Heartbreaker!
Ice defense melts in final two minutes, blows 8-point lead
Wild Card Round, 2006
 | Stampede (12-5) | 18 |
 | Ice (11-6) | 17 |
Portland, OR (Ticker) – If any single game in Oregon Ice franchise history could capture the meaning of the word “heartbreak,” this would be the game. The Ice battled for three quarters to a 17-9 lead, but let it all slip away in the final two minutes, falling to the Boise Stampede 18-17 in the wild card playoff.
“This is a tough one to swallow,” said Ice quarterback
Thomas Kuhn, who was 21-of-43 for 274 yards, 2 touchdowns and one interception. “We were so close. I gonna remember this one for a long time.”
Despite a relentless Boise pass rush that produced seven sacks, 10 hurries and a blocked pass, Kuhn and Company managed to put 17 points on the board, giving the Ice defense an 8-point lead to preserve with just 2:04 left in regulation.
To that point, Oregon had allowed just three field goals on the day, and held the Stampede to only 19 yards in three fourth-quarter possessions. To players and fans alike, an Ice playoff victory seemed to be well in hand.
As it turned out, nothing was further from the truth.
“I think the guys started celebrating the victory before the final whistle blew,” said head coach
Kendrick Upshaw of his team’s fourth-quarter implosion. “You can’t win in the CFL unless you play a full sixty minutes.”
Stampede quarterback
Branden Lin moved the visiting team from the Boise 25 to the Oregon 13 on just two passes to flanker
Terrance Ryan, the second one covering 46 yards.
On first-and-ten at the Oregon 13 with 1:33 remaining, Lin threw incomplete; Oregon strong safety
Alfonso Twombly, however, was flagged for pass interference in the end zone giving Boise a first-and-goal at the Oregon 1. On the very next play, Lin connected with Ryan again for a one-yard touchdown to pull the visitors within two points at 17-15. After Boise running back
Sherman New failed to get the two-point conversion on a run around right end, the Stampede lined up for the onside kick.
“If we get that kick, that’s the ballgame,” said inside linebacker
Damon Molloy, who led the Ice with 12 tackles on the day (10 solo). Unfortunately, that was not to be.
Conrad Fisher’s kick sent the ball high into the air off of one bounce where Stampede split end
Chance Craig grabbed it on the fly at the Boise 42.
Clinging to a two-point lead, the Oregon defense just needed a stop to seal the victory and advance to the Divisional Playoff. Branden Lin, however, had other plans.
The Boise quarterback scrambled for seven yards on the first play from scrimmage, then burned the Oregon secondary for the second time in less than a minute by completing a 37-yard pass to Craig. Craig's incredible catch set up Fisher’s 32-yard field goal, giving the visitors the 18-17 victory.
Replays showed, however, that Craig was aided by officials who failed to see his blatant offensive pass interference.
Just as Craig turned to look for the ball, he pushed off on Oregon cornerback
Tommy Reagan, giving him space to make the catch. Reagan recovered and made the tackle, but by then it was too late. Reagan’s pleas to the officials fell on deaf ears.
“I don’t got anything else to say to those officials,” Reagan said angrily in the locker room after the game. “All I know is that when we see Boise again, we’re gonna be out for blood. We have a score to settle, and it's personal.”
Box ScoreAttendance: 69,700 (73,300).
Weather: 53 degrees, fair.
1Q: 10:11 BOI - Conrad Fisher 50 field goal.
1Q: 05:29 ORE - Newton Begin 3 pass from Thomas Kuhn.
1Q: 05:29 ORE - Craig Schanding extra point.
2Q: 14:02 BOI - Conrad Fisher 50 field goal.
2Q: 00:04 ORE - Craig Schanding 43 field goal.
3Q: 02:21 BOI - Conrad Fisher 34 field goal.
4Q: 14:42 ORE - Emanuel Savoy 10 pass from Thomas Kuhn.
4Q: 14:42 ORE - Craig Schanding extra point.
4Q: 01:23 BOI - Terrance Ryan 1 pass from Branden Lin.
4Q: 01:23 BOI - Sherman New run for conversion failed.
4Q: 00:17 BOI - Conrad Fisher 32 field goal.
Game MVP: BOI 72 Dominick Block
Boise 3 3 3 9 - 18
Oregon 7 3 0 7 - 17
Team Statistics BOI ORE
First Downs 18 21
Total Rushes 33 14
Rushing Yards 136 50
Yards Per Carry 4.1 3.5
Pass Attempts 32 43
Completions 16 21
Passing Yards 205 274
Yards Per Attempt 6.4 6.3
Sacked 1 7
Yards Lost 6 42
Interceptions 0 1
Fumbles/Lost 0/0 0/0
Total Plays 66 64
Total Yards 335 282
Yards Per Play 5.0 4.4
3rd Down Plays 4/15 6/14
Avg. YTG on 3rd 7.9 9.2
4th Down Plays 0/0 0/0
Penalties 6 9
Penalty Yards 61 62
Avg. Drive Start OWN 32 OWN 21
Time Of Possession 32:27 27:33
Boise Individual Statistics
Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
29 New 24 85 3.5 14 0
19 Lin 7 41 5.8 8 0
35 Crumpler 2 10 5.0 11 0
Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
19 Lin 32 16 205 6.4 46 1 0 1
Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
89 Muncy 5 64 12.8 11 25 0
87 Ryan 4 79 19.7 2 46 1
29 New 4 17 4.2 13 8 0
84 Craig 1 37 37.0 6 37 0
80 Buzzell 1 5 5.0 3 5 0
43 Funderburk 1 3 3.0 0 3 0
Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
87 Ryan 2 21 10.5 0
Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
81 Pelfrey 1 22 22.0 0
Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
13 Poole 6 287 47.8 59 2
Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
4 Fisher 4 5 50 0 0
Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
46 Ibanez 7 2 0.0 0 0 0
92 Evan 6 0 0.0 0 0 0
72 Block 4 1 3.5 0 0 0
32 Tran 4 0 0.0 0 0 0
94 Phelan 3 0 0.5 0 0 0
58 Ginn 3 1 0.0 0 0 0
73 Martinez 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
77 O'Connell 2 0 2.0 0 0 0
99 Asher 2 1 1.0 0 0 0
31 Jiles 2 2 0.0 0 0 0
91 Lamm 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
49 Gunn 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
34 Storms 1 1 0.0 1 0 0
22 Kammerer 1 1 0.0 0 0 0
35 Crumpler 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
37 Raymond 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
54 Bergmann 0 0 0 0 6 1
61 Wilke 0 0 0 0 4 0
60 Owensby 0 0 0 0 2 0
43 Funderburk 0 0 0 0 1 0
Oregon Individual Statistics
Rushing Att Yards Avg Long TD
22 Saunders 12 38 3.1 10 0
42 Savoy 2 12 6.0 8 0
Passing Att Comp Yards Yd/Att Long TD Int Sckd
11 Kuhn 43 21 274 6.3 31 2 1 7
Receiving Catch Yards Avg YAC Long TD
42 Savoy 5 41 8.2 11 15 1
86 Roy 5 99 19.8 30 31 0
87 Brunner 5 82 16.4 9 24 0
89 Begin 3 13 4.3 2 6 1
81 Clements 2 28 14.0 6 21 0
83 Dillon 1 11 11.0 2 11 0
Punt Returns Att Yards Avg TD
Kick Returns Att Yards Avg TD
83 Dillon 3 56 18.6 0
45 Hill 1 17 17.0 0
Punting Punts Yards Avg Long In20
7 Shehee 7 279 39.8 46 2
Kicking FG FGA Long PAT Att
1 Schanding 1 1 43 2 2
Defense Tackle Assist Sack Int IntYds IntTD
95 Molloy 10 2 0.0 0 0 0
35 Twombly 8 0 0.0 0 0 0
50 Pinard 5 1 0.0 0 0 0
30 Reagan 5 0 0.0 0 0 0
53 Macaluso 4 2 0.0 0 0 0
26 Lerma 4 1 0.0 0 0 0
93 Jimerson 3 1 1.0 0 0 0
51 Beane 3 3 0.0 0 0 0
41 Mallard 3 0 0.0 0 0 0
36 Reeves 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
76 Vanegas 1 2 0.0 0 0 0
33 Pilcher 1 2 0.0 0 0 0
98 Weatherly 1 1 0.0 0 0 0
87 Brunner 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
56 Byrne 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
31 Eaddy 1 0 0.0 0 0 0
Miscellaneous Fumb FForc Recov MiscTD KeyRBlk SckAlwd
73 Wynn 0 0 0 0 0 3
54 Ludwig 0 0 0 0 1 2
75 Eaddy 0 0 0 0 1 1
72 Covey 0 0 0 0 0 1
42 Savoy 0 0 0 0 2 0
68 Klein 0 0 0 0 1 0