New York Sentinels

This Week

The Florida Tuskers remained undefeated after tonight’s 24-6 win over the struggling New York Sentinels at Rentschler Field in Hartford. With 5,201 in attendance, the Tuskers overpowered the Sentinels while keeping alive their hopes for a perfect season. A complete box score can be obtained here.

Florida’s opening drive featured a 17-yard run up the middle by RB Tatum Bell but the drive stalled, forcing a punt.  Florida LB Terrence Melton then forced a Brian Bonner fumble on the New York 11-yard line.  Bell ran another 10 yards up the middle to set up a four-yard touchdown toss to Jayson Foster.

New York responded with a scoring drive of its own, marching down the field on a pair of WR Craphonso Thorpe catches and a 16-yard pass to TE Christian Hopkins to set up Piotr Czech’s 38-yard field goal. The 12-play, 53-yard drive narrowed the gap to 7-3 with 6:07 left in the first quarter.

Florida QB Brooks Bollinger answered with throws to five different receivers as he led the Tuskers on a 12-play, 65-yard drive.  Bollinger threw 28 yards to Marcus Maxwell and 18 yards to Frank Murphy to get them deep into Sentinels territory. The drive stalled on the New York 19 and Florida settled for Matt Bryant’s 38-yard field goal with 5:03 left in the quarter to put Florida up 10-3.

Sentinels QB Quinn Gray, who finished the first half 12 of 21 for 112 yards, directed a 14-play drive that featured two fourth down conversions to move into field goal range.  Piotr Czech converted from 44 yards out to pull the Sentinels to within 10-6 with 6:12 remaining in the half.

Florida then began another impressive drive that featured an 11-yard pass to Jermaine Wiggins, a 16-yard throw to Taye Biddle and a 23-yard strike to Michael Pittman to move the Tuskers to the New York 6-yard line.  From there, the Sentinels’ defense responded as Bell was hit and fumbled behind the line of scrimmage.  NY safety David Lofton recovered the fumble at the New York 19.

Gray drove the Sentinels 67 yards in 12 plays to set up a 1st and 10 at the Tusker 14 with 40 seconds left in the half.  Florida’s defense held, however, as Gray was hit on the next play and left the game with a hip injury.  He was replaced by Ingle Martin who on his second play threw an interception to Ricky Manning, killing the drive at the Florida 2-yard line.

The Tuskers kicked off the second half with a key 26-yard pass to WR Taye Biddle and then the Tuskers trio of running backs (Bell, Pittman, and Shaud Williams) took over. Each has rushed for at least 100 yards in a game this season, a feat only accomplished by the Tuskers.  Tatum Bell’s three-yard run put Florida up 17-6 with 8:15 left in the third quarter.

Needing a spark, the Sentinels again gambled on two fourth down plays.  After Thorpe’s terrific 27-yard grab got them to their own 44, Martin converted on fourth and one with a four-yard keeper. Three plays later, RB LaBrandon Toefield converted the second fourth-down try before the Tuskers stiffened and forced the Sentinels into a failed 47-yard field goal attempt by Czech.

New York never threatened again. After Florida drove down the field and scored on a Bollinger pass to WR Paris Warren, Chris Greisen was sent in to finish the game.  Bollinger finished 19 of 27 for 215 yards and two touchdowns. He leads the UFL with 1,305 yards, 13 TDs and only two interceptions to go along with a 69% completion rate.

Week Six concludes Saturday night with a pair of championship game hopefuls as the California Redwoods host the Las Vegas Locos at Spartan Stadium in San Jose.

Last Week

The Las Vegas Locomotives kept themselves in contention tonight for a berth in the United Football League’s championship game.  At Hofstra University’s James M. Shuart Stadium, the Locos defeated the New York Sentinels 41-10 in front of 4,392 fans.  A complete box score can be obtained here.

Locos running back Marcel Shipp rushed for two first-half touchdowns as the Locos built a 24-7 halftime lead in a game they dominated from start to finish. Quarterback J.P. Losman added two touchdowns through the air to help the Locos even their record at 2-2 and pull into a second-place tie with the California Redwoods in the UFL standings.

Las Vegas and California will meet next Saturday in San Jose, Calif., in a pivotal matchup that will go a long way in determining which team will face the first-place Florida Tuskers in the inaugural UFL Championship Game Nov. 27.

The Locos scored on seven consecutive possessions after punting on their opening series, and went on to amass 321 yards of total offense, including 262 passing yards. Shipp started Las Vegas’ first scoring drive with an 8-yard gain and Losman found his rhythm in the passing game, completing three tosses on the drive to wide receiver David Kircus. Shipp scored on a 1-yard run to cap an 11-play, 80-yard drive.

After forcing a three-and-out on New York’s next possession, Las Vegas started in excellent field position courtesy of Samie Parker’s 16-yard punt return. Losman drove his team from the New York 47 yard line into field goal range, and kicker Graham Gano converted a 44-yard field goal to increase the Las Vegas lead to 10-0.

Shipp’s second touchdown run of the half came on a 6-yard dash with 10:17 remaining in the second quarter. The 54-yard march was keyed by three Losman completions for 43 yards, before Shipp took over with runs of 4 and 6 yards to cap the drive and push the lead to 17-0.

New York finally found its offensive rhythm on the ensuing possession, putting together an impressive 14-play, 83-yard drive that culminated in a 2-yard touchdown pass from Ingle Martin to Steve Sanders on a fade route to the left side of the end zone. The drive was aided by two 15-yard penalties on Las Vegas, the first of which nullified a third-down stop back at New York’s own 26-yard line. Newly acquired running back Shannon Woods carried the load for much of the drive with six rushes for 19 yards, while Martin completed all five of his pass attempts to four different receivers.

The Locos, however, came back with a quick-strike scoring drive before the half to push their lead to 24-7. Moving the ball entirely through the air, Las Vegas was able to drive 68 yards in just 1:30, and scored on a 14-yard pass from Losman to tight end Adam Bergen with 53 second remaining in the half.

The two teams traded field goals in the third quarter, as each team’s only possession consumed nearly the entire quarter. The Sentinels’ field goal, a 38-yarder from Piotr Czech, narrowed the gap to 24-10.  The Locos’ Gano converted from 49 yards with 13 seconds remaining in the period.

Any hopes of a New York comeback were dashed when Las Vegas added two touchdowns in a 2:33 span in the fourth quarter, the first via a 17-yard Losman touchdown pass to running back Josh Scobey. The Locos’ Trey Young then closed out the scoring by returning an interception 75 yards for a touchdown with 6:45 to play.

Losman completed 27 of 37 pass attempts for 277 yards and two touchdowns, while Kircus led all pass catchers with six receptions for 63 yards. Scobey added five receptions for 73 yards as 10 different Locos players caught passes.

The Sentinels conclude their home schedule next Thursday in Hartford as they host the undefeated Florida Tuskers.

Schedule