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*Philly Sports News - PDXBaller - 10-05-2017
Wraiths Bury the Liberty in Yellowknife
By Phil E. Chezestake
Coming off a 28-17 victory against the San Jose SaberCats, the Philadelphia Liberty were looking to extend their winning streak to 4 as they traveled to Yellowknife to take on the Wraiths in week 10. This game had significant implications for the NSFC division. It was a must win game for the Wraiths and the Liberty were looking to cement their position for the NSFC playoffs. This was an extremely close game that saw both teams play exceptionally well in one aspect of the game (Liberty on defense and Wraiths on offense). In a series of odd events, kicker Stephen Harris misheard the play call from the sidelines and elected to punt on the Liberty’s final drive in the last minutes of the 4th quarter. The 33 yard punt resulted in a touchback for the Wraiths which ultimately ended the game. There was some confusion on the play as a 33 yard field goal was certainly in range for the Liberty kicker and would have tied the game at 17. The Wraiths were able to keep their playoff dreams alive with a 17-14 victory at home.
What Went Well?
Despite not getting many attempts or completions in passing, Clifford Rove had a great game against the Wraiths. The rookie quarterback had 15/25 completions/attempts and threw 180 yards total for one touchdown. This was Rove’s first game without an interception, but it’s difficult to determine if the lower number of attempts or better playmaking was the reason. Regardless, Rove did the best that he could given the number of times he went down.
The entire Liberty defense provided a beacon of hope to Philadelphia fans this game. Almost every member of the squad put up impressive numbers. Safety Vikian Marmeladov and linebacker Luke Washington each had 10 tackles with a forced fumble by Washington. A.C. Hackett had 8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 1 sack. Lincoln Jefferson had 7 tackles. Rookie William Ridley put up impressive numbers again with 7 tacks, 1 sack, 1 pass deflection, and 1 interception. And finally, Tyler Oles had another terrific game with 5 tackles, 1 pass deflection, and a pick 6. That pick was crucial in the 2nd quarter as the Liberty offense really struggled to score in the first half of the game.
What Didn’t Go Well?
Besides the horrendous play calling in the 4th quarter, we saw kicker Stephen Harris struggle for the first time this eason. The Scotsman missed 2 critical field goals at 37 yards in the 2nd quarter and a 44 yard field goal in the 3rd quarter. With the offense struggling, these field goals would have kept the Liberty ahead by a small margin to win the game. Fans are hoping that Harris can resolve any issues before next week’s game because the Liberty will need every facet of their scoring in order to win the rest of the games this season.
The offensive line gave up 6 sacks and couldn’t muster the strength to hold the Wraiths defense back. Rove only threw 25 passes total this game and it’s astounding when you compare that number to the 33 passes that the Wraiths actually completed. The offense only had about 26 minutes of possession as well and the rest of the offensive stats are just as abysmal. The Liberty are now 1st for sacks allowed and 6th in pancakes. There will need to be some drastic changes on the offensive line before the Liberty can think about making the playoffs.
Liberty Impact Player of the Game This week’s Liberty Impact Player of the Game goes to Tyler Oles (@`To12143`). If not for his pick 6 in the second quarter, the Liberty wouldn’t have been as close to victory when they ended the game. Oles put up impressive stats again and we can safely say that he’s back in defensive rookie of the year form. His play shifted the momentum as the Liberty were slowly losing hope with the offensive attack.
Next Game
On the road against the Las Vegas Legion in The Coliseum
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GRADED
*Philly Sports News - PoloPro - 10-05-2017
You forgot to mention my clutch 71 yard punt late in the 4th
*Philly Sports News - kckolbe - 10-05-2017
Rove was sacked 6 times for 50 yards despite only 31 dropbacks. That is insane. If you average it out, that's 15 completions on 31 dropbacks for 130 yards and a TD. Still, though, by denying Lavelle and Cushing any interceptions and sneaking a TD past Lavelle, he played a very "smart" game.
You mentioned how many more completions Orosz had, but the Wraiths threw two interceptions, one of them a pick six.
*Philly Sports News - PDXBaller - 10-05-2017
(10-05-2017, 04:44 AM)PoloPro Wrote:You forgot to mention my clutch 71 yard punt late in the 4th
That was definitely clutch for sure!
(10-05-2017, 04:49 AM)kckolbe Wrote:Rove was sacked 6 times for 50 yards despite only 31 dropbacks. That is insane. If you average it out, that's 15 completions on 31 dropbacks for 130 yards and a TD. Still, though, by denying Lavelle and Cushing any interceptions and sneaking a TD past Lavelle, he played a very "smart" game.
You mentioned how many more completions Orosz had, but the Wraiths threw two interceptions, one of them a pick six.
Yeah I couldn't believe how bad it was for Rove and was extremely happy he didn't throw any interceptions or else you guys would have blown the game wide open. I did mention how important that pick six was to us to keep the game alive! The interception was Oles was great, but we couldn't do anything with the Ridley interception.
Overall, it was one of the best Liberty games I've seen all season. Good game sir!