Orlando Holds On To Defeat Richmond 28-14 recap & pics

[dogwood30]

TODAY IN THE NJLMFL- NFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAME

#6 seed ORLANDO THUNDER at #1 seed RICHMOND REBELS

Dixieland Field

The Orlando Thunder held off a Richmond second half rally to defeat the Rebels 28-14 and advance to the NFC Championship Game.

First Half

The first half was dominated by the Orlando Thunder who lead 21-0 at the half. The Thunder took the opening kick and drove 64 yds in just over 8 minutes to score on a Michael Vick to Braylon Edwards 9 yd TD. Richmond was driving late in the first quarter but turned it over when Eli Manning hit Steve Smith on a slant but he fumbled and Orlando's Patrick Watson recovered at the Thunder 26. Rickey Williams gained 4 yds out to the 30. After an incomplete pass set up third and 6 Michael Vick looked to throw and the entire left side of the field opened up for him to run. Seventy yards later Orlando owned a 14-0 lead. Both teams traded punts. Eli Manning had a terrible half missing on very high percentage routes. Richmond got the ball after a punt on their own 24 with 2:00 left in the half and all their timeouts. Manning missed on both 1st and 2nd downs. He was able to hit Brandon Jacobs for a short gain but well short of a first down. Richmond had to punt. Next came the best punt of the tournament so far a 67 yarder that went out of bounds at the Orlando 5. With under a minute to go and Orlando pinned deep in their own territory Head Coach Jimmy Johnson decided to play it safe and take a 14-0 lead into the half. He got much more than expected when RB Ryan Grant took a handoff going left and again the Thunders left side cleared a huge hole and Grant was off to the races. He stepped out of bounds 75 yards later at the Rebels 20 yard line with 16 seconds to go in the half. Orlando decided to take one shot at the endzone instead of going for the field goal and again it paid off when Vick hit Edwards for his 2nd TD pass of the game from 20 yards out giving Orlando a commanding 21-0 lead at the half. Richmond could have kept it close but the costly turnover and poor performance by Manning leaves them a huge hill to climb in the second half. The Rebels must stop the high powered Thunder offense and play a perfect half on offense to have even a remote chance of winning. The Rebels recievers have gotten open on the Thunder defense but Manning has been awful and he will really have to pick up his game to give Richmond a chance.

SECOND HALF

The Richmond Rebels took the second half kick and had their best drive of the day going 70 yards in 8 plays capped by a 15 yard TD pass from Eli Manning to Santana Moss to get the Rebels on the board at 21-7 but they took over 9 minutes to get it done. Richmond’s defense came to life and started to bottle up the Thunder running attack The quarter ended with an Orlando punt to the Rebels 26. Richmond took the ball at their own 26 and quickly got a 6 yard run from Brandon Jacobs. The next two plays saw Manning throw both passes away due to great coverage by the Orlando secondary. Trailing by 14 with about 10 minutes left in the game Richmond went for it on 4th down. Again the Thunder blanketed the Rebel receivers and Manning had no choice but to hand the ball to Jacobs but the big back came up short and Richmond turned the ball over on downs. Orlando ran twice for 7 yards and when Vick’s 3rd down pass missed Berrian they tried a 48 yd FG but Keading missed to the left and Richmond escaped their gamble without surrendering any points. With time ticking down Manning hit Smith for a short gain. Then Brandon Jacobs executed a great draw play and rumbled 51 yards deep into Thunder territory with just under 3 minutes to go. Eli Manning once again got ice cold missing on 3 straight passes. Finally on 4th and goal Manning hit Steve Smith for an 8 yard TD and Richmond was in the game at 21-14 with 2:03 left. Richmond attempted and onsides kick which Orlando recovered. The Thunder ran both Williams and Grant but came up short of a first down. Vick then missed on a pass to Williams and it was 4th down at the Richmond 38. Jimmy Johnson ruled out a 55 yard FG attempt. With 1:03 left in the game the Rebels were out of time outs so Johnson decided to put the game in Vick’s hands and went for it on 4th down. Vick responded with a perfect pass to Braylon Edwards who slipped behind the Richmond secondary to make the catch and take it down to the Richmond 6 when he stepped out of bounds. The clock was stopped with :48 seconds left in the game. Ryan Grant then put things to rest with a 6 yard TD run to seal a 28-14 win for the Thunder. Give credit to the Rebels who played great defense in the second half giving their team a chance to come back but they were too far behind to get it done. Orlando now moves on to the NFC Title Game as they will stay on the road going to either Arizona or El Paso next week.

Scoring

Orlando 7-14-0-7…28
Richmond 0-0-7-7….14

1st QTR
ORL- Edwards 9 yd pass from Vick (Keading kick)………………………………….7-0 5:17

2nd QTR
ORL- Vick 70 yard run (Keading kick)……………………………………………………..14-0 14:19
ORL- Edwards 20 yard pass from Vick (Keading kick)…………………………….21-0 :03

3rd QTR
RCH- Moss 15 yard pass from Manning (Hanson kick)……………………………21-7 5:07

4th QTR
RCH- Smith 8 yd pass from Manning (Hanson kick)……………………………….21-14 2:03
ORL- Grant 6 yd run (Keading kick)……………………………………………………….28-14 :36

[Drk]

You've probably already answered this question but I don't remember. Do you play multiple stops? When do you allow defensive adjustments to be made?

[dogwood30]

I don't do any kind of mandatory stops. On running plays I set up the direction of the run with the backs then I adjust the linebackers to defend the run and then just turn the board on and play th play through. On passes I set the offense up first and then the defense to defend the recievers and the directions of the backs. I turn the board on and off as needed as the QB approaches the line of scrimmage or in some cases turns. Once the front of the QB's base reaches the line of scrimmage I stop the board to see if anyone is open. If all recievers and backs are covered I run the board again. If any part of the QB's base is not beyond the line of scrimmage he may still throw. On a QB who turns. Once the QB is parralel to the line of scrimmage he must either throw the ball or take a coverage sack at that point. If he has an open reciever who does not look like he will gain yardage the QB may just throw the ball away. He may also do this if he turns and is completley outside the hask marks. Once a pass is completed up to 5 defensive players who are not engaged may be adjusted to chase the reciever unless the pass chart says less. In some cases the pass chart will only allow 1 chaser or none if it is a perfect pass. On pass plays I usually turn 1 liebacker and the 2 safties around to run back and cover a zone. The 2 corners are face to face with the 2 recievers with a 3 yard cushion. The outside linebacker may play right up to the tight end. It's really pretty simple and basic and keeps things fair for both sides.

[batman]

awesome recap

thanks for the update

[O-schemer]

The Thunder looks tough. Do you think they are the team to beat?

[dogwood30]

The Thuinder team is for real. They will also be my AirForce team in the upcoming college spring league. Should be a Top 10 team.

[Michigan Joe]

Love the pictures to go with your recaps. Keep it coming.
Joe