KISS is known for their hit song “I want to rock and roll all night.”
Last night James Bryant rocked Aaron Garcia on the first play from scrimmage and the Pittsburgh Power (6-3) rolled to a 50-26 victory over the Los Angeles KISS (2-7) to earn their third consecutive win.
It’s not often a game is over on the first play but when James Bryant broke through the line untouched and flattened Aaron Garcia to cause a fumble it set the tone early. Anthony Hoke pounced on the loose football and the Power had a quick 7-0 lead before all of the Power fans had even made it to their seats.
James Bryant was very animated in the postgame press conference as he answered questions. “When you get a guy wide open and he gets hit like that at home, the crowd’s going to be on our side, the momentum is on our side. It will have already defeated our opponent from the very first play.” Bryant continued. “We’re not playing around with these guys. We’re not playing around with nobody. We’re coming for everybody.”
Pittsburgh followed up that fumble by forcing three straight turnovers-on-downs and then Virgil Gray intercepted a Garcia pass in the end zone and ran it all the way back for a touchdown and a 28-0 Power lead which proved to be more than enough cushion. Anthony Hoke also added a two point conversion interception return later in the game to add to the Power’s overall totals.
Pittsburgh’s pass rush did a good job keeping Garcia off balance all game as Arvell Nelson, James Bryant and Curtis Young each registered a sack in the game.
The Power offense pushed it out to a 35-13 halftime lead behind a solid Tommy Grady performance of 27 for 37 with 205 yards and five touchdowns, although Grady did have two interceptions. Grady shared the wealth all day when choosing what receiver to throw it to. James Shaw had nine catches for 67 yards, Hank Edwards had eight catches for 47 yards and three scoring strikes, and Shaun Kauleinamoku (seven catches, 61 yards) and Tyrone Goard (three catches, 27 yards) each added a touchdown reception.
Not everything was positive in the win as defensive back Virgil Gray suffered an undisclosed lower leg injury and had to be helped off the field. Gray is tied for the league interception lead with eight and has been an integral part of a strong Power defense this year. Pittsburgh will hope the news on his injury is good news.
Pittsburgh will travel to Orlando this upcoming week to take on the Predators (6-3) Saturday night May 24th. Orlando currently sits with a three game lead in the Southern Division. Pittsburgh remains in sole possession of second place in the Eastern division.
Photo Courtesy of Pittsburgh Power Football Facebook Page/Jeffrey Gamza
