Screaming Eagles Drop Week 6 Game at Empire
This post has been syndicated from SaltLakeScreamingEagles.com.
One week after their furious second-half comeback fell short, the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles were not able to exact revenge on the Spokane Empire, falling 53-36.
Similarly to their Week 4 loss to the Empire , the Screaming Eagles (1-3) got off to a slow start against Spokane (4-1), allowing a touchdown on the game's second play (Devon Brown 15-yard pass from Charlie Dowdell) and committing turnovers on back-to-back possesions.
After falling behind 17-0 in the first quarter, Verlon Reed Jr. got Salt Lake on the board, throwing his first of five touchdowns on the night, a 10-yard strike to Breon Allen.
Following a third Spokane touchdown, Trent Andrus connected on a 35-yard field goal with 3:18 remaining in the first half to once again pull Salt Lake within two scores (24-10).
And thanks to Antion McBee that deficit remainined just 14 points after he used all of his 6-foot-2 frame to block an Empire field goal attempt late in the second quarter.
Reed and Co. subsequently flew down the field in the closing seconds of the half, connecting with Allen on a long pass play to the one-yard line. But Allen was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after unintentionally losing control of the ball as he hit it against the dasher boards, pushing the Screaming Eagles away from the goal line, where they failed to score before the half.
Like Week 4, Salt Lake flew out of halftime, with Reed hitting a streaking (figuratively, not literally – get your head of the gutter) Cy Strahm for a 31-yard touchdown just two plays into the second session. It was the first of two scores for Strahm.
Trailing 33-16 with just over four minutes remaining in the third quarter, cornerback Rashad Greene and Allen combined for one of the best sequences you'll see all season in the Indoor Football League.
First, Greene intercepted Dowdell – the team's fourth interception of Dowdell the last two games – before Reed found Allen, who finished with six catches for 71 yards and two scores, in the corner of the endzone for an SportsCenter Top 10-worthy touchdown catch. Salt Lake trailed 33-23.
After an Empire score, Strahm would add his second touchdown early in the fourth quarter, once again cutting the deficit to 10 (39-29), but following a failed onside kick, one of three on the night, Spokane answered immediately.
However, the fourth quarter wasn't void of excitement; newly signed receiver Dorian Buford (Minnesota State) scored his first career touchdown, hauling in Reed's fifth passing score of the game.
Buford's 17-yard touchdown was among his three catches for 33 yards in his IFL debut. In all, the Screaming Eagles outgained the Empire in both total yardage (235 to 222) and net passing yards (229 to 102).
