The San Diego Fleet came in as one of the hottest teams in the AAF. They had won two straight, mostly on the backs of the dynamic running back duo of Ja’Quan Gardner and Terrell Watson. The Memphis Express were looking for their first win in the league, turning over the reins to Zach Mettenberger as the starting quarterback. Though San Diego dominated most of the first half, injuries derailed their game, and the Express came out ahead in the end, 26-23.
San Diego Fleet at Memphis Express Week Four AAF Recap
Mettenberger Gets the Start
After Christian Hackenberg got the start the first three weeks, Mettenberger got the nod week four. Mettenberger came into the game late last week, giving the Express offense signs of life they were lacking up to that point. He got the start this week, and despite an early strip sack, looked pretty good. He shows great pocket presence and movement, making plays that at least kept his team on the field.
Still, he had his share of miscues. Early in the game, he missed an easy touchdown by underthrowing the football to Alton “Pig” Howard. He may have played and moved the ball better than Hackenberg did the first few weeks, but overall, as one of the announcers said, he was mostly “pedestrian.”
One of the highlights of the game was Reese Moore developing a connection with Mettenberger. He had an acrobatic 39-yard catch in the first half, and was frequently targeted in the game. The Express finally found the end zone on a Mettenberger sneak with 18 seconds left in the first half.
The offense didn’t do much for most of the second half, but finally got an opportunity after a fumble by the San Diego offense late in the fourth. Memphis started inside the red zone and cashed in on both the touchdown and two-point conversion to tie the game at 23 all.
Run Game Struggles, Nelson Hurt
Most expected the Fleet to come out doing what they had done best through three weeks – run the ball. However, that wasn’t how things went. San Diego struggled on the ground but looked great throwing the ball. Dontez Ford started trending up early in the game, with a big run after catch. Then, he scored the Fleet’s first offensive touchdown later on that drive. Ford paced the team with 71 yards in the first half.
Quarterback Philip Nelson looked like he was starting to get comfortable with the offense in his third game as a starter. He started the game 9 of 12 for 110 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately, he went down with a shoulder injury late in the second and would not return.
Alex Ross, formerly the third-string quarterback, came into the game in his relief, throwing a touchdown just a few plays later to tight end Marcus Baugh. The going was tougher from there though, as Ross threw a bad pick on the next drive, immediately after almost throwing one the play before.
Ross got into a groove as the game went on though, mostly by using his legs to get yards. However, he put the defense in a bad situation after getting stripped for a turnover, which resulted in the game-tying touchdown by Memphis. Then, he was stripped again by the Express defense while trying to mount a comeback drive, dooming the Fleet to their second loss.
Defenses: The Front Seven
Memphis knew that the Fleet’s front seven would give them trouble. Their 64 percent rate at applying pressure is the most in the AAF. Unfortunately, the team was without their top pass rusher, Damontre Moore, but still ended up performing up to par. Express running back Zac Stacy had been the highlight of the team’s offense the first few weeks of the season. Not this week though, as San Diego’s defense made life miserable for him. In the first half, he only managed 20 yards on 14 carries.
The same story was true on the opposite side of the ball. Fleet running back Ja’Quan Gardner came into week four leading the league in rushing yards. In both weeks two and three, Gardner had over 100 yards on the ground, looking almost unstoppable. Terrell Watson was an excellent complement to him, bringing power to Gardner’s speed. But, neither could do much this week against the swarming Express defense, forcing Ross to throw the ball much more than he wanted to. The result was three turnovers by the Fleet’s backup quarterback.
Special Teams
The Fleet were able to get up early in the game on a punt return touchdown by Ron Brooks. But it wasn’t all great for San Diego, as later their kicker Donny Hageman missed his first field goal of the year. Granted it was a 51-yarder, but it still stung the team a bit. Later in the game, the Fleet decided to try a fake punt around their own 30-yard line that was unsuccessful. Though the Express didn’t do anything with it on offense, their recently-signed kicker Austin MacGinnis made the field goal to put the team up for the first time in the game with under three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
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