Post by Gene on Apr 26, 2008 0:20:44 GMT -5
www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=89727
4/26/2008
Express uses ‘D’ — yes, ‘D’ — to roll over Canton
Reading intercepts three passes and makes life miserable for Legends QB Jamie Williamson on its way to an easy win.
By Brian Rippey
Reading Eagle
Indoor football often resembles basketball, especially the final score.
Blink your eyes and you might miss a touchdown. Go to the concession stand and you could miss a whole lot more.
But the Reading Express used a rare commodity Friday night in the Sovereign Center to defeat the Canton Legends in the American Indoor Football Association — defense.
The Express intercepted three passes and constantly harassed quarterback Jamie Williamson in a 36-7 rout.
“Our game plan was to put pressure on the quarterback,” said Express linebacker Rob Biernat, who had three sacks. “We did it all night and forced him into bad throws. We got stops when we needed them.”
Biernat returned an interception 10 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, the only score of the second half.
The Express (5-2) pulled away from the Legends (0-6) with 16 points in the final minute of the second quarter to take a 29-7 halftime lead.
Quarterback Rob Flowers ran 2 yards for a touchdown with 55 seconds left in the half and ran in the two-point conversion.
After a defensive stop, Flowers threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Carmelo Ocasio with one second left in the half. Erik Rockhold tacked on the extra point and an uno on the ensuing kickoff.
Flowers also threw touchdown passes of 12 yards to Jeff Willis in the first quarter and 26 yards to Ocasio in the second, a reception in which Ocasio held on to the ball in the corner of the end zone while being pushed over the boards.
Flowers completed 17-of-34 passes for 187 yards. Willis had eight catches for 89 yards and Ocasio had six for 67 yards.
That was more than enough scoring for an Express defense that sacked Williamson six times and got interceptions from Biernat, Ronnie Montgomery and Michael Baldwin.
“It was a total team effort,” said linebacker Matt Sola, who was in on two sacks. “Up front we beat them up bad. They can’t get the ball off because of the up-front guys and when they do they’re being covered. That’s all-around great ‘D’. I love it.”
Defensive linemen Brett Kolk, Corey Gipe and Chad Clark also got plenty of penetration to disrupt the Canton offense. In addition to being credited with a sack, Gipe tackled the holder on a botched field goal try.
“We were definitely all on board with what we had to do today,” Gipe said. “I really think we stepped it up. I hope we can just continue that in two weeks when we go back out there.”
After its only bye week of the season, the Express will visit the Legends, who have fallen on hard times after splitting conference championship games against the Express in the last two seasons.
It was the second straight game in which Canton scored just one touchdown.
Still, the Express defense had a lot to brag about.
“Overall we played great,” Biernat said. “This is the best game we’ve played as a defense so far. We’re really coming together.”
•Contact Brian Rippey at 610-371-5070 or brippey@readingeagle.com.
4/26/2008
Express uses ‘D’ — yes, ‘D’ — to roll over Canton
Reading intercepts three passes and makes life miserable for Legends QB Jamie Williamson on its way to an easy win.
By Brian Rippey
Reading Eagle
Indoor football often resembles basketball, especially the final score.
Blink your eyes and you might miss a touchdown. Go to the concession stand and you could miss a whole lot more.
But the Reading Express used a rare commodity Friday night in the Sovereign Center to defeat the Canton Legends in the American Indoor Football Association — defense.
The Express intercepted three passes and constantly harassed quarterback Jamie Williamson in a 36-7 rout.
“Our game plan was to put pressure on the quarterback,” said Express linebacker Rob Biernat, who had three sacks. “We did it all night and forced him into bad throws. We got stops when we needed them.”
Biernat returned an interception 10 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, the only score of the second half.
The Express (5-2) pulled away from the Legends (0-6) with 16 points in the final minute of the second quarter to take a 29-7 halftime lead.
Quarterback Rob Flowers ran 2 yards for a touchdown with 55 seconds left in the half and ran in the two-point conversion.
After a defensive stop, Flowers threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Carmelo Ocasio with one second left in the half. Erik Rockhold tacked on the extra point and an uno on the ensuing kickoff.
Flowers also threw touchdown passes of 12 yards to Jeff Willis in the first quarter and 26 yards to Ocasio in the second, a reception in which Ocasio held on to the ball in the corner of the end zone while being pushed over the boards.
Flowers completed 17-of-34 passes for 187 yards. Willis had eight catches for 89 yards and Ocasio had six for 67 yards.
That was more than enough scoring for an Express defense that sacked Williamson six times and got interceptions from Biernat, Ronnie Montgomery and Michael Baldwin.
“It was a total team effort,” said linebacker Matt Sola, who was in on two sacks. “Up front we beat them up bad. They can’t get the ball off because of the up-front guys and when they do they’re being covered. That’s all-around great ‘D’. I love it.”
Defensive linemen Brett Kolk, Corey Gipe and Chad Clark also got plenty of penetration to disrupt the Canton offense. In addition to being credited with a sack, Gipe tackled the holder on a botched field goal try.
“We were definitely all on board with what we had to do today,” Gipe said. “I really think we stepped it up. I hope we can just continue that in two weeks when we go back out there.”
After its only bye week of the season, the Express will visit the Legends, who have fallen on hard times after splitting conference championship games against the Express in the last two seasons.
It was the second straight game in which Canton scored just one touchdown.
Still, the Express defense had a lot to brag about.
“Overall we played great,” Biernat said. “This is the best game we’ve played as a defense so far. We’re really coming together.”
•Contact Brian Rippey at 610-371-5070 or brippey@readingeagle.com.
