MUSKEGON – The West Michigan Ironmen always have a handy ace up their sleeve.
Even on nights when the offense is not at its best, and the opponent is putting up a fight, Muskegon’s arena football team can turn to its quick-strike passing game, score a lot of really fast points and close out victories.
On Friday the Ironmen led the entire game, but were having trouble pulling away from the North Michigan Muskies, a brand new team playing its very first game in the American Indoor Football league.
The Ironmen were up 35-17 after three quarters, which is not a big lead by their standards, and victory was not guaranteed.
[1]
[2]
Then they broke loose for four unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including three through the air, to seal up a 62-17 win at Muskegon’s Trinity Health Arena.
The Ironmen are now 3-0 on the season and 2-0 in AIF league play.
Overall the Ironmen struggled while passing the ball on Friday. Veteran quarterback Alex Carder had a relatively quiet game for him, throwing nine incomplete passes, including two interceptions.
But the home team still managed six touchdown passes, including three from Carder to fourth-year Ironmen veteran receiver Tyler Bruce, and that made all the difference in the game.
Bruce, almost 32, said after the game that time is starting to catch up to him, and he’s not sure how many more seasons he will play.
[3]But he certainly seemed spry on Friday, catching TD passes covering 12, 5 and 30 yards.
“Playing with (Carder) for four years, he knows where we are going to be, and we know where he’s going to put the ball,” Bruce said. “That connection just comes with time and constant practice.”
Toni Sok caught two touchdown passes for West Michigan while LeRoy McKay caught the other.
The other Ironmen scores came on two runs by Carder and one by DavVeon Taylor.
Ironmen head coach Terry Mitchell is happy to have a great corps of receivers with a lot of depth. That depth came in handy on Friday when wideout Tyler Hunt went down with an injury and didn’t return to the game.
[4]“We’ve got a lot of weapons, and we relied on the other guys to step up when we faced a little adversity tonight,” Mitchell said. “The Muskies gave us a challenge at the beginning of the game, then we made some adjustments and took advantage of those adjustments.
“I got on them at halftime because we were being complacent, then we came out in the second half and played our game.”
The fact that the Muskies put up a good fight was a positive for the Ironmen in several different ways.
They have been trying to help build the AIF into a stable league with quality opponents, and North Michigan showed a lot of potential.
[5]The Muskies sure didn’t look the part. They showed up in borrowed uniforms that said “Knights” on the front, because the new uniforms they ordered from an overseas firm were apparently caught up in customs.
But they played tough and made the Ironmen earn the victory.
They had a pretty good passing game and moved the ball, and ended up scoring two touchdowns. The Muskies should have had a third TD early in the second quarter, on a 30-yard pass that was clearly caught and possessed by a receiver in the end zone, before an Ironmen defender stripped the ball away.
The officials ruled the play an interception.
[6]The Muskies also had a field goal, which is rare in Trinity Health Arena with its low ceiling, low-hanging scoreboard and the narrow goal posts. They also scored two more points on an even more unusual play, when one of their kickoffs went through the uprights.
The visitors also made several great plays on defense with two interceptions and several broken up passes.
The Ironmen only led the Muskies 14-3 after one quarter, 28-3 at halftime and 35-17 after three.
Coach Mitchell said it’s good to see a new league team showing the potential to be competitive.
“They had a little hiccup with uniforms, but still came and still played a tough game,” he said. “We love it when a team comes in, gives us a challenge and gives the fans what they have been asking for.”
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST QUARTER
WM – 13:24 – DavVeon Taylor 1 run (kick good) – 7-0 WM
MUSKIES – 4:29 – 33-yard field goal – 7-3 WM
WM – :37 – Alex Carder 12 pass to Tyler Bruce (kick good) – 14-3 WM
SECOND QUARTER
WM – 8:39 – Carder 2 pass to Toni Sok (kick good) 21-3 WM
WM – :05 – Carder 2 run (kick good) – 28-3 WM
THIRD QUARTER
MUSKIES – 9:56 – Marcellus Hunt 1 run (kick failed) – 28-9 WM
WM – 4:50 – Carder 5 pass to Bruce (kick good) – 35-9 WM
MUSKIES – 1:11 – Kyle Zarecki 2 run (conversion failed) – 35-15 WM
MUSKIES – :30 – Kickoff through uprights – 35-17 WM
FOURTH QUARTER
WM – 12:21 – Carder 7 pass to Sok (kick good) – 42-17 WM
WM – 5:42 – Carder 6 run (kick failed) – 48-17 WM
WM– 1:30 – Carder 34 pass to LeRoy McKay (kick good) – 55-17 WM
WM – :08 – Carder 30 pass to Bruce (kick good) – 62-17 WM