Talons Emerge Victorious in New Orleans 56-53
Saturday June 22, 2013
San Antonio Continues to Perform Well on the Road
SAN ANTONIO – The 2012 Central Division Champion San Antonio Talons (7-6) emerged victorious against the New Orleans VooDoo (3-10) on Saturday night at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome with a score of 56-53 in front of a crowd of 4,326. This win put San Antonio above .500 for the first time this season, and was brought on largely in part by a tireless effort from the Talons on both sides of the ball. A clutch win by San Antonio and a Chicago loss put the Talons in first place in the Central Division. Talon Quarterback Rohan Davey was 26-42 for 254 yards and four touchdowns. VooDoo counterpart Chris Dixon who relieved Rocco was 10-15 for 151 yards on the night. Fred Shaw had an exceptional defensive game for San Antonio with two interceptions, two tackles and three passes broken up.
To begin the game, Davey was intercepted by Cameron McGlenn on a fourth down pass attempt. San Antonio found a stroke of luck when Rocco’s first pass of the drive deflected off of the net and was intercepted by Fred Shaw to put the ball right back in Talons’ hands. Trying to find a rhythm, Davey hit Jomo Wilson for an 18 yard first down pass and found him again on the following play for the first touchdown of the night. Talons took a quick 7-0 lead over New Orleans.
New Orleans quarterback Kurt Rocco was off to a good start, finding receiver Quorey Payne on the opening drive. Victor DeGrate caused immediate trouble for the VooDoo when he tipped a pass intended for Courtney Smith. Carlton Brown recovered the interception resulting in a touchback. With three and a half minutes left in the first quarter, Davey went down on a play looking to be in serious pain. After one complete pass by Xavier Lee, Davey returned to the field of play.
To start the second quarter, Davey handed it off to Xavier Lee who pushed through several defenders to find the endzone for San Antonio’s second score of the night putting the Talons on top 14-0. After Shaw nearly intercepted Rocco’s attempted touchdown pass, New Orleans emerged successful with a 17 yard touchdown pass to LJ Castile. A failed Cismesia kick attempt left the score at 14-6 Talons.
Jomo Wilson returned the ensuing kickoff 29 yards, and Davey found Dallas Baker in the corner of the end zone for a 28 yard touchdown pass to up San Antonio’s lead to 21-6. New Orleans started their drive with 9 minutes left in the second quarter and Rocco looked comfortable hitting Donovan Morgan for a 23 yard pass, but Fred Shaw intercepted the pass in the end zone resulting in a touchback.
The Talons started their drive with 8:05 left in the first half and after eight plays, San Antonio failed to find the end zone turning over on downs. New Orleans began the drive with 3:00 left and found Fred Shaw applying tons of pressure on their offense. After a timeout, Chris Dixon at quarterback for the VooDoo found his way into the end zone with an 8 yard rushing touchdown and the VooDoo would begin encroaching on the Talons lead 21-13.
The Talons started their drive with 33 seconds left in the half, and Davey found Holmes to come within yards of the end zone. After a timeout, Davey passed it off to Xavier Lee who once again fought his way into the end zone 28-13 Talons.
VooDoo quarterback Chris Dixon jumped out as an offensive spark in the second half for New Orleans starting with a quick rush of his own. After six plays, Dixon found Donovan Morgan for a touchdown to bring them within 8, 28-20. Davey found Ruffins for an 8 yard pass, but the ball was fumbled and recovered by Demarcus Robins to put the ball back in VooDoo’s hands. New Orleans capitalized on the turnover, and Dixon rushed in a four yard touchdown to put the VooDoo within one point of the Talon lead. After the second intercepted Davey pass, Dixon completed a 19 yard touchdown pass to Donovan Morgan to put the VooDoo on top for the first time of the night 34-28.
The fourth quarter proved to be a back and forth battle between the teams. The VooDoo defense came out to play, making it very difficult for Davey to find his receivers. After a long eight play drive, Davey finally found Jomo Wilson in the end zone for a 17 yard Touchdown to tie the game up at 34 a piece. On the ensuing kickoff to begin the fourth quarter, Quorey Payne returned a 58 yard touchdown run to quickly put the VooDoo on top once again, but a failed kick attempt by Cismesia left the game at 34-40. Brent Holmes decided to take it upon himself to start a spark for the Talons offense returning the favor and taking the ball 56 yards into the VooDoo end zone to regain San Antonio’s lead 41-40.
New Orleans was not satisfied yet. Dixon hit Courtney Smith for another touchdown, and with a successful kick by Cismesia, the VooDoo led the Talons 47-41 with just under ten minutes left to play. Davey fought tirelessly to find his way into the end zone with a one yard reach to put San Antonio up by one 48-47 with less than five minutes to play. Dixon immediately hit Morgan once again for a deep 45 yard touchdown sending the VooDoo on top 48-53. Chad “Tank” Cook pushed his way into enemy territory 15 yards for the score, and with a two point conversion the Talons regained the lead 56-53 with 2:25 left to play. New Orleans failed to put anything together in the final seconds of the game, resulting in a 3 point Talons victory over the VooDoo.
The Talons return to action in Week 15 in search of their third straight road game victory against the Iowa Barnstormers on Saturday June 29, 2013. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:05 pm CST.
The San Antonio Talons are in their second season in the Arena Football League (AFL). The team won the AFL’s Central Division title, as well as hosted their first AFL playoff game in the 2012 season. For more information or to ask about season tickets please call 210.227.TEAM.