Wildcatters Slam the Force, Remain Perfect at Home
May 25, 2010 - Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL)
Lafayette Wildcatters News Release
The Lafayette Wildcatters and Greenville Force brought identical 2-4 records to the Cajundome Monday, May 24 to scratch it out on the rig floor, with Lafayette hoping to build on its perfect home record in 2010 Southern Indoor Football League play.
The Wildcatters began with a methodical first-drive march up the field, ending the possession on a Mitch Craft two-yard touchdown run to give Lafayette its first points and a 7-0 lead.
On its first possession, the Force looked to keep pace, with quarterback Jermaine Davis launching a length-of-field scoring pass into the outstretched hands of Bryan Harvey. Lafayette's Eric Phillips got a mitt on the PAT try, but the kick caromed through the uprights, and the score stood tied at 7.
Lafayette started the next drive deep in its own territory, but on third and five from the 15 yard line, Juan Joseph hit Clyde Edwards on a well-timed crossing route. The streaking Edwards made the catch in full stride and scored easily on the play. Kicker Sean Comiskey missed the extra point attempt, but made up for it when he put his kickoff through the goal posts giving the Wildcatters a 14-7 edge.
The Force nearly turned the ball over on downs to start its next possession, but the officials flagged Clarence Pendleton for holding. Pendleton didn't have to wait long for redemption, though. On the next play, Davis made an ill-advised pass across his body, and in the process threw it right to the waiting Pendleton. The interception marked Pendleton's ninth of the season, which leads the SIFL.
"Clarence is an excellent football player," said head coach Skip Foster. "He's a very athletic defensive back, has good ball skills and good ball awareness.
"But he'd be the first to tell you this: we're getting really good pressure with our defensive front group. They're pressuring that quarterback to throw the ball up there early, and that's what happens when you do that."
The Wildcatters quickly capitalized on the team turnover, capping off a 45-yard drive with a Joseph touchdown pass to Tim Richmond from five yards out. After the PAT, Lafayette held a 21-7 lead at the close of the first quarter.
The Force held the ball on its own20-yard line after getting a first down to start the second quarter, but Davis again managed to find an open Wildcatter, hitting Nate Banks squarely in the numbers. Lafayette took over on the Force 22-yard line, and dinked and dunked its way to the five. On third and goal, Joseph dove over a Force defender and stretched out to break the plane with the ball and give his team a 27-7 lead.
The Force turned the ball over again on its next possession by virtue of four consecutive in completions. This time Joseph took only one play to inflict the damage, hitting Craft on a quick pass to take it to 34-7 Wildcatters.
The Force had the ball on theLafayette15-yard line to start its next possession, but the rush that Foster referred to earlier came on strong, forcing two straight bad snaps from center. The second one came on a field goal attempt from the Wildcatter 20, and the result was a first and goal on the five for Lafayette. On fourth and goal, Joseph found Edwards all alone crossing the end zone, and threw a laser for the Wildcatters' sixth touchdown of the first half, and the score was 41-7.
On its next possession, Greenville's substitute quarterback, Darwin Pittman, threw up a prayer on third and five, but the pass somehow found Bryan Harvey for a 40-yard touchdown strike.
The Force then attempted an onside kick, but the ball bounced right to Lafayette's Gerard Landry, who trotted in for score to make it 48-13.
The Wildcatter defense joined back in on the fun on the next Force possession when Phillips forced a fumble that Rudy Johnson chased and eventually fell on in the end zone, making it 55-13Lafayette.
Comiskey rounded out the first half scoring, first with a UNO and then with a 35-yard field goal to give the Wildcatters a 59-13 lead with 30 minutes of football remaining.
The Force scored quickly in the third quarter, when Pittman pirouetted around a couple Wildcatter defenders and into the end zone on the quarterback keeper, but the resulting 59-19 score was as close as Greenville would get.
The ensuing kickoff hit the scoreboard overhanging the rig floor, giving the Wildcatters the ball, by rule, at midfield. Greenville gave Lafayette two first downs by penalty on the drive, and Joseph accepted the charity by hitting Edwards on a perfectly run route for another touchdown and a 66-19 lead.
Foster replaced Joseph with Bo Bartik for the remainder of the game after the Force relinquished the ball on downs yet again. Bartik scored quickly on a one-yard designed quarterback sneak, and after another Comiskey UNO, the score stood at 74-19. The Wildcatters' fans who couldn't stomach the carnage began to head for the exits as the third quarter came to a close.
The Force started off the fourth quarter with another turnover on downs, and a Bartik 12-yard pass to Tim Richmond took the score to 80-19. Johnson got into the running game with 7:53left on the clock, scoring on a one-yard surge for a touchdown. Comiskey put one more kickoff through the posts, and the dominant defensive line pushed Pittman out of the back of his own end zone to finish the bloodletting with a safety.
Joseph went 15-25 passing for 125yards,four touchdowns and zero interceptions. Edwards had seven catches for 103yards and three touchdowns, with Richmond following up with two touchdowns. Four Wildcatters had touchdown runs, led by Craft who had two. The Wildcatters' 90points were three short of an SIFL record, and the final score was 90-17.Lafayetteremains undefeated in the Cajundome in 2010.
"We've got a great atmosphere here, this is a neat place to play," said Foster. "I've played in AFL facilities all over the country at the very top level and the Cajundome is as good as any of them.
"It's a good environment. We had a good crowd tonight for a Monday night. There's a lot of activities going on and we had a great crowd. We're going to build on that momentum. We've got three big time games coming to the Cajundome in June, three Saturday nights with really, really tough competitive teams. It's going to be nail-biters and great arena football action."
After a bye next week, Lafayette(3-4) will look to continue its dominant resurgence on Saturday, June 5 at 8:05 p.m. against the Louisiana Swashbucklers(3-4) who were defeated by the Wildcatters by one score in overtime in Lafayette's season home-opener.
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Southern Indoor Football League Stories from May 25, 2010
- Wildcatters Slam the Force, Remain Perfect at Home - Lafayette Wildcatters
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