It was a very cold night at Pennington Field in Bedford, TX on Saturday night March 28, but the Fort Worth Avengers were just beginning to warm up. A week after hanging 49 points on the Denton County Patriots, the Avengers upped their offensive explosion by putting 63 points on the Dallas Bengals.
But, it was the Bengals who got on the scoreboard first.
The Bengals took the ball on the opening kick off and drove it down the field to take a 6-0 lead. The Bengals benefitted from a perfect strike on 3rd and 8. Later after an Avengers stuffed the run on another 3rd down, the Bengals called a time out to regroup. With the lack of a kicking game, the Bengals coaching staff decided to “roll the dice” on 4th down and quarterback Jarrard Perryman got the pass to wide receiver Johnnie Williams as he crossed the goal line.
“We came out a little flat, we weren’t able to practice this week,” according to Defensive Coordinator Dan Hunt, “. . . . got caught a little flat-footed.”
The Avengers’ defense had only given up 31 points all season, but the Bengals scored 12 in the first half. Nevertheless, Hunt was proud of his guys. “We made some adjustments and changed our defensive scheme coming out in the second half and just talked to our guys about doing their job. PYP–that’s what we do, play-your-position.”
It didn’t take long for the Avengers to respond. After Avengers quarterback Terry Barber found Alex Martinez on the drive’s first 3rd down, Barber launched a strike down-field to a streaking Quinten “The Quick” McKinney for a 64 yard touchdown pass. The Avengers missed the PAT, and the score was tied 6-6.
After the two traded possessions, the Avengers benefitted from a very short punt from the Bengals to take over in the 2nd quarter at the Bengals’ 22 yard line. The Avengers managed to get the ball down to the goal line after a nifty 4th down run. That set up a fullback dive for the touchdown by Jose Zenteno. This time the Avengers hit the PAT making the score 13-6 with 11:30 left in the first half.
After an interception by the Avengers Tim Williams, the Bengals caught a break. The interception gave the Avengers the ball at their own 11 yard line, and it looked like they were going to get another score. In just two plays they advanced the ball to the 33 yard line picking up big chunks of yardage. On the third play of the drive, Barber found receiver Pat Fields in the flats, and it looked like he was going pick up more big chunks of yardage. However, as he was avoiding a tackler the ball came out and the Bengals recovered the ball.
With the ball at the Avengers 26 yard line, the Bengals went to work. A couple of runs got the Bengals to the Avengers 9 yard line. After an incomplete pass, the Bengals were facing a 4th and 6 from the 9 yard line where they decided to go for it on 4th down again.
The decision paid off as Avengers defender Tim Williams was flagged for a pass interference in the end zone giving the Bengals the ball at the 1 yard line. Fullback Michael Green plowed in from the 1 yard line for the second Bengals touchdown of the night. The PAT was blocked and the Avengers held on to a 13-12 lead with just a few minutes left in the first half.
That would be the last time the Bengals were close. On the following drive, the Avengers used an excellent kick-off return that gave them the ball on the Bengals’ 45 yard line to kick-start another touchdown drive. First, the Avengers got 18 yards on a screen pass by Chuck Steward. Next, they picked up 11 yards on a draw by Cedrick Miller. After a holding call which put the Avengers back on the 27 yard line, Barber found Fields over the middle for a 11 yard gain.
Miller got 5 yards on a draw before the Avengers drew the Bengals offsides to convert a 1st down. Finally, Steward got in for the touchdown, and following a successful two point conversion from Barber to Miller, the Avengers took a 21-12 lead with just 57 seconds left in the first half.
The Bengals, with less than a minute remaining, decided to run their two-minute offense to get a score before halftime. That decision proved costly. Perryman, the Bengals quarterback, launched a pass down the middle which was picked off by Emmerson Settle who promptly returned it for a touchdown. Another PAT, and the score was 28-12 Avengers at halftime.
The “pick-six” was a momentum changer. “It really fired our guys up,” said Coach Hunt, “they just kept on coming. That’s what we do. We keep on coming every time.”
Coming out of halftime, the Avengers kept up the pressure. First, DeCory Hall got in to the end zone for the Avengers pushing the score to 34-12 after a missed PAT. Next, Barber hit D. Burleson for another touchdown with 1:57 left in the 3rd quarter. The Avengers made the two point conversion, and the score was 42-12.
Following the touchdown, disaster struck for the Bengals. On the ensuing kick-off, the Bengals returner fumbled the ball and the Avengers scooped it up and rambled to the 9 yard line. On the play Peter Mercier of the Bengals was injured and taken by paramedics to the hospital. Reports are that Mercier was suffering from pain in his back near the kidney. Mercier was treated and released from the hospital that night.
Following the play, the Avengers scored again making the score 49-12. The Avengers would go on to score two more touchdowns including one by back-up quarterback Collin Hillman.
The Avengers offense seems to be one of the most explosive in the TUFL. The Avengers average 48 points per game, 56 the past two weeks. When asked how he would defend his own offense, Avengers defensive coordinator Dan Hunt said, “You know, when we’re [the offense] hitting on all cylinders, I don’t know that you’re going to. ”
The Avengers improved to 4-1 on the season while the Bengals dropped to 1-3. “It was a good game today,” said Head Avengers Coach Darrel Brummett. “Everybody was executing. We came out a little flat today, but at the end everyone was doing their job.”
Fans can catch the dfwfootball.net photo gallery from the Avengers-Bengals game by clicking here.
