WEEK 6 - GAME OF THE WEEK

GOOSE BAY, NEWFOUNDLAND

In the self-proclaimed game of the week, the Goose Bay Raiders held off the Las Vegas Storm 24-17 in Goose Bay. There was little scoring in the first half as both teams played the game of field position. The Storm scored first on a QB sneak by Jason Campbell with 3:36 left in the 1st quarter. The Raiders answered back with a long drive and a 16 yard run by Chris Johnson on a 3rd and 3, which sparked a heated coaching argument between Marty Schottenheimer, the Storm head coach and Defensive Coordinator Mike Stoops. Stoops had called a short yardage defense but was called off by Schottenheimer.

The Raiders would strike again on a methodic two minute drive ending with a Brees six yard touchdown pass to Greg Olsen with 1:22 left in the first half. On the ensuing drive, a poor Dan Koppen snap to Jason Campbell gave the ball back to the Raiders. The Raiders were looking to take a 10 point lead, but a 3rd down pass to a double-teamed Steve Smith with 0:22 seconds left was picked off by Tracy Porter and returned 96 yards for a TD. A huge turnaround which tied the score at 14 apiece.

The second half scoring started first with the Phil Dawson hitting a 46-yard field goal, which was set up by a nifting run by Jason Campbell on a 3rd and long. As the "Other Highlights" show on the boxscore, the second half was a sparring match between two solid teams, each trying to gain field position. Time and time again the Storm would try to get to Brees (roll the D dice) and he would hit a receiver for yardage (dump pass). With six minutes left in the 3rd quarter, a 3rd and long screen pass to Fred Jackson looked to result in a first down for Las Vegas, but a bone chilling hit by Clint Session, caused the Storm fumble, resulting in a turnover. This was the second lost fumble for the Storm on the day. Goose Bay would use this fortitutious play to move down the field and score on a Chris Johnson 3-yard run. Again there was heated discussion between Stoops and Marty's son on the side line over a positioning of the safety on the key of Chris Johnson. This kind of mismanagement was a deathknell for the Storm on this day.

Stymied by the Raiders defense and solid special teams led by punter Ben Graham, the Storm were penned on their side of the field again and again. Goose Bay used this to their advantage scoring a field goal from Connor Barth with 8:24 left. The Storm gave one last push driving from their own 20 after the Goose Bay score down to the Goose Bay 10 yard line with a little under 3 minutes to go in the game. Again, a Jason Campbell scamper put Las Vegas in great field position to the tie the game. However, this was not the 2009 Goose Bay Raiders. A run stop on first down made it 2 and goal from the 11. On the next play, a swing pass to Fred Jackson was read again by the Raiders defense. Clint Session a ball hawk knocked the ball from Jackson. On 3rd and goal, the Storm called a pass play to Jackson in the end zone, but Tyson Clabo was too slow for Julius Peppers, resulting in a huge sack for the Raiders. Why Clabo was on Peppers and not Roos was another poor example of management by the Storm. On 4th down from the 17, the Storm gave one last attempt at the end zone, but failed.

The Raiders move to 5-1, tied with the Storm, atop the Landry East Division. The Storm play Alta Loma (4-1) and Raiders go to Los Angeles (2-3) in Week 7.