Pirates Beat Fishers 60-57 On Redding’s Walk-Off Catch

By: Mick Moninghoff

The game that turned out to be high scoring started slowly. The Pirates scored on their second possession of the first quarter as DeLaurent ran nine yards for a touchdown. Axel Perez added the point after. It took the Freight just five plays to tie the game as running back Dominic Roberto scored on a two-yard run. Calum Sutherland's extra point ended the first quarter at seven all.

The second quarter would see both teams score on almost every possession.
DeLaurent threw his first touchdown pass of the night to Nyqwan Murray from two yards out, capping a seven-play, 30-yard drive for a 13-7 advantage as the point after was missed. Fishers made it a three-point game as Sutherland connected on a 23-yard field goal, but Orlando pushed the score to 19-10 as Pooka Williams powered the Pirates down the field. He returned the kickoff 37 yards, caught a nine-yard pass and then took a pitch on second and one from the four and ran into the end zone.

Fishers kept the ball on the ground, running on four of the next six plays. They covered 45 yards as Roberto scored his second touchdown of the night from nine-yards out. The PAT was no good but Sutherland added a "Deuce" and with 42 seconds left in the half, Fishers trailed 19-18.

DeLaurent then engineered a 5-play, 50-yard drive that ended with Thomas Owens making a 22-yard touchdown grab with eight seconds left in the half as the Pirates had a 26-18 lead at halftime.

The third quarter would see the lead change hands twice. Fishers scored to start the second half as JT Stokes scored on a 30-yard run to put the Freight down by a point. Williams' 20-yard jaunt for the Pirates upped the score to 33-25, but then the Freight would take its first lead of the night. A Roberto seven-yard TD run, followed by Sutherland's second "Deuce" gave Fishers a 34-33 lead. Orlando would score the final points of the quarter as Williams' third rushing touchdown of the game made it 40-34 for the Pirates heading into the final quarter.

Fishers would take the lead three more times in the fourth quarter. Roberto scored on a two-yard run and another "Deuce" by Sutherland put the Freight ahead 43-40. DeLaurent then completed four consecutive passes for the next Pirates score. Twice he teamed up with Teo Redding and twice with Murray, including a three-yard TD pass as the Pirates re-took the lead, 47-43. Roberto's fifth rushing touchdown of the game put Fishers up 50-47 with 9:37 remaining. Two plays later Orlando was back out front as DeLaurent went deep to Murray with a 37-yard strike for a 54-50 advantage.

Fisher's last lead came on a 15-yard touchdown run by quarterback Felix Harper as the Fright led 57-54 with 2:54 to play. Orlando then went on a seven-play drive to win the game. DeLaurent ran for 21 yards and Williams carried for 17 more. Two completed passes to Owens and a seven-yarder to Murray saw the Pirates with the ball on the Fishers six-yard line with 18 seconds to play.

On second and goal, DeLaurent ran to the one. On first and goal Owens was stopped for no gain with four seconds remaining. The final play was DeLaurent's pass to the left corner of the end zone that was grabbed by Redding who went up and over the wall for the win as time expired.

DeLaurent finished the game 28 of 31 passing for 308 yards and five touchdowns with one interception. He also ran five times for 22 yards and a score. The Pirates' leading rusher was Williams with six carries for 34 yards and three touchdowns. The top receiver in the game was Murray with nine receptions for 133 yards and three touchdowns. Redding added eight catches for 65 yards and a score while Owens had six grabs for 64 yards and a touchdown. Defensively Orlando was led by Corrion Ballard with eight tackles and Dexter Lawson with six stops.

For Fishers, Harper was 10 of15 passing for 93 yards with no touchdowns nor interceptions. Harper did add 40 yards rushing on ten carries with a touchdown. His top target was CJ Windham with five receptions for 48 yards. Roberto was the game's leading rusher with 18 carries for 102 yards and five touchdowns. Jiden Roe led the Freight defense with nine tackles along with an interception and a pass broken up. Donnie Lewis and Marcus Gray each added seven tackles.

The Pirates will now have a bye week and will play again on Monday, May 18 vs. the Vegas Knight Hawks in Round One of the IFL Cup at the Arena at American Dream in East Rutherford, NJ.

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