by CANTON, Ohio– With the playoffs swiftly approaching, wins are now more important than ever at this stage, and the Pittsburgh Maulers needed a win more than any team in the league this weekend.
“I’m proud of these guys and they play hard and they’re committed to one another,” Pittsburgh head coach Ray Horton said following the loss Saturday afternoon in Canton. “For us, it’s not good enough….we play to win.”
The Maulers (2-6) have struggled to find a consistent offensive flow throughout the year and on Saturday afternoon against the Houston Gamblers (5-3) they hit the ground running hard.
In fact, their opening drive took seven minutes off the clock, ending with a Troy Williams two-yard touchdown run. From there, they forced the Gamblers into a plethora of trouble.
Quarterback Kenji Bahar and Mark Thompson highlighted a high-powered Gambler offense heading into Saturday’s game but were shut out in the first quarter. Bahar was able to complete 8-of-11 passes for 96 yards in the first half, with their lone touchdown coming from a Thompson 23-yard rushing town down with under two minutes left in the half, that score was his twelfth rushing score of the season, which is leading the league.
Two Chris Blewitt field goals helped give the Maulers a 13-6 lead heading into halftime. Quarterback Troy Williams was efficient as ever throughout the first half, completing 14-of-15 passes for 137 yards to help pace the offense. Penalties were a problem for Houston throughout the first half, extending Pittsburgh’s drives and their seven total penalties went for 57 yards, helping the Maulers kill the clock on the offensive end.
Just like the entire first half, Houston just couldn’t find anything offensively to open up the second half as the stout Pittsburgh defense did a sound job of limiting the deep-play ability and making sure to earn any of the points they get. With that, they garnered just 31 yards in the third quarter and needed to score quickly in the fourth quarter to make it a ball game.
That they did as Kenji Bahar connected with Keke Chism for a 14-yard touchdown pass deep in the end zone to get them within three–16-13 with 14 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
It’s hard to contain or even slow down Mark Thompson. With under our minutes left in the game, Thomspon found the end zone for the second time, rushing for a 33-yard touchdown to give his team their first lead of the game, 20-19.
“The o-line opened up the hole and I hit it before it closed,” Thompson said about the fourth-quarter touchdown score. “We just went out there and executed as a team.”
Thompson rushed for just 39 yards in the first half on four carries. He ended the game with 14 carries for 98 yards and a game-high two touchdowns to keep the Gamblers rolling heading into the playoffs.
Pittsburgh ran 16 more plays, garnering 60 more total yards than the Gamblers, but field goals instead of touchdowns seemed to be the biggest difference maker Saturday afternoon.
