Wildcats Fall in Classic

WORCESTER, MA- In a match-up of Champion against Champion, the Long Island Red Devil scored in all phases of the game as they upended the Worcester Wildcats 50-36 in the East Coast Classic. “We knew we had to play our best to win tonight,” said owner Dennis Faulkner. “You can’t make the mistakes we did and think a team of this caliber won’t capitalize.”

After exchanging possessions, the Red Devils opened up the scoring when Xavier Carpenter recovered a botched punt in the end zone. Long Island went on to score two more times with less than 5 minutes to play in the half. “We dug ourselves a hole that we had to fight to get out of.” Picking up the pace of the offense saw quarterback Tim Bushey get into a rhythm. The Wildcats mount a 65-yard drive culminating in running back Zander Givens-Perry taking a handout 7 yards for the Wildcats first score of the night. Minutes later, Bushey finds a wide open Jahkari Carpenter for a 70-yard catch and run that cut the Red Devils lead to 8 going into the half.

Receiving the kickoff to start the third quarter, receiver Taymar Whitehurst took the kick 77 yards for a back-breaking score that quieted the Wildcats sideline and gave the momentum back to the visiting team. “We could never get back on top,” said Bushey. “Every time we got a score they would come back and put one in also.”

Bushey and his fellow Wildcats did all they could do offensively to get back in the game. Bushey finished with 328 yards in the air. Connecting with four different receivers, speedster Martell Hughes finished with a best 172 receiving yards with two scores. After pulling within a touchdown in the third quarter, Worcester was driving down the field looking to tie the game. Sacked by a host of Red Devils defenders, Xavier Carpenter picked up his second fumble of the day and rumbled 55 yards for a score that would end any chance of a Wildcats comeback.

“What a fantastic event,” said NEFL’s Bernie Armstrong. “Combining for nearly 900 yards of offense shows that these are two quality teams and clearly the right choice for this year’s East Coast Classic.” Although this ends the season for the Wildcats, you can see that they have a lot to look forward to going into the future. “Worcester will clearly make even more noise next year-a top notch quarterback, great skill players, and a dedicated and knowledgeable coaching staff. I expect to see big things from them next season.”

 

Stats

LONG ISLAND RED DEVILS

RUSHING

NAME	Carries	Yards	TD’s	Name	Carries	Yards	TD’s
Taevon FanFan	11	38	2	Quillian Respass	8	55	0
Brandon Coffey	2	20	0	Taymar Whitehurst	2	20	0
Stefan Andre	4	18	0

 

RECEIVING

NAME	Reception	Yards	TD’s	Name	Receptions	Yards	TD’s
Marc Pridgeon	5	89	1	Trevon Thompson	1	51	0
Brandon Coffey	7	74	1	Taymar Whitehurst	2	81	0

 

PASSING

NAME	Comp.	Att.	Yards	TD’s	INT.
Quillian Respass	15	30	295	2	0

 

TOTAL YARDS

RUSHING PLAYS	RUSHING YARDS	PASSING PLAYS	PASSING YARDS	TOTAL PLAYS/YARDS
27	151	30	295	57/ 446

 

 

DEFENSIVE/ SPECIAL TEAM STANDOUTS

Taymar Whitehurst: 77-yard kickoff return-TD

Xavier Carpenter: 2 Recovered fumbles- 2TD

 

WORCESTER WILDCATS

Rushing

NAME	Carries	Yards	TD’s
Zander Givens-Perry	9	41	1

 

RECEIVING

NAME	Reception	Yards	TD’s	Name	Receptions	Yards	TD’s
Martell Hughes	6	172	2	Jahkari Carpenter	3	93	1
Tyrone Notice	1	18	0	George Smith	6	45	1

 

PASSING

NAME	Comp.	Att.	Yards	TD’s	INT.
Tim Bushey	16	26	328	4	0

 

TOTAL YARDS

RUSHING PLAYS	RUSHING YARDS	PASSING PLAYS	PASSING YARDS	TOTAL PLAYS/YARDS
9	41	26	328	35/ 369

 

 

DEFENSIVE/ SPECIAL TEAM STANDOUTS

BJ Fitz: 6 tackles

Robert Norris: 4 tackles

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