GRAND RAPIDS-It was not a spectacular offensive display, but the New York Dragons pulled out just enough to defeat the Grand Rapids Rampage, 23-17 in both teams' AFL season opener.
After Grand Rapids was forced to punt on its opening possession, the Dragons would slowly work their way down the field, going 54 yards on 11 plays, culminating with a 4-yard touchdown pass from QB Faron Emerson to HB Freddy Ashercraft to give New York a 7-0 lead with 6:58 remaining in the first quarter.
Both teams would trade punts later in the first quarter. The Rampage then drove 50 yards on 9 plays, with FB Bobo Cushing scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7 with 11:47 left in the second quarter. A bad snap on a punt attempt by the Dragons gave Grand Rapids great field position in New York territory, only for the Rampage to squander it on a Dusty Mills pick of a Curtis Wayne pass. But Grand Rapids would redeem themselves when Emerson fumbled the snap and DE Marvin Tyles would recover it for the Rampage at the Dragons 5. Three plays later, Wayne would hit TE Bud Tyrer from 10 yards out to put the Rampage up 14-7 with 8:03 to go in the half. New York's defense would rise up, however, as S Omar Wheeley picked off a Wayne pass and ran 33 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 14-14 with 4:33 remaining. Grand Rapids fumbled the ensuing kickoff, but then LB Bobby Harpole intercepted an Emerson pass and the Rampage would get into position to attempt a 52-yard field goal with 1:30 left in the half, but George Tibbs missed it. The Dragons would subsequently drive down to give their kicker, Burt Hamrick, a chance to kick a 37-yarder with 30 seconds left to give New York a 17-14 lead at intermission.
The third quarter was a defensive struggle with the only scoring coming on a Hamrick 48-yard field goal to make it 20-14 Dragons with 2:50 remaining in the third. Hamrick would add another field goal from 42 yards to make it 23-14 with 12:19 to go in the fourth. Once again, Grand Rapids would fumble away the ensuing kickoff, but CB Orville Brill would intercept Emerson to keep New York from adding to the lead.
With 11:15 remaining, Grand Rapids had the ball at their own 18-yard line. Wayne hit Tyrer for a 33-yard gain. Then Wayne threw to Cushing for 11. Four plays later, on a 3rd-and-12, Wayne hit Tyrer again, this time for 26 yards to the Dragons 14. After a 1-yard loss by HB Hudie Naylor, a 10-yard pass to Tyrer, and an incomplete pass to WR Joe Foss in the end zone, the Rampage were faced with a 4th-and-1 from the Dragons 5. Tibbs would kick a 22-yard field goal to cut the Dragons lead to 23-17 with 7:02 left. After a Dragons punt, Grand Rapids would try to score the touchdown but were stopped cold at the New York 25 with 2:09 remaining. The Rampage got one more possession from their own 29 with 44 seconds left, but with no time outs, couldn't move nearly fast enough.
Offensively, New York only gained 186 yards of total offense. The running game yielded 111 yards of that offense, with Ashercraft leading the way (53 yards on 14 carries) and scoring the Dragons lone offensive touchdown as a receiver (4 rec, 10 yds, TD). Emerson was 15-for-30 passing for 90 yards, 1 TD and 2 picks, and was sacked twice, losing 15 yards. WR Elvis Darnell caught 4 passes for 62 yards.
Grand Rapids gained 259 yards of total offense. Curtis Wayne was the Rampage's leading rusher, with 24 yards on 7 carries, and Cushing had 6 carries for 13 yards and a touchdown. Tyrer was the leading receiver for Grand Rapids, making 5 catches for 89 yards and a touchdown. As a passer, Wayne went 19-for-42 for 207 yards, 1 TD and 2 picks. He was sacked twice, losing 16 yards. Grand Rapids also had five turnovers in the game, compared to three for New York.
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