Nick the Quick
- Updated: October 18, 2015
DANBURY, CT- One week after losing their All-Star quarterback for the playoffs, newcomer Nick Kimball steps in and defeats the defending champion Connecticut Panthers 28-0. The win sends the Western Connecticut Militia to their first Colonial Conference Championship (AAA) in their team’s history.
“We knew the Panthers had to be playing the run heavy on the first play of the game” said Head Coach Lonnie Young, “we took a shot at them and it worked in our favor”. In Kimball’s first play from scrimmage he stepped back and threw a perfect pass to a streaking Ryan Mack for a 75 yard touchdown that sent the young quarterback sprinting to the end zone. “I was so excited I couldn’t control myself.” On their second possession, an encroachment penalty on the Panthers made the defense stop while Kimball kept his head and found Matt Tyrell for a 38 yard catch and run which put the Militia up by two scores. “Two possession, two touchdown passes, we couldn’t ask for a better start” said Young. Late in the second quarter the Militia drove the ball deep in Panthers territory. Faking a run to Lionel Assie, Kimball pulled the ball and took off for the corner of the end zone. Being pursued by safety Sir Snowden, Kimball found the front pylon for a touchdown which gave the Militia a dominating 21-0 lead going into the half.
“We knew they wouldn’t give up so we had to keep pushing at them in the second half” said owner Carl Oberg, “we’ve had the lead on these guys before only to see them comeback”. The Militia’s defense continued their battering of the Panthers ball carriers. Quarterback Rich Snowden was sacked 8 times on the night and could never get in rhythm with his receivers. Playoff hero the last few years, Jamie Bryant was limited to zero net yards from the line of scrimmage with the help of defenders like Jovan Wilkins. “They are a big play team; we just wanted to take that out of their game and have them throw the ball in the flats and come up and tackle them.”
The combination of Assie and Aaron Taylor ran behind an offensive line that averaged over 300 pounds to keep the vaunted Panthers defense on the field for most of the second half. “We weren’t getting a ton of yards per carry but we were eating up the clock and setting up the play action” said Kimball. Buried deep in their own territory, Kimball faked a handoff to Assie and found an open Taylor on the right sideline. Breaking two Panther tackles, Taylor made his way 70 yards up the home sideline and into scoring position. With them reeling from the drive, a coverage mishap on second down found Anthony Jubles open up the sideline as Kimball connected on his third touchdown pass of the night to seal the game.
“Last week if you told me I would start this game and score 4 touchdowns I would have told you that you were crazy” said Kimball. “I owe it all to the coaches, the offensive line; the whole team, it was a team win.” The Militia will take on the Boston Bandits this Saturday night, 7:30pm, at Western Connecticut State University. Boston upset the top-ranked Southern Maine Raging Bulls 7-0 in the other AAA semifinal game.
BOXSCORE
| TEAMS | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | FINAL |
| Panthers | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Militia | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
CONNECTICUT PANTHERS
| PASSING | Completions | Attempts | Yards | Touchdowns | Interceptions |
| Rich Snowden | 8 | 22 | 73 | 0 | 1 |
| Jamie Bryant | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| RECEIVING | Catch | Yards | TD’s | Catch | Yards | TD’s | |
| Kareem Robinson | 4 | 27 | 0 | Shante Wynn | 1 | 14 | 0 |
| Akwan Shabazz | 1 | 17 | 0 | Kasey Brown | 2 | 15 | 0 |
| RUSHING | Rush | Yards | TD’s | Rush | Yards | TD’s | |
| Rich Snowden | 3 | 20 | 0 | Kasey Brown | 6 | 29 | 0 |
| Shante Wynn | 3 | 20 | 0 | Kevin Wolfolk | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| DEFENSE STAND OUTS | Tackles | Sacks | INT | Misc. |
| Gerald Patrick | 3 | ½ | 0 | |
| David Reese | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 pass deflections |
| Sir Snowden | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Moose Welch | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Dustin Linden | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| Todd Warner | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Shonte Wynn | 2 | 0 |
WESTERN CONNECTICUT MILITIA
| PASSING | Completions | Attempts | Yards | Touchdowns | Interceptions |
| Nick Kimball | 11 | 16 | 270 | 3 | 0 |
| RECEIVING | Catch | Yards | TD’s | Catch | Yards | TD’s | |
| Lionel Assie | 2 | 30 | 0 | Aaron Taylor | 2 | 74 | 0 |
| Anthony Jubles | 1 | 30 | 1 | Ryan Mack | 2 | 82 | 1 |
| Matt Tyrell | 2 | 46 | 1 | Kreston Harrison | 2 | 23 | 0 |
| RUSHING | Rush | Yards | TD’s | Rush | Yards | TD’s | |
| Lionel Assie | 10 | 40 | 0 | Nick Kimball | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| Aaron Taylor | 10 | 23 | 0 | Joe Cirello | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Moquan Dickens | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| DEFENSE STAND OUTS | Tackles | Sacks | INT | Misc. |
| Jasper Ramsey | 3 | 2 | 0 | Pass Deflection |
| Dwight Franklin | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| Raq Taft | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| Jovan Wilkins | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Hakeem Pierce | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
| Marcus Pouncey | 1 | 1 | 0 | Pass Deflection |
| SPECIAL TEAMS | |
| Tyler Kurjiaka | 4/4 PAT |
TOTAL OFFENSE
| OFFENSE | Rush Plays | Rush Yards | Passing Plays | Passing Yards | TOTAL OFFENSE |
| Panthers | 14 | 79 | 25 | 73 | 39 plays/ 152 yards |
| Militia | 24 | 72 | 16 | 270 | 40 plays/ 342 yards |
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