Friday, November 10, 2017

AFL: Mustangs Stun Desperados, 36-20

DALLAS-The Milwaukee Mustangs broke the Dallas Desperados' 12-game regular season home winning streak with a 36-20 win in a Week 11 AFL game.

After the Mustangs opened the game with a punt, Rocky Brant would pick off Heinie Voorhees at the Desperados' 39-yard line. Three plays later, Bruce Baskerville threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Heinie Clausen to give Milwaukee a 7-0 lead with 10:26 remaining in the first quarter. Dallas would respond with an 8-play, 65-yard drive that ended with Voorhees throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass to Horace Evers tying the game at 7 with 6:09 left in the first. The Mustangs would punt, and Voorhees would suffer an injury that knocked him out of the game. Herb Manley came in to replace Voorhees.

An exchange of punts continued into the second quarter. Then the Mustangs traveled 51 yards on 6 plays, and Rock Philbrook kicked a 53-yard field goal to take a 10-7 lead with 10:07 remaining in the second. The Desperados punted, then Baskerville was picked off by Guy Dudson who returned it 34 yards to the Milwaukee 40-yard line. But Dallas went three-and-out, and there was no further offensive threat through the halftime break.

After trading punts to open the second half, the Mustangs started to pull away. After an unnecessary roughness call tacked 15 yards to a 23-yard punt return by Rory Bane, Milwaukee got the ball on the Dallas 26-yard line. Five plays later, Garrett Counts scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to make it 17-7 with 9:32 left in the third quarter. The teams traded punts, and Dexter Gaither pinned the Desperados back on their own 2-yard line. James Lang would tackle Elson Gregson in the end zone for a safety making it 19-7 with 5:15 left in the third. After a Milwaukee punt, Manley threw an interception that Travis Gargas returned 25 yards to the Dallas 24-yard line. On the next play, Baskerville fired a 24-yard touchdown pass to C.C. Cage to extend the lead to 26-7 with 1:31 remaining in the third quarter. Manley would get picked off again, as Horace Vickerson came up with at the Desperados' 17-yard line. Two plays later, Baskerville threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Weldon Elmore, and the Mustangs were up 33-7 at the end of the third quarter.

Dallas would finally answer with a 9-play, 72-yard drive. Manley threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Ricardo Bede to make it 33-14 with 10:54 remaining in the fourth quarter. Milwaukee recovered the onside kick, but Philbrook would miss a 42-yard field goal attempt. Taco Chism then picked Manley off at the Desperados' 18-yard line. A fake field goal touchdown by Mills King to Tolbert Lechi covering 11 yards was called back on a holding penalty. So the Mustangs settled for a 38-yard field goal by Philbrook to make it 36-14 with 6:20 remaining in the fourth. Dallas would score on a 13-play, 69-yard drive that ended with Manley throwing a 14-yard touchdown pass to Clem Shaffer. The 2-Point Conversion failed, and the score was 36-20 with 1:50 remaining. Milwaukee again recovered the onside kick, and ran out the clock.

Milwaukee (5-6) gained 325 yards of total offense. The Mustangs ran for 137 yards on 35 carries. Manolo Gage led the team with 76 yards on 10 carries. Baskerville was 17-of-28 passing for 198 yards, 3 TD and 1 INT. He was sacked once for a 10-yard loss. Clausen was the leading receiver with 6 catches for 70 yards and a TD. The Mustangs visit the Los Angeles Avengers next week.

Dallas (6-5) gained 236 yards of total offense. The Desperados ran for 54 yards on 17 carries. Gregson led the team with 21 yards on 10 carries. He also led the receivers with 4 catches for 27 yards. Voorhees was 4-of-9 passing for 41 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. He was sacked once for a 5-yard loss. Manley was 14-of-32 for 191 yards, 2 TD and 3 INT. He was sacked six times, losing 45 yards. Next week, the Desperados visit the San Jose Sabercats.

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