VS.

KENNEDY LEADS RHINO-RAIDERS OVER LIONZ; RHINOS CAPTURE 2^ND RMFL TITLE

PHOTO GALLERY

Madison Lionz vs. Rhino-Raiders, July 16, 2005

OGDEN – On the first two plays from scrimmage for the Rhino-Raiders, Rashad Kennedy knifed through the Madison Lionz defense picking up a quick 12 yards each time as the Rhino-Raiders rolled quickly. Kennedy would set the early tone as the Rhino-Raiders captured their second consecutive RMFL title behind a combined team total of 209 rushing yards and some opportunistic defense that intercepted 3 passes, recorded 3 quarterback sacks and recovered a fumble on a play that woulda, coulda, shoulda been a Madison touchdown late in the 4^th quarter.

Kennedy, a collegiate tailback, had been used by the Rhino-Raiders as a wide receiver primarily in the past couple of years, had rushed the ball in a couple of games in 2005 for the Rhinos and had looked good.

But never this good.

Kennedy ran early and often and combined with Terance Marks, who rushed for 63 yards on 10 carries paced the Rhino-Raider offensive attack that had historically relied on the right arm of star quarterback, Dave Stireman.

The Lionz defense, however, stymied the Rhino-Raider passing attack. Specifically, Benny Walker turned in an amazing game at cornerback, being matched up on star receiver, Norvel Young through most of the game, Walker limited Young to only 1 reception on the evening. The Lionz defense held the Rhino-Raiders to a meager 88 total net yards of passing offense on the night.

The Rhino-Raiders, however, would not need their great passing offense this night to win the championship.

The Lionz took the opening kickoff and drove deep into Rhino territory. Buck Mousers 41-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right and the Rhino-Raiders took over on their own 23 yard line. 14 plays and 6 first downs later, Kennedy ran in for the games first score from the 3-yard line.

After Madison’s star quarterback, Troy Dougherty’s first interception by Jay Tupe, Rodney Frojker nailed a 35-yard field goal and the Rhinos extended their lead to 10-0.

The Lionz offense would continue to roll, however, in the second quarter. Dougherty, who attempted a record 45 passes, completed 28 of them in the game for 243 yards. The RMFL’s top receiver, Madison tight end, Nate Brown caught a record 13 of Dougherty’s passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns, including the Lionz opening score, a 6-yard pass early in the second quarter to cut the lead to 10-7. As the half closed, Buck Mouser would connect on a short field goal and the game was tied at the half.

The Rhino-Raiders would win this game, overcoming an amazing 179 yards in penalties. However, it was a key Madison penalty that might have been the difference in the game.

Backed up deep in his own end after the second half kickoff, Rhino quarterback, Dave Stireman would throw a deep out pass intended for Norvel Young. Benny Walker, on the coverage as usual would come up with the pass and after a great block from Dustin Simmons would race 33 yards for a touchdown and an apparent 16-10 Madison lead. However, a roughing the quarterback penalty would nullify the play and keep the Rhino drive alive.

The Lionz would take a lead on another Buck Mouser field goal before Kennedy would pick up his second touchdown late in the 3^rd quarter and the Rhinos would maintain a slim 17-13 lead as the final quarter began. Midway through the quarter, Dave Stireman would cap a short drive hitting Ryan Scadden for a touchdown pass on a 3^rd down and goal from the 2-yard line with a little more than 7 minutes remaining in the game.

Almost immediately after that, Madison tailback, Nate Rydalch made an amazing run as the Lionz had a first down from their own 40-yard line after the ensuing kick-off. Rydalch burst off left tackle and was up the sideline before many on-lookers knew what had happened. Rydalch ran past the Rhino-Raiders secondary with only Trevor Bell putting on a chase. As Rydalch neared the end zone for an apparent Lionz score to close the gap to 24-19, he lost control of the football. Bell, who had showed great hussle trailing the play when it appeared as if nothing could prevent the touchdown was there for the recovery and the Rhinos held on for the win.

Other nice performances were turned in by Jake Phippen and Mike Pierce who lead all tacklers with 7-1/2 and 7 respectively. Bill Nebeker sacked Troy Dougherty two times in the game and Trevor Bell caught two passes for 28 yards, had 89 return yards, intercepted a pass and came up big for 5 tackles, including the big fumble recovery on the Rydalch drop that might have been the final difference in the game.

The Rhino-Raiders now join the Idaho Falls Mustangs as the only back-to-back winner of RMFL championships. Rhino-Raider offensive lineman, Eric Christensen was a Snake River Rebel in 1999 when the Rebels won a championship , so was able to pick up his 3^rd playing a superb game on the Rhino offensive front. The Rhinos had won 4 consecutive Utah Football League titles before getting their RMFL titles and have now won 6 championships in a row.

	1^st Quarter	2^nd Quarter	3^rd Quarter	4^th Quarter	Final
Madison	0	10	3	6	19
Rhino-Raiders	10	0	7	7	24

Scoring Summary:

1^st Quarter

Rhino-Raiders: Kennedy 3-yard run (Frojker kick) 3:51

Rhino-Raiders: Frojker 35-yard field goal 0:08

2^nd Quarter

Madison: N. Brown 6-yard pass from Dougherty (Mouser kick) 13:02

Madison: Mouser 27-yard field goal 0:02

3^rd Quarter

Madison: Mouser 33-yard field goal 9:22

Rhino-Raiders: Kennedy 6-yard run (Frojker kick) 4:07

4^th Quarter

Rhino-Raiders: Scadden 2-yard pass from Stireman (Frojker kick) 7:07

Madison: N. Brown 11-yard pass from Dougherty (pass failed) 1:28

	LIONZ		RHINO-RAIDERS
First Downs	22		16
Rushes-Yds	16	115	40	209
Passing	28-45-3		7-20-2
Passing Yds.	243		100
Sacked-Yds	3	22	2	13
Net Passing Yds.	221		87
Total Yds.	336		296
Punts - Avg.	1-15.0		1-36.0
Penalties -Yds	11	105	17	179
Fumbles - Lost	1	1	2	1
Individual Stats:
Rushing:
Player -Team	Tot. Att.	Tot. Yds	TD's	2 pts.
Nate Rydalch - Madison	10	95	0	0
Troy Dougherty - Madison	2	16	0	0
Kenny Clark - Madison	4	4	0	0
Rashad Kennedy - Rhino-Raiders	26	130	2	0
Terence Marks - Rhino-Raiders	10	63	0	0
Justin Oswald - Rhino-Raiders	3	15	0	0
Dave Stireman - Rhino-Raiders	1	1	0	0
Passing:
Player	Comp.	Att.	Yds	TD's	Int.
Troy Dougherty - Madison	28	45	243	2	3
Dave Stireman - Rhino-Raiders	7	20	100	1	2
Receiving:
Player	Recepts.	Yards	Td's	2 pts.
Nate Brown - Madison	13	129	2	0
Buck Mouser - Madison	5	36	0	0
John Clark - Madison	5	34	0	0
Kenny Clark - Madison	3	19	0	0
Nate Rydalch - Madison	1	13	0	0
Todd Barber - Madison	1	12	0	0
K.C. McQueen - Rhino-Raiders	1	33	0	0
Trevor Bell - Rhino-Raiders	2	28	0	0
Ryan Scadden - Rhino-Raiders	3	25	0	0
Norvel Young - Rhino-Raiders	1	14	0	0
Defense:
Player	Tackles	Sacks	Intercepts	TD's
Irvin Hill - Madison	5.5	0	0	0
Dustin Simmons - Madison	5	0	0	0
Greg Givens - Madison	5	0	1	0
Darcy Whipple - Madison	4	0	0	0
Pat Davis - Madison	3.5	0	0	0
Josh Huntsman - Madison	3	1	0	0
James Reice - Madison	3	0	0	0
Damon Thayne - Madison	2.5	0	1	0
James Huml - Madison	2	0	0	0
Benny Walker - Madison	2	0	0	0
Brandon Jenks - Madison	2	1	0	0
Buck Mouser - Madison	2	0	0	0
James VonGunten - Madison	1.5	0	0	0
Chris Harris - Madison	1.5	0	0	0
Aros Mackey - Madison	1.5	0	0	0
Greg Rammell - Madison	1	0	0	0
John Clark - Madison	1	0	0	0
Kenny Clark - Madison	1	0	0	0
Roy Withers - Madison	0.5	0	0	0
Nate Blanchard - Madison	0.5	0