Written By: Bob Mora
ORLANDO – The Orlando Predators fell to the Jacksonville Sharks 59-56 at the Amway Center in front of 10,651 to even the season series score at one game each with one more to play in three weeks at Jacksonville
Orlando started with the ball and marched downfield only to have Jacksonville defensive back Greg Reid intercept the pass, his first of two, setting up the first Grady to Joe Hills touchdown pass of the night, the extra point was no good, the Predators responded with a Randy Hippeard to Larry Brackins touchdown, the extra point gave the Predators the lead 7-6 at the end of the first quarter
Sharks Quarterback Tommy Grady found Joe Hills three times in the second, the first from 31 yards, after Greg Carr scored on a 24 yard Hippeard pass for the Preds, Grady found Hills from the 1, and after Brandon Thompkins scored on a 9 yard pass with one minute in the half, he found Hills from the 6 to regain the lead at the half 26-21.
Jacksonville started the second half with the ball as Grady to Hill struck again, this time from the 8 to give the soul a 12 point lead which did not last long, as Brandon Thompkins returned the kickoff for a 54 yards score, Brandon would end up with 205 total return yards on the night on 10 returns, after Hills scored from the 11 for the Sharks, Hippeards pass was overthrown and bounced off the wall as the Sharks Greg Reid caught it for his second of the game and sixth of the season, ending the Preds drive and ending the third quarter at 40-28 Sharks.
The fourth quarter found fullback Derrick Ross getting in the end zone to make it a 19 point lead at 47-28, the Preds answered with a Larry Brackins score from the 4 yard line, after the defense forced a turnover on downs, Hippeard found Brackins for his third touchdown of the game, a 9 yard Passes with 1:08 left to cut the lead to 47-42.
After the Sharks recovered the onside kick attempt, Grady found Hills for a 13-yard touchdown, the missed extra point made it an 11 point game, Hippeard marched down the field and found Brandon Thompkins for his second touchdown reception of the game, the 2 point attempt was incomplete making it 53-48 with 28 seconds left.
As expected, the onside kick was attempted, and recovered by the Sharks, On the first play Joe Hill found the end zone for the eighth time in the game which is a Jacksonville record for a receiver, with 23 seconds left in the game, Hippeard moved the team downfield and found Greg Carr for his second touchdown reception on the night as time expired, Brandon Thompkins caught the 2 points extra point pass to make the final score 59-56, after two losses to division rivals the predators are now 7-2 on the season.
The Under Armour Offensive Player of the Game was Jacksonville WR Joe Hills with team record of 8 touchdowns on 15 passes for 173 yards,
“ The most I ever had, was six touchdowns with a loss, it feels great to get eight with a win,” Joe Hills said after the game, “were just trying to get back on track, it feels good to come down here and win, this is a hostile crowd, and we like playing in front of these guys”.
When asked about the outcome of the game Coach Keefe replied, “We turned the ball over to many times, they started fast out of the gates on us and we were not able to match their intensity,” when questioned on the 14 penalties for 122 yards, “ It’s embarrassing, It’s undisciplined football and it’s a lack of obviously understanding what you have to do to win football games, apparently I am not getting my message through”.
For Orlando, Randy Hippeard completed 26 of 37 passes for 274 yards and 6 touchdowns with 3 picks, Brandon Thompkins caught 11 passes for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns,
Greg Carr made the Cutters Catch of the Game with his 24 yards over the shoulder touchdown catch, caught 7 passes for 71 yards and 2 touchdowns and Larry Brackins caught 4 passes for 29 yards and 3 touchdowns, Varmah Sonie had 9 tackles and Paul Stephens had 6 tackles.
For Jacksonville, Tommy Grady completed 26 of 38 passes for 280 yards and 8 touchdowns, Tiger Jones caught 8 passes for 79 yards and Derrick Ross rushed 8 times for 24 yards and a score, Greg Reid was the Riddell Defensive Player of the Game with 9.5 tackles and 2 Interceptions.
Orlando started with the ball and marched downfield only to have Jacksonville defensive back Greg Reid intercept the pass, his first of two, setting up the first Grady to Joe Hills touchdown pass of the night, the extra point was no good, the Predators responded with a Randy Hippeard to Larry Brackins touchdown, the extra point gave the Predators the lead 7-6 at the end of the first quarter
Sharks Quarterback Tommy Grady found Joe Hills three times in the second, the first from 31 yards, after Greg Carr scored on a 24 yard Hippeard pass for the Preds, Grady found Hills from the 1, and after Brandon Thompkins scored on a 9 yard pass with one minute in the half, he found Hills from the 6 to regain the lead at the half 26-21.
Jacksonville started the second half with the ball as Grady to Hill struck again, this time from the 8 to give the soul a 12 point lead which did not last long, as Brandon Thompkins returned the kickoff for a 54 yards score, Brandon would end up with 205 total return yards on the night on 10 returns, after Hills scored from the 11 for the Sharks, Hippeards pass was overthrown and bounced off the wall as the Sharks Greg Reid caught it for his second of the game and sixth of the season, ending the Preds drive and ending the third quarter at 40-28 Sharks.
The fourth quarter found fullback Derrick Ross getting in the end zone to make it a 19 point lead at 47-28, the Preds answered with a Larry Brackins score from the 4 yard line, after the defense forced a turnover on downs, Hippeard found Brackins for his third touchdown of the game, a 9 yard Passes with 1:08 left to cut the lead to 47-42.
After the Sharks recovered the onside kick attempt, Grady found Hills for a 13-yard touchdown, the missed extra point made it an 11 point game, Hippeard marched down the field and found Brandon Thompkins for his second touchdown reception of the game, the 2 point attempt was incomplete making it 53-48 with 28 seconds left.
As expected, the onside kick was attempted, and recovered by the Sharks, On the first play Joe Hill found the end zone for the eighth time in the game which is a Jacksonville record for a receiver, with 23 seconds left in the game, Hippeard moved the team downfield and found Greg Carr for his second touchdown reception on the night as time expired, Brandon Thompkins caught the 2 points extra point pass to make the final score 59-56, after two losses to division rivals the predators are now 7-2 on the season.
The Under Armour Offensive Player of the Game was Jacksonville WR Joe Hills with team record of 8 touchdowns on 15 passes for 173 yards,
“ The most I ever had, was six touchdowns with a loss, it feels great to get eight with a win,” Joe Hills said after the game, “were just trying to get back on track, it feels good to come down here and win, this is a hostile crowd, and we like playing in front of these guys”.
When asked about the outcome of the game Coach Keefe replied, “We turned the ball over to many times, they started fast out of the gates on us and we were not able to match their intensity,” when questioned on the 14 penalties for 122 yards, “ It’s embarrassing, It’s undisciplined football and it’s a lack of obviously understanding what you have to do to win football games, apparently I am not getting my message through”.
For Orlando, Randy Hippeard completed 26 of 37 passes for 274 yards and 6 touchdowns with 3 picks, Brandon Thompkins caught 11 passes for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns,
Greg Carr made the Cutters Catch of the Game with his 24 yards over the shoulder touchdown catch, caught 7 passes for 71 yards and 2 touchdowns and Larry Brackins caught 4 passes for 29 yards and 3 touchdowns, Varmah Sonie had 9 tackles and Paul Stephens had 6 tackles.
For Jacksonville, Tommy Grady completed 26 of 38 passes for 280 yards and 8 touchdowns, Tiger Jones caught 8 passes for 79 yards and Derrick Ross rushed 8 times for 24 yards and a score, Greg Reid was the Riddell Defensive Player of the Game with 9.5 tackles and 2 Interceptions.