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PASSION SEND ICKY WOODS AND THE SIZZLE SHUFFLING BACK TO CINCINNATI |
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The Passion handed the Cincinnati Sizzle a 55-20 pasting on Saturday night
in their final game of the 2006 season before a vocal home crowd at
Cupples Stadium. The Passion treated the faithful to a potent offensive
display that netted 507 yards with 241 through the air and 266 on the
ground.
There was a galaxy of stars on both sides of the ball for Pittsburgh.
Quarterback Lisa Horton threw only 10 times but completed 6 for 241 yards
and 4 touchdowns. Tight end Kate Sullivan was on the receiving end of
three TD passes of 65, 72 and 23 yards. In all, Sully caught 4 balls for
174 yards for what must surely be a Passion single game record. On the
season, she has caught 6 passes of which 5 were for scores!!! Tight end
Sherry Kring was the beneficiary of another TD bomb of 48 yards for a
touchdown.
It was all Lyndsi Hughes on the ground, as the talented newcomer rushed
for 152 yards on only 15 carries, and scored on touchdown runs of 10, 22
and 2 yards. Hughes finished as the team’s leading rusher with 510 yards
on 72 carries for a 7.1 average. Fullback Lori Burkholder chipped in with
51 bruising yards on 12 carries, and QB Lisa Horton scored the other
rushing TD on a 1 yard sneak to open the scoring in the first quarter.
The defense yielded 241 yards to a tough Cinci running attack, but came up
with big plays at critical moments to stifle Sizzle drives. The black and
gold picked off three passes, with “T” Conn getting her 5th of the season,
Lailah Issac her 2nd, and the fleet Kelly Stoner nabbing her 4th and
returning it for 61 yards, best of the season. In all, the Passion had
more total yards on interception returns (91) than the Sizzle did passing
(77). The 3 INT’s gave them 15 for the season. Jen Moody recovered a
fumble (and also had a big 43 yard kickoff return). Linebacker Beth Amato
led with 15 tackles, giving her a team-leading 71 on the season. She
delivered some Jack Lambert-like hits, and made it a long bus ride home
for the Cinci running backs. To finish off the highlight reel, Ava Nickens
blocked a Sizzle PAT, her first blocked kick this year.
The Passion offense piled up 22 first downs, 15 on the ground, and was so
effective that there were no punts for the evening. On special teams,
place kicker Natalie Byrne had 7 PAT’s in 8 attempts, making it 10 for 12
for the year.
The Passion finishes at 5-3 in a very tough division, and certainly should
enjoy even more success next season with a talented and more experienced
nucleus of skilled players. |
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