PHILADELPHIA -- The San Jose SaberCats (1-8) ended an 11-game losing streak stretching back to last season tonight, defeating the Philadelphia Liberty (4-5) 27-21 for their first win of Season 11. Though player of the game honors went to Philadelphia's Marquise Brown on offense and rookie Lennox Garnett on defense, the SaberCats' overall team play proved enough to win the night and shake at least one weight off their shoulders.
Defense helped carry the game for San Jose with critical plays to stop the Liberty advance and turnovers to swing the tide of the game. Philadelphia opened scoring with a touchdown on their first drive following a three-and-out by San Jose. Marquise Brown capped off a 63-yard drive with a 2-yard rushing touchdown. The offense strove to respond to the first points with a drive starting at their own 8. Rookie HB Jarrod Canton only received one touch on the drive as Christ's passing carried most of the drive before stalling out and leaving it to Kyle Corbett to get San Jose on the board. He succeeded and converted a 42-yard field goal attempt, his fifth good try from eight attempts in the 40-49 range in a down season.
A three-and-out presented an opportunity for San Jose to take their first lead of the game. Their fortunes quickly soured and the mountain became harder to climb with a Christ pass intended for Kazimir Oles instead went to Lennox Garrett, who converted it to a pick-six and placed the Liberty ahead 14-3. After another three-and-out from the Cats to end the first quarter, the Liberty started to hum along when Adriana Falconi threw her first interception of the night to Xandra Troyski. While the ensuing drive stalled and Corbett punted, rookie Nate Piazza intercepted Falconi to give San Jose a short field, and Canton punched in shortly after to cut the gap to 14-10.
Philadelphia turned right around to drive again, shaking off a sack to march 70 yards downfield and end with Brown picking up his second TD of the night from 3 yards. San Jose appeared to set the tone for a furious second half as they once again brought the deficit to four points with a balanced offensive effort ending with Christ completing to Oles for his first TD of the night and a halftime score of 21-17 in the Liberty's favor.
Most of the third quarter saw the teams trade punts. Near the end, the Liberty were hovering around their own end zone when Falconi gave away her third pick of the night, this time to D'Pez Poopsie for a pick-six to launch San Jose into the lead 24-21. Two punts later, Falconi threw her fourth interception to a fourth different defender, Thomas Kane III. A short field only yielded a 31-yard field goal. Neither team would advance out of their own territory again until Philadelphia's final drive. The Liberty pressed on and came within striking distance of stealing the win at the final gun. On the decisive 4th and 2 with 7 seconds left, the SaberCats covered the field well and Falconi's pass intended for Conall O'Sullivan clanged to the ground.
San Jose came out atop a deceptively defensive struggle, as each side racked up 7 points immediately from a turnover and San Jose turned two turnovers into a total of 10 points. Both QBs reeled, with Christ going 15/35 for 164 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT for a 64.5 passer rating and Falconi's line showing 17/40 for 208 yards, 4 INT and a passer rating of 19.6. For reference, a QB who throws only incomplete passes (no INT) earns a 39.6 rating.
The feature running backs had relatively better games. Jarrod Canton ended the night with 113 yards on 29 carries for a 3.9 YPC. Marquise Brown rushed for 99 yards on 24 touches and scored 2 touchdowns. Kazimir Oles had the top receiving performance on the night, hauling 6 catches for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jordan von Matt picked up the most through the air among the Liberty corps, snagging 5 passes for 78 yards.
On defense, D'Pez Poopsie and Lennox Garnett each scored an interception return touchdown. Poopsie otherwise recorded 7 tackles and 2 pass deflections, while Garnett recorded 7 tackles and 1 pass deflection. Liberty rookie safety K.J. Becker picked up the most tackles on the night with 11 in addition to 4 pass deflections.
San Jose will host the Colorado Yeti (5-4) in Week 10 action. The Philadelphia Liberty visit the Orange County Otters (6-3) in their next outing, trying to remain in the playoff hunt. The Liberty are currently one game behind Colorado for the second playoff spot out of the NSFC.
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Defense helped carry the game for San Jose with critical plays to stop the Liberty advance and turnovers to swing the tide of the game. Philadelphia opened scoring with a touchdown on their first drive following a three-and-out by San Jose. Marquise Brown capped off a 63-yard drive with a 2-yard rushing touchdown. The offense strove to respond to the first points with a drive starting at their own 8. Rookie HB Jarrod Canton only received one touch on the drive as Christ's passing carried most of the drive before stalling out and leaving it to Kyle Corbett to get San Jose on the board. He succeeded and converted a 42-yard field goal attempt, his fifth good try from eight attempts in the 40-49 range in a down season.
A three-and-out presented an opportunity for San Jose to take their first lead of the game. Their fortunes quickly soured and the mountain became harder to climb with a Christ pass intended for Kazimir Oles instead went to Lennox Garrett, who converted it to a pick-six and placed the Liberty ahead 14-3. After another three-and-out from the Cats to end the first quarter, the Liberty started to hum along when Adriana Falconi threw her first interception of the night to Xandra Troyski. While the ensuing drive stalled and Corbett punted, rookie Nate Piazza intercepted Falconi to give San Jose a short field, and Canton punched in shortly after to cut the gap to 14-10.
Philadelphia turned right around to drive again, shaking off a sack to march 70 yards downfield and end with Brown picking up his second TD of the night from 3 yards. San Jose appeared to set the tone for a furious second half as they once again brought the deficit to four points with a balanced offensive effort ending with Christ completing to Oles for his first TD of the night and a halftime score of 21-17 in the Liberty's favor.
Most of the third quarter saw the teams trade punts. Near the end, the Liberty were hovering around their own end zone when Falconi gave away her third pick of the night, this time to D'Pez Poopsie for a pick-six to launch San Jose into the lead 24-21. Two punts later, Falconi threw her fourth interception to a fourth different defender, Thomas Kane III. A short field only yielded a 31-yard field goal. Neither team would advance out of their own territory again until Philadelphia's final drive. The Liberty pressed on and came within striking distance of stealing the win at the final gun. On the decisive 4th and 2 with 7 seconds left, the SaberCats covered the field well and Falconi's pass intended for Conall O'Sullivan clanged to the ground.
San Jose came out atop a deceptively defensive struggle, as each side racked up 7 points immediately from a turnover and San Jose turned two turnovers into a total of 10 points. Both QBs reeled, with Christ going 15/35 for 164 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT for a 64.5 passer rating and Falconi's line showing 17/40 for 208 yards, 4 INT and a passer rating of 19.6. For reference, a QB who throws only incomplete passes (no INT) earns a 39.6 rating.
The feature running backs had relatively better games. Jarrod Canton ended the night with 113 yards on 29 carries for a 3.9 YPC. Marquise Brown rushed for 99 yards on 24 touches and scored 2 touchdowns. Kazimir Oles had the top receiving performance on the night, hauling 6 catches for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jordan von Matt picked up the most through the air among the Liberty corps, snagging 5 passes for 78 yards.
On defense, D'Pez Poopsie and Lennox Garnett each scored an interception return touchdown. Poopsie otherwise recorded 7 tackles and 2 pass deflections, while Garnett recorded 7 tackles and 1 pass deflection. Liberty rookie safety K.J. Becker picked up the most tackles on the night with 11 in addition to 4 pass deflections.
San Jose will host the Colorado Yeti (5-4) in Week 10 action. The Philadelphia Liberty visit the Orange County Otters (6-3) in their next outing, trying to remain in the playoff hunt. The Liberty are currently one game behind Colorado for the second playoff spot out of the NSFC.
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[OPTION]S27: 16 GP | 164 Att, 675 Yds, 8 TD | 35 Rec, 234 Yds, | 22 PC, 3 SA
[OPTION]S28: 16 GP | 176 Att, 743 Yds, 6 TD | 38 Rec, 311 Yds, 1 TD | 34 PC, 1 SA
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]ISFL Postseason Stats
[OPTION]S24: 2 GP | 28 Att, 103 Yds, 1 TD | 4 Rec, 16 Yds, 1 TD | 3 PC
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]ISFL Postseason Stats
[OPTION]S24: 2 GP | 28 Att, 103 Yds, 1 TD | 4 Rec, 16 Yds, 1 TD | 3 PC
[OPTION]S25: 3 GP | 56 Att, 225 Yds, 1 TD | 3 Rec, 39 Yds | 3 PC
[OPTION]S28: 3 GP | 44 Att, 222 Yds, 3 TD | 9 Rec, 72 Yds | 6 PC
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]DSFL Regular Season Stats
[OPTION]S20: 14 GP | 241 Att, 1176 Yds, 14 TD | 9 Rec, 62 Yds | 10 PC, 3 SA
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]DSFL Postseason Stats
[OPTION]S20: 1 GP | 14 Att, 74 Yds, 1 TD
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]Awards and Honors:
[OPTION]Ultimus Champion: S24, S25, S28
[OPTION]ASFC Champion: S24, S25
[OPTION]DSFL Regular Season Stats
[OPTION]S20: 14 GP | 241 Att, 1176 Yds, 14 TD | 9 Rec, 62 Yds | 10 PC, 3 SA
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]DSFL Postseason Stats
[OPTION]S20: 1 GP | 14 Att, 74 Yds, 1 TD
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]Awards and Honors:
[OPTION]Ultimus Champion: S24, S25, S28
[OPTION]ASFC Champion: S24, S25
[OPTION]Ultimus Offensive Player of the Game: S28
[OPTION]NSFC Champion: S28
[OPTION]DSFL Offensive Rookie of the Year: S20
[OPTION]DSFL Pro Bowl: S20
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]Career Events
[OPTION]S20: Selected 38th overall by the Kansas City Coyotes
[OPTION]S21: Selected 32nd overall by the San Jose SaberCats
[OPTION]NSFC Champion: S28
[OPTION]DSFL Offensive Rookie of the Year: S20
[OPTION]DSFL Pro Bowl: S20
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]Career Events
[OPTION]S20: Selected 38th overall by the Kansas City Coyotes
[OPTION]S21: Selected 32nd overall by the San Jose SaberCats
[OPTION]S28: Announced retirement, traded to Yellowknife Wraiths