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Turnovers, Odd Calls Cost Claymores

Final Score:
Claymores 30 - 31 Galaxy OT

The return of Donald Sellers helped the Claymores immensely but in the end it was the inability of a quarterback to get to ball to the receiver which cost the Claymores dear.


Donald Sellers celebrates his first touchdown of the 2000 season, an 11 yard pass from Kevin Daft
Photo: Iain Carey
The Claymores started well, stopping the Galaxy on their first series which they followed up by hitting Gibson for 46 yards to the Galaxy 3 yard line. Daft hit Sulecio Sanford for a 4 yard touchdown two plays later and with Rob Hart's extra point, the Claymores led 7-0.

The Galaxy had given up an easy touchdown but were not about to roll over. They started a series of three drives which started as Claymores fumbles - or non-fumbles, see later - and ended in Galaxy touchdowns. Pat Barnes hit Cory Thomas for 31 yards, John Swift from 11 yards and Todd Floyd from 33 yards to allow Frankfurt to open up a 21-7 lead by the end of the first quarter.

The Galaxy extended their lead thanks to a Ralf Kleinmann field goal from 35 yards making the scoreline 24-7 - a daunting task for any team to come back from.

To their credit, Scotland didn't give up. With Marcus Crandell in at QB, the Claymores marched 91 yards for a score on Aaron Stecker's 2 yard run. Crandell went 7 of 9 on the drive and showing that he deserves more playing time. 24-14 at the half. Still daunting but not insurmountable.

However, after half time, Daft came back out and the Claymores went no where but neither did the Galaxy under Ted White.

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It wasn't until the fourth quarter that there was more scoring. Kevin Daft hit Donald Sellers from 11 yards out to narrow the gap to just 3 points with almost a full 15 minutes to play. After stopping the Galaxy, the Claymores drove back, deep into Frankfurt territory but were stopped short of the endzone. Rob Hart kicked the ensuing 24 yard field goal to level the scores at 24.

Despite a few scares late on, the scores remained the same as time expired and overtime was necessary. Galaxy won the toss and elected to start with the ball. QB Pat Barnes marched the Germans straight down the field and threw a touchdown pass from 7 yards to Mario Bailey - tying a league record for most consecutive games with a touchdown.

While the Claymores offense had begun to move, it was a tall order to ask for a touchdown on demand but the offense delivered. A pass interference call gave the Claymores 34 yards putting the line of scrimmage at the Galaxy 23. Ben Snell ran left for 14 yards before Kevin Daft hit Donald Sellers for a 9 yard touchdown. 30-31.

After a timeout by both teams, the Claymores decided to go for it all with a two point conversion. Daft dropped back and had Rickey Brady open in the endzone but was too slow in hitting him and, once again overthrew and the ball sailed out the back of the endzone. Game Over.

Comments


QB Kevin Daft and Jim Criner discuss the 2 point conversion attempt
Photo: Iain Carey
Ok, Quarterbacks. Get Crandell starting now. Daft has been holding on to the ball far too long the past couple of weeks and as a result taking silly sacks that he doesn't need to be taking. Crandell has been able to make a pass to an outlet receiver or throw it away instead of losing yardage on the sack. A couple of times, Daft thought about running, stopped to think about it and got flattened. If Crandell made that decision, he stuck with it be it good or bad.

The running game was limited due to Aaron Stecker leaving the game injured. Speaking later, it appears he is not badly hurt and it likely to return next week. Still, he played much of the game carrying the injury and while he made good yardage on a couple of nice runs, he was hampered by his arm and leg. Ben Snell did well filling in with 3 carries for 23 yards, including the 14 yard run in overtime.

The offensive line gave good pass protection but once again, we return to Daft not getting rid of the ball quick enough. The protection was there, the QB was too unfortunatly. The run block was not as impressive though and only limited numbers of holes were provided which were taken but all too often, the back had to make his own yardage.

Switching to defense and the line. Was there a line? When Ted White played QB for Frankfurt yes, no problem, 5 sacks, thank you very much. But when Pat Barnes came in there was no pressure at all, he had all day in the pocket. We need the sort of pressure they were getting earlier in the season.

The linebackers spent a lot of the first quarter watching people run past them but as with the whole defense, tightened up in the second period.

The secondary was patchy. They blanketed Galaxy receivers at times and at others were no where to be seen. Duane Hawthorne came up with his league leading fourth interception in his own endzone to halt a Galaxy drive late in the fourth quarter which would have put the game away for Frankfurt.


Aaron Stecker scores from 2 yards out on a Marcus Crandell led drive
Photo: Iain Carey
And so to that call. Coach Criner's decision to go for the two point conversion in overtime was, in my opinion, the correct one. In the NFLE, the overtime rules are that each team must have one chance to score before becoming sudden death in a 10 minute period. With the Galaxy offense firing well and with the Claymores unable to pressure Pat Barnes, it looked doubtful that the Scots could keep the Galaxy out of field goal range if they chose to kick the 1 point PAT. Going for two, meant going for the win and ending the game without letting Barnes carve up the defense once again.

While the call was a good one, the play call wasn't. Sending Ben Snell up the middle from two yards seemed to me to be the play to run. However, four receiver set was called and Daft had Rickey Brady perfectly positioned in the endzone with the defender behind him. All Daft had to do was zip it in to his numbers and Brady would have caught it - he does catch these balls. But Daft was too slow and missed the target horribly. The overthrown ball went over Brady's head and towards the defender before sailing out the back of the endzone. On the replay you could just about see the look on Brady's face saying "Where the heck is that going?".

The result, combined with Rhein's loss busts the World Bowl race wide open with all six teams within two games of each other. If the Claymores can win their remaining four games - World Bowl. If they can go 3-1 - World Bowl. If they finish 2-2 then it's still possible thanks to our record in tie breakers over Berlin and Amsterdam but we have to rely on other results. Finish 1-3 or 0-4 then forget it.

I think the time is right to start Crandell at QB. Talking to some players after the game, they voiced their support for starting him and he has been able to move the ball effectively without throwing interceptions. His one interception was a hail mary at the final whistle.

Next week, the Claymores play Barcelona at Hampden Park in Glasgow. The Dragons have been getting better and better with each passing game and look a more daunting prospect then earlier in the season. The Claymores will need to get their defense fired up again and have a healthy Aaron Stecker in the backfield to have any chance.

This is by no means a season ending loss. The race for the World Bowl is so wide open, even a team currently 2-4 could make the title game in five weeks time. However, it is time for the Claymores to get back to that early season intensity.

        FINAL IN OT       1ST  2ND  3RD  4TH   OT     TOTAL
                          ---  ---  ---  ---  ---     -----
        FRANKFURT          21    3    0    0    7      31
        CLAYMORES           7    7    0   10    6      30     FINAL IN OT


    SCORING SUMMARY

    1ST QUARTER: SCO - TD, S SANFORD 4 YD PASS FROM KEVIN DAFT (ROB HART
                           KICK), 6:19. CLAYMORES 7-0
                 FRA - TD, COREY THOMAS 31 YD PASS FROM PAT BARNES (RALF
                           KLEINMANN KICK), 8:48. FRANKFURT 7, CLAYMORES 7
                 FRA - TD, JUSTIN SWIFT 11 YD PASS FROM PAT BARNES (RALF
                           KLEINMANN KICK), 11:23. FRANKFURT 14-7
                 FRA - TD, TODD FLOYD 33 YD PASS FROM PAT BARNES (RALF
                           KLEINMANN KICK), 13:00. FRANKFURT 21-7
    2ND QUARTER: FRA - FG, RALF KLEINMANN 35 YD, 1:25. FRANKFURT 24-7
                 SCO - TD, AARON STECKER 2 YD RUN (ROB HART KICK), 12:51.
                           FRANKFURT 24-14
    3RD QUARTER: NONE
    4TH QUARTER: SCO - TD, DONALD SELLERS 11 YD PASS FROM KEVIN DAFT (ROB
                           HART KICK), 1:01. FRANKFURT 24-21
                 SCO - FG, ROB HART 24 YD, 13:57. FRANKFURT 24, CLAYMORES 24
             OT: FRA - TD, MARIO BAILEY 7 YD PASS FROM PAT BARNES (RALF
                           KLEINMANN KICK), 8:30. FRANKFURT 31-24
                 SCO - TD, DONALD SELLERS 9 YD PASS FROM KEVIN DAFT
                           (TWO-POINT CONVERSION FAILED), 10:13. FRANKFURT
                           31-30

TEAM STATISTICS
                              FRA            SCO
                         --------       --------
FIRST DOWNS                    25             23
Rushing                         3              7
Passing                        18             14
Penalty                         4              2
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY           1-9           7-15
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY           0-0            0-1
TOTAL NET YARDS               395            350
Total plays                    66             71
Average gain                  6.0            4.9
NET YARDS RUSHING              54             83
Rushes                         16             27
Average per rush              3.4            3.1
NET YARDS PASSING             341            267
Completed-attempted         23-45          23-37
Yards per pass                6.8            6.1
Sacked-yards lost            5-38           7-37
Had intercepted                 1              1
PUNTS-AVERAGE              6-35.0         3-43.7
RETURN YARDAGE                135            121
Punts-returns                 1-5           4-45
Kickoffs-returns            6-113           5-76
Interceptions-returns        1-17            1-0
PENALTIES-YARDS            11-104           6-47
FUMBLES-LOST                  0-0            3-3
TIME OF POSSESSION          28:52          36:21

PLAYER STATISTICS

Missed field goals:  Frankfurt (Ralf Kleinmann 49).

Frankfurt rushing: Michael Blair 8-38, Norman Miller 8-16. 

Claymores rushing: Aaron Stecker 19-60, Ben Snell 3-23, Marcus
Crandell 2-1, Kevin Daft 2-minus 1, Damon Gibson 1-0.

Frankfurt passing: Pat Barnes 17-35 for 282 yards, 1 INT, 4 TD, Ted
White 6-10 for 97 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD. 

Claymores passing: Marcus Crandell 12-22 for 166 yards, 1 INT, 0
TD, Kevin Daft 11-15 for 138 yards, 0 INT, 3 TD.

Frankfurt receiving: Todd Floyd 9-166, Justin Swift 5-54, Corey
Thomas 4-75, Mario Bailey 3-53, Gregory Spann 1-16, Norman Miller
1-15. 

Claymores receiving: Donald Sellers 8-113, Damon Gibson 5-74,
Sulecio Sanford 3-43, Rickey Brady 3-40, Aaron Stecker 2-23, Scott
Couper 1-12, Ben Snell 1-minus 1.