Post by Gene on Feb 19, 2007 15:11:42 GMT -5
Heroes Fall in Slug-Fest
02/18/07 - American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) Huntington Heroes
Huntington - The Heroes welcomed the defending league champs, and undefeated Canton Legends to Big Sandy Superstore Arena Saturday night in an early season game with first place on the line. The Heroes went blow for blow with what is probably the best team in the league, but the Legends had just enough fire power to come away with the 69-52 victory over the Heroes.
After the defenses dominated the early part of the first half, the Heroes held a slim 16-14 lead at the 6:51 mark of the second quarter. Shortly after the offenses came to life for what became a flurry of scores that is the norm for indoor football. The Heroes managed to take a 32-27 halftime lead on Jimmy Skinner TD passes to Thomas Riley and James Hawkins.
The game stayed close throughout with the Heroes trailing by only one late in the fourth quarter. With the Heroes driving for what could have been a go ahead score, the Legends defense stepped up picking off Jimmy Skinner. The Legends would finish off Huntington behind the leadership of QB Kevin Mason. Mason would finish the night with 8 TD passes on 26 of 47 passes and 373 yards.
For the Heroes Jimmy Skinner passed for 246 yards on 13 of 28 passes for 6 TDs, but had 4 interceptions. The Heroes receiving corps was led by Shane Holsinger who caught 6 passes for 83 yards and 4 TD catches. "Really it's just about the offense coming together," said Holsinger, "I was the man tonight, the open guy. We all just give and take, it might be somebody else another night, but tonight was my night." Holsinger also talked about the makeup of this Heroes team and how they competed against the defending league champs, "I think we played strong. I think we can be better than them, it's just about coming together and finding the right mix of people. We're gonna get it done, it's gonna happen."
Coach McPeek while he was unhappy with the loss was pleased with the effort and is excited about the future. "I was proud of our effort, I thought we played great," said McPeek, "We traded punches with the champions, it was like a good old heavyweight bout. We turned it over a couple times, we're young. I saw some bright spots, but we're gonna make some mistakes and I was proud of our guys effort." Coach McPeek also spoke of the defense, that ended up being short handed before the night was over "We had great pressure on him (Mason) all night. I thought the defense played great." With Desmond Maul and Craig Chisholm out with injuries the secondary took a hit. "We got down a couple DB's, we had receivers playing DB."
The Heroes have the week off next week, before heading on the road to take on the Florence Phantoms on March 3. The Heroes next home game is March 24 when the Johnstown Riverhawks come to town.
Heroes Individual Stats:
Passing:
Jimmy Skinner 13 of 28 246 yards 6 TD 4 INT
Rushing:
Donte Newsome 6 attempts 27 yards 1TD
Receiving:
Thomas Riley 4 receptions 74 yards 1TD
Shane Holsinger 6 receptions 83 yards 4TD
James Hawkins 2 receptions 52 yards 1 TD
Donte Newsome 1 reception 21 yards
Defensive stats:
Connie Brown 2 tackles
Desomd Maul 9 tackles, 1 INT
Marcus Hairston 1 tackle
Thomas Riley 1 tackle
Craig Chisholm 4 tackles
Michael Owens 2 tackles 1 sack
Charles Tynes 1 tackle
Chris Terrell 1 tackle
02/18/07 - American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) Huntington Heroes
Huntington - The Heroes welcomed the defending league champs, and undefeated Canton Legends to Big Sandy Superstore Arena Saturday night in an early season game with first place on the line. The Heroes went blow for blow with what is probably the best team in the league, but the Legends had just enough fire power to come away with the 69-52 victory over the Heroes.
After the defenses dominated the early part of the first half, the Heroes held a slim 16-14 lead at the 6:51 mark of the second quarter. Shortly after the offenses came to life for what became a flurry of scores that is the norm for indoor football. The Heroes managed to take a 32-27 halftime lead on Jimmy Skinner TD passes to Thomas Riley and James Hawkins.
The game stayed close throughout with the Heroes trailing by only one late in the fourth quarter. With the Heroes driving for what could have been a go ahead score, the Legends defense stepped up picking off Jimmy Skinner. The Legends would finish off Huntington behind the leadership of QB Kevin Mason. Mason would finish the night with 8 TD passes on 26 of 47 passes and 373 yards.
For the Heroes Jimmy Skinner passed for 246 yards on 13 of 28 passes for 6 TDs, but had 4 interceptions. The Heroes receiving corps was led by Shane Holsinger who caught 6 passes for 83 yards and 4 TD catches. "Really it's just about the offense coming together," said Holsinger, "I was the man tonight, the open guy. We all just give and take, it might be somebody else another night, but tonight was my night." Holsinger also talked about the makeup of this Heroes team and how they competed against the defending league champs, "I think we played strong. I think we can be better than them, it's just about coming together and finding the right mix of people. We're gonna get it done, it's gonna happen."
Coach McPeek while he was unhappy with the loss was pleased with the effort and is excited about the future. "I was proud of our effort, I thought we played great," said McPeek, "We traded punches with the champions, it was like a good old heavyweight bout. We turned it over a couple times, we're young. I saw some bright spots, but we're gonna make some mistakes and I was proud of our guys effort." Coach McPeek also spoke of the defense, that ended up being short handed before the night was over "We had great pressure on him (Mason) all night. I thought the defense played great." With Desmond Maul and Craig Chisholm out with injuries the secondary took a hit. "We got down a couple DB's, we had receivers playing DB."
The Heroes have the week off next week, before heading on the road to take on the Florence Phantoms on March 3. The Heroes next home game is March 24 when the Johnstown Riverhawks come to town.
Heroes Individual Stats:
Passing:
Jimmy Skinner 13 of 28 246 yards 6 TD 4 INT
Rushing:
Donte Newsome 6 attempts 27 yards 1TD
Receiving:
Thomas Riley 4 receptions 74 yards 1TD
Shane Holsinger 6 receptions 83 yards 4TD
James Hawkins 2 receptions 52 yards 1 TD
Donte Newsome 1 reception 21 yards
Defensive stats:
Connie Brown 2 tackles
Desomd Maul 9 tackles, 1 INT
Marcus Hairston 1 tackle
Thomas Riley 1 tackle
Craig Chisholm 4 tackles
Michael Owens 2 tackles 1 sack
Charles Tynes 1 tackle
Chris Terrell 1 tackle