By: Katie Rice
Tampa FL- The Tampa Bay Storm kicked off the AFL season in winning fashion Friday night as they defeated division rival New Orleans Voodoo 62-57 at Amalie Oil Field at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Arena Football League Hall of Famer Lawrence Samuels got his first win as a head coach with Wide Receiver Justin Hilton and Quarterback Randy Hippeard carrying the Storm offense, connecting in the end zone four times during the night.
Both teams struggled at the start of the game, turning the ball over in each of their first two possessions. After throwing two interceptions on the Storm’s first two opening drives, Hippeard was able to redeem himself by drawing first blood with a 24yd touchdown pass to Hilton, putting the Storm up 7-0 with 6:39 left in the first quarter.
Voodoo answered right back as QB Kurt Rocco connected with L.J. Castile on a 21yd touchdown completion. At the end of the first quarter, the two teams were knotted up at 7-7.
As the second quarter got under way, both teams seemed to have loosened up and discarded their season-opening jitters. Dexter Jackson scored on a 15 yard run in the opening play of the second quarter, putting Tampa up 13-7. Jackson’s quick score was just the start of an offense-driven quarter as both teams scored a total of three touchdowns each. At half time the score was 34-31 with Storm in the lead.
When the teams came back out for the second half the Voodoo wasted little time getting into the end zone scoring on their first play from scrimmage. Rocco was able to find L.J. Castile for their third TD connection of the night to take the lead for the first time of the night 38-34. Castile finished the night with 10 catches for 169yds and four touchdowns.
After the Storm regained the lead and the Voodoo were driving down the field, Rocco went down hard on his shoulder and was forced to leave the game; he did not return. Rocco’s night ended 17 of 33 passing for 251 yards and 5 touchdowns.
After Rocco went down the Voodoo lost traction and the Storm turned it into a two possession game after a fumble by backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux was taken 42yds to the end zone by Storm DB Chris Davis, putting Tampa up 55-45 with 11:12 left in the game. The Storm did not give up their lead again for the remainder of the game after this.
Tampa looks to keep their momentum going into next week as they head west to the lone star state to face the San Antonio Talons at the Alamo Dome next Friday at 8:30pm. The Voodoo aim to get healthy as they enter their bye week, as they will not play until March 29th when they have their season opener against the Cleveland Gladiators at the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
Both teams struggled at the start of the game, turning the ball over in each of their first two possessions. After throwing two interceptions on the Storm’s first two opening drives, Hippeard was able to redeem himself by drawing first blood with a 24yd touchdown pass to Hilton, putting the Storm up 7-0 with 6:39 left in the first quarter.
Voodoo answered right back as QB Kurt Rocco connected with L.J. Castile on a 21yd touchdown completion. At the end of the first quarter, the two teams were knotted up at 7-7.
As the second quarter got under way, both teams seemed to have loosened up and discarded their season-opening jitters. Dexter Jackson scored on a 15 yard run in the opening play of the second quarter, putting Tampa up 13-7. Jackson’s quick score was just the start of an offense-driven quarter as both teams scored a total of three touchdowns each. At half time the score was 34-31 with Storm in the lead.
When the teams came back out for the second half the Voodoo wasted little time getting into the end zone scoring on their first play from scrimmage. Rocco was able to find L.J. Castile for their third TD connection of the night to take the lead for the first time of the night 38-34. Castile finished the night with 10 catches for 169yds and four touchdowns.
After the Storm regained the lead and the Voodoo were driving down the field, Rocco went down hard on his shoulder and was forced to leave the game; he did not return. Rocco’s night ended 17 of 33 passing for 251 yards and 5 touchdowns.
After Rocco went down the Voodoo lost traction and the Storm turned it into a two possession game after a fumble by backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux was taken 42yds to the end zone by Storm DB Chris Davis, putting Tampa up 55-45 with 11:12 left in the game. The Storm did not give up their lead again for the remainder of the game after this.
Tampa looks to keep their momentum going into next week as they head west to the lone star state to face the San Antonio Talons at the Alamo Dome next Friday at 8:30pm. The Voodoo aim to get healthy as they enter their bye week, as they will not play until March 29th when they have their season opener against the Cleveland Gladiators at the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans.