Post by Free Agent Fan on Mar 26, 2007 18:26:01 GMT -5
Heroes Knock off RiverHawks
The Huntington Heroes returned home to face the Johnstown RiverHawks Saturday night in a big AIFA north division game. After losing their first two games of the season the RiverHawks managed to work their record to 3-2 and were on a three game winning streak. The Heroes were 2-2 coming in and was just behind Johnstown in the north division standings. Just like the first meeting between these teams it was again the Heroes defense that stole the show and led the way to a big win for the Heroes.
After a scoreless first quarter this game looked to be another defensive battle just like the earlier meeting a 35-24 Huntington win. The scoreboard did light up though with a combined 30 points scored in the second quarter. The Heroes would get the scoring started with a 12 yard Jimmy Skinner TD pass to Thomas Riley. Nick Kelly missed the PAT to give the Heroes the lead 6-0 with 14:08 left in the quarter.
The Riverhawks answered when Quenteen Robinson snagged his 100th career TD catch, a 9 yard strike from Jarrod Highberger. The RiverHawks converted their PAT and took the lead 7-6 at the 11:30 mark. The lead wouldn't last long because in the Heroes next posession Donte Newsome scored the first of his two long TD runs on the night, this one was 30 yards and it gave the Heroes a 13-7 lead.
The Heroes defense turned up the pressure forcing the RiverHawks to a field goal. Jimmy Skinner tossed his second TD, a 5 yard strike to Shane Holsinger, to give the Heroes a 20-10 halftime lead.
The second half began alot like the first with both teams fighting for field position for over half the quarter. Heroes linebacker Mike "Kool Aid" Owens broke the stalemate when he scooped up a Johnstown fumble and scored a touchdown to extend the Heroes lead to 27-10 at the 6:36 mark. Johnstown was not ready to give up though. Backup quarterback Waylon Davis, who came in for the banged up Highberger, hit Michael Caputa on a 32 yard TD strike to cut the Huntington lead to 27-16, as the third quarter ended.
The Heroes scored 13 unanswered points early in the fourth quarter to put the game away. At the 14:03 mark Jimmy Skinner tossed a 25 yard TD pass to Gerald Clark. Then on the Hawks next possession, Kool Aid Owens helped put the game away for good. Owens got his second fumble recovery of the night and returned it all the way down to the Johnstown five. This recovery wasn't nearly as graceful as his first one. The RiverHawks fumbled the ball at the Hero 24. Owens, trying to scoop the ball kicks it instead and finally picked it up at the Johnstown 13 before being brought down at the five. "I had a little trouble with it," said Owens, "I told them I was just being a team player and put the offense in good position to score." The offense did score when Skinner tossed a 5 yard swing pass to Donte Newsome to extend the lead to 40-16.
Johnstown scored again with about 6:00 left to make it a little closer, but the Heroes defense clamped down shutting them out the rest of the night. Donte Newsome scored on a 43 yard TD run late in the game to set the final score, 47-22.
Newsome finished with 79 yards on 10 rushing attempts and two TD's. Those numbers in the indoor game are a big deal, "You don't get to run alot but coach believes in me and the team believes in me so we ran that thing", said Newsome. Like any good running back Newsome credited his offensive line, "Those guys were great tonight."
"He ran the ball really hard and the offensive line played really great," said Heroes head coach Garry McPeek. "Any time you rush for that many yards in an indoor game your offensive line is doing something right."
On defense the Heroes were on fire, only giving up 128 yards. The RiverHawks passed for 155 yards, but were shut down on the ground going -22. Most of those negative yards came in the form of sacks. The Heroes recorded 5 sacks and were led by Jamus Martin who had 3. "The defense played great again, they were lights out all night long," said McPeek. "It could have been worse," said LB Kool Aid Owens, "They got a couple flukes there. The defense is starting to gel, it's coming together."
Jimmy Skinner made his return to the lineup this week completing 9 passes for 81 yards, 4 TD's and 2 interceptions. "Jimmy played pretty well for his first game back," said McPeek, "he made some throws, he's just going to get better and better." "I'm excited to be back into it" said Skinner, "at times we struggled tonight but when we needed to click we did and we put up enough points to win tonight."
Johnstown star receiver Quenteen Robinson was mostly contained catching 4 passes for 47 yards and a TD. That touchdown catch was Robinson's 100th of his 5 year career, "It definetly feels good to score 100 touchdowns" said Robinson, "but we didn't get it done tonight. I've known coach McPeek for a number of years and he always comes up with a good game plan to slow me down. I gotta take my hat off to the Heroes tonight." Coach McPeek said, "He's a great player, he's a warrior. Queteen's a great guy a class act I'm glad to see he got the record."
The Heroes advance its record to 3-2, while the RiverHawks drop to 3-3. This win coupled with Reading's 50-19 win over Canton Friday night sets up a big game next week when the Heroes visit the Reading Express. "We're right back in it" said McPeek, "We're not in the drivers seat but we're in the car and we got a chance at the playoffs."
The Huntington Heroes returned home to face the Johnstown RiverHawks Saturday night in a big AIFA north division game. After losing their first two games of the season the RiverHawks managed to work their record to 3-2 and were on a three game winning streak. The Heroes were 2-2 coming in and was just behind Johnstown in the north division standings. Just like the first meeting between these teams it was again the Heroes defense that stole the show and led the way to a big win for the Heroes.
After a scoreless first quarter this game looked to be another defensive battle just like the earlier meeting a 35-24 Huntington win. The scoreboard did light up though with a combined 30 points scored in the second quarter. The Heroes would get the scoring started with a 12 yard Jimmy Skinner TD pass to Thomas Riley. Nick Kelly missed the PAT to give the Heroes the lead 6-0 with 14:08 left in the quarter.
The Riverhawks answered when Quenteen Robinson snagged his 100th career TD catch, a 9 yard strike from Jarrod Highberger. The RiverHawks converted their PAT and took the lead 7-6 at the 11:30 mark. The lead wouldn't last long because in the Heroes next posession Donte Newsome scored the first of his two long TD runs on the night, this one was 30 yards and it gave the Heroes a 13-7 lead.
The Heroes defense turned up the pressure forcing the RiverHawks to a field goal. Jimmy Skinner tossed his second TD, a 5 yard strike to Shane Holsinger, to give the Heroes a 20-10 halftime lead.
The second half began alot like the first with both teams fighting for field position for over half the quarter. Heroes linebacker Mike "Kool Aid" Owens broke the stalemate when he scooped up a Johnstown fumble and scored a touchdown to extend the Heroes lead to 27-10 at the 6:36 mark. Johnstown was not ready to give up though. Backup quarterback Waylon Davis, who came in for the banged up Highberger, hit Michael Caputa on a 32 yard TD strike to cut the Huntington lead to 27-16, as the third quarter ended.
The Heroes scored 13 unanswered points early in the fourth quarter to put the game away. At the 14:03 mark Jimmy Skinner tossed a 25 yard TD pass to Gerald Clark. Then on the Hawks next possession, Kool Aid Owens helped put the game away for good. Owens got his second fumble recovery of the night and returned it all the way down to the Johnstown five. This recovery wasn't nearly as graceful as his first one. The RiverHawks fumbled the ball at the Hero 24. Owens, trying to scoop the ball kicks it instead and finally picked it up at the Johnstown 13 before being brought down at the five. "I had a little trouble with it," said Owens, "I told them I was just being a team player and put the offense in good position to score." The offense did score when Skinner tossed a 5 yard swing pass to Donte Newsome to extend the lead to 40-16.
Johnstown scored again with about 6:00 left to make it a little closer, but the Heroes defense clamped down shutting them out the rest of the night. Donte Newsome scored on a 43 yard TD run late in the game to set the final score, 47-22.
Newsome finished with 79 yards on 10 rushing attempts and two TD's. Those numbers in the indoor game are a big deal, "You don't get to run alot but coach believes in me and the team believes in me so we ran that thing", said Newsome. Like any good running back Newsome credited his offensive line, "Those guys were great tonight."
"He ran the ball really hard and the offensive line played really great," said Heroes head coach Garry McPeek. "Any time you rush for that many yards in an indoor game your offensive line is doing something right."
On defense the Heroes were on fire, only giving up 128 yards. The RiverHawks passed for 155 yards, but were shut down on the ground going -22. Most of those negative yards came in the form of sacks. The Heroes recorded 5 sacks and were led by Jamus Martin who had 3. "The defense played great again, they were lights out all night long," said McPeek. "It could have been worse," said LB Kool Aid Owens, "They got a couple flukes there. The defense is starting to gel, it's coming together."
Jimmy Skinner made his return to the lineup this week completing 9 passes for 81 yards, 4 TD's and 2 interceptions. "Jimmy played pretty well for his first game back," said McPeek, "he made some throws, he's just going to get better and better." "I'm excited to be back into it" said Skinner, "at times we struggled tonight but when we needed to click we did and we put up enough points to win tonight."
Johnstown star receiver Quenteen Robinson was mostly contained catching 4 passes for 47 yards and a TD. That touchdown catch was Robinson's 100th of his 5 year career, "It definetly feels good to score 100 touchdowns" said Robinson, "but we didn't get it done tonight. I've known coach McPeek for a number of years and he always comes up with a good game plan to slow me down. I gotta take my hat off to the Heroes tonight." Coach McPeek said, "He's a great player, he's a warrior. Queteen's a great guy a class act I'm glad to see he got the record."
The Heroes advance its record to 3-2, while the RiverHawks drop to 3-3. This win coupled with Reading's 50-19 win over Canton Friday night sets up a big game next week when the Heroes visit the Reading Express. "We're right back in it" said McPeek, "We're not in the drivers seat but we're in the car and we got a chance at the playoffs."