Hard Time!
Ice lock up 14-7 victory over Outlaws
Week 13, 2006
 | Outlaws (1-11) | 7 |
 | Ice (8-4) | 14 |
Portland, OR (Ticker) – Quarterback
Thomas Kuhn continued his incredible revival and Oregon’s newest player nearly set a team rushing record as the Ice prevailed over the Outlaws by a score of 14-7 yesterday.
The victory allowed Oregon (8-4) to maintain the second wild card spot behind the Tucson Toros (8-4). The Ice still remain one game back of Seattle (9-3) in the race for the division.
The Ice certainly didn’t impress early when
Jay Sheehee’s punt from the Oregon 17 was blocked and recovered for an Arizona touchdown, giving the Outlaws a 7-0 lead. After that, however, it was all Oregon.
Quarterback
Thomas Kuhn, now 8-3 in his career as a starter, capped a 78-yard scoring drive with a six-yard touchdown pass to
Matt Brunner late in the first quarter. Then, with :20 to go in the first half, running back
Richard Saunders ran 24 yards around left tackle to give the home team the lead for good, 14-7.
Saunders, who signed a one-year $1 million contract last week, made the most of his third career start, and first since 2004. On 28 carries, Saunders rushed for 161 yards (5.75 avg), which was one short of the franchise record set by
Rodger Rubenstein in 2003. Seven of his 28 runs went for 10 yards more, including two for 24 yards each.
“I knew if I just had the opportunity, I could show them what I could do,” said Saunders, who was a backup for Fargo since 2003, but was cut after six games this year. “Of course, it makes it a whole lot easier to run when you've got someone like Matt (Brunner) to stretch the field.”
“Stretching the field” is an understatement in light of how well flanker Matt Brunner has been playing lately. Brunner was named Player of the Game for the second time this season after making nine catches for 143 yards and a score, and set career highs in receptions (78), receiving yards (1,146) and touchdowns (7).
“I’ve just been in the zone, I guess,” said Brunner, who has 29 catches for 373 yards and three touchdowns in the last three games. “I just want to keep it going as long as I can.”
The game wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicated, given that Oregon was driving and reached the Arizona 7 when time expired. A third-quarter fumble by Saunders at the Arizona 5 also left points off the board.
The victory, however, was due mostly to a dominant Oregon defense which held Arizona to 232 total yards, and just 82 through the air.
Oregon will now play three consecutive games on the road as the team begins the home stretch for the playoffs.
“Our season could very well be decided in the next three weeks,” said Oregon GM
Grid Iron. “Everyone on this team knows what's at stake.”
Around the League
Shreveport quarterback
Douglas Hartman was 20-of-26 for 362 yards, 5 TD and 0 INT as the Pride (8-4) crushed Cleveland (3-9) by a score of 49-24 to stay one game ahead of New Orleans (7-5) in the Deep South Division race.
Box Score
Attendance: 69,700 (73,300).
Weather: 50 degrees, fair.
1Q: 04:09 ARI - Howard Johnson recovered blocked punt in end zone.
1Q: 04:09 ARI - Paul Stephan extra point.
1Q: 01:11 ORE - Matt Brunner 6 pass from Thomas Kuhn.
1Q: 01:11 ORE - Craig Schanding extra point.
2Q: 00:20 ORE - Richard Saunders 24 run.
2Q: 00:20 ORE - Craig Schanding extra point.
Game MVP: ORE 87 Matt Brunner
Arizona 7 0 0 0 - 7
Oregon 7 7 0 0 - 14
Team Statistics ARI ORE
First Downs 13 24
Total Rushes 36 35
Rushing Yards 157 180
Yards Per Carry 4.3 5.1
Pass Attempts 14 30
Completions 9 21
Passing Yards 82 263
Yards Per Attempt 5.8 8.7
Sacked 2 0
Yards Lost 7 0
Interceptions 0 1
Fumbles/Lost 0/0 1/1
Total Plays 52 65
Total Yards 232 443
Yards Per Play 4.4 6.8
3rd Down Plays 4/13 6/13
Avg. YTG on 3rd 5.3 5.2
4th Down Plays 0/0 0/0
Penalties 8 3
Penalty Yards 56 25
Avg. Drive Start OWN 25 OWN 18
Time Of Possession 29:30 30:30
Arizona Individual Statistics
Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
28 Sonntag 20 86 4.3 14 0
45 Coleman 10 42 4.2 10 0
7 DeNeff 4 18 4.5 7 0
80 Black 1 8 8.0 8 0
46 Beyer 1 3 3.0 3 0
Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
7 DeNeff 14 9 82 5.8 23 0 0 2
Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
81 Latour 3 20 6.6 3 10 0
80 Black 2 31 15.5 5 23 0
84 Austin 2 22 11.0 2 11 0
28 Sonntag 1 3 3.0 4 3 0
46 Beyer 1 6 6.0 0 6 0
Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
40 Richard 1 -3 -3.0 0
86 McKoy 1 0 0.0 0
Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
45 Coleman 3 74 24.6 0
Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
2 Kramer 8 325 40.6 51 6
Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
14 Stephan 0 1 0 1 1
Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
58 Sosa 9 2 0.0 0 0 0
27 Walton 8 4 0.0 1 2 0
22 Valadez 6 2 0.0 0 0 0
92 Widmer 4 1 0.0 0 0 0
36 Nichols 4 1 0.0 0 0 0
96 Humbert 3 2 0.0 0 0 0
54 Johnson 3 2 0.0 0 0 0
94 Dunmore 2 2 0.0 0 0 0
40 Richard 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
47 Malave 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
53 Farley 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
71 Ellis 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
46 Beyer 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
90 Alcott 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
31 Bolen 1 2 0.0 0 0 0
80 Black 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
98 Sizemore 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
95 Nichols 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
62 Downs 0 0 0 0 3 1
63 Banks 0 0 0 0 2 1
70 Savoy 0 0 0 0 2 0
92 Widmer 0 1 0 0 0 0
65 Lockridge 0 0 0 0 1 0
27 Walton 0 0 1 0 0 0
54 Johnson 0 0 0 1 0 0
84 Austin 0 0 0 0 1 0
87 Legan 0 0 0 0 1 0
Oregon Individual Statistics
Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
22 Saunders 28 161 5.7 24 1
39 Woodard 4 8 2.0 4 0
11 Kuhn 2 -3 -1.5 -1 0
42 Savoy 1 14 14.0 14 0
Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
11 Kuhn 30 21 263 8.7 62 1 1 0
Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
87 Brunner 9 143 15.8 50 62 1
86 Roy 5 86 17.2 7 36 0
82 Williams 3 14 4.6 7 9 0
84 Milford 1 4 4.0 3 4 0
42 Savoy 1 9 9.0 7 9 0
22 Saunders 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
80 Osborne 1 7 7.0 9 7 0
Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
31 Eaddy 2 -3 -1.5 0
Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
45 Hill 1 19 19.0 0
Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
7 Shehee 5 183 36.6 42 2
Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
1 Schanding 0 0 0 2 2
Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
76 Vanegas 7 0 1.5 0 0 0
50 Pinard 6 4 0.0 0 0 0
53 Macaluso 5 2 0.0 0 0 0
35 Twombly 5 1 0.0 0 0 0
51 Beane 5 1 0.0 0 0 0
23 Huth 4 1 0.0 0 0 0
58 Reeves 4 0 0.0 0 0 0
93 Jimerson 3 5 0.5 0 0 0
30 Reagan 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
31 Eaddy 2 1 0.0 0 0 0
91 Flannery 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
41 Mallard 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
46 Clarkson 1 2 0.0 0 0 0
33 Pilcher 1 2 0.0 0 0 0
68 Klein 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
42 Savoy 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
87 Brunner 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
39 Woodard 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
54 Ludwig 0 0 0 0 4 0
72 Covey 0 0 0 0 3 0
75 Eaddy 0 0 0 0 3 0
68 Klein 0 0 0 0 1 0
22 Saunders 1 0 0 0 0 0
73 Wynn 0 0 0 0 1 0