An avalanche of points enabled the Louisiana Bayou Beast to bury the host Utah Catzz, 44-14 in a Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) game at Utah Saturday night.
Utah scored the first points of the game on a short run, but it was all Louisiana after that. The Bayou Beast scored the next 41 points to put the game out of reach. Utah's only other touchdown of the evening came late in the fourth quarter of play, when the outcome had already been decided.
Beast running back Byron Allen tied the score with the first of his two TDs on the night, a four-yard run. The Beast had four scores on the ground, including one by quarterback Melvin Hill and another by fullback Germaine Williams.
Hill threw only ten passes in the game, hitting on six for 91 yards and a touchdown. Louisiana's leading receiver was wideout Michael Lewis with three catches for 40 yards.
Louisiana, which gained 159 total offensive yards in the game, was the consistent beneficiary of excellent field position provided by its defensive unit. Beast defenders surrendered only 120 total yards to the Catzz. Beast defenders also intercepted three Utah passes, one each by defensive backs Jack Phillips, Darnell Lee and Keith Ballard. Linebacker James Gillyard had three of the Beast's five sacks. Louisiana linebacker Pat Rogers had nine total tackles.
So far this season, Bayou Beast opponents have not scored in the third quarter of play.
The win moves Louisiana to a 3-1 regular season mark. The Bayou Beast return home next week after five weeks on the road to face the Texas Bullets. Kickoff from the Pete Maravich Assembly Center is 7 p.m. Saturday.
Louisiana 14 17 10 3 44 Utah 7 0 0 7 14 First Quarter Utah-10:52-#4 run, Doug Beech PAT 0-7 LA- 7:44-Byron Allen run, Matt Huerkamp PAT 7-7 LA- 0:08-Melvin Hill run, Huerkamp PAT 14-7 Second Quarter LA- 4:06-Derrick Fobb pass from Melvin Hill, Huerpkamp PAT 21-7 LA- 1:09-#32 run, Huerkamp PAT 28-7 LA- 0:00-Huerkamp 48 yd FG 31-7 Third Quarter LA-12:28-Huerkamp 45 yd FG 34-7 LA- 1:12-Allen run, Huerkamp PAT 41-7 Fourth Quarter Utah-12:05-#4 run, Beach PAT 41-14 LA- 1:00-Huerkamp 40 yd FG 44-14 Team Stats Utah Louisiana First Downs 14 10 Rushing 4 2 Passing 8 0 Penalty 0 8 Rushing Attempts 11 19 Yards Rushing 52 68 Passing Yards 111 91 Passes Attempted 27 10 Passes Completed 12 6 Had Intercepted 3 0 Total Offensive Plays 59 62 Total net Yards 120 159 Fumbles: Number-Lost 3-0 1-0 Penalties: Number-Lost 9-72 19-144 Kickoff Returns: No.-Yards 1-13 1-0 3rd Down Conversions 3-9 1-6 4th Down Conversions 0-2 1-4 Sacks by: Number-Yards 7-43 0-0 Interception Returns: 0-0 3-73 Individual Stats Rushing-U-Derek Black 4-23, #4 4-17-2, Paul Shoemaker 1-9, Joe Borich 1-2, Henry Bloomfield 1-1; L-Hill 3-25-1, Allen 13-22-2, #32 6-19, Joe Valencia 1-2 Passing-U-Borich 9-17-78-0-1, Shoemaker 3-10-33-0-2; L-Hill 6-10-91-1-0 Pass Receiving-U-Black 3-30, Greg Hooks 3-27, Jason Quinn 3-25, Terrance Keehan 1-13, #4 1-12, Korey Alexander 1-4; L-Michael Lewis 3-40, Derrick Fobb 1-23-1, Peter Sheppard 1-16, Valencia 1-12 Field Goals-U-Beach 0-3 (missed 41, 60, 40); L-Huerkamp 3-5 (made 48,45,40 missed 30, 32) PATS-U-Beach 2-2; L-Huerkamp 4-4 Kickoff Returns U-Junior Tagaloa 1-13 Interceptions-L-Valencia 1-34, Darnell Lee 1-29, Keith Ballard 1-10 Sacks L-Charles Johnson 2-9, Franklin Thomas 1-15, Darnell Lee 1, James Gillyard 1 Tackles-L-Ballard 7 total (1 assisted), Brown 1, Lee 3 (2), Phillips 3 (2), Rogers 9 (5), Green 1, Johnson 1, Thomas 2 (1), Gillyard 1 (1); U-Unavailable Passes Broken Up-L-Ballard 2, Lee 3, Phillips 2, Rogers 2; U-Unavailable