The first game of the 2019 NAL playoffs is finally in the books, as the Carolina Cobras defeated the Massachusetts in a turnover-filled game. The Cobras advance to the 2019 NAL Championship Game for their second season in a row in a low-scoring affair 30-26. Even with a Cobras victory, the hosting team for the championship game is still unknown, due to a determining Columbus Lions and Jacksonville Sharks game this Tuesday Night.
Wild Finish Sends Carolina to 2019 NAL Championship
The Cobras had a slow start, but were able to pick it up in the second half. Quarterback Charles McCullum finished the night 17-of-32 for 212 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. On the ground, McCullum was able to score a two-yard touchdown on his lone rush. Wide Receiver Jordan Jolly also had a solid game tonight, having eight receptions for 98 yards and one touchdown. Against his former team, Lavon Pearson made six catches for 82 yards and one touchdown. Even though Kyrin Priester had a quiet game, he put up points on the board, which tremendously helped Carolina. He finished tonight with three receptions for 22 yards. He had one rush for three yards and a touchdown.
On the defense, the Cobras were able to force many sacks and turnovers. They recovered one fumble recovery, one interception, and many more turnovers on downs.
On the Pirates’ side of things, Quarterback Sean Brackett had a strong start, but folded under pressure. He was 21-of-42 for 298 yards, three touchdowns, and one interceptions. Wide Receiver Rannell Hall had a strong second game with the Pirates with nine receptions for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Thomas Owens had five receptions for 90 yards and one touchdown. Dexter McCluster put on a show all night as he was able to reel in six catches for 53 yards.
Pirates In Control In First Half
To start the game, the Pirates were on fire, both on offense and on defense. Even though they didn’t put up many points, they were still able to limit the Cobras ability to move down the field. Brackett was 12-of-18 for 180 yards and three touchdowns in the first half. The Cobras could not seem to get anything started, as they were down by eight at halftime with the Pirates taking over first in the second half.
Momentum-Shifting Second Half
With the second half starting, the Pirates were looking to start strong, but the Cobras had other plans in store. Brackett instantly started to crumble when the Cobras D-Line would hurry the quarterback. The Cobras still couldn’t find the end zone very often, but they did exactly what they could to force turnovers to regain possession. Unfortunately, for the Cobras, the Pirates defense would also end up with the ball, forcing turnovers. The game was back-and-forth all game with constant turnovers and no scoring. Out of frustration, Pirates Linebacker Kavika Luafatasaga expressed his emotions and earned himself a disqualification, which would now have a one-game suspension roll-over to the first game of the 2020 season, per the new NAL rules in 2019.
Dramatic Fourth Quarter
With over a minute to go, the Cobras were up by three points and had possession of the ball. The Pirates were able to force the Cobras to kick a field goal, but would end up missing, giving the Pirates the ball at their own five yard line. One play later, Brackett was able to find Hall down the field for a long-gain. With no timeouts left, the Pirates were driving down the field with hardly any time left. With less than 10 seconds left, Brackett would, then, throw an incomplete pass in the end zone. The play originally ended the game, but resulted in a dead ball with 2.1 seconds to play. With the ball at the Cobras 12 yard line, the Pirates were given one more chance. Brackett, just like he did in Jacksonville two weeks ago, couldn’t come up in the final play to win the game. The ball sailed out of bounds and incomplete as time expired. The Cobras would then win 30-26 to advance to the 2019 NAL Championship for the second consecutive season.
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