Post by Gene on Jun 13, 2010 6:59:25 GMT -5
6/13/2010
By Brian Rippey
Reading Eagle
A strange thing happened on the Reading Express' ride to an easy win Saturday night over the Fayetteville Guard.
The Guard, winner of just two games this season, rallied from a 22-point deficit and was one play away from derailing the Express' playoff hopes.
But Jeff Willis made a leaping grab of a 14-yard pass from backup quarterback Dan Kelly in the back of the end zone in the final second to help the Express escape the Sovereign Center with a 49-48 American Indoor Football Association win.
"Us receivers, we live for that moment, that one moment where we can make a big play that stands out in our career," Willis said. "For me, that's the biggest play I've ever made in the three years I've been here in Reading."
It also was huge for Kelly, who entered in the third quarter to replace a struggling Rob Flowers. Kelly, who got his first significant time at quarterback last week when Flowers got hurt, stepped up to the challenge.
"We gave ourselves the opportunity to win," Kelly said. "It doesn't matter how much you win by. As long as you win, everybody's happy."
The Express (8-5) was thrilled to escape with a victory in a game it led 21-0 in the second quarter and 29-7 in the closing seconds of the first half before the Guard (2-10) scored on the final play of the half.
Fayetteville was held to 5 yards in the first quarter and didn't get the ball past midfield until less than five minutes remained in the half. But behind quarterback Javaris Taylor, Fayetteville scored on eight straight possessions and got into a seesaw battle.
Sinisa Vrvilo's 39-yard field goal with 5:09 left gave Fayetteville a 44-42 lead. The Express failed to answer when Erik Rockhold missed a 28-yard field-goal try with 1:38 left.
The Express' hopes for a needed victory seemed bleak when Chris Johson turned a short pass from Taylor into a 37-yard gain to the Express 3 with 1 minute left.
Three 5-yard penalties and a sack forced the Guard to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Vrvilo with 42 seconds left. When Vrvilo followed that up with an uno, Reading found itself on its own 5-yard line trailing by six points and time running out on its season.
"The team really rallied together to come back and give us a chance to win the game," Kelly said. "I have faith in every single one of my teammates that they're going to make a play when they need to make a play."
Kelly, who threw three TD passes, completed three straight passes, the last a 14-yarder to Nate Romig to put Reading on the Fayetteville 13. When Kelly lost a yard on first down, it forced Reading to call its last timeout with 15.7 seconds left.
Two incompletions put Reading down to fourth down with 6.6 seconds left. Kelly lofted the ball to the back of the end zone and Willis won a jump ball.
"Once I get it in my hands like that with the game on the line, there's no possible way you could take it out of my hands," said Willis, who had four TD catches. "I'm not letting it go."
After a 10-yard penalty for an excessive celebration, Rockhold booted a 28-yard extra point for the winning margin.
"We were able to get the job done and that's all that matters," Willis said.
Contact Brian Rippey: 610-371-5070 or brippey@readingeagle.com.
Source:: readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=227141
By Brian Rippey
Reading Eagle
A strange thing happened on the Reading Express' ride to an easy win Saturday night over the Fayetteville Guard.
The Guard, winner of just two games this season, rallied from a 22-point deficit and was one play away from derailing the Express' playoff hopes.
But Jeff Willis made a leaping grab of a 14-yard pass from backup quarterback Dan Kelly in the back of the end zone in the final second to help the Express escape the Sovereign Center with a 49-48 American Indoor Football Association win.
"Us receivers, we live for that moment, that one moment where we can make a big play that stands out in our career," Willis said. "For me, that's the biggest play I've ever made in the three years I've been here in Reading."
It also was huge for Kelly, who entered in the third quarter to replace a struggling Rob Flowers. Kelly, who got his first significant time at quarterback last week when Flowers got hurt, stepped up to the challenge.
"We gave ourselves the opportunity to win," Kelly said. "It doesn't matter how much you win by. As long as you win, everybody's happy."
The Express (8-5) was thrilled to escape with a victory in a game it led 21-0 in the second quarter and 29-7 in the closing seconds of the first half before the Guard (2-10) scored on the final play of the half.
Fayetteville was held to 5 yards in the first quarter and didn't get the ball past midfield until less than five minutes remained in the half. But behind quarterback Javaris Taylor, Fayetteville scored on eight straight possessions and got into a seesaw battle.
Sinisa Vrvilo's 39-yard field goal with 5:09 left gave Fayetteville a 44-42 lead. The Express failed to answer when Erik Rockhold missed a 28-yard field-goal try with 1:38 left.
The Express' hopes for a needed victory seemed bleak when Chris Johson turned a short pass from Taylor into a 37-yard gain to the Express 3 with 1 minute left.
Three 5-yard penalties and a sack forced the Guard to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Vrvilo with 42 seconds left. When Vrvilo followed that up with an uno, Reading found itself on its own 5-yard line trailing by six points and time running out on its season.
"The team really rallied together to come back and give us a chance to win the game," Kelly said. "I have faith in every single one of my teammates that they're going to make a play when they need to make a play."
Kelly, who threw three TD passes, completed three straight passes, the last a 14-yarder to Nate Romig to put Reading on the Fayetteville 13. When Kelly lost a yard on first down, it forced Reading to call its last timeout with 15.7 seconds left.
Two incompletions put Reading down to fourth down with 6.6 seconds left. Kelly lofted the ball to the back of the end zone and Willis won a jump ball.
"Once I get it in my hands like that with the game on the line, there's no possible way you could take it out of my hands," said Willis, who had four TD catches. "I'm not letting it go."
After a 10-yard penalty for an excessive celebration, Rockhold booted a 28-yard extra point for the winning margin.
"We were able to get the job done and that's all that matters," Willis said.
Contact Brian Rippey: 610-371-5070 or brippey@readingeagle.com.
Source:: readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=227141
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