Sharks Beat Wolfpack on Burley’s Debut

After an abrupt coaching change mid-week, the undefeated Jacksonville Sharks (10-0) took the field against the winless Dayton Wolfpack (0-7). The result was as expected, as Jacksonville outscored Dayton 45-6 to run out 77-32 winners.

In a bit of an early surprise, the Wolfpack matched the Sharks score for score throughout the first half, and early on held a 12-6 lead. Devin Wilson, however, immediately had other ideas. Wilson stretched his arms out into the end zone for a touchdown and a quick, one-point lead.

In what would be one of the bigger Dayton highlights of the night, DeMarcus Sweat caught a pass where he was wide open thanks to Micheaux Robinson slipping, and the Wolfpack took what was their final lead of the night, 18-13.

Damien Fleming, who had a comfortable night in the pocket, used intermediate routes on the next drive, ending it with a touchdown pass to Darryl Thompson. After the defense made two quick sacks, the second resulting in a fumble, Derrick Ross took it from there. Ross, the workhorse of the first half, scored from 10 yards out. Nick Belcher missed the extra point, but his night quickly turned around.

Sweat kept Dayton in the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion catch, but when Fleming ran into the end zone untouched soon after, the crowd of over 9,100 felt the rout was on.

Erick McIntosh started the second half with a pick-six, the first of 34 unanswered points by Jacksonville in the third and fourth quarter. In that run, only four players scored: Ross, Belcher with two deuces, Maurice Williams, and a safety on a Damien Jacobs sack in the end zone. McIntosh nearly scored again, but nearly ran into his own man on another interception.

Dayton did score late to bring the deficit to 66-32, but another Fleming scramble, another deuce, and another safety showed why Jacksonville has yet to lose in their NAL tenure.

The Sharks look to maintain a perfect record and clinch the #1 seed in the penultimate game of the season against the High Country Grizzlies. Kickoff for the second game in a three-game home stand is set for 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 10.

Damien Fleming Can Keep Jacksonville Sharks Afloat

When starting quarterback Tommy Grady came up lame against the Monterrey Steel, Jacksonville Sharks fans held their collective breath. When backup Damien Fleming came into the game and kept the momentum, fans breathed a sigh of relief. When the announcement came that Grady’s injury was season-ending, fans gasped. Now, after Fleming’s first start, there’s a potential sense of worry. However…there shouldn’t be.

Yes, Grady was in the middle of an MVP season, among the league leaders in touchdown passes (23), passing yards (1,060), and passing efficiency (113.7), but Fleming showed he can hang in and face the same amount of pressure in the pocket. However, in his debut against the Columbus Lions, there were clear signs of shakiness: miscommunication with receivers, fumbled snaps, holding the ball too long, etc. But, the fact remains that it was his first league start, and against a team who came into the game at 3-2.

Evaluating the whole body of work, including leading half of the 60-point barrage against the then-undefeated Monterrey Steel, there are signs of some undeniable talent, and that’s the first reason why Fleming can keep Jacksonville out of the loss column. He can compete with almost any of the other quarterbacks in the league and be in consideration for the starting job, especially if he continues being a dual threat and exposes defenses to his running ability.

The second reason why there’s no need for panic: the schedule. The Sharks leave the Tank just once for the remainder of the regular season, and that’s to face the Corpus Christi Rage, currently winless at 0-5, and who comes into Jacksonville for Week 8. Following a bye, Jacksonville will see Monterrey twice, Corpus Christi, High Country, and the traveling Dayton Wolfpack, who suffered a 94-6 defeat at the hands of High Country earlier this season.

This is the best possible time for Fleming to earn reps under center, as the Wolfpack and Rage have the two worst scoring defenses in the league (allowing 64.0 and 73.6 PPG, respectively), which should theoretically lead to some simpler reading and better ability to break down schemes to find the open man or take off.

With an offensive line that’s only allowed five sacks (second fewest to the Lions’ three), receivers like Darryl Thompson, Maurice Williams, and Thyron Lewis to throw to, and Derrick Ross, the league’s leading rusher, in the backfield, Fleming will have time to continue to grow comfortable and learn the playbook.

The third and final reason why Jacksonville can still run the table: defense. In six games, the Sharks have only allowed more than 28 points twice. Despite their lowest scoring output of the season against Columbus (37), the Sharks still had control of the game in the second half, and were only threatened in the final minute.

With the return of David Hyland, who is already looking to anchor the secondary, and Jeremiah Price sitting fourth in the league with 4.0 sacks, Fleming will have plenty of opportunity to get the ball, and little to no pressure to score points when he does.

So if Fleming can cut back on the mistakes, deal with the learning curve he’s been given, and take advantage of the caliber of talent around him, Jacksonville has an excellent chance of going into the playoffs at what would be a franchise-record 14-0.

Grizzlies Can’t Keep Momentum, Lose to Jacksonville

The High Country Grizzlies (2-2) couldn’t capitalize on the momentum of their 94-6 win over the Dayton Wolfpack, as the Jacksonville Sharks (4-0) gave them a dose of their own medicine in a 68-21 home loss.

Jacksonville started out the same way High Country did last week, scoring early and often. Quarterback Stephen Panasuk got off to the worst possible start, as he threw an interception to Charlie Hunt, who returned it for a touchdown and the first score of the game. Not long after, Sharks quarterback Tommy Grady found Darryl Thompson in the end zone to extend the deficit to 13-0 at the end of the first qurater.

Jacksonville would not only continue the theme throughout the first half, but increase the pace in the second quarter, as the only mistake committed was the lone missed extra point. Mo Williams and Cornelius Lewis would both score through the air and on the ground, respectively, and High Country quickly found themselves down 27-0. In fact, Grady found Williams open deep again, then engineered a quick scoring drive finishing with the pair’s third scoring connection of the game, and the halftime deficit was 41-0.

Showing a small manner of fight, the Grizzlies came out and scored the first touchdown of the third quarter thanks to a combination of forcing much-needed turnovers on defense and Panasuk starting to gain a rhythm. The good news was that both Malachi Jones and Undra Hendrix found the end zone to get on the board, but the bad news is not only did the Sharks have the answer for each score, but DB/LB Darius Lipford had to be taken off the field due to injury early on in the second half.

Down 47-15 after the second score, Jacksonville went on to score 21 unanswered points despite further defensive toughness (including a Daron Clark interception, playing defense for the injured Lipford). While Hendrix scored the last touchdown of the night, his second of the game, it was too little, too late for the Grizzlies, who drop to .500 on the season. Jacksonville remains one of the two undefeated teams in the NAL, the other being Monterrey.

High Country will be able to rest up and heal from this week’s battle, as they have a bye week before traveling to Columbus to take on the Lions on Saturday, April 22.