Final Score : Scottish Claymores 6 - 37 Rhein Fire
Well we sucked!
No other way to put it other than bluntly this week I'm afraid.. What is it with our football team that one week they can play so brilliantly - defeating Barcelona 31-21 - to the next week getting absolutely hammered by the Rhein Fire 6-37. Admittadly the Fire are not and never should have been a 1-3 team but still, 37-6?!?
It started badly when in the first minute, new starting QB for the Fire Jim Arrellanes hooked up with Jason Tucker for a 20 yard touchdoen pass and with the extra point, a 7-0 lead.
They exteneded their lead in the second quarter when Arrellanes hit Anthony McKinney for a 9 yard score and Dialleo Burks for a 5 yard touchdown.
Before the half was over, Manfred Burgsmuller added two field goals from 24 and 18 yard to make the half time score 27-0. By this stage the game and all realistic prospects of a comeback were over for the Claymores.
The Fire could afford to relax in the second half, scoring only once in the third period. Arrellanes hit Kez McCorvey for a 96 yard, yes 96 yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 34-0.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Burgsmuller added a 3rd field goal from 27 yards to round off the Fire scoring - they gave up. I mean why bother when you're 37-zip up with 5 minutes left in the ball game.
On the following kickoff came the Claymores only remotely positive part of the game. Yo Murphy faked a perfect handoff on the return then out ran everyone else on the Fire special teams, 89 yards for the touchdown. The Claymores went for the 2 point conversion which inevitably failed and thankfully the game ended there.
Comments
We sucked. Pure and simple. We sucked.
On offense, we sucked. On defense, we sucked. On special teams, OK I'll give you that one, special teams were alright.
Craigs magic was gone this week, still in the Murrayfield lockerroom apparently. He'd better pick it up before next weeks crunch game with the Galaxy. His 14 of 27 for 120 yards by far his worst ever performance in a Claymores uniform and just because I mentioned it in the preview, he threw an interception too.
The receivers didn't have many chances to make plays with Craig so unsettled by the Fire defense and the run game, you guessed it, it sucked. 21 yards rushing will not win you a single football game...ever...in the history of the world. Man, changes need to be made here and fast.
Four aerial touchdowns from Jim Arrellanes, one of them a 96 yarder. Frankfurt will have a field day and put 60 points past us if our defense can't hold the passing attack of Frankfurt, one of the best in the league.
I honestly see no need to pan the team any more, my colleagues on WTDC Radio will do that admirably on Friday so I'll just leave it there. From a very disappointed fan in Athens, Georgie, till next time and at least next week, remember, this is STILL OUR Year Baby!
In summary, phrase of the week is : "We sucked".
FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
CLAYMORES 0 0 0 6 6
RHEIN 7 20 7 3 37 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: RHE - TD, JASON TUCKER 20 YD PASS FROM JIM ARELLANES
(MANFRED BURGSMULLER KICK), 14:12. RHEIN 7-0
2ND QUARTER: RHE - TD, ANTHONY MCKINNEY 9 YD PASS FROM JIM ARELLANES
(MANFRED BURGSMULLER KICK), 6:52. RHEIN 14-0
RHE - TD, DIALLEO BURKS 5 YD PASS FROM JIM ARELLANES
(MANFRED BURGSMULLER KICK), 9:30. RHEIN 21-0
RHE - FG, MANFRED BURGSMULLER 24 YD, 13:05. RHEIN 24-0
RHE - FG, MANFRED BURGSMULLER 18 YD, 14:58. RHEIN 27-0
3RD QUARTER: RHE - TD, KEZ MCCORVEY 96 YD PASS FROM JIM ARELLANES
(MANFRED BURGSMULLER KICK), 6:08. RHEIN 34-0
4TH QUARTER: RHE - FG, MANFRED BURGSMULLER 27 YD, 5:06. RHEIN 37-0
SCO - TD, YO MURPHY 89 YD KICKOFF RETURN (PAT FAILED),
5:24. RHEIN 37-6
TEAM STATISTICS
SCO RHE
-------- --------
FIRST DOWNS 7 21
Rushing 1 8
Passing 6 12
Penalty 0 1
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 1-8 5-14
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-1 2-2
TOTAL NET YARDS 133 415
Total plays 40 67
Average gain 3.3 6.2
NET YARDS RUSHING 21 166
Rushes 12 44
Average per rush 1.8 3.8
NET YARDS PASSING 112 249
Completed-attempted 14-27 14-23
Yards per pass 4.0 10.8
Sacked-yards lost 1-8 0-0
Had intercepted 1 1
PUNTS-AVERAGE 6-44.8 3-44.3
RETURN YARDAGE 218 24
Punts-returns 1-0 1-9
Kickoffs-returns 7-191 3-15
Interceptions-returns 1-27 1-0
PENALTIES-YARDS 3-3 3-0
FUMBLES-LOST 3-3 3-0
TIME OF POSSESSION 22:49 37:11
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: Rhein (Manfred Burgsmuller 23).
Claymores rushing: Dameyune Craig 2-14, Ben Snell 2-11, Jamie
Reader 2-2, Jesse Haynes 6-minus 6.
Rhein rushing: Derrick Clark 24-83, Kenny Bynum 17-76, Jim Arellanes
3-7.
Claymores passing: Dameyune Craig 14-27 for 120 yards, 1 INT, 0 TD.
Rhein passing: Jim Arellanes 14-23 for 249 yards, 1 INT, 4 TD.
Claymores receiving: Yo Murphy 4-66, Donald Sellers 4-28, Ben
Snell 3-17, Scott Couper 1-6, Jamie Reader 1-3, Emory Smith 1-0.
Rhein receiving: Jason Tucker 4-59, Kez Mccorvey 3-110, Anthony
Mckinney 2-23, Dialleo Burks 2-15, Derrick Clark 1-9, L Hall 2-33.
Attendance: 22,171.