Week 3 is officially in the books. The games this week were a lot more competitive than last week’s blowouts. Every single game either team could have came away with a win despite what the scoreboard reads. It was great to have a week of games where the competition level was so high.
**PLAYERS OF THE WEEK UPDATED**
**ALL HIGHLIGHTS ON YOUTUBE UPDATED**
Brothers in Arms Defeat Burlington Bombsquad 44-36
Player of the Game: BIA QB Terrance Topps – 3 Passing TD’s, 3 Rushing TD’s
We knew this was going to be a competitive game but, we had no idea it would be a high scoring shoot out. The game would be decided by 1 possession. This is big because the Bombsquad didn’t score on their first possession since Jeremy Davis wasn’t on the field yet. On 4th down with 28 seconds left on the clock, the Bombsquad went into prevent defense to hopefully get the ball back. Down 38-36, if the Bombsquad could have stopped the Brothers they would have a shot. In a play that may go down as one of the smartest of their season, QB Terrance Topps ran behind the line of scrimmage and ran the entire clock down to 0. By the time the Bombsquad realized what Topps was doing, it was too late as most of the clock had ticked off.
At the last second he would heave it to the end zone for a score. The back and forth scores of this game was very entertaining. Both teams were very vocal displaying a lot of passion. Jeremy Davis and Terrance Topps traded several touchdowns. Receiving wise Tez Moore, Cam Baldwin, and John Martin all had big games. For the Bombsquad Lavoris Rogers and Carlos Sanchez did most of the damage. Earl Wallace was very upset with his defense’s play and hopes to right the ship this week. Terrance Topps would receive offensive player of the week honors for his great performance against a very strong Bombsquad team.
House Dawgs Defeat Sabercats 41-26
Player of the Game: Dawgs QB DF Littlejohn – 4 Passing TD’s, 1 Rushing TD
The House Dawgs would remain undefeated after a large 2nd half surge against the Sabercats. Right before halftime the score was 14-7 and the Sabercats were driving. On the last play of the half, Sabercats QB Ricky Duke would throw to the back corner but House Dawgs CB Jordan Hazard would intercept it and take it to the house for a TD. The House Dawgs would then score on their 1st possession of the 2nd half. What could have been a 14-14 game before half, promptly turned into a 28-7 game. The Sabercats had plenty of fight and despite losing had their most impressive display of the season. With the exception of the 1 interception, Ricky Duke played wonderful throwing 4 Touchdowns. One to Chris Carver, and the other 3 all went to Justin Bennett. Two of Bennett’s touchdowns were a product of sheer will and determination. Bennett would play to the whistle and would come out of two large crowds of players with touchdowns due to them not pulling his flag. Jay Winton’s squad is playing with a chip on their shoulder now as every week they are playing better and better.
For the House Dawgs DF Littlejohn would have his normal impressive performance. A lot of big runs, pinpoint passing for 4 TD’s, etc. Brandon Stokes would catch 2 TD’s and De’Andre Stevenson would reel in two touchdowns as well. Littlejohn would have all day behind the line of scrimmage with blocking from Chris Hinson and Chase Dixon. Offensively the House Dawgs may be the best team in the league as far as putting points on the board but, against some of the better teams in the league they will need to limit the points their defense gives up. A proactive effort has been made by the House Dawgs to right the wrongs of their defense so we will see how they perform this Saturday against Brothers in Arms (one of the leagues top scoring teams) and the Winston Salem Predators.
HeadHunterz Defeat GSO Predators 21-19
Player of the Game: HH LB Brandon Wiggins – 4 Catches, 4 Pulls, 1 INT for TD and 1 XP INT for TD.
The shocker of the week is Rod Smith’s HeadHunterz pulling off the huge upset win over the undefeated GSO Predators. The HeadHunterz played as good of a game as they possibly could and when you mix that with a couple bad breaks for the Predators, the recipe was a win. After an opening possession score on a Zeek Sanders TD pass to Barry Flood, on the first play Predators QB Earl Sams would have his pass tipped at the line by Zo Lesesene and Brandon Wiggins would catch it off the deflection for the easy touchdown. The 13-0 lead would remain until Earl Sams would find Rodney Beasley for a TD. The HeadHunterz find the end zone again (Sanders to Branch TD) but the 2nd half it was all Predators.
The Predators would battle back and in the last minute would come within 2 points. After a Sams to Terrance Davis touchdown, they had to go for two to tie the game. Earl Sams would scramble to the left and find Jerry Bates in the end zone but at the last second Terrance Branch would knock the pass down. The HeadHunterz would come away with the win. The Predators turned the juice on a bit too late. One positive to look at from this game was the debut of Ra’Mel Workman who is one of the most dynamic players in the league. Workman would have a 30 yard rushing TD in which he would make a couple players miss. Once Johnny King and Workman are on the field at the same time, this is going to spell trouble for the rest of the league.
Carolina Bengals Defeat Blackout 19-6
Player of the Game: Bengals CB Franklin Terry – 3 Pulls, 1 INT for TD, 1 Fumble Recovery for TD
The Bengals did everything in their power to come away with the win. In a game that looks like they overlooked the 0-3 Blackout, without the play of Franklin Terry things could have gotten VERY interesting. Luke Ledwell (2 INT’s) and Will Bender (1 INT) of Blackout would force turnovers to keep the high powered Bengals offense off the field. With long drives, they were able to take a lot of the clock away. Bengals QB’s EJ Abrams-Ward and Xavier Carrington would have difficulty getting their team into the endzone. The only offensive TD the Bengals had would come from Xavier Carrington to Gene Carrington who would lateral to Michael Kee for the TD. Blackout’s only TD would come from a rushing TD by Jeremy East.
Franklin Terry would step up huge for the Bengals and intercept a pass for a touchdown and recover a fumble for a touchdown. At one point Blackout was down 12-6 at the 1 yard line with 4 attempts to score. On 4th and inchs Jeremy East would bobble a pitch to Ramar Thompson and Franklin Terry would recover the fumble and race into the endzone for the score. The Bengals defense came up big as Kendon Doe would force the mishandled pitch before Terry would scoop it up. When some thought this game would be a blowout, it wound up being one of the closer match-ups of the day. The last time Robert Baker’s team had a poor game (vs House Dawgs) they reeled off two huge blowout wins to follow it up. Bengals opponents be very weary this Saturday!
Whitsett Warriors Defeat Winston Salem Predators 19-6
Player of the Game: Warriors WR/CB Demetrious Dick – 1 Receiving TD (GW), 1 INT for TD
The Whitsett Warriors look like a new team with Jarius Morehead at QB. He gives his team the run/pass option, while having playmaker Josh Morehead down the field ready to make plays. Morehead would have another solid game not turning the ball over. Josh Morehead would take a play at QB and find Billy Morehead for the touchdown. The Winston Salem Predators would do their best still without captain Chris Plouffe and would have a solid game. Kevin McGowan, Sean Bennett, and TJ Peele were the main contributors. AD Rutherford would come up with an interception on the defensive side of the ball.
The game would remain 7-7 until the last minute. In the last minute a big interception by Jay Egeonue would give the Warriors a chance to go for the win. Jarius Morehead would lead his team down the field and with 10 seconds to go would find Demetrious Dick in the corner of the end zone. With 7 seconds left the Predators had to go to the last second desperation pitch-back/lateral play to hope for a miracle. However, Demetrious Dick would intercept a lateral and take it to the house for a TD. What was once a 7-7 game in the last 15 seconds, turned to a 19-7 victory for the Whitsett Warriors. The two big plays by Demetrious Dick may have given him the confidence to turn into a serious playmaker for the Warriors. His athleticism is very apparent but he hadn’t really had any big plays prior to these two. The Warriors have gotten their first win of the season and seem to be playing better as each week goes on.
