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Post by The Grim Reaper on May 24, 2008 20:21:24 GMT -5
Phantoms clinch playoff spot
By Shawn Singleton
Published: May 24, 2008
FLORENCE — Can you top this?
That was the most frequently asked question during the first half Friday night as Florence’s Omar Jacobs and Erie’s Rod Rutherford looked to outdo each other on every possession.
But Florence ended the back-and-forth scoring affair by scoring 22 points in the final two minutes of the first half as the Phantoms clinched an American Indoor Football Association playoff berth with a 57-27 rout of the RiverRats at Florence Civic Center.
“This is the biggest win in team history. For the first time ever, Florence is heading to the playoffs,” Florence coach Tavares Bowens said. “I’m happy for the team and the fans that came here to see us play. Hopefully, we can get even more fans to come to Civic Center.”
Rutherford used his feet and his arm to draw first blood on his team’s opening possession. Keyed by a 22-yard pass to Darmel Whitfield, the former University of Pittsburgh star powered his way into the end zone from two yards away to make it 6-0 before a missed extra point.
Florence answered behind the arm of Jacobs. Aided by a clutch 19-yard completion on fourth down to high school teammate Tres Moses, Jacobs fired a 16-yard scoring pass to C.J. Washington to put Florence ahead 7-6.
It took just one play, for Erie to regain the lead as Rutherford sailed a 30-yard TD pass to Jovan Johnson that gave the RiverRats a 13-7 advantage at the 14:21 mark of the second quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, however, Washington took the squib kick and raced 50 yards to give the Phantoms a 14-13 lead.
After a Robert Hammer TD run gave Erie the lead, Florence resorted to some razzle-dazzle to tie the contest.
From the Phantom 5-yard line, Jacobs completed a pass to A.J. Bennett. Bennett raced 40 yards downfield before pitching the ball to Jonathan Wedlock, who ran the final five yards to tie it at 21.
Jacobs finished with four touchdown passes. The Bowling Green star also rushed for a score in the third period.
After Erie’s J.R. Cipra hit a 40-yard field goal to make it 24-21, Wedlock bowled into the end zone from four yards out.
Then, Larry Thompson picked off a Rutherford screen pass and walked to paydirt from five yards away to give Florence a 36-24 advantage with 48 seconds left before the break.
It was the third straight game the Phantoms have scored a defensive touchdown.
“The kickoff return and the interception were big turning points against us,” Erie coach Shawn Liotta said. “We had several guys playing both ways because we were banged up. We’ll be alright, though.“
In the second half, the Phantoms’ defense stiffened. Florence allowed just a Cipra field goal in the final 30 minutes en route to the rout.
“Our defense is clicking on all cylinders right now,” Bowens said. “To give up only three points in the second half is outstanding, simply outstanding.”
“All week, we were told that the pressure was on the defensive line. We needed to step up and we did,” Phantoms linebacker/defensive end Cory Groover said. “Everyone’s starting to believe we can win, and I’m happy to be a part of it.”
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Post by mudcatsrule on May 24, 2008 23:29:14 GMT -5
i sure hope ya'll can make it all the way so we will be able to whoop your butts again!! lol
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Post by 1stDownStorm on May 24, 2008 23:48:05 GMT -5
How did you already clinch a playoff spot? You're only 1 game ahead of the 3rd place team.
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Post by mudcatsrule on May 25, 2008 8:36:58 GMT -5
reaper never seems to really have a clue as to what is going on in the real world!
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Post by UnoBomber on May 25, 2008 15:32:18 GMT -5
TEAM W L PCT
Florence 6 4 .600
Huntington 5 5 .500
Carolina 5 5 .500
Fayetteville 3 6 .333
They haven't clinched anything yet. Huntington, Carolina and Florence have four games left to play.
Currently, Florence has to win at least 3 out the four to clinch. The Phantoms have the tiebreaker over the Heroes because of total points. The series is 1-1, but the Phantoms have a total of 113 points to the Heroes 59 points. Carolina hasn't even played the Phantoms, which is rather odd since they are in the same division. Carolina goes against the Phantoms in the last regular season game.
Hell Fayeteville is only 2.5 out of first, so they can't be counted out either. Especially having 5 games left to play. They play the Phantoms this upcoming week, so the Guard have a good opportunity to shake up the division. The Guard lost to Florence 38-39, so if the Guard pull out a win by two or more points, Guard wins the tie breaker versus the Phantoms if a tie occured at the end of the regular season.
At this point, the magic number for Florence is 3.
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Post by Gene on May 25, 2008 15:53:07 GMT -5
I was wondering the same thing myself. No offense Robert-o but that whole division stinks! ;D 
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Post by phantomzoner on May 26, 2008 13:10:34 GMT -5
There sounds like many of your are still non believers of what we have in Florence, but continue to watch as we march thru the rest of the season and right on into the Championship.
As to you mudcats fans we would love a rematch on nuetral grounds because the referees help to maintain your home game win streak. We gave Tommy Jones H-E-double hockey sticks
and out played you all in statistical categories. So if you make it to the championship we will be there waiting.
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Post by UnoBomber on May 26, 2008 13:54:55 GMT -5
There sounds like many of your are still non believers of what we have in Florence, but continue to watch as we march thru the rest of the season and right on into the Championship. As to you mudcats fans we would love a rematch on nuetral grounds because the referees help to maintain your home game win streak. We gave Tommy Jones H-E-double hockey sticks and out played you all in statistical categories. So if you make it to the championship we will be there waiting. Again, the Phantoms magic number is 3 |
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Post by The Grim Reaper on May 27, 2008 8:58:11 GMT -5
If all of you geniuses would look I did not write this article.
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Post by mudcatsrule on May 27, 2008 21:29:23 GMT -5
There sounds like many of your are still non believers of what we have in Florence, but continue to watch as we march thru the rest of the season and right on into the Championship. As to you mudcats fans we would love a rematch on nuetral grounds because the referees help to maintain your home game win streak. We gave Tommy Jones H-E-double hockey sticks and out played you all in statistical categories. So if you make it to the championship we will be there waiting. uhhh ok dumbbutt if it is the home refs that have helped us why is it that the only game we have lost this season has been at home? |
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Post by rkb on May 27, 2008 23:58:35 GMT -5
And the refs screwed us in the loss. The refs in this league are bad everywhere.
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