Bonner Takes Over Game
Mick Cornett
Wednesday July 5, 2000
Bonner completed 16 of 29 passes for 185 yards, which are not statistics that will get you inducted into a hall of fame, but he threw seven touchdown passes before giving way to backup Lance Funderburk early in the fourth quarter. Bonner is a natural southpaw, but on one particular play when he was flushed from the pocket, it appeared he switched arms and tossed a completion with his right hand. It was a particularly tough night for the Wrangler defense because their pass-rush seemed fairly strong, though they never recorded a sack, and their pass defense was fairly tight, though Bonner was never intercepted. Bonner was simply as accurate as he needed to be, tossing the ball away when a receiver was covered and tossing a strike whenever the opportunity presented itself.
As for the Wranglers, they reverted to the self-destruction mode that led to their five-game losing streak in May and June: too many penalties (16) and too many turnovers (3). Starting quarterback Ron Lopez threw well (15 of 27 for 148 yards and zero interceptions) but failed to get his team into the end-zone on three straight possessions and was lifted for Jeff Loots. This time, Lopez was not the problem. But as well as Sherdrick Bonner was playing, it wouldn’t have made any difference.
Next up for Oklahoma is a short-week trip to South Florida for a Friday night game against the Bobcats. Florida is one of four teams with three victories and desperately needs a win to strengthen its bid for the playoffs
Mick Cornett was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2001.
