 
FHSC @ Saints
Sunday, Nov 16
Won 41-14
As of: end week 17
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| Standings |
W |
L |
T |
| Sonora |
13 |
3 |
0 |
|
| New Orleans |
11 |
5 |
0 |
|
| Atlanta |
8 |
8 |
0 |
|
| Tampa Bay |
8 |
8 |
0 |
|
|
 |
| 
| WEEK 17 -- FHSC at New Orleans Saints |
| Sonora wraps up home field advantage throughout playoffs |
 | Nick Walker wraps up the Saints runner for a loss |
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New Orleans, LA - In what the Sonora front office called "the most important game of the season" for the FHSC rolled up their divisional foe Saints and secured themselves a first round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The game started out slowly as the FHSC and Saints exchanged stalled drives punts for most of the first quarter. The Saints mounted an impressive drive late in the quarter, but they were denied a scoring opportunity. On second and goal from inside the ten, Aaron brooks dropped back and threw a ball up into the corner of the endzone intended for Joe Horn. Strong safety Marcos Luevano broke from the middle of the field and jumped up to intercept the ball, his third interception of the season.
Luevano returned the ball 45 yards to set up the offense with a short field that led to a 32-yard Roberts to Jensen touchdown connection. A few big plays by the FHSC defense caused another New Orleans punt and again set-up the offense with good field position. "We were really making plays on defense, Pfeifer and Walker both had huge stops in the backfield and we were pressuring the quarterback all day" said FHSC defensive coordinator Jim Wall.
Two minutes later it was Thorpe doing the celebrating as he broke off left tackle to score from 6-yards out. The final play of the 61-yard drive was set up by a pair of 16-yard completions to Staley and 23 yards on the ground by Thorpe. Now trailing 14-0, the saints looked to respond quickly to stay in the game.
Six plays and 76 yards later, the Saints were in the endzone following a 10-yard pass from Brooks to Boo Williams. Half-way into the second quarter, the Saints only trailed by seven points and it looked as though the match-up everyone was expecting to see was about to get rolling. The FHSC offense was quick to dispel those notions with a lightning fast scoring drive before the end of the half.
Covering 79 yards in with just six snaps, Roberts went 4 for 4 for 68 yards, to give the FHSC a 21-7 lead. Following a one-yard run by Thorpe, Roberts completed a 20-yard pass to Staley. Then Roberts found flanker Shane Washburn for a 35-yard pick-up, taking the ball down to the Saints 23-yard line. Another pass from Roberts to Staley was followed up by a 10-yard run by Thorpe and then on first down, Roberts found Cole in the endzone from 6-yards out for the score.
The FHSC offense was right back in business after the Saints quickly stalled out on offense, thanks to a Luevano sack. With just six seconds left in the half, Roberts found Jensen in thee endzone again, this time from seven yards out to increase the Sonora lead to 28-7 before the half. "Our defense gave us some great field position and we capitalized on our chances, we executed well on offense all day" said FHSC thrower Jeff Roberts. The second half would not be much better for the Saints.
New Orleans did, however, strike first by mounting a 72 yard drive early in the third quarter. The drive was not entirely positive for the Saints though, as starting quarterback Aaron Brooks was knocked out of the game with a sprained ankle. Replacement quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan came in and completed 3 of 4 passes to finish the drive. The FHSC defense certainly made the saints work for their points as they almost completed a goal-line stand. On first and goal from the 7, O'Sullivan hit tight end David Sloan for a 3-yard pick-up. Then on second down, McAllister was stopped for a one-yard gain, followed by a rush that barely made it back to the line of scrimmage on third down. Finally, on fourth down McAllister made it into the endzone through a huge hole in the defense.
At 35-14, the game was pretty well "salted" away, but Nick Kam added an interception to his season total just to be sure. The interception set-up yet another short field and the FHSC offense capitalized one last time as the game neared it's end. Roberts hit Jensen on a quick slant and he flew 38-yards to the endzone, giving the FHSC a final tally of 41, after a botched 2-pt conversion attempt.
The final Sonora victory of 41-14 caps a very strong season for the rookie-laden FHSC squad and the team seems to be catching fire again at just the right time. With the victory, the FHSC finishes the season tied for the best record in the NFL with the Rams and the Steelers, but the tie-breaker ensures that Sonora will have home-field advantage for the length of their playoff run. After a week off during the wildcard round, the FHSC will play host to either the winner of the 49ers/Packers game or the winner of the Saints/Eagles game.
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