Post by rkozak201 on Apr 20, 2008 0:38:05 GMT -5
Carmelo Ocasio is back from his injury — and pays immediate dividends with three TD receptions.
By Darryl Grumling
Reading Eagle
It wasn’t exactly General Douglas MacArthur triumphantly returning to the Philipines.
Or Michael Jordan coming back to the Chicago Bulls in the mid-’90s.
But for the Reading Express, the much-anticipated return of standout wideout Carmelo Ocasio Saturday night went a long way in reigniting an offensive engine that had been sputtering of late.
Ocasio hauled in three touchdown passes while his defensive teammates turned in a dominant effort on the other side of the ball to highlight Reading’s 66-30 American Indoor Football Association rout of Florence before 3,875 at the Sovereign Center.
Muhlenberg grad Rob Flowers threw four TD passes and ran for two scores as Reading (4-2) notched a season-high point total and drew even with first-place Erie — which defeated Baltimore 55-40 Friday — in the North Division of the AIFA’s Eastern Conference.
Ocasio, the Reading High grad who has been the squad’s top playmaker the past two seasons, suffered a high ankle sprain in the preseason and reaggravated the injury in the season opener against Baltimore.
“It felt great,” said Ocasio, who caught six balls for 120 yards. “It’s been a very long year. The big thing was just getting back to game speed, because I really hadn’t played a full game since last year’s championship.”
Ocasio looked a little rusty with a couple of early drops, but it didn’t take Flowers long to get dialed in with the 6-1, 210-pound home run threat.
Flowers hooked up with him for first-half TDs of 22, 30 and 31 yards as the Express rolled to a 37-12 halftime lead.
“It really is a big difference when he’s in the lineup,” Reading coach Bernie Nowotarski said. “He just understands the game and has the experience. Breaking off patterns. Knowing where to go and where not to go in certain coverages. Having him is just an extremely big help to Robbie.”
Phantoms quarterback Omar Jacobs, who enjoyed a record-setting college career at Bowling Green and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL draft, came out smoking with a couple of early touchdown passes to stake Florence to a 12-7 lead.
But with Reading up 15-12 and the Phantoms (2-3) threatening early in the second quarter, Trent Jones intercepted Jacobs in the end zone and from there the momentum swung strongly to the Express side.
“Defensive stops in this game are the biggest thing that you can come up with,” Nowotarski said. “Offenses can trade back and forth, but you can’t ask for anything more than a defensive stop or score.”
The Express D-line harassed Jacobs the rest of the night, with Central Catholic grad Matt Sola hammering him in the end zone after a bad snap for a safety as Reading ran off the final 30 points of the first half.
“I classified ourselves early in the week as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” Nowotarski said. “I’m never quite sure what group is going to show up, but tonight we played a full 60 minutes.”
•Contact Darryl Grumling at 610-371-5072 or dgrumling@readingeagle.com.
By Darryl Grumling
Reading Eagle
It wasn’t exactly General Douglas MacArthur triumphantly returning to the Philipines.
Or Michael Jordan coming back to the Chicago Bulls in the mid-’90s.
But for the Reading Express, the much-anticipated return of standout wideout Carmelo Ocasio Saturday night went a long way in reigniting an offensive engine that had been sputtering of late.
Ocasio hauled in three touchdown passes while his defensive teammates turned in a dominant effort on the other side of the ball to highlight Reading’s 66-30 American Indoor Football Association rout of Florence before 3,875 at the Sovereign Center.
Muhlenberg grad Rob Flowers threw four TD passes and ran for two scores as Reading (4-2) notched a season-high point total and drew even with first-place Erie — which defeated Baltimore 55-40 Friday — in the North Division of the AIFA’s Eastern Conference.
Ocasio, the Reading High grad who has been the squad’s top playmaker the past two seasons, suffered a high ankle sprain in the preseason and reaggravated the injury in the season opener against Baltimore.
“It felt great,” said Ocasio, who caught six balls for 120 yards. “It’s been a very long year. The big thing was just getting back to game speed, because I really hadn’t played a full game since last year’s championship.”
Ocasio looked a little rusty with a couple of early drops, but it didn’t take Flowers long to get dialed in with the 6-1, 210-pound home run threat.
Flowers hooked up with him for first-half TDs of 22, 30 and 31 yards as the Express rolled to a 37-12 halftime lead.
“It really is a big difference when he’s in the lineup,” Reading coach Bernie Nowotarski said. “He just understands the game and has the experience. Breaking off patterns. Knowing where to go and where not to go in certain coverages. Having him is just an extremely big help to Robbie.”
Phantoms quarterback Omar Jacobs, who enjoyed a record-setting college career at Bowling Green and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL draft, came out smoking with a couple of early touchdown passes to stake Florence to a 12-7 lead.
But with Reading up 15-12 and the Phantoms (2-3) threatening early in the second quarter, Trent Jones intercepted Jacobs in the end zone and from there the momentum swung strongly to the Express side.
“Defensive stops in this game are the biggest thing that you can come up with,” Nowotarski said. “Offenses can trade back and forth, but you can’t ask for anything more than a defensive stop or score.”
The Express D-line harassed Jacobs the rest of the night, with Central Catholic grad Matt Sola hammering him in the end zone after a bad snap for a safety as Reading ran off the final 30 points of the first half.
“I classified ourselves early in the week as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” Nowotarski said. “I’m never quite sure what group is going to show up, but tonight we played a full 60 minutes.”
•Contact Darryl Grumling at 610-371-5072 or dgrumling@readingeagle.com.
