[MIJB#19]

Maassluis At Fort Worth Recap
The tendency was made when people starting calling it insane that one of this team had to be 2-1 after the game. For both teams, a 2-1 record would mean an historical highlight to have a winning record for the first time in franchise history.

Early signals were that Fort Worth would be the team to get their history written. The Fury scored the first touchdown of the game to go 7-0 ahead on their first possession. William Wood ran for 28 yards. The score was set up by in interception from Wyatt Harness on a long pass from Justin McDavid in the first play of the first quarter.

Defense ruled the game after that, until a marvelous drive from the Fury early in the second quarter. Kendall Green connected 52- and 32-yard passes to Mouse Tail Perry to set up a 3-yard touchdown pass to Johnny Stegeman. With the Merchantmen hardly scoring, the game looked in the pocket. Even more after McDavid threw the ball in the hands of Harness fir the second time with ten minutes left in the first half.

After that, defenses ruled again and the ball turned over on punts several time, until the Merchantmen got the ball with less then five minutes left. Randy Harris made it his show as he caught passes for 22 and 21 yards, while running for seven and nine yards in between. After backup rusher Jonathan Smith converted a third-and-one situation, Harris scored his first touchdown of the season on a three-yard rush. The score was th first for Harris in 16 games. His last rushing tocuhdown came in week three of the 2004 season against the Gothenburg Giants.

With time running out, there were just 25 seconds left, Kendall Green went for a heroic attempt to try for another score. Sadly for Green, Ellsworth Thelen got his name written in Merchantmen history by interception the ball at the Fort Worth 39-yard line. With little time left, McDavid handed the ball to Harris to gain six yards. After a time out, kicker Cary Coles got his shot at scored a 50-yard field goal to shorten the Fury lead to 14-10.

After the half time show, the Merchantmen offense got wild. While the Fury saw their offense stopped early, Justin McDavid marched his men from their own second yard line all the way to the Fort Worth four-yard line. Harris scored again and put the visitor sin the lead. The Merchantmen then got their three-and-out to set up a drive that marched the Merchantmen into the Fury red zone.

As McDavid was again unable to find his favorite target Jerry Aubrey once again, the tandem hardly wroked all day, Cary Coles was brought on again. Coles' has turned into a reliable kicker and converted a 30-yard kick for a 20-14 lead at the start of the fourth quarter.

In the last quarter, the game became a defensive supremacy. Of the following eight drives, seven were three-and-outs. The only other drive had a penalty causing an automatic first down, or else it had been a defensive masterpiece as well. This returend the Fury the ball with only the last two minutes of the gme left.

In the two-minute-drill, Green rebounded and connected on a 14-yard pass to Stegeman early on. Then, with 33 seconds left, the Fury had to go for it on fourth-and-twenty. Green wanted to pass, but Charles Gomez broke through the offensive line and Green was hurried to pass his ball uncatchable. The Merchantmen ran out the clock, despite two Fury timeouts and won the game.

As amzing as it may sound, the Merchantmen have doubled their 2004 win total and are still unbeaten on the road. In 2004, they lost all eight road games. Randy Harris' two scores helped him earn MVP honors, yet his 72 yards rushing and 49 yards receiving were crucial to set up his own scores.

Now, the Merchantmen go into their open weekend at a 2-1 record, with the odds being that they have a playoff spot after the week four games. For the week five game against Tucker Tigers, two big questions are put back on the desk of the management and coaching staff. Jerry Aubrey's failure all day, he caught just one ball for 16 yards while he dropped two, pulls for a start of backup tight end Jim Reiser.

Second is the quarterback issue. Despite the two victories under McDavid, Leonard Lyon is expected to be recovered from a groin injury. In Lyon's absence, McDavid was hardly productive, he completed 32 of 62 passes for 321 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions.

Troublesome are the pass protection stats of the Merchantmen line. Against the Fury, Harold Hurtado and company allowed just 1 sack, but McDavid was hurried into a bad throw nine times. Against Fredrick, McDavid was hurried 6 times and sacked 3 times.

If this tenure continues, don't expect the Merchantmen to have Lyon at the helmet. The management has been clear that Lyon's starting would go hand-in-hand with the offensive line protecting the pass. So far, the line fails and "Fumblin" Justin has not fumbled at all this season in four preseason games and two regular season games. Lyon might be riding the bench for the winning Merchantmen.