Sun, Nov 11 - The Pigskin Hooligans opened their season with a marquee matchup against Prestige Worldwide in nice, sunny weather on Sunday. The game was a measuring stick for both teams as most experts predict one of these two to take home the championship. While the contest was close and featured several lead changes, the Hooligans eventually pulled away with a 47-33 victory to gain a huge early win and improve to 1-0 on the young season. The Hooligans won the opening coin toss and elected to play defense first. The game was a defensive affair early on as both teams turned in goal-line stands which left the opposing offense starting around the 1-yard line. Team Prestige would strike first as QB Jack Scheel hooked up with Jeremy Maas for a TD with Zeb Hancock adding a 2-pt conversion catch for an 8-0 lead. The Hooligans got their offense in gear, however, as Zach Johnston hooked up with Angela Martin on a deep pass for a first down and again for a short TD pass. Ryan Noack would add a 1-pt conversion catch, and the Hooligans gained momentum as Kristina Butcher intercepted a Jack Scheel pass around midfield to give her team the ball. The team would capitalize as Ryan Noack took a short pass and literally ran through a defensive player on his way to the endzone. Team Prestige would add one more score before the half as Zeb Hancock used his speed to break a big gain, but at halftime the score was 16-14 in favor of the Hooligans. The Hooligans began the second half with the ball on offense and systematically worked down the field. Justin Litzner cranked off a huge gain but smartly waited for Angela Martin to catch up and lateraled to her for a 9-pt touchdown. Angela Martin made an impact in the game as she picked off a Zach Paustian pass, but Brad Kindred gained momentum for his team by forcing a fumble by captain Mike Russell. The play would prove huge as Kindred would then switch to QB and passed to Jeremy Maas who caught his 2nd TD of the game. Zeb Hancock then picked off a Zach Johnston pass on the next series and caught a TD pass from Brad Kindred to give his team a narrow 27-26 lead. The Hooligans would rebound, however, as Ethan Anderson made an impact by catching and running for a decent-length TD and a Tom Sperry 2-pt conversion gave them a 34-27 edge. A "pick 6" by Ryan Noack on the next series really cemented the victory as the score then moved to 40-27, and Justin Litzner added an interception on the next series. Tom Sperry caught a touchdown on the right side of the endzone off a nicely thrown ball from Zach Johnston, and Zeb Hancock added a garbage time TD at the end of the game for Prestige Worldwide. The game ended after an unsuccessful 2-pt conversion try and the Hooligans triumphed 47-33. For the Hooligans, Zach Johnston finished with 4 passing TDs on the day and helped out defensively with 2 sacks. Ryan Noack turned in a great game with 2 TDs, an interception, a PAT, a pass breakup, and good defensive pressure with blitzes. Angela Martin had a solid Hooligans debut as she had 2 TDs to go along with an interception and a solid pass breakup on softball teammate Dana Ford. Tom Sperry notched a TD to go along with 2 PATs and several receptions for the game. Ethan Anderson notched a receiving TD and recorded many flag grabs on defense. Justin Litzner had an interception and a PAT as well as smartly lateraling to Angela Martin for the 9-pt TD. Captain Mike Russell finished with 2 receptions and 2 flag grabs on the day, most notably accidentally "hit sticking" Evan Novak while jabbing for the flag. Kristina Butcher notched an interception in her debut and played solid defense. For Prestige Worldwide, captain Zeb Hancock led his team on the day with 3 TDs to go along with 2 PATs and an INT. Rookie Jeremy Maas showed his speed and hauled in 2 TD passes on the day. Brad Kindred took about half the QB reps and tossed 3 TD passes along with forcing a fumble. Jack Scheel saw the QB reps for the first half, throwing 2 TD strikes. Evan Novak had several receptions in the game and saw time at center. Dana Ford was a late signing and she had a decent run up the right side. 2011 All-Star Zach Paustian had a fairly quiet game by his standars but he handled the ball and few times and saw some time at QB. The game was reffed by Garrett Keeler and Mikey Conant. With the victory the Hooligans stand at 1-0 on the season and move to 27-26-1 all-time. The rest of the schedule is still uncertain, we expect to receive word from Coach Klem on the rest of the schedule early this week. A few interesting historical notes: the game was the first Sunday opener in Pigskin Hooligans history. It was also the latest opener in Hooligans history, supplanting the Nov 7 opener in 2007. We will keep you updated and give you the schedule as soon as we know it...ROLL HOOLIGANS! 1st Star - Zeb Hancock (Prestige Worldwide) 3 receiving TDs, 2 PATs, INT 2nd Star - Ryan Noack (Pigskin Hooligans) 1 receiving TD, 1 INT return for TD, 1 PAT, pass deflect, many blitzes 3rd Star - Angela Martin (Pigskin Hooligans) 1 receiving TD, 1 lateral for TD, INT, several receptions, pass breakup 1st Half
Jack Scheel passed to Jeremy Maas for a touchdown, Jack Scheel passed to Zeb Hancock for 2pt conversion (8-0 Prestige Worldwide) Zach Johnston passed to Angela Martin for a touchdown, Zach Johnston passed to Ryan Noack for 1pt conversion (10-8 Hooligans) Zach Johnston passed to Ryan Noack for a touchdown, 2pt conversion no good (16-8 Hooligans) Jack Scheel passed to Zeb Hancock for a touchdown, 2pt conversion no good (16-14 Hooligans) 2nd Half Angela Martin took lateral from Justin Litzner for a touchdown, Zach Johnston passed to Tom Sperry for 1pt conversion (26-14 Hooligans) Brad Kindred passed to Jeremy Maas for a touchdown, 2pt conversion no good (26-20 Hooligans) Brad Kindred passed to Zeb Hancock for a touchdown, Brad Kindred passed to Zeb Hancock for 1pt conversion (27-26 Prestige Worldwide) Zach Johnston passed to Ethan Anderson for a touchdown, Zach Johnston passed to Tom Sperry for 2pt conversion (34-27 Hooligans) Ryan Noack returned interception for a touchdown, 1pt conversion no good (40-27 Hooligans) Zach Johnston passed to Tom Sperry for a touchdown, Zach Johnston passed to Justin Litzner for 1pt conversion (47-27 Hooligans)
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Written by Mike Russell
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