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09/16/2005: "Big 2nd Half Lifts Titans Past Warriors"

Big 2nd Half Lifts Titans Past Warriors

By Keith Gilbert



The Minnesota Valley Warriors were thirty minutes away from remaining undefeated. But Anthony Buckner?s second half kickoff return for a touchdown was the beginning of an impressive avalanche of points by the Twin Cities Titans, as they rolled to a 41-15 victory Saturday afternoon at Holy Angels Academy. The Titans scored 35 points in the second half, 21 of those coming off of Warriors turnovers.

In the first quarter, the Titans scored first on a 31 yard scoring pass from QB Paul Ciochetto to RB Jim Bean. Minnesota Valley struck right back, though, on the first play of the ensuing drive. QB Chad Melelah went deep to WR Jordan Malone streaking down the right sideline for a 75 yard touchdown play. The game was tied at 6-6, and after CB Sherrod Richards? second interception (he would add another to make three INT?s in the first half), the Warriors took the lead, 9-6, on a 22 yard field goal by K Bruce Zutter.

That?s where it stood at halftime, but the Warriors lead disappeared immediately to begin the third quarter. The Titans Anthony Buckner had a terrific game, including an interception and a TD on a punt return that was nullified due to penalty. There were no flags on his spectacular 90 yard kickoff return for touchdown, though, and the Titans were on their way. The 2-point conversion to WR/RB Anthony Minus made it 14-9. Two drives later, RB Jim Bean scored his second TD of the game on a 4 yard run to make it 21-9. Then, following an interception, RB Nate Mead scored on a short TD run to make the score 27-9.

The Warriors tried to stay in it, when late in the third quarter, Melelah connected with WR DeShawn Scott on a 25 yard scoring pass to cut the deficit to 27-15. The Warriors would get no closer, though, as they just could not slow down the well-balanced Titans offense. In the fourth quarter the running game was especially dominant, with RB Sam Blocker getting the majority of the carries. He scored once, and so did RB Charles Reed, to make the final score an emphatic, 41-15 win, for the Twin Cities Titans.

There were several players that had good games on Saturday. For the Minnesota Valley Warriors, most noticeable was the efforts of LB Sean Bros. He was seemingly in on every tackle. Also prominent were linebackers Dan Kensinger and Rob Hagen. The three interception performance by Sherrod Richards, as well, was the primary reason for the first half lead.

The Titans defensive front seven was awesome. LB Shawn McCoy may have wreaked the most havoc, but also constantly disrupting the Warriors offense were LB?s Wilbert Perry, Cortney Ferrell, and Brian Doyle. Defensive linemen Robert Clay and Tim Hunt were in on many big plays, as well. WR Damien Cannaday proved to be a very reliable target on the afternoon, making three big catches and totaling nearly 100 yards in receptions. The running backs looked great for most of the day, especially RB Jim Bean and RB Sam Blocker. The Titans offensive line gets the credit for dominating the second half up front, and wearing down the Warriors defense. Each team now has one loss in league play.