Warriors silence Rockers

05/08/03 NIFL Fan Article by Philip J. Rogich, Syracuse, UT

The Warriors traveled to Austin, TX to face the Rockers. The game was played at the Expo Center in front of 1400 fans.

The Rockers got the ball first and scored on a Mitchell 23 yard run. The Warriors then put their game philosophy into effect. That is to score fast and to score often. In one play, the Warriors tied the game. It was a 22 yard Ragsdale to Quinn touchdown pass. The Warrior’s defense shut the Rockers down the rest of the quarter. The Warriors offense scored two more times on Ragsdale pass plays. The first was to Quinn for 24 yards and the other was to Emmitt White for 2 yards. The first quarter ends Utah ahead 21-7.

Utah and Austin trade touchdowns to start the second quarter. On the next Rockers possession, Lance Sopoanga came up big. He recovered a Mitchell fumble and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown. Austin answered back with a 20 yard Saldana to Wallace touchdown pass. The Warriors Pete Garces then hit a 28 yard field goal, only to be countered by a Rockers 38 yard field goal. The half ended with Danny Ragsdale going to Jason Quinn once more on a 14 touchdown pass. Halftime score Utah 38 - Austin 24.

In the third quarter Utah and Austin traded scores four times. Austin came up short in the quarter, they had to settle for a field goal on one of their scores. In the final quarter each team scored three touchdowns. The final score Utah 91 - Austin 70.

The players of the game were Danny Ragsdale and Jason Quinn. Ragsdale once more put up MVP numbers. He was 26 of 36 for 334 yards, 9 touchdowns and no interceptions. The nine touchdowns ties a NIFL record. Jason Quinn lit up a defense for the second time this year. He had 111 yards on only 6 catches for 5 touchdowns.

All of the Warriors did a great job on the offensive side of the ball. Emmitt White had 158 all purpose yards (91 receiving & 67 kick return) and 2 touchdowns. Omar Bacon had 58 all purpose yards (21 rushing & 37 receiving) and 3 touchdowns. Grow had 72 yards and Mirabar had 23, each had a touchdown. Pete Garces was 9 of 11 on PAT and 1 of 1 on field goals. Garces also had a tackle and a key block. The Warriors only gave up the ball once on a fumble.

The Warriors lead the league in scoring averaging 59.7 points per game.

On defense leading the team was Shown Kojima with 6 tackles and Lance Sopoanga with a fumble returned for a touchdown. G. White, McCormack, Ah-You, Jacobson, & Potter had three tackles each. The warriors forced and recovered two fumbles. The Warriors lead the league in turnover ratio with a +9.

The Warriors were without the services of Trevor Bell. He did not make the trip because of a hip pointer. They did get Emmitt White back, who missed last week for an NFL training camp. Both Rob Love and Shawn Kojima left the game with separated shoulders. Danny Ragsdale had a minor knee injury but continued to play. Jason Quinn was shaken up on a late hit in the fourth

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