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Las Vegas 14 |
With Pus Running, Stones Turn on SinnersRevenge is sweet. If you have to lose a Hyperbowl, this is the way to make up for it. Flint lost to Las Vegas last year, 36-17, then not only returned to the Hyperbowl for another chance, but got Las Vegas as their opponent. A year ago, the forecast showed running back Eddie Pus to be more than Las Vegas had handled, the major factor in the game. The Sinners neutralized Pus and, after an early shootout between the two teams' quarterbacks, ran away from the Stones, thanks mainly to wide receiver Jason Rainbows, who was named MVP of the game. This time, however, Flint made good on that forecast, or that is, Eddie Pus made good, since he was most of Flint's offense. Pus rushed 13 times for 150 yards, including a 44-yard run that set up his own 3-yard TD to break open a two-TD lead in the third quarter, and was named MVP of this Hyperbowl. Flint QB Osborne Lucky completed only 9 of 24 passes for 112 yards, with an interception, although he threw for 2 TDs. Las Vegas QB Andy Christ played better than Lucky, again, completing 20 of 36 passes for 264 yards and a TD, with one interception, and rushing for 69 yards, as much as Vegas's top rushing running back, Drew Blood. But neither Christ nor Rainbows would upstage Pus in this game. The Stones scored first, in the first quarter, on a 24-yard pass from Lucky to backup tight end Welland Good, on the play after Lucky had run for 29 yards. Flint forced the Sinners to punt on their first three drives, then, at the beginning of the second quarter, Las Vegas gave kicker Cleet Face a chance at a 60-yard field goal, which he missed. Flint decided if Vegas could try, so could they, and on the following possession, kicker Oodleson Oodles attempted a 65-yard field goal. The miss gave Vegas good field possession, and Blood carried the ball twice, for 17 and 13 yards, and had a reception for 14 yards. It was running back Buster Gutt who took it home, though, from 7 yards, tying the game after Face's extra point kick. The teams remained knotted for the half, Lucky throwing an interception at one point, the Stones blocking a Las Vegas punt at another. Flint scored on their second drive of the second half, going 80 yards in 9 plays, with 5 completions of 5 attempts from Lucky, including a 19-yard pass to wide receiver Roy El Pain, and a 17-yard run by Pus. El Pain got the TD on a 4-yard reception. Vegas tried to get tricky on their ensuing possession. With 4th down and 9 at their own 45, Christ ran a draw play from punt formation, but gained only 2 yards. The next play was Pus's 44-yard run. After an incomplete pass, Pus, from 3 yards, finished it off, and as it would turn out, Las Vegas, too. The Sinners didn't look down or out, though. They had a burst of their own in the fourth quarter, going 80 yards in just 6 plays, the big one a 33-yard pass to Blood. Rainbows also had two catches, and the TD was a 9-yard pass to wide receiver Travis Tee. Oodles hit a 56-yard field goal on Flint's next possession to get back a lead of more than a TD. Vegas drove right back to the Flint 19, but Face missed a 36-yard attempt. Although the Sinners kept flying to the end, the last play of the game a 34-yard pass to tight end Morgan Mindy to the Flint 31, Flint's lead was too great. The Stones won their second Hyperbowl, after the 1993 decision over Spokane. |