Scottish Claymores 3-10 Rhein Fire
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Poor protection of the football by the Scottish Claymores (2-3) allowed the Rhein Fire to march above them to a 3-2 record at the mid-way point of the season. Key fumbles and interceptions with the Claymores in scoring distance meant that no matter how well the defense played it was not enough for the offense to grab the Claymores that elusive away win they covet so much.
The final score was 10-3 to the Fire but I felt that the game could have played on into Monday and the Dusseldorf team would be struggling to get any more points. Surely we would get a touchdown before the end of the game to defeat the worst team we have played so far this year. But the game ended with the Scots coming up short inside the final minute and a woeful Rhein team walking away with the win. So how did we lose this oh-so-winnable game? Because surely that was the most disappointing part of the result - we were hardly beaten by the better team. We made Rhein look like a million dollars at times when they played like chunk change after the first quarter had ended.
The first signs of trouble were on the horizon before kick-off. Dante Hall was out with a groin strain and while he was on the sideline he was not kitted up. Earl Riley was there too but would not play, and Vaughn Sanders has headed back to Birmingham, AL for rehab. His replacement Omar Bacon wasn't in Dusseldorf and players on the defense and offense would have to step up if we were to win.
Rhein won the toss and elected to receive. QB Phil Stambaugh went to work and Rhein marched up the field in a quick manner through the air before Pepe Pearson ran in from a couple of yards out for the only TD of the game, the extra point from Burgsmueller was good and the Fire were 7-0 up.
Reggie Hunt then returned the kick-off for a promising 30 yards. Scotland got two first downs but were then three-and-out with Costello booming a punt downfield - he's having a great season and has brought a much needed boost to our punting which was lacking last year. Rhein rumbled the ball upfield into the 2nd quarter before punting into our End Zone but on Scotland's first drive of the 2nd quarter a promising drive ended as a pass intended for James Whalen was picked off by Rhein cornerback Deeke Cooper at the Fire 42-yd line. Rhein moved the chains but the Scottish D was holding better on this drive and kicker James Tuthill had to settle for a 3-point field goal. 10-0 Fire. The Claymores moved the ball well before the end of the hald but with the ball on the Rhein 28-yd line Stoerner was again intercepted on a pass to Williams. I figured at that point that a field goal would have kept us nicely in the game, still as long as we gave nothing away ourselves we would be alright - and indeed the Scottish D didn't let Rhein get another point on the board, unfortunately our Offense would continue their turnover misery into the second half. Rhein went nowhere on three runs to run out the clock and end the half.
After a spectacular half-time show in gloriously sunny and hot weather the Claymores set out at the start of the second half stalling quickly on a three and out before a long punt by Costello was downed on the 1-yd line by Rowelle Blenman. The official said he'd put his foot on the whitewash and it was a touchback. Having not seen the TV replay I can't comment... well, OK I can. It seemed an outrageous decision. The official that made the call was on the farside of the field while another official mere yards away ruled that Blenman had downed the punt before anyone touched the End Zone. The Claymores in the crowd booed loudly. Seconds later an official then claimed intentional grounding on Phil stambaugh when clearly the ball bounced of a Rhein running back's hands - that call was over-ruled and Rhein got away with it. WHile the officials didn't lsoe Scotland the game there were some dubious calls throughout the afternoon. An intentional grounding early in the game that wasn't called against Stambaugh, offensive holding to stop Dingle crippling the Rhein QB, facemasking here and there and borderline out-of-bounds calls.
In any event Rhein got nowhere on their next drive and punted deep into Scottish territory where Central McClellion muffed the punt. Rhein recovered. It was just another bad break for Central, who's been mostly unlucky this season. However, on the next play Rhein were intercepted by Eric Whitfield - who had a great game, 7 tackles 1 INT - in the End Zone. He and Hunt made the loss of Riley almost un-noticed. Scotland drove up the field but on the Rhein 13-yd line Stoerner fumbled and Rhein again recovered. Sigh.
Rhein went nowhere and punted to Nate Terry who fair caught the ball at the start of the 4th quarter. We punted back but soon got the ball back off a Rhein team going nowhere at all and missed a 52-yd field goal by Tuthill (it fell short). The Claymores moved up the field but we stalled at the vital point (Whalen was having a good game but Stoerner was only shooting at him in the Red Zone and the Rhein D was teaming up on him - sometimes leaving others wide open - still Whalen was getting open again and again, Anthony Gray was also having a good game) and Rob Hart put over a 25-yd kick - much to the disappointment of the Dusseldorf faithful and it was 10-3 to Rhein. With 4:07 left we looked like we were going to take these donkeys to the cleaners with a last-minute win.
Disappointingly Rhein got a first down and had run 2 minutes off the clock before they tried a stupid reverse deep in their own territory. (Patron Saint) Chris Ward recovered for Scotland on the Rhein 34-yd line and we were in with a chance. Stoerner drove the team to the 11-yd line before on 2nd and 10 he was sacked by Scott Zimmerman (had a good game) and fumbled. The silent Dusseldorf crowd of minutes before went ballistic! They had won.
Scotland should have won but came up 11 yards short - a case of a bridge too far. Mistakes which Stoerner shouldered the blame for had cost us what should have been an easy victory in the sunshine by the Rhine. Our offense could move teh chains but we had real problems getting separation for receivers in the Red Zone and that caused Cint to hold on to the ball for too long. End result: depressing loss I'm afraid.
Scoring| 1ST QUARTER | ||||
RHE - TD, PEPE PEARSON 4 YD RUN (MANFRED BURGSMULLER KICK), 5:40. RHEIN 7-0 | ||||
| 2ND QUARTER | ||||
RHE - FG, JAMES TUTHILL 47 YD, 8:39. RHEIN 10-0 | ||||
| 3RD QUARTER | ||||
NONE | ||||
| 4TH QUARTER | ||||
SCO - FG, ROB HART 25 YD, 10:54. RHEIN 10-3 | ||||
TEAM STATISTICS SCO RHE |
FIRST DOWNS 17 17 Rushing 6 6 Passing 9 10 Penalty 2 1 3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 4-10 6-12 4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0 0-0 TOTAL NET YARDS 242 233 Total plays 54 57 Average gain 4.5 4.1 NET YARDS RUSHING 104 81 Rushes 23 31 Average per rush 4.5 2.6 NET YARDS PASSING 138 152 Completed-attempted 17-30 16-23 Yards per pass 4.5 5.8 Sacked-yards lost 1-13 3-20 Had intercepted 2 1 PUNTS-AVERAGE 3-44.0 3-52.0 RETURN YARDAGE 31 43 Punts-returns 1-0 0-0 Kickoffs-returns 3-54 2-41 Interceptions-returns 1-minus 23 2-2 PENALTIES-YARDS 4-25 4-19 FUMBLES-LOST 4-3 1-1 TIME OF POSSESSION 29:34 30:26
It was a game that had flown past (maybe 2 hours 25 minutes in total length?) and one we should have won. Claymores MVP? Costello had a good game, Whalen and Gray moved the chains, the D were superb overall (10 points), Special Teams need to fix the punt returning and take a kick-off to the House but weren't too bad, but I'm giving it to Eric Whitfield - his best game as a Claymore. Pick it 36!
Rhein 10-3 Claymores
(Prediction: Rhein 10-13 Claymores)
Grade: Offense D-, Defense B+, Special Teams C
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