Outlaws win sets up a conference showdown in Burlington
July 19 , 2007
The Franklin Outlaws continued the dominance at their home field Saturday night, improving to 3-0 at home this season, and 10-2 overall since their inception into the IFL in 2006.
“Playing at our home field is always an advantage to our team. We love playing for the City of Franklin. We love playing in the City of Franklin. The Milwaukee County Sport Complex is a great facility, and our team constantly responds well when we play at home.” said head coach Tom Karthausser, following his teams dominating 47-0 win over the Milwaukee Maniacs.
As the team welcomed back quarterback JP Josetti from his tour of duty in the Jeff Trickey quarterback camps, which takes Josetti from New Jersey to California and back each summer as a quarterback camp instructor, the Outlaws would score early and often throughout the game.
The Maniacs won the opening coin toss and elected to receive. After yielding a 1st-down by penalty on the opening drive, the Outlaw defense held strong and forced a Maniacs’ punt. Taking over on offense at their own 32 yard line, the Outlaws went to work quickly, and capped a three play drive that ended in a 54-yard touchdown strike from Josetti to wide receiver Jim Leszczynski. The extra-point sailed just left of the upright, however the Outlaws lead was built at 6-0.
On their second possession, the Maniacs were stuffed for no gain on 2 and 7 by the defensive tandem of middle linebacker Darrel Jack and strong safety Dan Schultz. “Darrel is as tough as they come. He played great all night and truly is in the midst of an all-star year.” said defensive coordinator Pete Kishline. “He holds down the middle and is the steady hand of our defense.”
After an incomplete pass on 3 and 7, the Maniacs were forced to punt, which was tipped by defensive back Jaarael Bell. Bell has blocked or tipped 4 punts this season and remains to be the team’s special-teams ace.
Starting just short of the midfield mark at their own 46 yard line, the Outlaws capped off a seven-play drive that ended in a 10-yard run by emerging running back Jaimie Marton. Marton carried the ball three times for 41 yards on the drive. The Outlaws bid for a two-point conversion was intercepted, and the score was 12-0 in favor of the Outlaws.
After forcing a three and out on the Maniacs third possession, the Maniacs punted the ball from their own 35 yard line to the Outlaws’ dangerous return man Winston Roberts. Winston fielded the ball on a hop and followed his blocks for a 54 yard punt return down to the Maniacs 16 yard line. After an 11-yard completion to tight end Ishmael Caraway and a three yard run by fullback Antjuan Taylor, the Outlaws scored their third touchdown of the first quarter on a three-yard run by Marton. The Outlaws two-point conversion was good when Josetti found Leszczynski just in front of the left end zone pylon to push the score to 20-0 in favor of the Outlaws.
Facing 4th and three from their own 36 yard line, the Maniacs went for it by way of pass and a stellar defensive breakup by cornerback Anthony Evans gave the Outlaws a 1st and 10 from their own 36 yard line. After a six yard run by Marton on 2nd and 10, Josetti again found Leszcznski, as the tandem hooked up for their second touchdown of the game on a 30-yard touchdown strike to put the score in favor of the Outlaws at 26 – 0 in the middle of the second quarter.
During the Outlaws fifth possession of the first half, after highlight reel 32-yard catch and run by tight end Ishmael Caraway that gave the Outlaws 1st and goal from the Maniacs three yard line, Marton punched in his third touchdown of the first half, ending the three-play drive with a touchdown. The extra point put the score at 33-0. The drive opened up when Josetti found QB/WR Stephen Jackson in the middle of the field for an 18-yard reception.
“Stephen is a great athlete. Theoretically, he could play about three different positions on either offense or defense. After being selected to 2nd-Team All-IFL status last year at quarterback, we knew he was good, especially so for a then 18-year old kid playing with mostly college-experienced players. With JP back, we want to keep Stephen on the field. He made a smooth transition to wide receiver. He looked sharp tonight.” added Karthausser on Jackson’s performance.
After an interception by free safety Jaamal Bell, the Outlaws had 1st and 10 on their own 40 yard line. With 4 seconds remaining in the first half and three receivers split to his left, Josetti bought enough time for his receivers to reach the end zone. Heaving the ball to the end zone, a Maniacs defender tried to tip the ball out of the back of the end zone. Unfortunately for the Maniacs, the ball was tipped to Outlaws receiver Tony White, ending the one-play drive on a 60-yard Hail Mary from Josetti to White. The extra-point was good, and the Outlaws went to the locker room ahead 40-0 at halftime.
“We ended the first half a perfect 6-for-6 in reach the end zone on each of our possessions. It really doesn’t get much better than that.” explained Karthausser on his teams’ first half performance.
The second half featured a steady dosage of run plays as the Outlaws tried to run the clock down and end the game with a victory and no injuries. “At that point, in a game like this where everything is going right for us and wrong for them, you just hope that you can run the clock out as fast as possible and come out of the game healthy.”, noted Karthausser.
Back-up tailback Derwin Pottinger shined in the 2nd half, thanks to determined blocking from his front five and fullback Antjuan Taylor. The combination of Brandon Roberson, Pat Kerski, Calvin Coffee, Jermaine Evans, and two-way player Jon Walters paved the way for each of the Outlaws ball-carriers. Pottinger, playing mostly special teams while awaiting for his opportunity at running back, carried the ball three times for 18 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter. On first and goal from the five, Pottinger found paydirt and scored the Outlaws final touchdown to put the Outlaws ahead 47-0.
“Derwin’s linemen really wanted to do well for him.” said Karthausser on Pottinger’s 4th quarter performance. “Derwin never misses practice and always gives his best. He’s not the best athlete on the field, but he’s easily the most determined to make the most with the opportunities that he gets. I like how our team notes those who work hard at practice. Our team’s character is starting to peak, and it’s linemen like ours and players like Derwin who define who we are. I like the way we are coming together as we enter the home stretch.”
After an interception by linebacker Gene Mushrush that was returned down to the 18-yard line, the Outlaws ran out the clock to end the game and came out with victory in hand, pushing their record to 4-2 on the season.
Next week, the Outlaws will travel to Burlington to take on the Blue Devils at Karcher Field for a 7:00 pm kickoff on Saturday night. After beating the Windy City Buccaneers on Sunday night in Kenosha by way of a 35 – 6 score, the Blue Devils are 5-1 in league play and are taking the league by surprise. After coming off a 3-6 campaign in 2006, the Blue Devils are led by their defense and special teams ace Jordan Brown. The Blue Devil secondary has amassed 15 interceptions in five games, losing only once to the first-place Roscoe Rush by a score of 12-6.
“Burlington is a hungry team. They fell they aren’t getting the respect they deserve and are making their opponents pay for it.”, said Karthausser on next week’s game. “One things for sure, they have our attention and our respect. We aren’t taking this game lightly. We know that in order to go on the road and win against a team like Burlington, we are going to need our best effort and a mistake-free game. Although it won’t be easy, I believe that we are capable of winning. Our team is going into this game knowing that if the season were to end today, this would be our first-round playoff opponent. We’ll be ready come 7:00 pm on Saturday night.”