Defensive Line Keys Storm To 6-0 At Home
Adam Markowitz
Saturday May 26, 2012
TAMPA BAY -- The Tampa Bay Storm might still not have a win outside of the Tampa Bay Times Forum this year, but it was a case of good ol' fashioned home cooking on Saturday night in a 63-55 win over the Milwaukee Mustangs in a crucial American Conference showdown. The Storm improved to 6-5 on the season, bulling their way into a first place tie with the Georgia Force in the Southern Division after the Force lost to the Kansas City Command at the Sprint Center.
It wasn't exactly the prettiest game for Tampa Bay. QB Steve Wasil only threw for 210 yards and five TDs, and he was responsible for three of the team's four turnovers. The offense looked out of sync at times, but on this night, it was the defense that really carried the team on its back.
Though WR Chandler Williams was named the game's MVP, any of the players along the Tampa Bay defensive front could have been the MVP of the game as well. DL Pernell Phillips had a safety on the opening defensive stand of the game, and he also had a sack to his credit. DL Frisner Nelson had three tackles, two of which were sacks. LB Steve Octavien also had a fumble recovery. DL Richard Jones accounted for a sack as well.
A lot of the contributions that the defense had won't be found on any stat sheet. There were three passes that were batted down at the line, and the pressure on Milwaukee QB Gino Guidugli was intense the whole night.
In the end, it was the offense that put the team in a relatively bad spot, allowing Milwaukee to get the ball back after a Wasil interception with just 4:07 to play and a slender one-point lead. Jones got his sack and forced a fumble on the third play of the drive, and a fumble recovery two plays later gave the ball back to the Storm. On offense, Wasil threw his fifth TD of the game, but that only put Tampa Bay ahead by eight.
Milwaukee never really had a chance, though. Guidugli fumbled a snap on fourth down, which was recovered by Octavien and ensured that the Storm would be on the right side of .500 after this night was over.
The Storm finished the night with five sacks, easily the best tally of the season for a team that had just 11 sacks coming into the week, ranking No. 15 in the league. The last time Tampa Bay had five sacks in a game was on June 17th, 2011, a stretch of 15 straight games.
The Storm are now 6-0 at home for just the third time in team history. Dating back to last year, they have won seven straight home games. Up next though, are two road games, as the team has to go on the road to take on the Jacksonville Sharks and Orlando Predators in its next two games.
Milwaukee dropped to 3-7, and the season might be as good as finished with. The Mustangs have now lost three straight games, and all three have come against teams that are fighting for playoff spots in the American Conference. In fact, against the teams that are in the playoff chase in the conference, Milwaukee is just 1-3 this year. Up next are two very tough games at the Bradley Center against the San Jose SaberCats and the Philadelphia Soul.
