In the lone Week Three National Arena League (NAL) match-up, the Massachusetts Pirates (1-2) tamed the Orlando Predators (1-2) with a 45-12 score. This brings the Predators losing streak to two while the Pirates found their first win of the 2019 season. This shakes up the NAL standings tremendously, as the Columbus Lions are the only winless team and this brings the Jacksonville Sharks to third place with a 1-1 record.
NAL: Pirates Tame Predators
Things statistically worked out well for the Predators, but didn’t have quite the outcome they wanted.
Pirates Stats
The Pirates showed up all game, and the stats showed just that. Quarterback Sean Brackett was 14-of-24 for 107 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He rushed three times for three yards and two touchdowns. Massachusetts spread the ball all night long, as Wide Receiver Thomas Owens caught seven passes for 62 yards. Lavon Pearson had two receptions for 14 yards. Ishmael Zamora had two receptions for nine yards and one touchdown. Mardy Gilyard had quite the night, having 26 yards and one touchdown on three attempts as well as 44 return yards on two kickoff returns. Fullback Quayvon Hicks rushed five times for 16 yards and one touchdown. Kicker Tyler Rausa likely earned himself Special Teams Player of the Week, converting on five PAT’s out of six. He also made two deuces.
On the defensive side of the ball for the Pirates, they were all over the quarterback, having multiple quarterback rushes but only coming away with one sack, which was by J.D. Griggs. Linebacker Kavika Luafatasaga had an incredible night, having multiple pass breakups and coming away with an interception.
Predators Stats
For Orlando, they evened out the receivers and their receptions for the most part. Quarterback Kyle Israel was 21-of-44 for 198 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, and had one fumble of which was recovered by the Predators. In the second quarter, the Preds decided to go with backup quarterback Garry Chouloute, who threw an interception on his very first throw. Israel returned to the field on the next play. Wide Receiver Prechae Rodriguez returned to the Predators for the first time since the Arena Football (AFL) days. He totaled nine receptions for 80 yards and one touchdown. Keith DeVeaux finished with four receptions for 51 yards. Fullback Desmond Maxwell had three rushes for five yards, one reception for 14 yards and one touchdown. Wide Receiver Edward Victorian had a decent night, have 34 yards off of four catches.
For the Predators defense, Defensive Linemen John Brown and Cory Henry had one sack.
Pirates First Quarter Dominance
Things started off very slow for the Predators, as they started the game with the ball and threw an interception in the first four and a half minutes in the game. The Pirates weren’t all that quick to score, but they did find the end zone with just over six minutes to go in the first quarter. A missed PAT from Rausa made it a 6-0 lead for Massachusetts. Fortunately for the Pirates, Rausa was able to redeem himself after a successful deuce attempt, putting the score at 8-0. To close the first quarter, the Pirates were able to score a touchdown, as Zamora was able to catch a high pass in the end zone for his first ever arena touchdown. A successful PAT made things 15-0 in favor of the Pirates.
Turnover Galore Second Quarter
Nothing major happened in the second quarter except for turnovers. Israel for the Predators threw one interception while Chouloute entered the game and threw an interception on his first attempt. That interception on Chouloute’s first attempt ended up going all the way to the Orlando one yard line before DeVeaux was able to smack the ball out of the DB’s hands and recover the ball in the end zone for an Orlando touchback. Lots of empty possession drives killed the clock, but not before Brackett ran for his second rushing touchdown of the night. This put the Pirates up 22-0 with just 13 seconds to play in the first half. Orlando got the ball after the Massachusetts touchdown, but instantly threw his second interception with seven seconds to go. The Pirates ran two plays to kill the clock to go to halftime.
Third Quarter
The Pirates got things going real quick to start the second half, as they took over and almost instantly scored. This gave Massachusetts a 29-0 lead. The Predators looked to strike back, as their first touchdown of the night was from Israel to Rodriguez from 15 yards out. After a missed Jakelsky PAT, the Predators were still struggling with a 6-29 score. Thankfully for the Predators, Brackett went down the field all the way and was intercepted to give them another chance to find the end zone. On fourth and goal from inside the Pirates one yard line, Israel rushed for no gain, giving the Pirates First and 10 from inside their one yard line and no Predators score.
Game-Securing Fourth Quarter
To start the final quarter of the game, the Predators were down 6-29, needing 23 points to tie things up. After a missed 58-yard field goal from Rousa, this gave the Predators yet another opportunity to put up points on the board, which they did just that. On a 14-yard play from Israel to Maxwell, the Pirates found the end zone but failed to convert on the two-point conversion. This put the score at 12-29 with the Predators in desperation mode with 9:38 to play. The Pirates just about sealed the after scoring a touchdown, forcing a turnover on downs, and scoring yet another touchdown. The game was 45-12 for Massachusetts with just one minute to go. Orlando failed to do anything with the ball with that one minute to go, which ended the game. The Pirates found themselves victorious for the first time since August 4, 2018.
