Xtreme fall to Jaguars

The Texas Xtreme semi-professional football team was defeated by the Shreveport, Louisiana based Port City Jaguars Saturday night at Brownsboro High School Stadium by the score of 30-6.

The Jaguars are the 2007 defending Texas United Football League (TUFL) champions, 2008 East Division Champions, and the number one seeded team in 20-team TUFLNorthern Conference.

With only 17 players in uniform and five starters from last week's game unavailable, the Xtreme played well the first half, trailing by a score of 9-6. Due to fatigue the Xtreme players simply wore down the second half.

Six Xtreme players played the entire game offensively and defensively. Brandon Thompson was forced to start the game at quarterback, but was ineffective due to an injury received two weeks ago and sat out last week's game. Thompson left the game near the end of the first half after re-aggravating his injury. Defensive strong safety Brandon Lyons then took over the quarterback position in the second half and played well until leaving the game in the fourth quarter with an injury. Lyons was the most effective of the four quarterbacks that played in the game, completing 3-4 passes for 75 yards and rushed for 34 yards on five carries.

Defensive free safety Amos Berryman also contributed on offense the second half with two receptions for 45 yards and 24 rushing yards on four carries.

Xtreme owners and coaches Gary Craig and Larry Anding were proud of the two-way performance of Lyons and Berryman who are the two smallest players on the team and great players.

Other offensive standouts were Jerry Martin, Ben Swain, Kerry Yarbrough, Flem Kindle, Eric Williams, and 45-year-old wide receiver Mike Spencer starting his second consecutive game at center and also played defensive tackle for almost three quarters.

Defensive standouts were Brandon Lyons, returning one of his two interceptions for a 90-yard touchdown, four passes defended, one sack, and four tackles; Jason Anding with three sacks, five tackles, and two passes defended; Amos Berryman with one interception, three passes defended, and five tackles.

Two-way performer Martin left the game late in the second quarter, but returned to defense in the fourth quarter.

Craig and Anding are very pleased with their team's performance the last five games despite few players being available. These players displayed iron-man football and many played multiple unfamiliar positions. Craig and Anding stated that injuries and rookie players quitting were the downfall to their team's first losing season in seven years after making six consecutive playoff appearances including one league championship appearance and four semi-final game appearances. The Xtreme already have interest from many players seeking to join next year's team.