Post by The Legend on Dec 24, 2011 9:46:19 GMT -5
New York fans were exuberant after their team got its first win
New York, NY- The New York Nightmare headed into Thursday’s matchup against the Reno Predators apprehensive of what the game might mean for their playoff hopes. Though the season is barely over halfway done, the Nightmare entered Week 5 having not won a game or even scored a touchdown. If they were to make a playoff run, both of those would obviously need to change. However, a win seemed unlikely, as the coaches had left their playbooks at home, meaning they had to use playbooks given to them by the league, and only two of the team’s offensive players had been seen in the weight room recently.
These factors seemed to go out the window within the first three plays of the game. After two relatively unproductive plays, running back Brandon Iceman broke free for a 95-yard touchdown run. This of course ended the latter of the two aforementioned streaks, putting the Nightmare up 7-0. This began and concluded the scoring for the first quarter, but the second quarter held more positives for the team: quarterback Tom Rayder connected with Iceman for a 19-yard touchdown pass, his first of the season, which put New York up by two touchdowns. The two teams entered halftime at this score, and of course a multitude of murmurs were heard from fans about a possible first win for the Nightmare.
The teams began the second half quietly, both failing to reach the endzone for a while, but the Predators managed to get on the board with a 38-yard field goal to make the score 14-3. Neither team scored for the remainder of the third quarter, leaving the fourth quarter to be the deciding period.
Running back Brandon Iceman puts the team on his back
After a turnover on downs by the Predators, the Nightmare were able to run the clock down so that less than half of the fourth quarter remained. This drive concluded with a field goal that extended New York’s lead to two touchdowns once again. However, the Predators were able to trim the lead to one touchdown after a long connection from Rock Afella to Dave Hester—71 yards to be exact—leaving the drama of the game for its final two minutes. The Nightmare received the long kickoff from Reno, but were unable to do anything with it, and were forced to punt, leaving the Predators as the masters of their fate at their own 20-yard line.
The drive started well, with a completion from Afella to Hester leaving the team with a 2nd-and-inches situation, but after almost throwing an interception on 2nd down, the hearts of Reno’s fans sank. Afella tested cornerback Rick Ross one too many times, leading to a Ross pick, which he took down to Reno’s 1-yard line before being tackled.
The last remaining touchdown in the game was scored during garbage time, as the Nightmare took a knee to run the clock down, then gave the ball to Iceman, who took it in for the 2-yard score.
Needless to say, fans in New York were excited to finally have a win, and not just one, but three touchdowns. The team’s online store was shut down because it couldn’t handle the traffic, but it is now back up, and the top holiday gifts thus far have been Iceman and Ross jerseys.
The Nightmare were indubitably ecstatic, not only after scoring their first touchdown, but winning their first game.
“I have to say, I’m pleased with the win,” Rayder said in the postgame press conference, “We just need to keep winning games and we can make a run at this. Regardless of the results of this game, changes are going to be made, and we’re going to improve.
