Oklahoma beats Hartford on late FG (see recap and pics).

[dogwood30]

TODAY IN THE NJLMFL- AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAME

#5 Seed HARTFORD RENEGADES at #2 seed OKLAHOMA LONGHORNS

PANHANDLE STADIUM

The Oklahoma Longhorns and Hartford Renegades played back and forth the whole game with Oklahoma winning on a 35 yard field goal as time ran out. The Longhorns will now go to Omaha to take on the Wranglers in the AFC Championship Game.

1st Half
The games first points came at little more than halfway through the 1st quarter after Renegade QB Ben Roethleisberger was sacked and fumbled. Oklahoma’s Marcus Wiley recovered in Oklahoma territory to stop the Hartford drive. Longhorn RB Duane Thomas the broke loose for 52 yards to set up a 12 yd TD run from Clinton Portis. Oklahoma led 7-0 after the first quarter. Hartford came back in the second quarter. After being pinned at their own 2 when KR John Jett muffed the kickoff Hartford began a brilliant drive. Roethleisberger mixed runs by Brian Westbrook and Donald Brown and passes to his TE Vernon Davis the Renegades pulled off a 9 play 98 yard drive capped off by Westbrook’s 9 yard TD run to tie the game at 7. Hartford had a chance for points late in the half. They were on the Oklahoma 15 with 24 seconds remaining and had no time outs. Roethleisberger hit TE Davis across the middle and was stopped at the Longhorn 1 yard line. Hartford could not get lined up for a FG before time ran out as they missed a big opportunity.

2nd Half
After the teams traded punts to start the 3rd quarter Oklahoma had its best drive of the day going 80 yards in 6 plays with Clinton Portis scoring his 2nd 12 yd TD run of the game. Hartford’s Patrick Watson then blocked the extra point so Oklahoma’s lead was 13-7. The quarter ended 13-7. Hartford stormed back. Donald Brown had a 46 yard run to help set up a Roethleisberger to Hines Ward 7 yard strike and Hartford regained the lead 14-13 with just over 10 minutes to go in the game. Just two plays following the kickoff Oklahoma QB Bert Jones went back to throw. The Renegade linemen all took outside lanes to rush the QB and Jones saw nothing but daylight in front of him. The veteran QB ran 56 yards for a stunning TD to make it 19-14. Head Coach Barry Switzer decided to go for the 2 point conversion. A gassed Jones took a quick drop and fired a strike to TE Riley Odoms to make it 21-14 in favor of Oklahoma with 9:19 to go. Again Hartford answered back. After a touchback Hartford began their drive. Roethleisberger hit some key 3rd down passes and some good runs by Westbrook and Brown to slowly move the ball downfield. Westbrook then broke off a 24 yard run to the Oklahoma 27 with 2:36 to go in the game. On the next play Roethleisberger threw a perfect pass to Hines Ward for a 27 yard TD to knot the game back up at 21 with 2:18 to play. On the play Oklahoma was flagged for a personal foul which was assessed 15 yards on the kickoff. Break of the game- With the ball moved up 15 yards it looked like a sure kick for a touchback but Hartford kicker Robbie Gould then did the unthinkable when his line drive kick skipped out of bounds giving the ball to the Longhorns at midfield. Oklahoma RB Duane Thomas gained 4 yards to the Renegade 46 at the 2:00 warning. Clinton Portis ran for 3 more to the Hartford 43 and Oklahoma let the clock run even with all their timeouts. On third and 3 Bert Jones hit Roddy White for 23 yards to the Hartford 30 and time kept ticking off the clock. Finally Oklahoma called time out with 34 seconds left in the game. The next play was slow in developing and Jones who had great protection waited for a receiver to open up. He spotted Portis open in the middle of the field and fired a rocked to Portis who made a nice catch for a 1st down at the Hartford 18. The Longhorns let the clock run down to :02 and then sent the field goal team out to try a 35 yarder for the win. Oklahoma kicker Matt Prater then split the uprights for a game winning 35 yard FG and a 24-21 Oklahoma victory. The Longhorns will now travel to Omaha to take on the Wranglers in the AFC Championship game.

SCORING
HARTFORD 0-7-0-14…..21
OKLAHOMA 7-0-6-11….24

1ST QTR
OKL- Portis 12 yd run (Prater kick)………………………………………………7-0 5;49

2nd QTR
HRT- Westbrook 9 yd run (Gould kick)…………………………………………..7-7 8:32

3rd QTR
OKL- Portis 12 yd run (extra point blocked)……………………………………..13-7 2:00

4th QTR
HRT- Ward 7 yd pass from Roethleisberger(Gould kick)………………………….14-13 10:21
OKL- Jones 56 yd run ( Jones to Odoms 2 pt conversion)………………………...21-14 9:19
HRT- Ward 27 yd pass from Roethleisberger (Gould kick)………………………..21-21 2:18
OKL- Prater 35 yd FG…………………………………………………………...24-21 :00