The Claymores have made a habit of winning big games the past couple of weeks and there was none bigger than this one against the league leading Rhein Fire. The Fire could clinch a World Bowl berth with a win and the Claymores effectively could.
 Rickey Brady beats the Fire coverage to score a 7 yard touchdown Photo: Iain Carey |
Rhein backup QB Matt Lytle came in for a few plays but it was not long before the Claymores D hit him so hard that Danny Wuerffel had to return. He led the Fire up the field before hitting former Claymore Kevin Drake for a 10 yard score. Mannie Burgsmuller booted the extra point - just, after it bounced of the upright and the crossbar to tie the scores at 7.
Late in the second the Claymores drove deep into Fire territory, to the 2 yard line where upon Ben Snell took a handoff and was not to be denied as he scored his first touchdown in a Claymores uniform. Again, Hart's PAT was good giving the Claymores a 14-7 half time lead.
On the Fire's first drive of the third quarter, Wuerffell looked to pass from the 10 yard line, saw no one and took off for the corner himself. He made it for the score to bring Rhein within a point. The snap for the PAT was very high and holder Rodney Williams was unable to bring it down for the kick forcing him to look for the 2 point option. Claymores safety Marcus Ray was on hand to bring him down and end the attempt to preserve the Scottishh lead by the narrowest of margins - 14-13.
| CLAYMORESPOLL |
Rob Hart added a 23 yard field goal to give the Claymores a 9 point cushion at 24-13 before Kevin Drake caught a 17 yard scoring pass from Danny Wuerffel to bring the Fire witin 5. Coach Galen Hall opted to go for two and the play was successful cutting the deficit to just three points.
Kicker Peter Elezovic who spent time with the Claymores early in training camp kicked a 39 yard field goal to tie the game at 24 with just 1:31 left on the clock
The Claymores were unable to move the ball and were forced to punt. The Fire suffered the same problem and had to punt with just 34 seconds remaining. Overtime beckoned. Rodney Williams boomed a 52 yard punt towards Sulecio Sanford who fielded it and took off, blasting past tackles 80 yards before being stopped at the Fire 3 yard line.
 RB Ben Snell scores his first touchdown as a Claymore Photo: Iain Carey |
Comments
Overall a good performance but there will be some areas to work on if the Claymores meet the Fire in two weeks time. The Scots had some problems covering the deep passing routes which Rhein like to use to much. This will need to be sorted out before the World Bowl, especially if Jeff Ogden returns to the Fire lineup.
The defensive line again stopped the run effectively allowing only 68 yards on 22 carries and the pass was, on the whole well defended against, giving up only 155 yards.
Anther sack happy performance saw the Claymores rack up 8 QB takedowns led by Jabbar Threats with two. This man really has a problem with quarterbacks and I love it! Michael Mason registered his 7th of the campaign which ties the record for the most by a Claymore in a season. The line also hit both quarterbacks hard. Wuerffel in particular looked concussed when he eventually got up and thet may have contributed to his quiet game - by his standards.
 Coach Criner thanks the crowd Photo: Iain Carey |
Special teams had a cracking game, the highlight being of course Sanford's 80 yard punt return in the final minute to setup the winning score.
Next week the Claymores face Barcelona in Spain where they have never won. For the Dragons to qualify for the World Bowl, they must beat the Claymores by a margin of 126 points which, barring a miracle means that the Claymores will play in the World Bowl.
Frankfurt have just beaten Barcelona by a score of 14-8 to confirm the 2000 World Bowl as Rhein Fire vs Scottish Claymores.
FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
RHEIN 0 7 6 11 24
CLAYMORES 7 7 7 10 31 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: SCO - TD, DONALD SELLERS 4 YD PASS FROM KEVIN DAFT (ROB
HART KICK), 12:15. CLAYMORES 7-0
2ND QUARTER: RHE - TD, KEVIN DRAKE 13 YD PASS FROM DANNY WUERFFEL
(MANFRED BURGSMULLER KICK), 1:31. RHEIN 7, CLAYMORES 7
SCO - TD, BEN SNELL 2 YD RUN (ROB HART KICK), 7:24.
CLAYMORES 14-7
3RD QUARTER: RHE - TD, DANNY WUERFFEL 10 YD RUN (TWO-POINT CONVERSION
FAILED), 3:15. CLAYMORES 14-13
SCO - TD, RICKEY BRADY 7 YD PASS FROM KEVIN DAFT (ROB
HART KICK), 10:20. CLAYMORES 21-13
4TH QUARTER: SCO - FG, ROB HART 23 YD, 0:22. CLAYMORES 24-13
RHE - TD, KEVIN DRAKE 17 YD PASS FROM DANNY WUERFFEL
(DANNY WUERFFEL PASS TO KENDRICK NORD FOR
TWO-POINT CONVERSION), 4:48. CLAYMORES 24-21
RHE - FG, PETER ELEZOVIC 39 YD, 10:06. RHEIN 24, CLAYMORES 24
SCO - TD, AARON STECKER 3 YD RUN (ROB HART KICK), 14:45.
CLAYMORES 31-24
TEAM STATISTICS
RHE SCO
-------- --------
FIRST DOWNS 16 17
Rushing 4 7
Passing 7 10
Penalty 5 0
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 1-11 5-15
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-1 0-0
TOTAL NET YARDS 182 217
Total plays 56 65
Average gain 3.3 3.3
NET YARDS RUSHING 68 72
Rushes 22 29
Average per rush 3.1 2.5
NET YARDS PASSING 114 145
Completed-attempted 17-26 21-33
Yards per pass 3.4 4.0
Sacked-yards lost 8-41 3-20
Had intercepted 1 2
PUNTS-AVERAGE 7-40.3 7-37.7
RETURN YARDAGE 149 285
Punts-returns 3-46 4-125
Kickoffs-returns 5-103 5-125
Interceptions-returns 2-0 1-35
PENALTIES-YARDS 8-42 10-128
FUMBLES-LOST 5-3 1-1
TIME OF POSSESSION 27:47 32:13
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: Scot Claymores (Rob Hart 43).
Rhein rushing: Ontiwaun Carter 10-32, Pepe Pearson 7-15, Danny
Wuerffel 3-10, Matt Lytle 1-8, Dan Collins 1-3.
Claymores rushing: Aaron Stecker 25-52, Ben Snell 4-20.
Rhein passing: Danny Wuerffel 16-25 for 140 yards, 1 INT, 2 TD, Matt
Lytle 1-1 for 15 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD.
Claymores passing: Kevin Daft 14-20 for 117 yards, 1 INT, 2 TD,
Marcus Crandell 7-13 for 48 yards, 1 INT, 0 TD.
Rhein receiving: Kevin Drake 6-61, Pepe Pearson 4-15, Alonzo Johnson
3-49, Ontiwaun Carter 2-26, Odunayo 1-13, Kendrick Nord 1-minus 9.
Claymores receiving: Rickey Brady 8-64, Donald Sellers 5-55,
Scott Couper 3-23, Aaron Stecker 2-15, Sulecio Sanford 2-2, Damon
Gibson 1-6.
Attendance: 10,196.