NASHVILLE- The Nashville Storm (4-0) are making their case to be the first team to win back to back championships. This past Saturday, they defeated the Tri-City Outlaws (1-1) 36-0 to state their case loud and clear.
“We set goals in the preseason to go undefeated at home, win our division and get home field advantage for the playoffs,” said Storm head coach Charles Hunter. “We still haven’t played a complete game yet. We had some guys out but our younger guys stepped up. I was concerned about this one because they know us so well.”
Nashville’s offense started slow. They fumbled twice in their first possession and made a bold move by going for it on fourth down deep in their own territory. They didn’t make it and the Outlaws took over on the Storm 20-yard line. The defense then forced a possession change. The Storm offense then got rolling and scored on a 11 yard pass from George Murray to running back Keon Bohannon.
In their second possession of the second quarter, Murray hit rookie wide receiver Rayvion Wade on a 30-yard touchdown pass to make the score 14-0. On their next possession, Nashville’s drive stalled inside the Outlaw five-yard line. Storm defensive back Randall Smith blitzed off the left end and stacked up Tri-City quarterback Dominique Smith in the end zone for a safety. Nashville then went on an 11 play, 58-yard drive culminated by a Bohannon three-yard score to give the Storm a 22-0 halftime lead.
On the opening possession of the second half, the Storm’s running game took over, carrying for 58 yards on seven carries. The drive was completed on an eight yard pass from Murray to Mario Merriwether to make the score 28-0. Defensive end Fred Sparkman finished the scoring on a five-yard touchdown run and scored on a two-point conversation. Bohannon finished the game with his fifth straight 100 plus game on the ground (163 yards). Merriwether ended the game with five catches for 128 yards.
“We made plays at the point of attack so that helped the running game,” said Bohannon. “I
had a lot of room to work with. Our defense kept bailing us out early. The coaching staff put the game on the offense’s shoulders. For some reason we have been struggling early. Once we got on a role we did our thing.”Keon BohannonThis Saturday, Nashville will travel to Huntsville to take on the Rockets (2-1) in a Xtreme North Division battle.
This Saturday, Nashville will travel to Huntsville to take on the Rockets (2-1) in a Xtreme North Division battle.
