Post by AZ Adrenaline Junkie on May 25, 2008 1:58:57 GMT -5
Arizona clinches playoff berth
Special to the Courier
Saturday, May 24, 2008
PRESCOTT VALLEY - Two old enemies - penalties and blown assignments in the secondary - reared their ugly head again for the Adrenaline Saturday night at Tim's Toyota Center.
But two old standbys - Maurice Bryant and Fernandez Shaw - were enough to bail them out.
In the end the Adrenaline did just enough to beat a much-improved Utah Saints team 52-37 in front of about 2,000 fans. The win, coupled with Wyoming's 67-32 victory at New Mexico, means the Adrenaline mathematically clinched a playoff berth in their first year as a franchise in the 16-team American Indoor Football Association.
The somewhat disjointed victory didn't come without some anxious moments, as the team played without starting quarterback Chad DeGrenier, who suffered a foot injury in Tuesday's game at New Mexico and is listed as "questionable" for this Friday's contest at unbeaten Wyoming.
After a first half in which Utah took leads of 3-0, 10-6 and 16-14, the Saints grabbed one last edge, 23-22 when kicker Scott Thomson knocked in a rouge point on his kickoff with 3:25 left in the half.
But that's when Bryant and Chino Valley resident Robert Jones took over. Bryant, who had 10 catches for 138 yards and 4 TDs on the night, scored on an 11-yard hookup from rookie QB Jason Swanson, and Jones, who led the game in rushing with 35 yards on 9 carries, pounded in the 2-point conversion.
The 30-23 advantage widened in the second half, as the Adrenaline secondary tightened things up, and defensive end Fernandez Shaw dominated the line of scrimmage. Shaw, who entered the night tied atop the AIFA in sacks with 9.5, had three more Saturday, to go with 5 tackles and several hurries of quarterback Jeff Wissler.
Linebacker Chris Whitaker led the team in tackles with 7.5.
"Our secondary had a lot of breakdowns," Adrenaline head coach Andrew Moore said. "We'll have to look at things there, but we did do better in the second half. Utah is a much-improved team, I think (interim head coach) Mike Mink is doing a great job with them."
The Adrenaline also hurt themselves in penalties, finishing with nine on the night for 111 yards.
Running back Ty Evans' 6-yard TD run gave the Adrenaline a 38-22 lead early in the third quarter, which was followed up by TD catches from Quincy Jackson and Bryant to pull away in the fourth, improving their record to 7-2 on the year, while Utah slips to 0-9.
Notes: The Adrenaline have still allowed a league-low one sack, despite throwing 280 passes on the season ... The two-game total of 44 points allowed by the Adrenaline is the third lowest in the AIFA this season. Huntington allowed 30 and Wyoming 32 in a two-game span earlier in the year. Wyoming's also came against New Mexico and Utah ... The Adrenaline recently released kicker Carlos Ojeda, who they had acquired in a trade from New Mexico for offensive lineman Craig Brooks earlier in the month. Brooks has also been released by New Mexico ...
Special to the Courier
Saturday, May 24, 2008
PRESCOTT VALLEY - Two old enemies - penalties and blown assignments in the secondary - reared their ugly head again for the Adrenaline Saturday night at Tim's Toyota Center.
But two old standbys - Maurice Bryant and Fernandez Shaw - were enough to bail them out.
In the end the Adrenaline did just enough to beat a much-improved Utah Saints team 52-37 in front of about 2,000 fans. The win, coupled with Wyoming's 67-32 victory at New Mexico, means the Adrenaline mathematically clinched a playoff berth in their first year as a franchise in the 16-team American Indoor Football Association.
The somewhat disjointed victory didn't come without some anxious moments, as the team played without starting quarterback Chad DeGrenier, who suffered a foot injury in Tuesday's game at New Mexico and is listed as "questionable" for this Friday's contest at unbeaten Wyoming.
After a first half in which Utah took leads of 3-0, 10-6 and 16-14, the Saints grabbed one last edge, 23-22 when kicker Scott Thomson knocked in a rouge point on his kickoff with 3:25 left in the half.
But that's when Bryant and Chino Valley resident Robert Jones took over. Bryant, who had 10 catches for 138 yards and 4 TDs on the night, scored on an 11-yard hookup from rookie QB Jason Swanson, and Jones, who led the game in rushing with 35 yards on 9 carries, pounded in the 2-point conversion.
The 30-23 advantage widened in the second half, as the Adrenaline secondary tightened things up, and defensive end Fernandez Shaw dominated the line of scrimmage. Shaw, who entered the night tied atop the AIFA in sacks with 9.5, had three more Saturday, to go with 5 tackles and several hurries of quarterback Jeff Wissler.
Linebacker Chris Whitaker led the team in tackles with 7.5.
"Our secondary had a lot of breakdowns," Adrenaline head coach Andrew Moore said. "We'll have to look at things there, but we did do better in the second half. Utah is a much-improved team, I think (interim head coach) Mike Mink is doing a great job with them."
The Adrenaline also hurt themselves in penalties, finishing with nine on the night for 111 yards.
Running back Ty Evans' 6-yard TD run gave the Adrenaline a 38-22 lead early in the third quarter, which was followed up by TD catches from Quincy Jackson and Bryant to pull away in the fourth, improving their record to 7-2 on the year, while Utah slips to 0-9.
Notes: The Adrenaline have still allowed a league-low one sack, despite throwing 280 passes on the season ... The two-game total of 44 points allowed by the Adrenaline is the third lowest in the AIFA this season. Huntington allowed 30 and Wyoming 32 in a two-game span earlier in the year. Wyoming's also came against New Mexico and Utah ... The Adrenaline recently released kicker Carlos Ojeda, who they had acquired in a trade from New Mexico for offensive lineman Craig Brooks earlier in the month. Brooks has also been released by New Mexico ...
