Our first regular season tilt is a tough draw: arch-rival Las Vegas. They've got a very talented team up and down the roster, and are led by 13-year veteran QB Lenny "Jackpot" Olsen. Lenny has been slowed a bit by injuries over the last two years, but I have a feeling that he has one more big year in him. With the improvement to the Roudners roster over the last two years they are poised to make a run this year. I fully expect the division battle to boil down to them and us, and so a win at home against them is crucial.
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Box Score: Las Vegas at Tucson
Tucson, AZ.
Week 1, 2010
Attendance: 67,100 (69,800).
Weather: 69 degrees, fair.
1Q: 07:00 TUC - Anthony Torres 11 pass from Milan "Colonel" Hogan.
1Q: 07:00 TUC - Rubin Castorena extra point.
2Q: 14:04 LVS - Felix Savoy 18 field goal.
2Q: 07:02 LVS - Anthony Jennings 4 run.
2Q: 07:02 LVS - Felix Savoy extra point.
2Q: 00:30 TUC - Drew Holliday 1 run.
2Q: 00:30 TUC - Rubin Castorena extra point.
3Q: 08:11 TUC - Rubin Castorena 30 field goal.
3Q: 03:18 TUC - Demetrius Higginbotham 12 pass from Milan "Colonel" Hogan.
3Q: 03:18 TUC - Rubin Castorena extra point.
4Q: 14:15 LVS - Anthony Jennings 3 run.
4Q: 14:15 LVS - Felix Savoy extra point.
4Q: 09:59 TUC - Rubin Castorena 34 field goal.
4Q: 07:01 LVS - Felix Savoy 47 field goal.
4Q: 00:10 LVS - Anthony Jennings 1 pass from Luke Alston.
4Q: 00:10 LVS - Felix Savoy extra point.
OT: 09:54 TUC - Daryl Bradley 5 run.
Game MVP: TUC 4 Milan "Colonel" Hogan
Las Vegas 0 10 0 17 0 - 27
Tucson 7 7 10 3 6 - 33
Team Statistics LVS TUC
First Downs 17 30
Total Rushes 24 41
Rushing Yards 86 180
Yards Per Carry 3.5 4.3
Pass Attempts 35 34
Completions 17 26
Passing Yards 207 325
Yards Per Attempt 5.9 9.5
Sacked 1 1
Yards Lost 6 6
Interceptions 0 1
Fumbles/Lost 2/1 1/1
Total Plays 60 76
Total Yards 287 499
Yards Per Play 4.7 6.5
3rd Down Plays 4/12 5/11
Avg. YTG on 3rd 7.4 7.5
4th Down Plays 0/0 0/0
Penalties 4 9
Penalty Yards 30 74
Avg. Drive Start OWN 36 OWN 24
Time Of Possession 24:16 40:50
Tucson Individual Statistics
Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
42 Holliday 32 148 4.6 19 1
22 Bradley 9 32 3.5 6 1
Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
4 Hogan 34 26 325 9.5 47 2 1 1
Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
80 Higginbotham 6 125 20.8 6 47 1
89 Armitage 6 86 14.3 13 21 0
22 Bradley 5 26 5.2 20 7 0
26 Jeffries 2 13 6.5 18 7 0
81 Hodges 2 31 15.5 3 18 0
83 Chandler 2 19 9.5 7 12 0
42 Holliday 1 2 2.0 0 2 0
82 Torres 1 11 11.0 1 11 1
85 Garcia 1 12 12.0 2 12 0
Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
22 Bradley 1 5 5.0 0
Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
81 Hodges 4 73 18.2 0
Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
15 Winters 4 156 39.0 45 1
Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
13 Castorena 2 2 34 3 3
Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
31 Enoch 6 2 0.0 0 0 0
75 Grier 4 1 1.0 0 0 0
58 Watford 4 2 0.0 0 0 0
25 Minahan 4 1 0.0 0 0 0
52 Wash 4 0 0.0 0 0 0
93 King 4 0 0.0 0 0 0
33 Mirer 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
70 Neubauer 2 3 0.0 0 0 0
37 Rosenberry 2 2 0.0 0 0 0
55 Trujillo 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
40 Biggs 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
95 Stoltzfus 1 3 0.0 0 0 0
73 Smith 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
90 Jarrard 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
22 Bradley 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
97 Horn 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
42 Holliday 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
82 Torres 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
81 Hodges 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
54 Reeves 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
72 Bernard 0 1 0.0 0 0 0
Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
64 Connell 0 0 0 0 6 1
71 Franck 0 0 0 0 5 0
54 Reeves 0 0 0 0 4 0
26 Jeffries 0 0 0 0 2 0
60 Poplawski 0 0 0 0 2 0
93 King 0 1 0 0 0 0
75 Grier 0 1 0 0 0 0
63 Pitman 0 0 0 0 1 0
42 Holliday 1 0 0 0 0 0
33 Mirer 0 0 1 0 0 0
Holy crap.
What an insane game. We dominated the Rounders statistically, but key turnovers deep in our territory allowed them to hang with us. A miraculous 17-point 4th quarter allowed Vegas to send the game into overtime, and when they returned the opening OT kickoff to their 42 I thought we had lost the game for certain. Fortunately, on their very first play in OT this happened:
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1-10-LVS42 (14:54) LVS 14 Alston pass completed to 12 Barrett for 3 yards.
Tackled by TUC 93 King.
Ball was fumbled and recovered by TUC 33 Mirer for 0 yards to the LVS45.
We recovered, marched down the field and Bradley ran in the winning TD. Turnovers played a HUGE role in this game (as they often do), and unfortunately for Vegas their only turnover of the day cost them the game.
You may have noticed that Vegas' quarterback was not named "Olsen" in the above-snippet, but rather "Alston." This is because Olsen was knocked out of the game in the 4th quarter. Alston came on and led them to 10 more points to tie the game. Vegas might be okay with him starting, but I suspect it would be in their best long-term interests to start their rookie 1st round pick Roderick Palmer from here on out. They'd lose a lot, but they'd be in great shape for next year.
Oh, and having Palmer ready for next year might be important because of the nature of Olsen's injury: a torn ACL. He'll be out for at least 5 months. One has to wonder if such a serious injury, at his advanced age (35) might spell the end of his storied career. If so, it is sad to see yet another of the illustrious RoF quarterbacks doomed because of a knee injury. First Ronnie Tu. Then (perhaps) Lenny Olsen. Who's next?
Hogan was almost next, as he appeared to dodge a bullet in today's game:
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2-11-LVS22 (09:33) TUC 4 Hogan pass completed to 22 Bradley for 5 yards.
Tackled by LVS 55 Saxon.
TUC 4 Hogan was injured on the play.
Fortunately, this message was immediately followed by:
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He should be able to remain in the game
In fact, this appeared to be such a minor injury that our trainers didn't even note it after the game. But, for an excruciatingly long second while watching the game in 3ric's viewer, I thought our season was over.
Hogan, in fact, had a terrific day in throwing for over 300 yards for the first time in a year and a half. The interception was costly, though. His receivers were also outstanding, with Higginbotham having his best performance since 2007 and Armitage setting a new career high (as a Toro) with 86 yards receiving. Our other main offensive stud was Drew Holliday, but he also had a very costly turnover. I must say that I admire his tenacity, though, as he even snuck onto the field for special teams to cover a kickoff (and got a tackle, to boot).
Our defense did a great job of bending but not breaking, especially considering the awkward positions our offense put them in. They did great against both the run and the pass. The only downside was that our starting free safety, Kenneth Hartung, got hurt (yet again - he missed 5 games last year). He'll be out three weeks.
Our next game: a road match vs. the always-tough New York Knights.