Ball Bounces Orlando’s Way Against Grand Rapids
Randy Snow
Tuesday April 15, 2008
The Rampage held their own in the first quarter of Sunday’s game. They even led 14-13 early in the second quarter. But then Orlando scored four unanswered touchdowns, two on defense. Defensive back Kenny McEntyre intercepted a pass and returned it four yards for one touchdown and defensive lineman B.J. Cohen recovered a fumble by Rampage quarterback James MacPherson in the end zone for another. Orlando led 47-21 at the half.
In the third quarter, the ball continued to bounce the Predator’s way as defensive back Ahmad Carroll recovered a loose ball off the net on a kickoff and ran it in from four yards out for a touchdown.
One bright spot for Grand Rapids came in the third quarter when Chris Martin had a 56-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. It was his fourth of the season.
Orlando starting quarterback Shane Stafford was replaced by backup Jake Eaton in the third quarter. Grand Rapids did shut out Orlando in the fourth quarter while scoring 21 points of their own, but it was too little, too late.
After scoring a combined 176 points in their two wins this season, Grand Rapids has now lost two straight games.
“That’s two games in a row now that we’ve had three lost possessions in a row and (the other team) has capitalized on it,” said Rampage head coach Steve Thonn. “Now you’re down 20-some points and its tough (to recover from that). You can’t spot a team like Orlando those kind of points”
Grand Rapids record now stands at 2-4 on the season.
Fan Support
An enthusiastic crowd of 6,946 fans did their best to support the Rampage, even when they were down by 40 points. They were extremely loud when they needed to be and at one point forced Orlando quarterback Jake Eaton to call a time out on third down. A good share of the fans also stayed all the way to the bitter end.
Next Game
The Rampage travel to the Windy City for a game against the Chicago Rush on Sunday, April 20. Kickoff is set for 3:00 PM EST. Chicago beat the Rampage 64-35 back on March 14.
Randy Snow covered the Grand Rapids Rampage of the Arena Football League for ArenaFan from 2003-2008. He also covered the Fort Wayne Fusion of arenafootball2 in 2007. From 2004-2008 and in 2010, he was a member of the Arena Football League Writer’s Association and, since 2011, has been a member of the Professional Football Researchers Association. Randy lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan but will travel just about anywhere for a football game or a great football story. He runs the web site www.theworldoffootball.com and hosts a podcast with his son, Adam, called “This Week in The World of Football.”
