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pontiacnutt
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Tucson Times
August 12, 2008

Tucson: The Las Vegas Outlaws limped into NightHawks Den on Monday night with only one victory on the season looking for something, anything at all, positive that they could build on in an attempt to salvage their GLB Season 4. Instead they encountered a NightHawks rushing attack that stampeded them for over 400 yards and 7 rushing touchdowns. By the time the last seconds had ticked off the clock the Outlaws had suffered another embarrassing loss, this one 90-7 to the NightHawks.


In the post game press conference a somewhat surprisingly stoic Head Coach Pontiac refused to buy into the belief that his team had gotten past it's inconsistent offensive play with the performance. "You have to perform at a high level over a period of time before you can establish yourself among the leagues top offenses. We haven't done that yet". When asked about the 400 plus yards performance by the NightHawks running game Pontiac conceded "We dominated up front on the line opening up some huge holes. The backs did a solid job of hitting them and getting to the second level more times than not." He wasn't quite as positive regarding the NightHawks passing attack, "To many dropped passes. For ahwile there I thought we had signed 5 Roberto "Hands of Stone" Duran to play receiver. We gave up a couple of picks that hurt momentum as well. Fortunately for us our defense got them back plus some."

Tucson's special teams got the lopsided track meet off to a quick start when return man David Palmer rambled 52 yards for the opening score and an early 7-0 lead for the NightHawks. "The first guy down over ran the kick." said Palmer, "Once I got past the kicker it was clear sailing."

The NightHawks added to their lead after their defense forced the Outlaws to punt from deep within their own territory setting the NightHawks offense up in a perfect scoring opportunity. They wasted little time in taking advantage when two plays later NightHawks receiver Neon Bodeaux ran right past a struggling Outlaws cornerback for a 11 yard touchdown connection with Tucson quarterback Stonewall Gunner.

Tucson's offense failed to take advantage of another golden scoring opportunity after NightHawks corner Kareem "INT" Jackson stepped in front of an Outlaw pass and came away with the interception. NightHawks Quarterback Stonewall Gunner returned the favor on the very next play when he tried to hook up with wideout Shayde Black. Instead the pass was picked off ending Tucson's chances of taking advantage of the Las Vegas miscue.

The defense took no chances on the next turnover when the Outlaws again tried to go to the air. This time it was John McNeeley who did the honors for the NightHawks jumping the pass route and taking it to the house for a 82 yard score putting Tucson up 21-0. The Outlaws could net only 9 yards on their next possession and were again forced to punt the ball back to Tucson. After a 38 yard return by Palmer set the NightHawks up at the Outlaws 47 yard line the Tucson offense made short work of making the score 28-0 when Tucson tailback Blake Cooter rambled off tackle for 35 yards and a touchdown.

The second quarter saw the NightHawks add to their lead when they put together a 10 play 52 yard drive that was capped by another connection between Gunner and Bodeaux when again Bodeaux took advantage of the smaller Outlaws corner on a fade pattern. Already up 28-0 with plenty of time left in the half the NightHawks again put together a drive this one covering 63 yards, all on the ground. All three Tucson tailbacks garnered carries with Blah Dow doing the honors on the touchdown punching it in from 3 yards out. DeadNutzOn missed the extra point leaving the Tucson lead at 41-0.

Just 7 plays later Tucson would again add to its lead when Dow powered his way through the Las Vegas defense breaking 4 tackles on his way to a 45 yard touchdown and a 48-0 NightHawks lead. "Other than the interception there weren't allot of negatives going into the locker room at half time," said NightHawks QB Stonewall Gunner, "we felt like we probably could have had allot more yards through the air but we thought we could fix that in the second half." Tucson OC Rip Urheadoff agreed with his QB adding, "We knew we had some mismatches in the passing game that we should be able to take advantage of if we could hang on to the ball."

Instead the NightHawks opened the second half with Gunner's second interception of the game after Tucson had reached Outlaws territory. Vegas was unable to take advantage though as the Tucson defense again came up with the big play. This time it was Cro Marty who broke on a Outlaws pass picking it off and returning it 18 yards to the Outlaws 31 yard line. It took 5 straight pass attempts before Gunner found See-You-In-The-Endzone for a 3 yard touchdown and a 55-0 Tucson lead.

Tucson's bid for the shutout ended on the next drive when the Outlaws put together a 10 play 61 yard drive to make the score 55-7. Tucson snatched momentum right back though when special teams star David Palmer took the ensuing kickoff and dashed 90 yards for the score making the NightHawks lead 62-7. The NightHawks would add another 3rd quarter score one possession later after mixing the pass and run to perfection to move 60 yards and make the score 69-7.

It took three fourth quarter rushing touchdowns to produce the final tally. First Dow capped a 6 play drive with a three yard touchdown run, his third of the night. After Kareem "INT" Jackson added his second pick of the night Blake Cooter equaled Dow's touchdown output on a 62 yard touchdown run. Not to be shut out of the chance to practice his endzone dance Tucson tailback Flash Rodgers closed the scoring with a 7 yard touchdown run to cap a 7 play 73 yard drive. Rodgers who finished the game with 135 yards rushing and a touchdown couldn't praise his line enough. "You wouldn't believe the size of the holes they were opening out there," said Rodgers adding "and the receivers did a great job blocking on the outside when we ran the sweep."

"There's still a long way to go in the season but I'm fairly pleased with where we are right now both as a team and where we stand in conference play." said Pontiac reservedly. "We still have allot of improvements we need to make on both sides of the ball." Asked about the success of Palmer in the game Pontiac actually broke a rare smile, "Deuce has worked hard to improve his return skills. He watches allot of game film to get ready to do his job and it obviously has payed off this year. He knows right now his playing time is limited to special teams so he's trying to make the most of it. Of course if he keeps up playing the way he did tonight we're going to have to start finding more ways to get the ball in his hands."


***Stat Of The Game***

We could go with.......
0.....the number of times Tucson backs were tackled for a loss.

.....or we could use.......
137....the number of pancakes the NightHawks amassed as opposed to 0, the number of pancakes the Tucson defensive line gave up

....though some people would go with....
33.....the number of tackles Tucson backs broke on the way to scoring 7 touchdowns

.....but I think I'll go with..........
12.......the number of sacks the NightHawks defense came away with. 6 of them by DE Quickly Sacked alone.
 
therichone
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yeah its back its back yeah
 
achilles027
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Lol@Greg I was thinking the same thing.
 
pontiacnutt
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Tucson Times
August 15, 2008

NightHawks Find Clear Skies In Shutout Of Thunder

Tucson: The Tucson NightHawks had little trouble in dispatching the Chicago Thunder on Thursday night. Using a smothering defense and solid offensive play the NightHawks soared to a 23-0 victory over a Chicago squad that managed only two failed field goal attempts of offensive output.

NightHawks Head Coach Pontiac seemed pleased with the effort though he was quick to point out some shortcomings by the Tucson passing game "Our defense did a great job of holding Chicago in check," said Pontiac, "Our offense kept the chains moving and was able to put points on the board against a solid defense. Of course I'll have to look at the game film but it appeared we had multiple chances to put more points on the board than we did but were forced to settle for field goals". Tucson DC Moses was pleased with the play of his unit, "They went out there and made things happen. Nobody really had flashy numbers yet we were able to play assignment football and stop them when we had to." The NightHawks also continued to prove to be an opportunistic defense garnering two more turnovers, 1 through the air and 1 on the ground.

The NightHawks opened the game with the longest drive in number of plays, in team history. Mixing 14 rushing attempts with a sprinkle of 3 passes the Nighthawks drove the ball 80 yards and capped it off with a 6 yard touchdown run by Blake Cooter to take a early 7-0 lead. Cooter carried the ball 8 times for 41 yards on the drive.

The first quarter ended with the score the same as neither team was able to sustain a drive with the Thunder only able to net 5 yards in total offense in the 1st quarter.

The second quarter had a inauspicious beginning for the NightHawks. They opened the 2nd having driven to the Chicago 34 yard line when See-You-In-the-Endzone caught a pass from Tucson Quarterback Stonewall Gunner but fumbled the ball on the tackle losing it to the Thunder. Chicago put together one of it's two drives on the day and appeared, at least momentarily, as if it would seize momentum and cash in off the turnover. The Thunder used a mix of pass and run to reach the Tucson 29 yard line where the NightHawks defense stiffened and forced a 46 yard field goal attempt that was wide right ending the threat.

Tucson made the score 10-0 on a DeadNutzOn 49 yard field goal just a few minutes later. Key on the drive was a 8 yard carry on a toss sweep by Cooter to convert on a 3rd and 2 that put the NightHawks in field goal position. It was Cooter's second 3rd down conversion on the drive as he'd also took a toss for 9 yards earlier in the drive.

The score stayed the same to end the half. Though the NightHawks went to the Locker room with a 10 point lead the offensive players knew they'd missed some chances. "We missed some big opportunities in the first half, said Tucson QB Gunner, "I made a bad read that may have cost us one drive and we had a dropped pass on a 3rd down play that would have given us a first and goal. Coach let us know about it in the locker room too." The coach in question was OC Rip who said after the game "We're still shooting ourselves in the foot at times at times we can't afford." said Rip sounding frustrated. "We did better in the second half. We're not far off from where we need to be. When we learn to consistently finish drives this team will be hard to beat."

The NightHawks made the score 13-0 on their second possession of the 3rd quarter when DeadNutzOn hit his second field goal of the game, this one from 48 yards away. The drive was set up when John McNeeley picked off a Thunder pass and returned it 18 yards to give the NightHawks the ball at their own 40. "John made a great read on the route." Said Coach Pontiac. "He read the quarterbacks eyes and almost baited him into the throw. I thought for a second he might take it to the house."

Knowing they couldn't afford to fall much further behind seemed to light a fire under the Thunder offense. Using the pass as it's catalyst the Chicago defense drove the ball 70 yards down to the NightHawks 10 yard line where they faced a 3rd and 5. The Thunder opted to go with a swing pass to their tail back but the NightHawks defense sniffed the play out early with Strong Safety Curtis Lemansky flying up to stuff the play for a loss and force a Chicago field goal attempt. For the second time in the game the kick was wide right keeping the shutout intact.

Again the NightHawks followed the miss with a field goal drive of their own just as they'd done in the first half. Taking possession at their own ten yard line Tuscon drove the length of the field down to the Thunder 2 yard line before being forced to settle for DeadNutzOn's 3rd field goal of the game from 19 yards out to make the score 16-0. The NightHawks again used the run to grind out yardage on the drive with Flash Rodgers carrying the ball 5 times for 21 yards to lead the way.

Just two plays later the Tucson defense gave the ball back to the NightHawks offense for another shot at getting in the endzone when Anthony Hazelett forced a Chicago fumble that was recovered by linebacker Perry Hauge at the Thunder 20 yard line. It took the offense 4 plays, all on the ground, to punch the ball into the endzone with fullback Amos Moses doing the honors from 8 yards out to score the final points of the game.

Pontiac pointed out the strong play of his special teams and defense as well as the consistency of the NightHawks running game as keys to the victory adding, "You also have to give credit to your offensive line. Chicago has a very talented front 7 and to give our QB time to throw the ball and our backs room to run says allot about the job they did." Asked what he thought of the upcoming matchup against the Mad Dawgs Pontiac would only say "We've got allot of game film to watch before I could answer that question. I haven't really had the opportunity to see them play this season but I do know they have a very talented team with a defense that's as tough as any in the conference and a very physical running game."

***Stat of the Game***

.....We could go with......
0....the number of pancakes the Tucson defense allowed the Thunder offensive line......

....or we could go with.......
1.5......the yards per carry allowed by the NightHawks defense........

.....but I think I'll go with......
16....the number of broken tackles the Tucson backs and receivers accumulated against the Chicago defense.
 
Mr.giggles
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Originally posted by pontiacnutt
Tucson Times
August 15, 2008

NightHawks Find Clear Skies In Shutout Of Thunder

Tucson: The Tucson NightHawks had little trouble in dispatching the Chicago Thunder on Thursday night. Using a smothering defense and solid offensive play the NightHawks soared to a 23-0 victory over a Chicago squad that managed only two failed field goal attempts of offensive output.

NightHawks Head Coach Pontiac seemed pleased with the effort though he was quick to point out some shortcomings by the Tucson passing game "Our defense did a great job of holding Chicago in check," said Pontiac, "Our offense kept the chains moving and was able to put points on the board against a solid defense. Of course I'll have to look at the game film but it appeared we had multiple chances to put more points on the board than we did but were forced to settle for field goals". Tucson DC Moses was pleased with the play of his unit, "They went out there and made things happen. Nobody really had flashy numbers yet we were able to play assignment football and stop them when we had to." The NightHawks also continued to prove to be an opportunistic defense garnering two more turnovers, 1 through the air and 1 on the ground.

The NightHawks opened the game with the longest drive in number of plays, in team history. Mixing 14 rushing attempts with a sprinkle of 3 passes the Nighthawks drove the ball 80 yards and capped it off with a 6 yard touchdown run by Blake Cooter to take a early 7-0 lead. Cooter carried the ball 8 times for 41 yards on the drive.

The first quarter ended with the score the same as neither team was able to sustain a drive with the Thunder only able to net 5 yards in total offense in the 1st quarter.

The second quarter had a inauspicious beginning for the NightHawks. They opened the 2nd having driven to the Chicago 34 yard line when See-You-In-the-Endzone caught a pass from Tucson Quarterback Stonewall Gunner but fumbled the ball on the tackle losing it to the Thunder. Chicago put together one of it's two drives on the day and appeared, at least momentarily, as if it would seize momentum and cash in off the turnover. The Thunder used a mix of pass and run to reach the Tucson 29 yard line where the NightHawks defense stiffened and forced a 46 yard field goal attempt that was wide right ending the threat.

Tucson made the score 10-0 on a DeadNutzOn 49 yard field goal just a few minutes later. Key on the drive was a 8 yard carry on a toss sweep by Cooter to convert on a 3rd and 2 that put the NightHawks in field goal position. It was Cooter's second 3rd down conversion on the drive as he'd also took a toss for 9 yards earlier in the drive.

The score stayed the same to end the half. Though the NightHawks went to the Locker room with a 10 point lead the offensive players knew they'd missed some chances. "We missed some big opportunities in the first half, said Tucson QB Gunner, "I made a bad read that may have cost us one drive and we had a dropped pass on a 3rd down play that would have given us a first and goal. Coach let us know about it in the locker room too." The coach in question was OC Rip who said after the game "We're still shooting ourselves in the foot at times at times we can't afford." said Rip sounding frustrated. "We did better in the second half. We're not far off from where we need to be. When we learn to consistently finish drives this team will be hard to beat."

The NightHawks made the score 13-0 on their second possession of the 3rd quarter when DeadNutzOn hit his second field goal of the game, this one from 48 yards away. The drive was set up when John McNeeley picked off a Thunder pass and returned it 18 yards to give the NightHawks the ball at their own 40. "John made a great read on the route." Said Coach Pontiac. "He read the quarterbacks eyes and almost baited him into the throw. I thought for a second he might take it to the house."

Knowing they couldn't afford to fall much further behind seemed to light a fire under the Thunder offense. Using the pass as it's catalyst the Chicago defense drove the ball 70 yards down to the NightHawks 10 yard line where they faced a 3rd and 5. The Thunder opted to go with a swing pass to their tail back but the NightHawks defense sniffed the play out early with Strong Safety Curtis Lemansky flying up to stuff the play for a loss and force a Chicago field goal attempt. For the second time in the game the kick was wide right keeping the shutout intact.

Again the NightHawks followed the miss with a field goal drive of their own just as they'd done in the first half. Taking possession at their own ten yard line Tuscon drove the length of the field down to the Thunder 2 yard line before being forced to settle for DeadNutzOn's 3rd field goal of the game from 19 yards out to make the score 16-0. The NightHawks again used the run to grind out yardage on the drive with Flash Rodgers carrying the ball 5 times for 21 yards to lead the way.

Just two plays later the Tucson defense gave the ball back to the NightHawks offense for another shot at getting in the endzone when Anthony Hazelett forced a Chicago fumble that was recovered by linebacker Perry Hauge at the Thunder 20 yard line. It took the offense 4 plays, all on the ground, to punch the ball into the endzone with fullback Amos Moses doing the honors from 8 yards out to score the final points of the game.

Pontiac pointed out the strong play of his special teams and defense as well as the consistency of the NightHawks running game as keys to the victory adding, "You also have to give credit to your offensive line. Chicago has a very talented front 7 and to give our QB time to throw the ball and our backs room to run says allot about the job they did." Asked what he thought of the upcoming matchup against the Mad Dawgs Pontiac would only say "We've got allot of game film to watch before I could answer that question. I haven't really had the opportunity to see them play this season but I do know they have a very talented team with a defense that's as tough as any in the conference and a very physical running game."

***Stat of the Game***

.....We could go with......
0....the number of pancakes the Tucson defense allowed the Thunder offensive line......

....or we could go with.......
1.5......the yards per carry allowed by the NightHawks defense........

.....but I think I'll go with......
16....the number of broken tackles the Tucson backs and receivers accumulated against the Chicago defense.


tl;dr only read the last part :o
 
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Originally posted by Mr.giggles
Originally posted by pontiacnutt

Tucson Times
August 15, 2008

NightHawks Find Clear Skies In Shutout Of Thunder

Tucson: The Tucson NightHawks had little trouble in dispatching the Chicago Thunder on Thursday night. Using a smothering defense and solid offensive play the NightHawks soared to a 23-0 victory over a Chicago squad that managed only two failed field goal attempts of offensive output.

NightHawks Head Coach Pontiac seemed pleased with the effort though he was quick to point out some shortcomings by the Tucson passing game "Our defense did a great job of holding Chicago in check," said Pontiac, "Our offense kept the chains moving and was able to put points on the board against a solid defense. Of course I'll have to look at the game film but it appeared we had multiple chances to put more points on the board than we did but were forced to settle for field goals". Tucson DC Moses was pleased with the play of his unit, "They went out there and made things happen. Nobody really had flashy numbers yet we were able to play assignment football and stop them when we had to." The NightHawks also continued to prove to be an opportunistic defense garnering two more turnovers, 1 through the air and 1 on the ground.

The NightHawks opened the game with the longest drive in number of plays, in team history. Mixing 14 rushing attempts with a sprinkle of 3 passes the Nighthawks drove the ball 80 yards and capped it off with a 6 yard touchdown run by Blake Cooter to take a early 7-0 lead. Cooter carried the ball 8 times for 41 yards on the drive.

The first quarter ended with the score the same as neither team was able to sustain a drive with the Thunder only able to net 5 yards in total offense in the 1st quarter.

The second quarter had a inauspicious beginning for the NightHawks. They opened the 2nd having driven to the Chicago 34 yard line when See-You-In-the-Endzone caught a pass from Tucson Quarterback Stonewall Gunner but fumbled the ball on the tackle losing it to the Thunder. Chicago put together one of it's two drives on the day and appeared, at least momentarily, as if it would seize momentum and cash in off the turnover. The Thunder used a mix of pass and run to reach the Tucson 29 yard line where the NightHawks defense stiffened and forced a 46 yard field goal attempt that was wide right ending the threat.

Tucson made the score 10-0 on a DeadNutzOn 49 yard field goal just a few minutes later. Key on the drive was a 8 yard carry on a toss sweep by Cooter to convert on a 3rd and 2 that put the NightHawks in field goal position. It was Cooter's second 3rd down conversion on the drive as he'd also took a toss for 9 yards earlier in the drive.

The score stayed the same to end the half. Though the NightHawks went to the Locker room with a 10 point lead the offensive players knew they'd missed some chances. "We missed some big opportunities in the first half, said Tucson QB Gunner, "I made a bad read that may have cost us one drive and we had a dropped pass on a 3rd down play that would have given us a first and goal. Coach let us know about it in the locker room too." The coach in question was OC Rip who said after the game "We're still shooting ourselves in the foot at times at times we can't afford." said Rip sounding frustrated. "We did better in the second half. We're not far off from where we need to be. When we learn to consistently finish drives this team will be hard to beat."

The NightHawks made the score 13-0 on their second possession of the 3rd quarter when DeadNutzOn hit his second field goal of the game, this one from 48 yards away. The drive was set up when John McNeeley picked off a Thunder pass and returned it 18 yards to give the NightHawks the ball at their own 40. "John made a great read on the route." Said Coach Pontiac. "He read the quarterbacks eyes and almost baited him into the throw. I thought for a second he might take it to the house."

Knowing they couldn't afford to fall much further behind seemed to light a fire under the Thunder offense. Using the pass as it's catalyst the Chicago defense drove the ball 70 yards down to the NightHawks 10 yard line where they faced a 3rd and 5. The Thunder opted to go with a swing pass to their tail back but the NightHawks defense sniffed the play out early with Strong Safety Curtis Lemansky flying up to stuff the play for a loss and force a Chicago field goal attempt. For the second time in the game the kick was wide right keeping the shutout intact.

Again the NightHawks followed the miss with a field goal drive of their own just as they'd done in the first half. Taking possession at their own ten yard line Tuscon drove the length of the field down to the Thunder 2 yard line before being forced to settle for DeadNutzOn's 3rd field goal of the game from 19 yards out to make the score 16-0. The NightHawks again used the run to grind out yardage on the drive with Flash Rodgers carrying the ball 5 times for 21 yards to lead the way.

Just two plays later the Tucson defense gave the ball back to the NightHawks offense for another shot at getting in the endzone when Anthony Hazelett forced a Chicago fumble that was recovered by linebacker Perry Hauge at the Thunder 20 yard line. It took the offense 4 plays, all on the ground, to punch the ball into the endzone with fullback Amos Moses doing the honors from 8 yards out to score the final points of the game.

Pontiac pointed out the strong play of his special teams and defense as well as the consistency of the NightHawks running game as keys to the victory adding, "You also have to give credit to your offensive line. Chicago has a very talented front 7 and to give our QB time to throw the ball and our backs room to run says allot about the job they did." Asked what he thought of the upcoming matchup against the Mad Dawgs Pontiac would only say "We've got allot of game film to watch before I could answer that question. I haven't really had the opportunity to see them play this season but I do know they have a very talented team with a defense that's as tough as any in the conference and a very physical running game."

***Stat of the Game***

.....We could go with......
0....the number of pancakes the Tucson defense allowed the Thunder offensive line......

....or we could go with.......
1.5......the yards per carry allowed by the NightHawks defense........

.....but I think I'll go with......
16....the number of broken tackles the Tucson backs and receivers accumulated against the Chicago defense.


tl;dr only read the last part :o


i read the whole thing and he only missed one " and one space
lol
Last edited Aug 18, 2008 16:17:08
 
zman33z
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we'll win this week
 
Lockdown U
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this guy should be a sports writter
 
Ultima Boltz
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Tucson Nighthawks...... Ironwood Ridge High School?
 
d-bo14
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Originally posted by GregHicks7
.....you have....way....too much time....


+1
 
dragonfire7
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do u have anything else to do?
 
Crazylazer
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How much time do u spend on the computer man
 
E-man
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Originally posted by dragonfire7
do u have anything else to do?


he can do what he wants, so really why do you care???
 
Crazylazer
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Originally posted by pontiacnutt
Tucson Times
August 12, 2008

Tucson: The Las Vegas Outlaws limped into NightHawks Den on Monday night with only one victory on the season looking for something, anything at all, positive that they could build on in an attempt to salvage their GLB Season 4. Instead they encountered a NightHawks rushing attack that stampeded them for over 400 yards and 7 rushing touchdowns. By the time the last seconds had ticked off the clock the Outlaws had suffered another embarrassing loss, this one 90-7 to the NightHawks.


In the post game press conference a somewhat surprisingly stoic Head Coach Pontiac refused to buy into the belief that his team had gotten past it's inconsistent offensive play with the performance. "You have to perform at a high level over a period of time before you can establish yourself among the leagues top offenses. We haven't done that yet". When asked about the 400 plus yards performance by the NightHawks running game Pontiac conceded "We dominated up front on the line opening up some huge holes. The backs did a solid job of hitting them and getting to the second level more times than not." He wasn't quite as positive regarding the NightHawks passing attack, "To many dropped passes. For ahwile there I thought we had signed 5 Roberto "Hands of Stone" Duran to play receiver. We gave up a couple of picks that hurt momentum as well. Fortunately for us our defense got them back plus some."

Tucson's special teams got the lopsided track meet off to a quick start when return man David Palmer rambled 52 yards for the opening score and an early 7-0 lead for the NightHawks. "The first guy down over ran the kick." said Palmer, "Once I got past the kicker it was clear sailing."

The NightHawks added to their lead after their defense forced the Outlaws to punt from deep within their own territory setting the NightHawks offense up in a perfect scoring opportunity. They wasted little time in taking advantage when two plays later NightHawks receiver Neon Bodeaux ran right past a struggling Outlaws cornerback for a 11 yard touchdown connection with Tucson quarterback Stonewall Gunner.

Tucson's offense failed to take advantage of another golden scoring opportunity after NightHawks corner Kareem "INT" Jackson stepped in front of an Outlaw pass and came away with the interception. NightHawks Quarterback Stonewall Gunner returned the favor on the very next play when he tried to hook up with wideout Shayde Black. Instead the pass was picked off ending Tucson's chances of taking advantage of the Las Vegas miscue.

The defense took no chances on the next turnover when the Outlaws again tried to go to the air. This time it was John McNeeley who did the honors for the NightHawks jumping the pass route and taking it to the house for a 82 yard score putting Tucson up 21-0. The Outlaws could net only 9 yards on their next possession and were again forced to punt the ball back to Tucson. After a 38 yard return by Palmer set the NightHawks up at the Outlaws 47 yard line the Tucson offense made short work of making the score 28-0 when Tucson tailback Blake Cooter rambled off tackle for 35 yards and a touchdown.

The second quarter saw the NightHawks add to their lead when they put together a 10 play 52 yard drive that was capped by another connection between Gunner and Bodeaux when again Bodeaux took advantage of the smaller Outlaws corner on a fade pattern. Already up 28-0 with plenty of time left in the half the NightHawks again put together a drive this one covering 63 yards, all on the ground. All three Tucson tailbacks garnered carries with Blah Dow doing the honors on the touchdown punching it in from 3 yards out. DeadNutzOn missed the extra point leaving the Tucson lead at 41-0.

Just 7 plays later Tucson would again add to its lead when Dow powered his way through the Las Vegas defense breaking 4 tackles on his way to a 45 yard touchdown and a 48-0 NightHawks lead. "Other than the interception there weren't allot of negatives going into the locker room at half time," said NightHawks QB Stonewall Gunner, "we felt like we probably could have had allot more yards through the air but we thought we could fix that in the second half." Tucson OC Rip Urheadoff agreed with his QB adding, "We knew we had some mismatches in the passing game that we should be able to take advantage of if we could hang on to the ball."

Instead the NightHawks opened the second half with Gunner's second interception of the game after Tucson had reached Outlaws territory. Vegas was unable to take advantage though as the Tucson defense again came up with the big play. This time it was Cro Marty who broke on a Outlaws pass picking it off and returning it 18 yards to the Outlaws 31 yard line. It took 5 straight pass attempts before Gunner found See-You-In-The-Endzone for a 3 yard touchdown and a 55-0 Tucson lead.

Tucson's bid for the shutout ended on the next drive when the Outlaws put together a 10 play 61 yard drive to make the score 55-7. Tucson snatched momentum right back though when special teams star David Palmer took the ensuing kickoff and dashed 90 yards for the score making the NightHawks lead 62-7. The NightHawks would add another 3rd quarter score one possession later after mixing the pass and run to perfection to move 60 yards and make the score 69-7.

It took three fourth quarter rushing touchdowns to produce the final tally. First Dow capped a 6 play drive with a three yard touchdown run, his third of the night. After Kareem "INT" Jackson added his second pick of the night Blake Cooter equaled Dow's touchdown output on a 62 yard touchdown run. Not to be shut out of the chance to practice his endzone dance Tucson tailback Flash Rodgers closed the scoring with a 7 yard touchdown run to cap a 7 play 73 yard drive. Rodgers who finished the game with 135 yards rushing and a touchdown couldn't praise his line enough. "You wouldn't believe the size of the holes they were opening out there," said Rodgers adding "and the receivers did a great job blocking on the outside when we ran the sweep."

"There's still a long way to go in the season but I'm fairly pleased with where we are right now both as a team and where we stand in conference play." said Pontiac reservedly. "We still have allot of improvements we need to make on both sides of the ball." Asked about the success of Palmer in the game Pontiac actually broke a rare smile, "Deuce has worked hard to improve his return skills. He watches allot of game film to get ready to do his job and it obviously has payed off this year. He knows right now his playing time is limited to special teams so he's trying to make the most of it. Of course if he keeps up playing the way he did tonight we're going to have to start finding more ways to get the ball in his hands."


***Stat Of The Game***

We could go with.......
0.....the number of times Tucson backs were tackled for a loss.

.....or we could use.......
137....the number of pancakes the NightHawks amassed as opposed to 0, the number of pancakes the Tucson defensive line gave up

....though some people would go with....
33.....the number of tackles Tucson backs broke on the way to scoring 7 touchdowns

.....but I think I'll go with..........
12.......the number of sacks the NightHawks defense came away with. 6 of them by DE Quickly Sacked alone.


 
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Originally posted by pontiacnutt

Published Sunday: April,27

NightHawks Put Pimps Out of Business

Saturday nights are usually profitable ones for the pimps of the world. On Saturday night in Portland though the Pimps quickly found themselves, at least offensively, out of business.

Tuscon Head Coach Nutt and Offensive Coordinator Dolhoz went into Saturday nights opener with a simple game plan. On offense they wanted to run the clock by running the ball, controlling the line of scrimmage, passing when they had to, and moving the chains keeping Portland's high powered passing game stuck on the sidelines as a mere spectator. The game plan worked perfectly with the NightHawks racking up 278 yards rushing on 57 attempts. Off season free agent signee Blah Dow led the attack with 163 yds on 32 attempts breaking a close game open in the 3rd quarter with a 2 yard touchdown run to put the NightHawks up 10-0. Dow's backup Lee Wilk out rushed the Pimps himself with 84 yards on 18 carries with Fullback Edwin Holt putting the final nail in the coffin with a 4th quarter 3 yard touchdown run. Wilk's gave some of the offense's success to the defense. "We felt we could run the ball going into the game. Our defense kept stuffing them and giving us the ball back". Tuscon Quarterback 1-true Farve-Fan gave allot of the credit to his offensive line. "They opened holes all night long. They gave us plenty of time to throw the ball too."

Defensively the game plan was simple. Stop the run and put pressure on Portland's quarterback to slow down their high powered passing game. They did that holding the Pimps to an anemic 11 yards rushing while sacking the quarterback 3 times and hurrying him twice. The NightHawks secondary did a solid job as well. Playing a tight man coverage the held Portland receivers to 144 yards receiving and more importantly to just 4.2 yards per reception. All-Pro corner D'rager came up with a crucial 2nd quarter interception stopping a potential Portland drive. "That was a big play by Roy" said NightHawk strong safety RipN Urheadoff, "We gave up some stuff underneath but never allowed them to get deep." NightHawks twin towers IB Stuffingholes and Jason Nagurski controlled the line of scrimmage all night long. Nagurski came up with two sacks with Stuffingholes came up with another. The pair racked up 7 tackles between them for a net loss of 17 yards. "We knew if we could get pressure with the interior of our line we could slow down their passing game" said Coach Nutt, "We knew from watching film that once we got him outside the pocket he wasn't the same quarterback".

If there was one negative to Saturday night peformance it was special teams where placekicker Cantphil Maleg was only 1 for 3 on field goals missing from inside 40 and inside 30 yards while making an 18 yarder. "It wasn't my best night" said Maleg, "Fortunately tonight it didn't matter but next time it might. Special teams Coach Jascol 24 didn't seem concerned, "We're confident in our kicking game. There was a pretty good wind out there tonight". Punter Frank Footman only averaged a deceiving 23.6 yards a kick on 5 punts but most were field position kicks designed to pin the Pimps inside their own twenty.

Coach Nutt seemed please with the win but knows the NightHawks will face tougher competition in the future. "We're going to celebrate this win tonight but we've got to let it go come film session tomorrow night. We face a tough Anchorage team next week and if we don't work hard this week to get better as individuals and as a team, we won't be celebrating next week".

Next week aside the NighHawks have earned a night on the town to celebrate. One things for sure, they won't have to worry about female companionship since they own the Pimps in this town.


***Stat of the Week***
Offensive Plays from Scrimmage
Tuscon 80
Portland 49

"That's a credit to both sides of the ball. That means our defense is shutting them down yet at the same time it means our offense is moving the chains and keeping their guys sitting over on the sidelines." Tuscon Head Coach Nutt on running 31 more plays than the Pimps


 
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