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08/19/2005: "TBirds Top RoughRiders in Season Opener, 29-3"

TBirds Top RoughRiders in Season Opener, 29-3
2005-06-26
 The Central Minnesota Thunderbirds trampled the River City Roughriders in the season opener and walked away with a 29-3 victory.
  A solid offensive effort in the first half led to two Thunderbird touchdowns. The defense came onto the field for just three drives in the entire half as the Rough Riders struggled to gain yardage against the powerful Thunderbird defense.
  The Thunderbirds started the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run by Eric Tarasewicz. Mike Jacobs made the point after for a 7-0 Thunderbird lead.
  In the second quarter, Central Minnesota scored on an 8-yard run from Will Kladek, but the extra point attempt failed and the Thunderbirds took a 13-0 lead into the halftime break.
  The second half was more of the same with the Thunderbird defense coming up with a big stop to start the third quarter.
  Randy Lee striped the ball from a Rough Rider running back and ran it 18-yards into the end zone. Jacobs’ kick was good to stretch the lead to 20-0.
  Later in the third, Ramon Burroughs blocked a Rough Rider punt and the ball went through the back of the end zone for a safety.
  The only River City points of the game came from a fourth-quarter field goal, but the Thunderbirds weren’t through yet. Quarterback Chris Esterly put the icing on the cake when he completed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Kladek. The Jacobs kick was good and the Thunderbirds had themselves a 29-3 victory.
  The Rough Riders were unable to gain a single first down, with the exception of one earned by a Thunderbird penalty. Their total yardage in the game was in the negative.
  Ray Reinhart led the defensive effort with four sacks.
  “I was very pleased with the performance in the first game,” Reinhart said. “The defense played extremely well and the offense played very well.”
  Chris Camacho added six tackles and a sack to the Thunderbird totals. Jeremy Gothman had five tackles and a sack.
  Esterly was impressive in his first ever Thunderbirds start. He had one touchdown and two interceptions. Additional offensive statistics were not immediately available.
  “We still have some kinks to work out, but we played better than I could have expected for a first game,” Reinhart said.
  The Thunderbirds will take the Fourth of July weekend off, but will be back in action Saturday, July 9, for a road game against the Northern Wisconsin Reapers.