MUSKEGON – Early in Friday night’s game, veteran West Michigan Ironmen quarterback Alex Carder did a couple of things that fans are not used to seeing from him.
Carder appeared to dump a pass into the crowd on a broken play, which isn’t very common for the Ironmen offense.
After the play, an obviously angry Carder pointed and screamed at a receiver who did not run the proper route, in a volume that could be heard all the way up in the press box.
Carder has thrown tons of completions and touchdown passes for 10 great seasons for the Ironmen, and apparently he has little patience for screwed-up plays.
[1]The Ironmen quickly corrected their passing game, however, and all turned out well in the end.
Carder once again had a banner night, throwing eight touchdown passes in the Ironmen’s 72-20 victory over the Pennsylvania Union at Muskegon’s Trinity Health Arena.
Toni Sok caught four touchdown passes, Tyler Bruce caught three and Luke Sallee snagged the final one, scoring with no time left on the clock at the end of the game.
Carder now has an impressive 18 touchdown passes through two games this season.
[2]He wants to make sure the scoring plays keep coming, which was why he had some harsh words for the receiver.“Honestly, (Pennsylvania) looked different than some other teams we play,” Carder said. “They play at a higher level, so I expect us to play at a high level, too, and sometimes that comes out in sharp words. When we have a good opponent, we have to be perfect.
“I got with (the receiver) right after that, and he understands that I am passionate about doing things the right way.”
The victory gave the Ironmen a 2-0 overall record this season, and a 1-0 mark in the American Indoor Football league standings. They are hoping the win is the start of a successful defense of their 2025 AIF championship.
[3]After the game, the players, coaches and team staff received their championship rings from last season, and Ironmen head coach Terry Mitchell was very clear that the team wants more rings next year.
“It’s something we shoot for every season,” Mitchell said. “It’s hard to win back-to-back championships. We all know other teams are going to be gunning for us, so we are going to outwork and out-prepare everyone, so we can be ready for everyone and repeat as champions in 2026.”
While the final score indicated another blowout victory for the Ironmen, they really didn’t perform as well as they did a week ago, when they opened the season with an 81-0 victory over the Michigan Falcons.
Even though he piled up the touchdown throws, Carder had six incomplete passes, according to one unofficial count. He was also sacked once, which is something the offensive line doesn’t allow very often at all.
[4]The Ironmen also had three missed extra point kicks after touchdowns, and unlike a week ago, their defense fell short of perfection, allowing Pennsylvania to score three touchdowns.
But the Union had far more blunders, and the Ironmen were opportunistic and took advantage every time.
The visitors were called for nine penalties, lost three fumbles and threw two interceptions, including one for a pick-six.
That allowed the Ironmen to score early and often. They led 12-0 after one quarter, 38-6 at halftime and 52-6 after three quarters.
[5]Besides the passing touchdowns, the Ironmen found the end zone on a 16-yard run by DavVeon Taylor, a seven-yard run by Carder, and an eight-yard pick-six by Jalon Simpson on his second interception of the game.
Despite all of the scores, Carder and Coach Mitchell admitted that the Ironmen offense was not as sharp as it usually is.
They both blamed the recent harsh weather, which has kept the Ironmen from having their regular practices
[6]“The weather has been terrible, and nine-five percent of our player.s do not live in Muskegon,” Mitchell said. “Most of them have to drive between and hour and an hour and a half to get here, and for our Indianapolis players it’s about four hours. Player safety always comes first.”“We weren’t as tight,” Carder said. “When you practice you can watch the tape and make the adjustments. We will be able to do that when the weather breaks.”
GAME SUMMARY
FIRST QUARTER
WM – 1:40 – Alex Carder 8 pass to Toni Sok (kick failed) – 6-0 WM
WM – 4:15 – Carder 9 pass to Tyler Bruce (conversion failed) – 12-0 WM
SECOND QUARTER
WM – 14:01 – Carder 5 pass to Bruce (kick good) – 19-0 WM
P -11:40 – Dom Hobdy 33 pass to Anthony McCraw (conversion failed) – 19-6 WM
WM – 8:40 – Carder 30 pass to Sok (kick failed) 25-6 WM
WM – 5:44 –-Carder 14 pass to Sok (kick good) – 32-6 WM
WM – :50 – DavVeon Taylor 16 run (kick failed) – 38-6 WM
THIRD QUARTER
WM – 6:10 – Carder 7 run (kick good) – WM 45-6
WM – 2:21 – Carder 23 pass to Sok (kick good) – WM 52-6
FOURTH QUARTER
WM – 14:25 – Jalon Simpson 8 interception return (kick good) – WM 59-6
P – 9:10 – Hobdy 1 run (conversion failed) – WM 59-12
WM– 6:50 – Carder 30 pass to Bruce (kick good) – WM 66-12
P – 3:20 – Hobdy 11 pass to Nijal Rodgers (conversion good) – WM 66-20
WM – :00 – Carder 10 pass to Luke Sallee – WM 72-20