Post by Banana Cat on Jun 20, 2011 9:15:10 GMT -5
www.nj.com/times-sports/index.ssf/2011/06/trenton_steel_enjoy_a_banner_s.html
Trenton Steel enjoy a banner season
June 20, 2011
Craig Haley/The Times
It didn’t nearly take the long bus ride back from Columbus, Ga., for the Trenton Steel to embrace the many positives in their inaugural season.
The Steel’s wounds were fresh, but perspective shined through after their late rally fell short in a 62-60 loss to the defending Southern Indoor Football League champion Columbus Lions Saturday night in the Eastern Conference semifinals at the Columbus Civic Center.
“To start off 0-3, an expansion team, a late start (as a franchise), you can’t complain. We worked hard, we fought hard, it’s something to build on,” Steel head coach Rod Miller said on the team’s official blog shortly after their season ended with an 8-5 record.
The playoffs had seemed to be slipping away after they opened their season with three straight three-point losses, but the Steel realized they weren’t far off from success. They came back to win five straight games and eight of their final nine regular-season games.
That kind of perseverance reflected in the playoff loss to Columbus (12-1). The Steel never led in the game, but nearly overcame their biggest deficit – 62-46 – with two touchdowns in the final minute.
Quarterback E.J. Nemeth scored on a 2-yard run and then a 2-point conversion to close the Steel’s deficit to 62-54 with 58 seconds left.
After they held Columbus to three straight losses and a blocked field goal by Tyrell Zimmerman, the Steel got the ball back and Nemeth connected on a 35-yard touchdown to Oderick Turner with 30 seconds remaining to pull within 62-60. But another 2-point conversion attempt fell incomplete and Columbus recovered an ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock.
“We fought hard and we fought to the end,” Miller said. “I give the guys credit for we didn’t give up. We came out on the short side of the stick.”
The Steel solved Columbus’ No. 2-ranked defense in the second half after being held to a season-low in points while falling behind 28-18 at halftime. Nemeth came on strong to finish with 32-of-49 pass completions for 401 yards and six touchdowns, while adding two rushing touchdowns.
Turner was Nemeth’s big-play receiver with 12 receptions for 183 yards and five touchdowns, including at least one in each quarter. Dan Huff caught 14 passes for 158 yards.
Columbus quarterback Chris McCoy completed 27-of-39 passes for 263 yards and six touchdowns. One big difference maker for the Lions was that place-kicker Trey Crum nailed five unos – each a one-point play when he sent a kickoff from his goal line through the far uprights.
“I think we were a little tight, I think we just came out a little tense and we didn’t open up like we usually have been doing,” Miller said. “We talked at halftime (that) we need to open it up. The difference in the second half was we opened it up. We probably should have done it a little sooner and you never know what we’d have.”
Columbus will host Saturday night’s Eastern final against Georgia rival Albany (11-2), which eliminated Erie (9-4) from the playoffs, 68-43.
Final statistics: It appears Nemeth will finish the playoffs as the league leader in passing yards per game (274.6). He threw for 3,570 yards and 76 touchdowns, while rushing for another 29 touchdowns, this season. Huff caught 97 passes for 1,129 yards and 15 TDs, and Turner had 82 receptions for 1,267 yards and 28 TDs.
June 20, 2011
Craig Haley/The Times
It didn’t nearly take the long bus ride back from Columbus, Ga., for the Trenton Steel to embrace the many positives in their inaugural season.
The Steel’s wounds were fresh, but perspective shined through after their late rally fell short in a 62-60 loss to the defending Southern Indoor Football League champion Columbus Lions Saturday night in the Eastern Conference semifinals at the Columbus Civic Center.
“To start off 0-3, an expansion team, a late start (as a franchise), you can’t complain. We worked hard, we fought hard, it’s something to build on,” Steel head coach Rod Miller said on the team’s official blog shortly after their season ended with an 8-5 record.
The playoffs had seemed to be slipping away after they opened their season with three straight three-point losses, but the Steel realized they weren’t far off from success. They came back to win five straight games and eight of their final nine regular-season games.
That kind of perseverance reflected in the playoff loss to Columbus (12-1). The Steel never led in the game, but nearly overcame their biggest deficit – 62-46 – with two touchdowns in the final minute.
Quarterback E.J. Nemeth scored on a 2-yard run and then a 2-point conversion to close the Steel’s deficit to 62-54 with 58 seconds left.
After they held Columbus to three straight losses and a blocked field goal by Tyrell Zimmerman, the Steel got the ball back and Nemeth connected on a 35-yard touchdown to Oderick Turner with 30 seconds remaining to pull within 62-60. But another 2-point conversion attempt fell incomplete and Columbus recovered an ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock.
“We fought hard and we fought to the end,” Miller said. “I give the guys credit for we didn’t give up. We came out on the short side of the stick.”
The Steel solved Columbus’ No. 2-ranked defense in the second half after being held to a season-low in points while falling behind 28-18 at halftime. Nemeth came on strong to finish with 32-of-49 pass completions for 401 yards and six touchdowns, while adding two rushing touchdowns.
Turner was Nemeth’s big-play receiver with 12 receptions for 183 yards and five touchdowns, including at least one in each quarter. Dan Huff caught 14 passes for 158 yards.
Columbus quarterback Chris McCoy completed 27-of-39 passes for 263 yards and six touchdowns. One big difference maker for the Lions was that place-kicker Trey Crum nailed five unos – each a one-point play when he sent a kickoff from his goal line through the far uprights.
“I think we were a little tight, I think we just came out a little tense and we didn’t open up like we usually have been doing,” Miller said. “We talked at halftime (that) we need to open it up. The difference in the second half was we opened it up. We probably should have done it a little sooner and you never know what we’d have.”
Columbus will host Saturday night’s Eastern final against Georgia rival Albany (11-2), which eliminated Erie (9-4) from the playoffs, 68-43.
Final statistics: It appears Nemeth will finish the playoffs as the league leader in passing yards per game (274.6). He threw for 3,570 yards and 76 touchdowns, while rushing for another 29 touchdowns, this season. Huff caught 97 passes for 1,129 yards and 15 TDs, and Turner had 82 receptions for 1,267 yards and 28 TDs.