On a warm, breezy night at the Josey Ranch Sports Complex, it was the DFW Xpress that powered by the North Texas Seminoles 34-14.  The Xpress raced out to a 28-0 lead at halftime before the Seminoles scored two touchdowns cutting the lead to 28-14.  Then, with about seven minutes left in the game, Xpress coach Truman Vernon made the right call as the Xpress put the game out of reach with another touchdown pass from quarterback Tre Fields.

The Xpress came out strong with Fields launching a 43 yard strike to Rashad Manning who caught the pass just over the outstretched hands of the defender.  Two plays later, the Fields tossed the ball to running back Rocky Frank who swept the left end and in to the end-zone.  After a missed two-point conversion attempt, the score was 6-0 Xpress.

On the ensuing kick off, Seminoles receiver Tes Tcruray returned the ball to the Xpress 42 to give them great starting field position.  Using a mixture of run and pass, the Seminoles were able to get the ball to the Xpress 15 yard line where the drive stalled after four straight incomplete passes by quarterback Michael Smith.

Smith was starting in place of injured starter Nic Brown who suffered a shoulder injury a couple of weeks ago.  As a result, the ‘Noles offense just never seemed to be in sync.  In addition, the Seminoles have had three offensive coordinators this year.  “We just can’t seem to jell having had three offensive coordinators,” said head coach Dewayne Gordon after the game.

Getting the ball back at their own 15 yard line, the Xpress made their way down the field.  On 3rd and 9, Fields faked a sweep and tossed a pass to Frank on wheel route down the right sideline.  From their own 38 yard line, Fields found tight end David Steele for a 26 yard gain to the Seminoles 36.  Then, from the Seminoles 34, Fields faked a fullback dive and tossed the ball to Frank who scored another touchdown with just 2:07 left in the first quarter.  The Xpress made the two-point conversion increasing the lead to 14-0.

On the following drive, the Seminoles looked as if they were going to score.  After two straight completions by Smith and a pass interference call, the Seminoles had the ball at their 40 yard line when Smith hit Jo Milton down the right sideline for a 37 yard gain to the Xpress 23 yard line.  Then, with less than 12 minutes in the half, the Seminoles tried a field goal.

This is when disaster struck for the Seminoles.  The snapped was fumbled back to the holder who briefly struggled to recover the ball which was picked up by Carnell Livingston who returned the ball 73 yards for a touchdown.  The two-point conversion was no good, and the Xpress pushed their lead to 20-0.

Things didn’t go much better for the Seminoles on the following the drive.  They did pick up a break when the Xpress was flagged for hitting the snapper on a punt giving them the ball at the Xpress 40 yard line.  However, the Seminoles missed on three straight passes and chose to punt the ball.

As the ball was bouncing around to the left side of the field on the punt, Xpress returner Sherrod Barnes scooped the ball on the run and reversed field away from the pursuit and sprinted to the goal line for the Xpress’ fourth touchdown of the night with 6:15 remaining in the half.  The Xpress made the two-point conversion, and the score was 28-0, Xpress.

If the Seminoles ever needed something to go right, this point in the game would be the time.  After punting the ball back to the Xpress and downing the ball at the Xpress 4 yard line, the Seminoles got a big break.  With 3:04 left in the half, Seminoles corner back Tocruray intercepted a Fields pass over the middle and returned it to the one yard line.

Initially, the Seminoles believed that Tocruray scored as he dove over the goal line, but the referees ruled he stepped out at the one yard line.  The Seminoles took advantage of a rule in the National Minor League Football which says that a team can challenge a call if they are taping the game.  The camera was brought out to the field and shown to the referees by Jacob Wolf.  However, the referees ruled that the call on the field was correct.

On the following play, the Seminoles called a fullback dive.  The ball was fumbled and recovered by the Xpress.  The Xpress loss yardage to the one yard line on the first play after the fumble recovery.  Then, on 2nd down, Fields lost the ball while being sacked by big Arabia Bradford who then fell on the ball for the Seminoles’ first touchdown.  “It was a safety-sack,” said Bradford referring to the play.  Fields dropped the ball while being sacked and, “I (Bradford) just fell on it.”  The PAT was good, and the score was 28-7, Xpress with less than 2 minutes in the first half.

Following the Seminoles touchdown, two teams traded interceptions.  First, Courtney McLemon picked off a Fields pass for the Seminoles, and then, Xpress linebacker Gabriel Langley picked off a Seminoles pass giving the Xpress the ball at the 50 yard line.

The Xpress moved the ball to the Seminoles 11 yard line where the drive stalled.  During a time out with 5 seconds left, a train roared by the field to the delight of the Xpress players who cheered and held up their helmets.

In the third quarter the teams traded possessions with neither getting a score.  However, with 10:03 left in the fourth quarter, coach Vernon decided to run the ball to drain the clock.  However, the running back fumbled the ball while trying to fight for yardage and “Jo Jo” Milton picked up the ball and ran it back for the touchdown.  The Seminoles made the PAT, and the score stood at 28-14, Xpress.

On the following possession, the Xpress went for the “knock out” punch.  After a couple of nice runs by Xpress running back James Roberts, quarterback Tre Fields faked the ball to Roberts and threw a strike down the middle to Manning who was streaking across the middle taking the ball the end-zone for a 56 yard touchdown pass.  The two-point conversion was no good, and the Xpress set the score at 34-14.

From that point on, the Seminoles were unable to score and the Xpress did their part to run out the clock.  The win is the fifth for the third ranked Xpress (Metroplex Top 5).  The Xpress is 5-1.  The loss is the fourth for the Seminoles who fall to 2-4.

Fans can check out our photo gallery from the game by clicking on the link below.

Photo Gallery