Game 2 Details

Translated from www.erlangen-sharks.de :

Home opener 2006 yields success! In the second season game and first home game, the Sharks played against the Augsburg Raptors. The Raptors were able to decide both games in the 2005 season and had already observed the Sharks in the game against the Bears. The game promised to be exciting and the Sharks had to stay focused so they could earn the first home victory of the 2006 season.

The Raptors won the coin toss and decided to begin on offense. Even with both running and passing plays the Raptors could not get anything started and had to punt the ball. It was a great punt and the Sharks began at their own 10 yard line. On the first play the Sharks got a penalty and found themselves 5 yards closer to their own Endzone. But on the next play, the blockers broke through the Raptors defense and the Sharks running back took the ball down the entire length of the field for a touchdown. The 95 yard-run was the second longest in Sharks history! The 2-point conversion failed and the Sharks led six to zero.

The offense of the Raptors tried again and again with long pass attempts, but the Sharks cornerbacks played good coverage (although they could have made a few interceptions if they just turned around!). Also for the remainder of the half the Sharks made no more headway with their offense as the Raptors played hard and made them work for every yard. Accordingly the rest of the first quarter was mainly just a series of punts from both teams.

In the second quarter, the offense of the Sharks got into their groove. The defense of the Raptors made some mistakes and the Sharks capitalized on them. A few good plays brought the Sharks to midfield and from there they only needed one more play to bridge the remaining distance. The second touchdown run for 45 yards increased the lead to 12 points. The subsequent drive by the Raptors started well and the Sharks defense started sweating, but as if on cue at midfield, the Raptors’ ball carrier took a hard tackle and fumbled to ball to the Sharks. It was a gift that the Sharks offense thankfully took. A long pass completion followed up by a good run for a touchdown expanded the lead to 18 points.

After the touchdown, only 4 seconds remained on the clock. The Raptors did their best to use the time and completed a long pass but it didn’t get them to the end zone. At halftime the Sharks lead remained at 18 to zero.

After the half, the Sharks began on offense. Needing only two plays, the Sharks ran down the field 70 yards for 6 more points. After the successful two-point conversion, the game stood at 26 to zero for Erlangen. Following this with the Sharks on defense, an interception and the subsequent return gave the offense the opportunity to bring the Sharks lead to 34 points.

In the fourth quarter, the defense of the Sharks sealed the game. An intercepted pass resulted in a touchdown and after the successful conversion the score was 42:0. To their credit, the Raptors never gave up and fought their way down the field. The Sharks defense lost its concentration and started making mistakes. When the Raptors stood finally before the Sharks end zone, they made it count with a QB-Sneak to score 6 points. Again in ball possession, the Sharks wanted to rundown the clock, but on fourth down succeeded in running the ball to the Raptors red zone. The Sharks scored again to bring the lead to 50 to 6.

However the last word belonged to the guests. With less than a minute to play and 70 yards away from scoring, the Raptors mounted a successful campaign and scored with a passing touchdown as time expired. The final score was 50 to 14 for the Sharks.