Avengers vs. Stampede in the 3rd quarter of the Ronald McDonald Bowl

According to Robin Brummett, team secretary, the Avengers raised enough money to sponsor a room at the Ronald McDonald House in Fort Worth for an entire year.  In addition, they raised enough money to help fund the suppers the Avengers regularly host at the house. Also, the Avengers took up two big boxes of food to donate to the House pantry.

Nevertheless, there was a game to be played.  The North Texas Stampede was the opponent for the Avengers at Fossil Ridge High School, and the Stampede was looking to avenge the North Conference Championship game from the Spring.  And, for a half, it looked like they were on their way.  The Stampede jumped out to a 14-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Avengers came back under the direction of new quarterback Pat Fields.  Former quarterback Terry Barber has moved to calling plays, and the Avengers played three different quarterbacks.  Fields tossed two touchdown passes to Quentin McKinney, and McKinney hit Alex Martinez on a receiver-reverse-pass to lead the comeback in the second half.

After the Martinez touchdown catch, the Avengers had the point-after blocked, but the Stampede was called for twelve men on the field.  With the game tied at 20 and the ball on the goal line for the PAT, the Avengers decided to go for two.  A quarterback sneak got the two points and the Avengers won 22-20.

In spite of the exhibition status, the game had the feel of a playoff game.  Head coach and Stampede owner Patrick Porter was upset with the twelve men on the field call after the referee waved his player on the field.  Further, he disputed that the Avenger quarterback broke the plane.  These two team have solidified their rivalry in the past couple of years.

Check out the video shot by Sonny Easley of TUFL.

Our photojournalist Michael Rettig was on hand to catch the action at the Lady Stampede auditions on Saturday at Irving Mall.  Check out the pics from his Flickr stream.

Check out more of Michael’s pictures at his Flickr stream and his website.

Flickr

MichaelRettigphotography.com