 
Bengals @ FHSC
Sunday, Nov 9
Won 70-28
As of: end week 14
 |
| Standings |
W |
L |
T |
| Sonora |
11 |
2 |
0 |
|
| New Orleans |
9 |
4 |
0 |
|
| Atlanta |
6 |
7 |
0 |
|
| Tampa Bay |
6 |
7 |
0 |
|
|
 |
| 
| WEEK 14 -- Cincinnati Bengals at FHSC |
| A hard fought three quarters of football |
 | Eric Staley grabs a touchdown pass from Roberts |
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Sonora, CA - Early in the third quarter at Norman J. Faber memorial field in Sonora it looked as if we were going to be in for a nail-biter as the Cincinnati Bengal's scored a touchdown to make the FHSC lead only 28-21. And, a great finish was most certainly in store.
Sonora scored on their first drive going 43 yards in 9 plays and Ian Thorpe put the ball in from 3 yards out. Following a Cincinnati punt, Sonora was driving again and a Roberts pass to Staley put the FHSC up by 14 points. The next Bengals drive also resulted in a punt and 6 plays later it was Shane Washburn who found a Roberts touchdown pass.
Up 21-0, the route appeared to be on when Chris Souza made a diving interception to put the Sonoran offense back on the field. The Bengal defense held, however, and Sonora was forced to punt. After a dismal 0-6 start by Bengal QB Gus Frerotte, the journeyman thrower suddenly caught fire and when 3-4 with completions of 20, 22, and 35 yards, the last of which resulted in a Bengal score.
After another FHSC score, the Bengals had the ball back late in the first half. For Frerotte, the 32 seconds on the clock turned out to be plenty as he found Chad Johnson on second down, who outraced the FHSC secondary (after defender Chris Souza mistakenly went for the ball and missed underneath) for a 75 yard touchdown score. Sonora went into the locker room with a 28-14 lead.
Sonora's first drive of the second half ended badly as Roberts took a big hit and coughed up the rock, which was recovered by the Bengal D-line. A 3-yard pass three plays later by Frerotte completed the drive and suddenly the Bengals were only down 7 points. "We started to get a little worried over on the sideline when they got within 7, but we knew that they couldn't catch all the breaks" said head coach Morgan Crinklaw.
Unfortunately for Cincinnati, that was as close as they ever got to the FHSC, who instead of folding up the tent, turned red-hot. Touchdowns by Thorpe, Staley, and Derek Cole on successive drives quickly turned the close game into a lopsided one at 49-21. Then things got really ugly for Cinci.
A sack by Dana Eaton, his second of the game and team leading 6th of the season, produced a fumble that was recovered by fellow defensive lineman Nick Harrison. The resulting 25-yard drive by Sonora ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass from roberts to Staley (his third of the game).
Now leading 56-28, Thorpe found the endzone for his third score of the game, extending the FHSC lead to 63-28. "We had a pretty good day on the ground today, I couldn't break any big ones, but we just kept pounding it at them" said Thorpe about his 10th 100-yard game this season. Thorpe's score made the game a laugher with plenty of time remaining in the fourth quarter, but it was still going to get worse for the Bengals.
OLB Jason Pfeifer got to the Cinci QB for the second time in the game and forced another fumble, this one recovered by Chris Souza. With only 14 yards to travel, the FHSC quickly found themselves back in the endzone, with Cole catching his second TD pass of the game. To add to the injury, FHSC cornerback Nick Kam jumped all over a Cincinnati "in route" to make his fifth interception of the season. "I knew that Chris had the INT lead and I was just trying to catch up" comment Kam.
Jeff Roberts earned league offensive player of the week honors for his efforts, going 24 of 30 for 390 yards and 7 touchdowns. An unbelievable passing rating of 158.3 is one of the best in the league this season, and has propelled him to the top of the season QB ratings. Sonora is getting hot at the right time as they have to go next week into Pittsburg to face an equally hot Steeler team who brings a 7 game winning streak to bear this Sunday at 1:00pm on FOX.
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