Alphas Conquer the Conquerors in First TSL Game of Week Two
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Alphas Conquer the Conquerors in First TSL Game of Week Two

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Week 2 of The Spring League kicked off with an enjoyable matchup between the undefeated Conquerors, and the undefeated Alphas of the North Division. Both teams came away with impressive wins in week one, and battled it out on FOX this afternoon to see who would remain on top in the North.

The Alphas were dominant on the ground in week one, as they rushed for over 300 yards. Blake Morgan ran for 139 yards and a TD as the Alphas beat the Aviators 23-9. The Conquerors were led by Kevin Anderson, who threw for two scores and 159 yards in a hard fought victory over the Linemen.

With both of these offenses moving the ball well, it was bound to be a fun one between the two teams, and it certainly was.

1st Quarter

Starting out the game, the Conquerors will take possession of the ball. Drew Anderson started out the game at QB for the Conquerors,  looking to build off of his success from last week. Anderson didn’t take long to get his 1st first down, mixed between the ground game and the air brought his team near the red-zone.

The Alphas looked impressive last week, but they started out the game much stronger this week. You could tell that the team was now gelling as Coach Glanville had envisioned. Anderson wanting to take the game into his own hands, tried to rush the ball himself, but could not get the yardage needed. On third & 13, Anderson dropped it to the end-zone but could not connect with his receiver.

Presented with 4th down, the Conquerors  opted to attempt a field goal. Unfortunately, Cole Murphy was unable to secure the 44-yard attempt, keeping the game 0-0.

Starting out at quarterback for the Alphas is Brian Lewerke. The first drive for the team was a mixed bag. At times they shined and others were held back by the strong defense of the Conquerors. Lewerke didn’t end the drive un-noticed, securing a huge 20 plus yard pass. But, that wasn’t enough to get the team on the board. Ultimately, punting back to the Conquerors giving them another change to get the first points of the game.

The Conquerors started out deep in their own end, and after some solid attempts could not move the ball forward. The Alphas now had their chance to get some momentum going. The Alphas again showed a lot of promised, but when presented on 4th & 3 they wanted the points more than the opportunity to get the drive alive. This turned out to be a smart move as they grabbed the first points of the game, putting them up 3-0.

With Anderson back in for the Conquerors, the team started relying more on their ground game. You can’t complain when you keep moving the chains. Which is exactly what they did to run out the 1st.

2nd Quarter

They couldn’t continue the momentum due to the strong Alphas defense, being forced to punt the ball back early. Vad Lee gets his first playing time of the game, rushing for a 1st down on his first drive.

Lee continued to showoff his running game, moving the chains again for his team bringing them to mid-field. He also wanted to prove that rushing wasn’t his only skill, passing for 15-yards securing another first down and putting him team in prime scoring position.

The Alphas drive was also very successful at taking time off the clock. With Lee behind the rock, the drive lasted over minutes. Although they moved the ball well and into the red-zone, they could not secure a touchdown. Once again opting for a field goal, Nathan Hierlihy goes 2-for2 on the day successfully knocking in a 30-yard field goal.

With 6:24 left in the half, the Conquerors wanted to get back into the game before they fell too far behind. Again, what we saw was a mixed bag. At times the team was looking like a well-oiled machine. At the 2-minute warning, the Conquerors were presented with a 4th down situation and used the time to sort how they wanted to handle it. But, at the end of the drive they still could not grab a touchdown. Coach Glanville sent out Cole Murphy to attempt a 56-yard field goal, but could not secure the points for his team.

The Alphas had some success on their last drive of the half, moving the ball and adding to their lead. After a fantastic pass from Brian Lewerke to Ka-ronce Higgins they found the end-zone for the first time. The Alphas missed the first field goal attempt, but thanks to a Conquerors foul they had another opportunity. The second time around they made it between the uprights making it 13-0.

The Conquerors had little tome to work with in the half, but they did have all three of their timeouts. That wasn’t enough for Glanville and company though, ending out the half the same way it started; with zero on the scoreboard. Even worse, they fumbled the ball, giving the Alphas possession with three seconds left. Not wanting to attempt the long field goal, Coach Vass allowed Lewerke to end the half with a Hail Mary. They din’t get and extra points, but they did have a huge lead.

3rd Quarter

With a massive the lead the Alphas will take possession to start the half. Brain Lewerke will start out the half with the ball for his team, looking to build to their score. On the first pass of the drive, Lewerke almost threw it away for an interception, but luckily for them the Conq’s could hold onto control.

Unable to secure a first down, the team punted away on 4th & 13.

Getting his first gameplay of the day, former Seattle Dragons quarterback comes in for the Conquerors. He started it out just as the coaches had hoped, securing a 29-yard pass, moving the ball very well.

After only a few plays, Silvers had moved his team into the red-zone. This drive looked like a completely different Conquerors team than we saw in the first half. Continue to showcase his skills, Silvers dropped a perfect pass right into the end-zone to Jordan Salima, finally getting rid of that zero. With the extra-point, they we’re now in the game but still down 13-7.

The Alphas wanted to continue where they left off in the first half. Lewerke back in at QB have a few solid plays, but it didn’t end well. Lewerke threw a short underhand pass that he immediately regretted. The ball was picked off the Zach Hall, giving the Conquerors a change to take the lead for the first time today.

The Conquerors wanted to capitalize on the possession, but the luck didn’t continue. The Alphas defense went toe-to-toe with the Conq’s and intercepted the ball themselves. Not only that, JoJo Tillery went big with a 56-yard return, putting the Alphas very close to the goal-line.

Coach Vass knew exactly what to do in this position, opting to put Vad Lee back into the game. After secureing two goal-line touchdowns last week, Lee adds a third on this drive adding to their lead. The extra-point attempt was once agian no good, but they were now up 19-7.

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Silvers was back in and wanted to redeem his last drive. He looked like he did in his first drive, moving the ball and the chains. Near the 30, he decided to rush the ball himself only coming up 3-yards shy and one more chance to grab a first down. Trying their luck on the ground, they couldn’t get it done; wrapping up the third quarter.

4th Quarter

Down by 12, the Conquerors tried their luck on 4th down to start the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t convert giving the Alphas control early.

The Alphas had a commanding lead with just one quarter to go. This seemed to come out in their gameplay, as they seemed a bit more relaxed. This resulted in a quick turnover for the team, punting back to the Conquerors.

The Conquerors knew that time was running out. Silvers also wanted to show what he was made of. He was able to secure a huge first down after a nice pass to Tavonn Salter putting them into scoring position. With less than 10 minutes to go and in 4-down territory the team went for it on 4th & 4. Silvers was able to gain enough ground on a successful pass to Michael Bandy. This led to the next play which saw Silvers connecting with Michael Seybert for a touchdown. With the extra-point, they were now within striking distance.

With 8:13 left, it was anyones game. Vad Lee returned for the Alphas, and started with a nice rushing play bring them close to a first down. Showing his style, Lee found a hole and grabbed that first down he missed earlier, plus some extra yardage.

The game took a dark turn, when Shane Carpenter took a hard hit and was carted off the field. He was able to raise his hand, showing he was okay. This is just one of the circumstances of playing a game like professional football.

Lee continued with another rushing first down after almost being tackled after a blitz from the Conquerors defense. Lee determined to end the drive with another score, succeeding by connecting with Tevon Wright. With another extra-point on the board they now had a huge 26-14 lead over the Conquerors with 2:36 left.

With time running out and no timeouts left things were not looking good for the Conquerors. With two undefeated teams competing we knew one had to lose. Silvers moved the ball well, bringing them back into scoring position. This late in the game, the Conq’s would need to score and get the onside kick to have a chance.

After the touchdown, the Conquerors attempted the onside kick, but they could not get the ball back. With the Alphas back in control of the ball, they ran the clock out and stayed undefeated on the season. Both teams played great in today’s matchup, adn the Conquerors made a valiant effort at making a comeback win but came up just a bit short.

What did you think of the opening matchup for week two of The Spring League? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below or join the conversation on Discord.