In the first meeting between these two expansion teams back on May 5, it was the Cincinnati Jungle Kats who came out on top 35-32 in Cincinnati. That was Cincinnati’s only win so far this season. Last night’s rematch in Fort Wayne saw the Fusion avenge that loss in a 47-25 win over the Jungle Kats in front of 3,828 diehard fans at Memorial Coliseum. 

The Jungle Kats jumped out to an early 6-0 lead on the second play from scrimmage. Fusion quarterback Blayne Baggett fumbled the ball in his own end zone and it was recovered by Cincinnati FB/LB Kamau Jackson for a touchdown. The extra point was missed.

The Fusion then put up 17 unanswered points including a 46-yard field goal by kicker Kyle Hooper. “Sometimes I don’t give him too many opportunities (to kick field goals),” said Fusion head coach Eddie Brown. “He’s a young kid. I can’t put too much pressure on him, but he hit the one he needed to hit so I’m very proud of him.”

The Fusion held a 24-19 lead at halftime and the score remained the same into the fourth quarter as both teams failed to score any points in the third quarter. There were three missed field goals in the third quarter however, two by the Fusion and one by the Jungle Kats. 

Cincinnati took the lead with 12:15 remaining in the fourth quarter when quarterback Patrick Josten connected with wide receiver Derin Graham on an eight-yard touchdown pass. The PAT was missed but the Jungle Kats had the lead, 25-24.

After that, it was all Fort Wayne. A pair of touchdown catches by wide receiver Cesare Manning, another by FB/LB Joey Johnsonbaugh and a safety off a missed Cincinnati field goal attempt saw the Fusion outscore the Jungle Kats 23-6 in the final quarter. 

Fort Wayne improves to 5-8 on the season while Cincinnati’s record falls to 1-11.

Late in the second quarter, coach Brown benched his starting quarterback in favor of backup Joe Micco. Baggett returned late in the third quarter and threw three touchdown passes to finish out the game. After the game, Brown explained his reasoning for the move. “I don’t think (Baggett) was in a rhythm. I didn’t think he was playing well and I wanted to do something to get him to wake up. It worked well.” 

Baggett was 12 of 27 passing for 147 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. He also had one rush for four yards. His backup, Joe Micco was 3 of 7 passing for 27 yards and one touchdown

Fusion wide receiver Cesare Manning caught five passes for 99 yards and three touchdowns while teammate Jonathan Graham had five catches for 52 yards and two touchdowns. 

For Cincinnati, quarterback Patrick Josten completed 19 of 45 passes for 206 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Derin Graham led the Jungle Kats receiving corps with nine receptions for 87 yards and two touchdowns. 

The Fusion have three games remaining in the regular season, one at home next week and the final two games are on the road at Tennessee Valley and Quad City. 

Fort Wayne still has a shot at finishing the season with a .500 record, but coach Brown sees a bigger picture for the first year team. “Making the community proud of this football team (in spite of) what the record is. Getting this community to realize that we’re a good football team and we’ve got great character people that come out here and play hard for them.”

Ball Return

One of the great things about Arena Football is the fact that any footballs that go into the stands during the game become souvenirs that fans can keep. However, there were so many balls going into the stands during the game last night that the public address announcer had to make an announcement in the second half that the team was running low on footballs. Fans were asked to return the balls to the officials, but they would get the balls back once the game was over.

Next Game

The Fusion play their last home game of the season on Saturday, July 7 against the undefeated Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers who are 12-0. Kickoff is set for 7:30.