With the score, all tied up at 47 with 37.3 seconds left to go and unable to recover an onside kick attempt on the ensuing kickoff, the Storm took over at the Valor’s 15-yard line and moved the ball down towards the goal line while taking valuable time off the clock so Washington would not have the opportunity to come back and score. Storm quarterback Randy Hippeard found wide receiver Joe Hills and passes it to him for a 2-yard gain for an important first down that the Storm critically needed for them to score. Hippeard took a knee on 2 plays to force the Valor to burn their final two timeouts. When it came down to 3rd and goal on the Valor 5-yard line Hippeard missed his open receiver in the back of the end zone for Kendrick Ings, but a pass interference penalty gave the Storm a new set of downs. 1st and goal with 8 seconds left Hippeard thew the ball through tight coverage and Hills caught the game winning catch over the Washington Valor.
After the game, Storm head coach Ron James discussed the strategy organized in the final play of the game that won us the game over the Washington Valor. “The Strategy was pretty simple for us, we wanted to be the last team to score and when they got the ball down to the goal line area, we were not worried about that the situation was going to be, only how could we run the clock down and be the team to score. In that situation, a lot of other teams in this league don’t understand about the one minute timing rule. If you are tied or behind you can take a knee, it’s the only time you can do that except for the 1st half. The Valor bench was screaming, it was illegal, we used the rules the way we wanted to use it. We put ourselves in a situation for our team to win and we did”.
Tampa Bay Storm head coach told us that “We continue to manage the game well, the players don’t panic and crunch time, and we needed some big play in our kicking this time, we took it down to the last couple of plays and made the play we needed to make to get out of here with a win”.
Hills had three touchdowns catches for the Strom and extended his consecutive regular season game streak with at least one touchdown reception to 74.
Storm quarterback Randy Hippeard finished 19-31 for 233 yards and seven touchdowns and no interceptions on the night. In the season right now, Hippeard has thrown 39 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions.
MVP Of the Game: Joe Hills WR Tampa Bay Storm
Offensive Player of The Game: Washington Valor WR Roger Jackson
Defensive Player of The Game: Tampa Bay Storm DL Monte Lewis