Hey everyone, here's an in depth recap of the first game of the season, looking into the stats and everything there is to know about the week one game of Baltimore and Las Vegas. The first thing to note is obviously this is the first regular season home game in Legion History, and in fact was the first professional sporting event held in Las Vegas (given that the Golden Knights have yet to have their debut season). This home crowd in Vegas proved to be a HUGE for the Legion, and they did not disappoint. The crowd inspired the Legion, and led to the Hawks having a rather undiscplined, penalty filled day. While the Legion only had two fewer penalties, the yardage was big difference as the Hawks had a staggering 90 yards in penalties compared to just 50 from the Legion.
While penalties certainly had a huge effect on the outcome of the game, the biggest difference in the two teams was the passing game. Josh Bercovici certainly had his low points throwing for two interceptions and having only a 55% completion but overall had a fairly strong game. Bercovici threw for 267 Yards and two TD's including the game winning TD in OT. Bercovici had the help of two great receiving efforts on the Legion. The team was led by Stormblessed who had a very solid 113 yards receiving, on only 6 catches. That accounted for nearly half the teams receiving yards, though Stormblessed was unable to find the end zone. The other strong receiver was clearly Alexandre LeClair, who was a beast in the redzone. In the Red Zone LeClair had two touchdowns, and both were on short yardage plays. In a game where there are only three TD's scored a red zone receiver like LeClair can be a huge asset for a team, and he seemed to make a big difference in the Legion's debut.
On the other side of the field the passing game for the Hawks struggle mightily. Scrub Kyubee lived up to his first name (unfortunately) throwing for a miserable 36.8 completion percentage while averaging an abysmal 3.3 yards per attempt. The passing game could not get anything going for the Hawks. Carmel Gibson had a fine day catching 6 balls for 53 yards including the lone TD of the game for the Hawks, but the rest of the receivers were a disappointment. No other pass catcher had more than two receptions, and the rest of the team had just 8 total outside of Gibson.
In the battle of the trenches it appears the Hawks actually had the advantage. The Hawks were able to get to the QB one extra time and had a fantastic run game going. Darlane Farlane in his NSFL debut had an outstanding game running for over 100 yards and averaging 4 yards per carry. What was most impressive about Farlane's day was his consistency. His biggest run was only 10 yards and still was able to amass a lot of yards and have a successful day. Farlane has high end big play potential and the fact that he was able to have a good game without a big play certainly bodes well for his future.
A few players were stand outs on the defensive side of the ball and that starts with Erasmo Broadway. Dude was all over the place for the Hawks, leading the team in tackles with 13 and having two sacks. For the Legion Varga had an outstanding game, with 14 tackles, including one for a loss. Other standouts were Kurt Hedrix with two sacks and two tackles for a loss as well as Turner, Reyes, and Maddox who each came through with an interception.
Finally special teams were clearly huge in this game as both punters were VERY active and had amazing games, both averaging between 43 and 45 yards per punt, with Turkleton having three punts downed in the Legion's 20 yard line.
Overall this was a great start to NSFL season and Legion came out on top. See you next week.
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While penalties certainly had a huge effect on the outcome of the game, the biggest difference in the two teams was the passing game. Josh Bercovici certainly had his low points throwing for two interceptions and having only a 55% completion but overall had a fairly strong game. Bercovici threw for 267 Yards and two TD's including the game winning TD in OT. Bercovici had the help of two great receiving efforts on the Legion. The team was led by Stormblessed who had a very solid 113 yards receiving, on only 6 catches. That accounted for nearly half the teams receiving yards, though Stormblessed was unable to find the end zone. The other strong receiver was clearly Alexandre LeClair, who was a beast in the redzone. In the Red Zone LeClair had two touchdowns, and both were on short yardage plays. In a game where there are only three TD's scored a red zone receiver like LeClair can be a huge asset for a team, and he seemed to make a big difference in the Legion's debut.
On the other side of the field the passing game for the Hawks struggle mightily. Scrub Kyubee lived up to his first name (unfortunately) throwing for a miserable 36.8 completion percentage while averaging an abysmal 3.3 yards per attempt. The passing game could not get anything going for the Hawks. Carmel Gibson had a fine day catching 6 balls for 53 yards including the lone TD of the game for the Hawks, but the rest of the receivers were a disappointment. No other pass catcher had more than two receptions, and the rest of the team had just 8 total outside of Gibson.
In the battle of the trenches it appears the Hawks actually had the advantage. The Hawks were able to get to the QB one extra time and had a fantastic run game going. Darlane Farlane in his NSFL debut had an outstanding game running for over 100 yards and averaging 4 yards per carry. What was most impressive about Farlane's day was his consistency. His biggest run was only 10 yards and still was able to amass a lot of yards and have a successful day. Farlane has high end big play potential and the fact that he was able to have a good game without a big play certainly bodes well for his future.
A few players were stand outs on the defensive side of the ball and that starts with Erasmo Broadway. Dude was all over the place for the Hawks, leading the team in tackles with 13 and having two sacks. For the Legion Varga had an outstanding game, with 14 tackles, including one for a loss. Other standouts were Kurt Hedrix with two sacks and two tackles for a loss as well as Turner, Reyes, and Maddox who each came through with an interception.
Finally special teams were clearly huge in this game as both punters were VERY active and had amazing games, both averaging between 43 and 45 yards per punt, with Turkleton having three punts downed in the Legion's 20 yard line.
Overall this was a great start to NSFL season and Legion came out on top. See you next week.
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