Welcome to Lexington Indoor Football! What took you so long?

04/04/03 Mike Soult

In the land of the Bluegrass, we all know that basketball is king. However, now that basketball season is over, it’s time for the fun to really begin. That’s right! The Wall To Wall Indoor Brawl has come to Rupp Arena (home of the UK Wildcats) and the Lexington Horsemen have come to win!

In their inaugural game, in front of a league record 10,004 fans, the Lexington Horsemen rode into the NIFL against one of the league’s strongest teams from 2002, the Lake Charles LandSharks, determined to make a statement. Behind the arm of form UK/Valdosta State standout QB Dusty Bonner, the Horsemen were figured to put the ball in the air most of the night, but they surprised many by marching the ball into the endzone after five straight Bonner passes. On a night when the QB would be the hero (and the goat) Martez Johnson (UK) had 36 yds on 13 carries with 2 TD’s.

It took the fans a while to get into the game, but with the colorful personality of Kendall Shello to feed off of, the crowd was into it most of the night. After Shello, a defensive lineman for the ‘Sharks was involved in some questionable calls, he really played to the crowd’s boos. Every time he made a move, the boos just got louder. You can tell the fans in Lexington are ready to adopt these Horsemen as their own and not just a fad.

Despite a strong second half, the Horsemen came up short. After a missed field goal by the ‘Sharks with two minutes to go, Lexington was only down 45-41. It seemed as though we could ride Johnson into the endzone, but then came the air attack (or surrender). On first down, Bonner had Dougie Allen (UK) streaking down the sideline but he put just a little to much air into the “Air Raid” and the pass was picked off by Lake Charles’ Warren St. Junious, in effect ending the comeback drive.

It took four quarters, but the crowd really got behind their new team and everyone left talking about how much fun they had and when they would come back.
 

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