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Revenge is Sweet! Claymores Roll over Thunder

Final Score:
Claymores 42 - 3 Thunder


Blaine McElmurry gives the first indiction of the Claymores intentions with a first quarter interception of Eric Kresser
Photo: Iain Carey
What a diffence a week makes! The penalties were gone, the defense clicked and the offense helped out with six touchdowns. At the end of the day it was the biggest victory margin in Claymores history, a massive 39 points.

The game started with the Claymores being stopped on their first possession. The Claymores returned the favour by stopping the Thunder with a Blaine McElmurry pick which he returned 52 yards. The Claymores took full advantage of the turnover when Aaron Stecker ran to the right side of the endzone to open the scoring. Rob Hart added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

Still in the first quarter, Duane Hawthorne picked off Thunder QB Eric Kresser and once again the Claymores capitalised when Kevin Daft hit Rickey Brady from 26 yards out on a horrible looking pass that did the job. The PAT gave the Scots a 14-0 lead.

Moving into the second quarter, the Scots were on defense again and with the Thunder driving it was Duane Hawthorne who stepped up and picked off Kresser for a third time. After a severe case of deja vu, the Claymores moved up the park and scored again when Daft again hit Rickey Brady, this time from 17 yards for a 21-0 lead.

CLAYMORESPOLL
Who was the Claymores top performer in Week 4?
Duane Hawthorne (2 INT)
Rickey Brady (2 TD's)
Aaron Stecker (3 TD's)
Kevin Daft (3 TD's)

View result without voting

The Thunder scored a field goal with 8 minutes left in the half. The Claymores were forced to punt on their next possession which gave Berlin a chance. With a first and goal inside the 5, it looked certain the Thunder would add to their points total. However, the Claymores hounds had other ideas and stopped the Thunder offense four straight times. Berlin coach Peter Vaas later commented that he should have kicked the field goal on fourth down but hindsight is a wonderful thing!

Halftime score was a healthy Claymores lead at 21-3.

The Claymores got another boost when Daft threw a long pass towards Damon Gibson who grabbed the ball and sprinted for the endzone - a 65 yard completion. The PAT made it 28-3 and had the fans dancing in the stands.


Aaron Stecker opens the scoring from 1 yard out
Photo: Iain Carey
Into the fourth quarter and it became the Stecker and Snell show. Stecker scored twice from 6 and 4 yards out to extend the lead past the 40 point mark to 42-3 which is how the game ended.

Comments

Scary biscuits, I've got very very little to rant about this week!

The defense played outstandingly well. They have obviously been told if they aren't going to wrap the ball carrier up, take his legs away because he ain't going far without his legs. And it worked, they team gave up much less yardage after the catch and despite a few lapses, the run defense was also solid.

The D-line got it's usual quota of sacks, five this week, led by end Michael Mason with 1.5. If not an outstanding performance in terms of yardage, in terms of killing momentum, it was unbeatable. When asked, the D came up with the turnover or the big stop which must have demoralised the Thunder immensely.

On offense, the Claymores moved the ball effectively. There was little spectacular through the air - Gibson's catch excepted - but it worked and that is all you need.


Rickey Brady grabs his second touchdown of the game to give the Claymores a 21-0 lead before halftime
Photo: Iain Carey
The ground game was exceptional, Aaron Stecker has all the moves and ability to gain yardage from nothing. He it apparently tackled then just spins off for another 4 yards. Ben Snell who led the team in rushing yards has speed and size but not the moves of Stecker. Together though this tandem gives the Claymores perhaps the best running game in the league.

My gripe of the week is the special teams coverage. Although it got better during the game, the best it has been this season there were still a few that got away. It is not a good sign when both kicker and punter are credited with tackles. Both Rob Hart and Jon Ballantyne made cracking tackles on returns which would get them a place on any defense!

It was great to see Japanese QB Takayuki Sunaga take the snaps on the final series of the game. The Japanese development program is a fantastic idea and to get him on the field was good to see and much appreciated by the fans.

So week 5 and it's off for a very tough game in Dusseldorf's Rheinstadion against the 3-1 Rhein Fire. Go Claymores!

        FINAL             1ST  2ND  3RD  4TH     TOTAL
                          ---  ---  ---  ---     -----
        BERLIN              0    3    0    0       3
        CLAYMORES          14    7    7   14      42     FINAL


    SCORING SUMMARY


    1ST QUARTER: SCO - TD, AARON STECKER 1 YD RUN (ROB HART KICK), 8:40.
                           CLAYMORES 7-0
                 SCO - TD, RICKEY BRADY 26 YD PASS FROM KEVIN DAFT (ROB
                           HART KICK), 11:05. CLAYMORES 14-0
    2ND QUARTER: SCO - TD, RICKEY BRADY 17 YD PASS FROM KEVIN DAFT (ROB
                           HART KICK), 2:57. CLAYMORES 21-0
                 BER - FG, JARET HOLMES 47 YD, 6:56. CLAYMORES 21-3
    3RD QUARTER: SCO - TD, DAMON GIBSON 65 YD PASS FROM KEVIN DAFT (ROB
                           HART KICK), 10:31. CLAYMORES 28-3
    4TH QUARTER: SCO - TD, AARON STECKER 6 YD RUN (ROB HART KICK), 1:31.
                           CLAYMORES 35-3
                 SCO - TD, AARON STECKER 4 YD RUN (ROB HART KICK), 7:21.
                           CLAYMORES 42-3


TEAM STATISTICS


                              BER            SCO
                         --------       --------
FIRST DOWNS                    12             21
Rushing                         5             10
Passing                         7              8
Penalty                         0              3
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY          3-14           6-11
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY           1-3            1-1
TOTAL NET YARDS               238            325
Total plays                    62             56
Average gain                  3.8            5.8
NET YARDS RUSHING              87            176
Rushes                         21             36
Average per rush              4.1            4.9
NET YARDS PASSING             151            149
Completed-attempted         15-36          10-19
Yards per pass                3.7            7.5
Sacked-yards lost            5-20            1-3
Had intercepted                 4              0
PUNTS-AVERAGE              4-47.5         4-48.0
RETURN YARDAGE                182            175
Punts-returns                1-35           2-12
Kickoffs-returns            7-147           2-58
Interceptions-returns         0-0          4-105
PENALTIES-YARDS              9-66           3-20
FUMBLES-LOST                  2-0            1-1
TIME OF POSSESSION          30:09          29:51


PLAYER STATISTICS


Missed field goals:  Berlin (Jaret Holmes 34).


Berlin rushing: Brian Shay 13-45, Brian Moorman 2-37, Scott
Milanovich 1-6, Vershan Jackson 4-minus 1, Mike Cook 1-0. 


Claymores rushing: Ben Snell 14-90, Aaron Stecker 20-81, Kevin
Daft 2-5.


Berlin passing: Scott Milanovich 11-25 for 126 yards, 1 INT, 0 TD,
Eric Kresser 4-11 for 45 yards, 3 INT, 0 TD. 


Claymores passing: Kevin Daft 9-17 for 139 yards, 0 INT, 3 TD,
Marcus Crandell 1-2 for 13 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD.


Berlin receiving: Thabiti Davis 4-58, Damon Dunn 3-64, Brian Shay
3-17, Vershan Jackson 2-15, Robert Scott 2-6, Tywan Mitchell 1-11. 


Claymores receiving: Rickey Brady 3-56, Aaron Stecker 3-9, Damon
Gibson 1-65, Sulecio Sanford 1-20, Tremayne Allen 1-2, Ben Snell 1-0.


Attendance: 8,912.