STALLIONS VS. RATTLERS PRESEASON

KICKOFF Game

June 20, 2009

Durham Rattlers struck first. Quarterback Barry Marrow threw a 36 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Malcom Kinkade. Extra point failed by kicker John Simmons. Then the Carolina Stallions drove right back down the field and Quarterback Bruce Staton threw a 62 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Tim Johnson which tied the score 6 to 6.  Kicker Andrew Henning hit the extra point putting the Stallions ahead by 1.  Both defenses, Durham and Carolina Stallions played great in the second quarter allowing no points to be scored. Went in at the half 7 to 6 ballgame, Stallions.

Coming out of the half Stallions kicked off to the Rattlers. The Rattlers drove down the field and Barry Marrow threw a 28 yard touchdown pass to Kinkade.. Durham Rattlers went for 2, hit wide receiver Vernon James which made the score 14 to 7 in the third. When the Rattlers kicked off to the Stallions, the Stallions offense drove down the field but stalled. Kicker Andrew Henning came in and hit a 46 yard field goal  which made the score 14 to 10, Rattlers. The Durham Rattlers came right back moving the ball against the Stallions and got 2 holding penalties, moving them back inside the 10 yard line. Stallions linebacker Mike Tuten and defensive end Quentin Stackhouse sacked the quarterback at the 1. Next play the Carolina Stallions hit Rattlers’ running back Mario Gates in the backfield for a safety, which put the score 14 to 12, Rattlers. Safety by the Stallions ended the scoring in the third quarter.

Going into the fourth quarter both team’s defenses held strong. Durham Rattlers threatening to score, safety Friday Jones intercepted Marrow’s pass at the 20 and returned it 28 yards to set the tone for the Stallions with 3 minutes left in the ballgame. The stallions offense moved gracefully down the field with running back Phonzie  Gibbs doing a superb job at running back. He had 66 yards rushing for the night. Thirty-five of them came in the 4th quarter.  Quarterback Bruce Staton and wide receiver Derrick Leathers hooked up for a 48 yard touchdown pass with 31 seconds in the ballgame putting the Stallions ahead 18 to 14. Stallions kicked off to the Rattlers.  Durham quarterback Barry Marrow went to work with 11 seconds left in the ballgame, hitting his favorite target Malcom Kinkade with a 51 yard pass for the go ahead score—winning the ballgame 20 to 18.  Coach Wright said, “We are young and played against a veteran ball club, which gets us ready for the stretch run against our upcoming opponents. Communication problems in the secondary gave the edge to the Durham Rattlers.  All in all we saw a lot of great plays from our guys. We will get back on the drawing board and correct the problems on the defense. Our run defense played great. They completely shut down the Rattlers running game.  I was impressed with our offensive line play, and they played well all night. We need to make adjustments on our run blocking. All in all for their first time together, they played well.  Our first-year quarterback, Bruce Station, engineered 2 touchdown drives and handled himself well for the first time out against a veteran ball club. He had 152 yards passing and 2 touchdowns.  I attribute his play to veteran center Patrick Jones and offensive tackle Fred Cobb keeping the offensive line in tact all night.”

We open up at home against the Fayetteville Ruff Riders here Saturday night at Nash Central High School (4279 Nash Central High Road) at 7:00 p.m. It will be “Church Appreciation Night.”  We’re asking all churches to support us. Come out and enjoy a great game.