on the Wild's advantage, he inadvertently threw an interception to give Bloomington another chance to cut down their deficit, but Hemphill would get the ball right back with an interception of his own on the very next play down to the Bloomington three yard line, just short of a touchdown. Simmons caught a three yard pass from Hinds for his second touchdown late in the final quarter and the extra point by Fambrough gave the Wild a 46-29 lead over the Edge. A one play scoring drive by Bloomington's Tillery, kept the Edge within two possessions of Wichita's lead at 46-35, but a botched onside kick and penalty by Bloomington's special teams placed the ball at their own 8 yard line to put the Wild in scoring position. Hubbard would be buried on two consecutive rushes, forcing the Wild to try a field goal with just under a minute left in the game. Fambrough cashed in on the field goal to clinch a 49-35 Wild victory over the Edge for the second time this season.
The Wild continue season play when they return home on April 20th to host the Omaha Beef in Hartman Arena; Kick-off scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Tickets start at $5 and the Wild will be running a KFH Night ticket special of two tickets for $12.40. The ticket special is valid only on the $9 seats and can be purchased by calling (316) 927-3999. For more news and tickets visit www.wichitawildfootball.com and follow the team on Facebook and Twitter (@wichita_wild).
Champions Professional Indoor Football League Stories from April 12, 2013
- Wild Hold off Edge in Final Period - Bloomington Edge
- Wild Bounce Back with Big Win over Edge - Wichita Wild
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