Tuesday, December 6, 2016

AFL: Drive Power Past Kats, 30-20

NASHVILLE-The Detroit Drive held off a late fourth quarter rally to defeat the Nashville Kats 30-20 in a Week 11 AFL contest.

Both teams traded punts to start the game, and then Detroit moved the ball 41 yards on 6 plays. Cletis Frayer ended the drive with a 19-yard field goal to give them a 3-0 lead with 8:11 left in the first quarter. Following another Nashville punt, the Drive moved 51 yards on 6 plays. Frayer connected on a 46-yard field goal with 2:25 remaining in the first to make it 6-0.

Early in the second quarter, Daniel Stevenson missed a 46-yard field goal attempt for the Kats. Detroit would punt, and then Brewster Brickhouse was intercepted by Cord Biggs at the Nashville 29-yard line. Four plays later, Lou Couch connected on a 7-yard touchdown pass to Ahmed Sohn to extend Detroit's lead to 13-0 with 9:23 left in the half. The Kats would respond with a 10-play, 80-yard drive ending with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Brickouse to Isaiah Falk to cut the gap to 13-7 with 4:40 left in the second quarter. The rest of the quarter was fairly uneventful.

In the second half, the teams traded punts at the start, but Damien Holden fumbled after catching a pass that was recovered by Detroit's Corwin Lindstrom at the Kats' 16-yard line. Four plays later, Patch Brolie ran in for a 5-yard touchdown to make it 20-7 with 9:24 to go in the third quarter. The teams traded punts again, and Detroit would be on the move again, driving 76 yards on 8 plays. The final 46 yards came courtesy of a touchdown pass from Couch to Dave Huntley at the start of the fourth quarter to make it 27-7 with 14:48 to go.

After another exchange of punts, Detroit found themselves on the Nashville 36. After five plays gained 20 yards, Frayer connected on a 33-yard field goal to make it 30-7 with 4:55 left in the game. Nashville would not quit, and the Kats drove 65 yards on 12 plays. Brickhouse finished the drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Vittorio Swane making it 30-14 with 1:40 left. The Kats would recover an onside kick, and then moved the ball 60 yards on 3 plays. Brickhouse hit Swane again for a 2-yard touchdown, and the Kats would miss a 2-point conversion. The score was 30-20 with 54 seconds remaining, and the Kats tried another onside kick. But Renalto Halter held on to the ball for Detroit to seal the win.

Detroit (8-3) gained 334 yards of total offense. The Drive gained 93 yards rushing on 30 carries. Brolie led the team with 46 yards on 15 carries and a TD. Couch went 18-of-32 passing for 241 yards, 2 TD and was not sacked. Huntley led the Drive with 10 catches for 145 yards and a TD. The Drive will host the Tampa Bay Storm next week.

Nashville (5-5-1) gained 393 yards of total offense. The Kats ran for 85 yards on 23 carries. Oliver Osler led the team with 31 yards on 10 carries. Brickhouse was 28-of-50 passing for 318 yards, 3 TD and 1 INT. He was sacked twice, losing 10 yards. Cobey Kingston led the receivers with 7 catches for 46 yards. Swane caught 5 passes for 59 yards and 2 TD. Nashville will visit the New York Dragons next week.

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