GAME RECAP: vs Central Valley Coyotes

An historic night saw a great match up between two teams fighting for a playoff spot. In the first ever af2 game at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California, the Boise Burn (8-6) took on the Central Valley Coyotes (8-6) with the winner in the driver seat for the post season. The Coyotes had the momentum early on. After a defensive stop by the defense, Clay Groefsema hit Jomo Wilson in the endzone for the early 7-0 lead. The score would stay that way till 3 minutes into the second quarter. Groefsema connected with Tonae Martin on a 7 yard score giving the Coyotes the 14-0 lead. The Burn would answer with a 20-0 run. Royal Gill got Boise on the board when he found Brian Hernandez in the endzone cutting the lead to 8 at 14-6. Boise would turn to their ground game on their following possession. Jason Laumoli took the hand off 5 yards for the score getting Boise to within 2 at 14-12. Casey Allen would cap off the run with a 10 yard score and following the 2 point conversion Boise led 20-14 with 42 seconds left to go in the first half. On the ensuing kick off, Jomo Wilson would score on a 56 yard return giving the Coyote?s the 21-20 lead. Boise capped off the 2nd quarter scoring on a Gill to Hernandez 11 yard strike giving Boise the 26-21 lead at the break. In a back and forth second half, Central Valley outscored Boise 20-12 in the 3rd. The turning point came following Wilson?s 2nd return TD of the game (58 yards). On the ensuing kick off, Terrance Sanders returned the kick off to the 11 yard line where he was tackled. The ball came loose after the tackle and the officials called it a fumble which was recovered by the Coyotes. Central Valley would capitalize on the call, Groefsema threw a 24 yard pass to Jason Barnes putting the Coyotes up 48-38. Hernandez would score his 3rd TD of the game on a 30 yard toss from Gill cutting the lead to 4 at 48-44. Following a Groefsema 12 yard TD run, Gill would punch it in from 2 yards and getting the Burn to within 5 at 55-50. That would be the last score of the game as the Coyotes ran the clock out in the final minute as they improved their record to 9-6 and put themselves in great position for the playoffs. Boise now has to travel to Spokane to take on the #1 Shock in their regular season finale for a shot at the playoffs. LEADERS: PASSING: Gill (BOI) 20-39-1 241 yards 5 TD?s (1 Rush TD) ; Groefsema (CV) 22-33-1 223 6 TD?s (1 Rush TD) | RECEIVING: Hernandez, Brian (BOI) 7-112-3 TD?s ; Barnes, Jason (CV) 12-131 yards 1 TD?s