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The Vancouver Killer Whales needed to come up big this week against division rivals, the Reno Wolfpack. The Wolfpack had moved ahead of the Whales into 1st place in the NFC West after Reno defeated Salt Lake City last week. Both games last season were decided by three points and the first matchup this season didn't turn out any different, as the Whales hit a last second FG to win, 17-14.
The first quarter of play didn't see either team get much going on the offensive side of the ball. Reno did manage to put together a 16 play - 59 yard drive taking the ball down to the Vancouver 21-yard line where the drive stalled out. But instead of going for a chip-shot FG, Reno head coach Jerry Armstrong opted to go for it and the Whales defense came up with a stop to keep the game scoreless. The Whales defense couldn't hold long, as the Wolfpack took their second possession of the 2nd quarter down field at will and was capped off by a 1-yd TD pass from Leslie Steiner to Harold Johnson for a 7-0 lead. It didn't take long for the Vancouver offense to finally wakeup. On their next drive QB Dennis Colella connected with RB Willard Carmichael for a 45-yd pickup and then RB Allan Ho scampered in for a 9-yd TD run to tie it up a 7-7. Ho ended the day with 88-yds on 19 carries. That would be the score when both teams went to the locker room at the half.
Again to start the 3rd quarter both defenses tightened up and would let the opposing offenses do anything. With 5:39 left in the 3rd, the Wolfpack started a drive that would end with their final points of the game. Reno got big runs on the drive of 7, 16 and 21 yards to setup a 2-yd TD run from Louie McCubbrey to put the Wolfpack back on top 14-7 heading into the 4th quarter. As the Vancouver players walked to the sidelines before the start of the 4th quarter, you could since that they knew that their season might be on the line. After a quick stern lecture from head coach Ed Donaldson, the team took the field. The defense of Vancouver looked like a bunch of stark raving mad-men on Reno's first possession of the 4th, swarming on Steiner as soon as the ball was snapped. After forcing a punt the Whales offense took control of the game. Three straight running plays from Ho, netted 21-yds. After Reno came up with a sack of Colella that looked as though might help stall the drive, Colella hooked up with WR John Snowden for 23-yds. After an incomplete pass and four yard run from Ho, the Whales faced 3rd&6 at the RENO8. Again the combination of Colella and John Snowden came together, this time for a 8-yd TD, tying the game at 14-14 with 7:22 left. The Wolfpack came out and tried to eat up as much clock as possible but the defense wouldn't have it, holding them to 35-yds on six plays but the clock stood at 4:02 with a punt upcoming. Reno P Colin Heath got off a booming 53-yd punt that was almost blocked by DE Lance Delano that pinned the Whales at their own 8. On the first play, Colella connected with WR Cortez Means for a 23-yd gain that got them out of their deep territory. After using a nice mix of runs and passes that saw Colella connect on every pass of the drive, K Scotty Lally lined up for a 38-yd FG with :06 seconds remaining and nailed it to seal the victory.
Game MVP Dennis Colella had this to say after the game, "We knew coming into this game that this was do-or-die. We started off the season kinda sluggish and then had a three game span where everything was seeming to come back together. But after last week's loss to Texas, a team setting is last place, a few guys started pointing some fingers. When the 4th quarter started and we trailed by seven, coach pulled all of us aside and basically said this is your season, put the little sh*t that happened this week in practice out of your mind and go get this win. So we did!"
The first quarter of play didn't see either team get much going on the offensive side of the ball. Reno did manage to put together a 16 play - 59 yard drive taking the ball down to the Vancouver 21-yard line where the drive stalled out. But instead of going for a chip-shot FG, Reno head coach Jerry Armstrong opted to go for it and the Whales defense came up with a stop to keep the game scoreless. The Whales defense couldn't hold long, as the Wolfpack took their second possession of the 2nd quarter down field at will and was capped off by a 1-yd TD pass from Leslie Steiner to Harold Johnson for a 7-0 lead. It didn't take long for the Vancouver offense to finally wakeup. On their next drive QB Dennis Colella connected with RB Willard Carmichael for a 45-yd pickup and then RB Allan Ho scampered in for a 9-yd TD run to tie it up a 7-7. Ho ended the day with 88-yds on 19 carries. That would be the score when both teams went to the locker room at the half.
Again to start the 3rd quarter both defenses tightened up and would let the opposing offenses do anything. With 5:39 left in the 3rd, the Wolfpack started a drive that would end with their final points of the game. Reno got big runs on the drive of 7, 16 and 21 yards to setup a 2-yd TD run from Louie McCubbrey to put the Wolfpack back on top 14-7 heading into the 4th quarter. As the Vancouver players walked to the sidelines before the start of the 4th quarter, you could since that they knew that their season might be on the line. After a quick stern lecture from head coach Ed Donaldson, the team took the field. The defense of Vancouver looked like a bunch of stark raving mad-men on Reno's first possession of the 4th, swarming on Steiner as soon as the ball was snapped. After forcing a punt the Whales offense took control of the game. Three straight running plays from Ho, netted 21-yds. After Reno came up with a sack of Colella that looked as though might help stall the drive, Colella hooked up with WR John Snowden for 23-yds. After an incomplete pass and four yard run from Ho, the Whales faced 3rd&6 at the RENO8. Again the combination of Colella and John Snowden came together, this time for a 8-yd TD, tying the game at 14-14 with 7:22 left. The Wolfpack came out and tried to eat up as much clock as possible but the defense wouldn't have it, holding them to 35-yds on six plays but the clock stood at 4:02 with a punt upcoming. Reno P Colin Heath got off a booming 53-yd punt that was almost blocked by DE Lance Delano that pinned the Whales at their own 8. On the first play, Colella connected with WR Cortez Means for a 23-yd gain that got them out of their deep territory. After using a nice mix of runs and passes that saw Colella connect on every pass of the drive, K Scotty Lally lined up for a 38-yd FG with :06 seconds remaining and nailed it to seal the victory.
Game MVP Dennis Colella had this to say after the game, "We knew coming into this game that this was do-or-die. We started off the season kinda sluggish and then had a three game span where everything was seeming to come back together. But after last week's loss to Texas, a team setting is last place, a few guys started pointing some fingers. When the 4th quarter started and we trailed by seven, coach pulled all of us aside and basically said this is your season, put the little sh*t that happened this week in practice out of your mind and go get this win. So we did!"