#SWARM - The Reboot

[young22]

Y2, G1

September 7th, 2014

Swarm suffer tough loss in first game at "The Hive"

Swarm players run onto their home field for the first time

Hearn, Swarm offense struggle to find their wings as they go scoreless outside of 3rd quarter -- Newfound big play ability?

Westlake, OH -- Westlake State opened their 2014 campaign today, the program's second at the FBS level. The game against FIU also marked the first game in "The Hive", the name the Swarm faithful have quickly given Westlake Stadium. Sadly, the fans will have to wait a while for that first home win, as the Swarm fell 26-15 to the Florida International Panthers.

This game started really poorly for both offenses. Westlake State would punt to open the game, and FIU would punt it right back. Then the Swarm saw a promising drive stall around midfield, and punted again.

FIU got all the way to the Swarm 5, before QB Maurice Alexander missed an open man in the back of the endzone, and tailback Shawndarius Phillips was stuffed twice, setting up a short kick. But Jose Borregales missed the chip shot, giving the ball back to Westlake State. They couldn't do anything with it, and FIU went on a solid drive, but Borregales missed again, this time from 37 yards.

A couple more slow drives ending in punts saw FIU with the ball, and halftime nearing. They were finally able to score, with a good punt return setting up a short field. Despite that, the offense had to settle once again. This time, Borregales made no mistake, putting a 34 yard kick right down the middle.

Westlake State tried to make something happen, with about 90 seconds and 3 timeouts left. Thomas Green got out to the 40 on the kick return, and the Swarm tried to make something happen, with about 90 seconds and all 3 timeouts remaining. Wendell Hearn fired a strike to Green, the speedy wideout's first catch of the game, before trying to fit a touch pass in between 3 FIU defenders. He underthrew it, and it was picked by Richard Dames. FIU put together a 42 yard drive in the 53 seconds they had left, and kicked another field goal as time expired to put them up 6-0 heading into the half.

But this one was far from over. Westlake State forced a punt, and Hearn led a good drive that ended in a 5 yard score from Louis Dowdell. Advantage, Westlake. But FIU came straight back, and tailback Napoleon Maxwell capped a long drive with a 1 yard TD run. FIU went for 2 to try to go up by 7, but failed.

Westlake State went down the field and scored again, with a drive sparked by Hearn beating the blitz on a 3rd and 12, finding Louis Dowdell on an open checkdown. Dowdell saw green ahead, and ended up getting 30 yards. Another 3rd and long, this time from the FIU 41, and Hearn found Stanley Wayne up the seam for another 30 yards, with Wayne making an impressive contested grab. Dowdell finished the drive 2 plays later, running it in from 6 yards out.

Stanley Wayne makes a tough grab

Those proved to be the last points Westlake State would score. After Dowdell's second TD, FIU moved right down the field, and the drive culminated in a Zach Armour catch in the endzone, 4 seconds into the final quarter.

FIU were up 4 points, and this next drive was crucial. It started well, with a couple first downs courtesy of Hearn and Dowdell running well. Then, an incompletion, followed by Dionte Norton getting stuffed on a stretch saw the Swarm facing a 3rd and 10. Hearn found a wide open Calvin Foster... and he dropped it. Punt.

FIU had all the momentum, and were storming down the field until an overconfident deep shot was picked off by freshman corner Isaac Robinson. Robinson tried to return it with space ahead, but was tripped up and unfortunately judged down at the 1.

Isaac Robinson's first career pick

Not to worry, as Hearn found Thomas Green on a crossing route after a play-fake for 25 yards. Hearn then picked up a first down himself, running for 14 yards. Feeling confident, he took a shot downfield to Green on the next play. It was slightly underthrown, but dropped by the defender, falling right in front of Green, but the sophomore wideout couldn't hang on. Next play saw Hearn get sacked, setting up a 3rd and 18.

That drop proved costly, as with time running down, facing 3rd and forever, Hearn tried to do it all for his team. Another ill-advised throw over the middle was picked off, this time by Olin Cushion III, and that did it.

The Swarm had to burn timeouts, and after Phillips found a crease and ran for a 24 yard score with 1:32 left, had no options but to try to make a play through the air. Hearn couldn't find anyone, completing none of the 8 passes he attempted on the final drive.

Despite a rough 12/27, 2 INT statline, head coach Dion Barkley was proud of Hearn.

Quote: Originally Posted by Dion Barkley

Wendell wasn't as bad as that statsheet looks. I thought he did a lot of good for us, he sparked our TD drives. He got a lot better over the offseason. He can do things that other guys on the roster can't, athletically. Him finding guy for 25, 30 yard plays 2 or 3 times today really impressed me, I can count on one hand our big passing plays last year. The one thing I'll say is that he's gone too far into pocket mode. But, I was on him last year about running too much so that's kind of on me. Imma let him know he has the green light from now on for sure.

Westlake State will go to Idaho and play 0-1 Boise State on the blue turf in week 3.

Florida International Golden Panthers at Westlake State Swarm
Sep 6, 2014	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Florida International Golden Panthers (1-0, 0-0)	0	6	6	14	26
Westlake State Swarm (0-1, 0-0)	0	0	15	0	15

Team Stats Comparison
	FIU	WSU
Total Offense	399	255
Rushing Yards	216	108
Passing Yards	183	147
First Downs	21	13
Punt Return Yards	21	7
Kick Return Yards	26	157
Total Yards	446	419
Turnovers	1	2
3rd Down Conversion	4/11	5/13
4th Down Conversion	0/0	1/2
2-Point Conversion	0/1	1/1
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	2/1	2/0
Penalties	1	5
Possession Time	17:47	14:13

Scoring Summary
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		FIU	WSU
1:02	(FIU) J. Borregales, 34 yard FG	3	0
0:00	(FIU) J. Borregales, 37 yard FG	6	0
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		FIU	WSU
6:11	(WSU) L. Dowdell, 5 yard run	6	7
4:34	(FIU) N. Maxwell, 1 yard run	12	7
2:24	(WSU) L. Dowdell, 6 yard run (2-pt)	12	15
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		FIU	WSU
7:56	(FIU) Z. Armour, 20 yard pass from M. Alexander	19	15
1:32	(FIU) S. Phillips, 24 yard run	26	15

Florida International Golden Panthers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Maurice Alexander 17/23 183 1 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Shawndarius Phillips 23 159 6.9 1 Napoleon Maxwell 9 36 4.0 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Zach Armour 5 61 12.2 1 Tony Gaiter IV 5 43 8.6 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Olin Cushion III 6 0.0 1 0 John Broome 4 (2) 2.0 0 0 Richard Dames 2 0.0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Jose Borregales 2/4 2/2 8 37

Westlake State Swarm PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Wendell Hearn 12/28 147 0 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Louis Dowdell 13 65 5.0 2 Wendell Hearn 10 37 3.7 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Thomas Green 3 56 18.6 0 Stanley Wayne 3 49 16.3 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Deonte Abrams 13 (2) 0.0 0 0 Isaac Robinson 3 0.0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Grant Marquardt 0/0 1/1 1 0

[SilverBullet19]

Really tough to allow them to take the 4th quarter like that. It's hard to be put in passing situations late with so few targets to go with. It will be rough next week too with Boise State, but hopefully the Swarm can keep making strides.

[young22]

Y2, G2

September 14th, 2014

Swarm take defensive battle on the Blue Turf

Swarm hold Broncos to 34 passing yards -- Norton the X factor, boosts Swarm -- Thomas Green knocked out, will miss 1-2 weeks


Grant Marquardt scores the game's only points

Boise, ID -- When you see a 3-0 scoreline, you might think it's a dominating win by Manchester City in the Premier League, or a gem from Clayton Kershaw. But this was an FBS football game, and what a game it was. Wendell Hearn threw for just 92 yards, but controlled the game and came up big when he needed to. Dionte Norton came off of a 6 yard game to post 64 yards, and very nearly break away for a long score.

The Jaylon Henderson-led Broncos looked strong on their opening drive. They moved down the field slowly, getting to about the 35 yard line before Henderson decided to take a shot into the endzone. Swarm corner Isaac Robinson was there, and it was an easy pick, Robinson's second in as many games.

Then it was Westlake's turn, with the ball at their own 22 after a good return from Robinson. Wendell Hearn completed his first throw on the day to Thomas Green, who caught it on a curl route. He turned and was immediately rocked by a Boise defender, going out cold. He left on a stretcher, and will miss at least next week with a concussion.

But the drive continued. Louis Dowdell and Wendell Hearn had some good gains on the ground, and after a Calvin Foster catch for 8 yards at the Boise 29, the Swarm looked primed to take the lead in this game. But Westlake State tried to get cute, faking a handoff to try to go deep, and Hearn was sacked for a loss of 11 yards. Now out of field goal range, Hearn made a good throw on 3rd and 13 to an open Daniel Thompson, but it was dropped by the freshman. Punt.

The second quarter was more of the same, with Boise State and Westlake State exchanging a few punts to take it to the half. The Swarm would receive to start the 2nd half, and Dionte Norton started to do some work, gaining 14 on a stretch, before exploding for 25 yards 2 plays later, missing out on a score due to a crucial shoestring tackle.

So close to breaking it

That drive would stall, but nevertheless, Westlake State were lined up for a 36 yard field goal. Gimme for an FBS kicker, right? Well, Grant Marquardt missed it. The Broncos started moving down the field, and broke off a good gain on a Jaylon Henderson keeper, but he was stripped by Sergio Keith and the fumble was picked up by freshman end Raishaun Swan, who got all the way to the Boise 28.

The Swarm couldn't make anything happen, gaining just 7 yards on 3 plays, but that set up another fairly short kick for Marquardt, and he missed another one.

That took us to the 4th quarter. Boise State had been bad against a team that they were expected to beat, but could still pull it out, and had all the momentum in the world. Tailback Alex Mattison started gashing the Swarm defense, gaining 42 yards on 6 consecutive carries before exiting the game.

Mattison was good all day, 23 carries for 103 yards

After backup Pat Tyler couldn't get anything on 1st down from the Swarm 37, Boise State dialled up a shot play. The play fake worked brilliantly, and wideout Khalil Shakir was open deep, no one within 10 feet of him. But Henderson saw it a fraction of a second late, and free safety Donte Oliver came over, deflecting the ball at the last second. (I couldn't get a picture of this, game didn't have the replay available at the end, was an incredible play)

3rd and 10. 10 yards seemed like an eternity to have to get via the air in this one, but some more shoddy coverage saw a man open, wideout Akilan Butler. Henderson saw him near the sideline, pass on the money, no one around... and it bounces off his hands. 4th down, and the Swarm survive.

After the punt, Westlake State knew they could likely kill the clock and win it as time expired if they played their cards right. That's exactly what happened.

The run game took control, with 3 rushes gaining the Swarm 18 yards to start the drive. Then Hearn found his guy Calvin Foster for 11 yards. At their own 49, Hearn then found Stanley Wayne for 15 yards.

Then Boise woke up a bit on defense. They stopped Louis Dowdell after just 2 yards, then sacked Hearn to force a 3rd and long. Hearn dropped back, stepped up in the pocket to avoid the rush, and fired to senior receiver Brodie Norman for 13 yards and the first, Norman's only catch on the day.

After that, another run from Norton and a scramble from Hearn put the Swarm firmly into field goal range with under a minute left. Boise State burned their timeouts to no avail, as the Swarm got a first down, centered the ball and Marquardt made no mistake from 29 yards.

There was one second left, but there would be no miracle in Boise. The Swarm took the game 3-0, for their first win on the season.

Wendell Hearn thinks that this win will serve as a catalyst for the Swarm's 2014 campaign.

Quote: Originally Posted by Wendell Hearn

When you win a game like that it really gives you that momentum. You know, now we feel like we can beat those good teams, we can win those tight games, we can get it done. I feel like we had to get that dub just to give us some swag man, we lost 10 times last year.

Westlake State will go to Cincinnati next week to play the 0-2 Bearcats.

Westlake State Swarm at Boise State Broncos
Sep 6, 2014	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Westlake State Swarm (1-0, 0-0)	0	0	0	3	3
Boise State Broncos (0-1, 0-0)	0	0	0	0	0

Team Stats Comparison
	WSU	BSU
Total Offense	253	199
Rushing Yards	161	165
Passing Yards	92	34
First Downs	14	13
Punt Return Yards	10	15
Kick Return Yards	28	48
Total Yards	291	262
Turnovers	0	2
3rd Down Conversion	3/10	4/12
4th Down Conversion	0/1	0/0
2-Point Conversion	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	0/0	0/0
Penalties	2	2
Possession Time	18:50	13:10

Scoring Summary
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		WSU	BSU
0:01	(WSU) G. Marquardt, 29 yard FG	3	0

Westlake State Swarm PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Jaylon Henderson 4/13 34 0 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Alex Mattison 23 103 4.4 0 Jaylon Henderson 13 62 4.7 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Tyneil Hopper 2 12 6.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Tyson Maeva 9 (1) 1.0 0 0 Desmond Williams 7 (2) 1.0 0 0

Boise State Broncos PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Wendell Hearn 10/15 92 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Louis Dowdell 11 38 3.4 0 Wendell Hearn 16 59 3.6 0 Dionte Norton 9 64 7.1 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Calvin Foster 2 19 9.5 0 Stanley Wayne 3 31 10.3 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Sergio Keith 8 (2) 0.0 0 0 Isaac Robinson 2 0.0 1 0 Jamal Mangum 5 (4) 0.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Grant Marquardt 1/1 0/0 3 29

[SilverBullet19]

Nice way to win on the Smurf Turf bro! I hate seeing Boise lose...but I’ll make an exception lol.
3-0...I’ve never seen a score like that man. That’s crazy, talk about a chess match for sure


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[young22]

This game was so much fun to play. NCAA 14 is the only game where you can have those 65 point shootouts like you just had in your title game, then I'll have this 3-0 defensive battle. I was so sure we had blown it when I saw Butler open on the sideline, it was like I watched the pass fly through the air in slow mo lol. Then he drops it and we end up with the win. I was shook on the field goal, cause I had actually missed one in the supersim, then I myself actually shanked a kick. And I wasn't even using Tuscaloosa's kicking method, which I'm gonna start using. Such a great game.

Thanks for checking in bro.

Sent from my SM-A520W using Operation Sports mobile app

[young22]

Y2, G3

Turnovers sink Swarm in narrow 27-20 loss

Wendell Hearn throws for 294, but only 1 score, crucial redzone pick -- Swarm score just 20 points despite 540 total offensive yards

Cincinnati, OH -- Westlake State fell to 1-2 on the season with a close loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats. Wendell Hearn had a career day, completing 22 of 35 passes for 294 yards, with 111 of those and Hearn's lone score going to freshman Calvin Foster. Westlake State outgained Cincy, with 540 yards compared to the Bearcats' 381.

So how did the Swarm lose this one? Well, key turnovers. They only coughed up the ball twice, but one was a goal line interception, and the other was a lost fumble while down 7 with under 2 minutes left.

It was a good start for Westlake State. They got all the way down to the Cincy 18, where their drive stalled out. But Grant Marquardt missed yet another kick, the first of 2 field goals he missed on the day. Both teams punted on their next drives, and Cincinnati looked to be heading there again. But tailback Gerrid Doaks found a crease and went 52 yards untouched to open up the scoring.

Wendell Hearn and the rest of the Swarm offense had no trouble moving the ball, for once, and they came right back with a touchdown of their own, a 4 yard score from Louis Dowdell to continue his good start to the season.

But Rashad Medaris took the ensuing kickoff all the way to give his team back the lead, putting Cincinnati back on top to end the 1st quarter.

Westlake State had the ball again, and ate up clock on their next drive, taking almost half of the second quarter just for a 22 yard field goal. They forced a punt, and Grant Marquardt just barely nailed a 38 yarder on the next drive. 14-13 Cincy with about a minute to go in the half.

Ross Trail and the Bearcats would extend their lead. Trail, who completed 16 of 20 passes, led his team downfield in just 4 plays, with a 30 yard completion, and a 28 yard gain from Doaks. He finished off the drive with a ridiculous jumping throw off his back foot to wideout Kahlil Lewis. The PAT was missed, but Cincinnati had a touchdown lead heading into the break.

Shades of Derek Jeter?

Nobody scored in the 3rd quarter. Westlake State had another long drive after a Cincy punt, but Wendell Hearn forced a throw in the red zone and it was picked off on the goal line. Cincinnati came back downfield and were looking good, but Ross Trail got over eager and threw into double coverage, where it was picked off by Donte Oliver in the back of the end zone.

Isaac Robinson likely makes it 3 straight games with a pick if Oliver doesn't catch this

Westlake State were able to move down the field pretty easily, and Hearn eventually found Calvin Foster for an 11 yard score to tie up the game. The Bearcats had their backs against the wall, knowing that the momentum from a Swarm stop would probably see them win the game. Gerrid Doaks was having none of that. He gashed the Swarm for 56 of the Bearcats' 71 yards on this drive, and his backup, Mike Warren II, ended up running in a score from 9 yards out to put the Bearcats up 27-20.

Nevertheless, Westlake State were still in this. Until Wendell Hearn took off up the middle and fumbled. Then, after stopping Doaks for 2 big losses, had Cincy out of field goal range, facing a 3rd and 19, with a decent amount of time left and one timeout. But Gerrid Doaks somehow ran for 35 yards without being touched. He was dragged down at the 12, but the damage was done. Cincinnati kneeled out the clock, and Westlake State fell to 1-2. They will go to Kansas next week to play #6 Kansas State. No pressure.

Hearn has to hold on to this

Scoring Summary

[SilverBullet19]

Tough loss, it's hard to watch turnovers dictate a game, but it happens often. The offense showed some serious potential to be great this year. It was a really balanced attack, which is great. You also stopped the pass really well.

On another note, I like the stat graphics. Did you make them yourself?

[young22]

Quote: Originally Posted by SilverBullet19

Tough loss, it's hard to watch turnovers dictate a game, but it happens often. The offense showed some serious potential to be great this year. It was a really balanced attack, which is great. You also stopped the pass really well. On another note, I like the stat graphics. Did you make them yourself?

We should have won. Hearn gets into those animations where he's struggling with the defender and just drops the ball a lot. Happens against K State too. Offense was great. Like I don't know where the hell that even came from. Didn't put it in the stats but Dionte Norton had 65 yards on like 11 carries. We definitely took that momentum into the K State game, no idea why but everything is just clicking right now. Didn't even play the games back to back, they were a day apart. I won't spoil the result, gonna get that game up tonight or tomorrow, not sure, but it came down to the wire. Gonna be a long long article about it I think, I have like 25 pics from the game lol. One of those games where it felt like the CPU played down to me, and couldn't get going once we had momentum. Some unique stuff too, there was a legit blown call on what should have been a TD. After the next game, I'll do a little preview of the MAC and a recruiting update, some really good players we're looking at.

As far as stat graphics, I was heavily inspired by what I saw looking through some old dynasties on here. Just saw some stuff that looked super clean, and I hate the OS dynasty tables anyway. Takes forever clicking from box to box to input stuff.

Thanks for checking in as always.

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