The Florida Tuskers were four point favorites this week. They covered that mark easily.
It didn’t look like the game would go that way after the opening minutes. Quinn Gray and the New York Sentinels looked sharp, with a strong drive capped by a Gray to Craphonso Thorpe touchdown pass giving them the early lead. The Tuskers did not look nearly as sharp after kicker Matt Bryant missed an early field goal.
The Sentinels were up 10-0 when Brooks Bollinger was picked off by Paul Pratt who returned it to the one and earned a place in the history books with the first interception in the United Football League.
After that turnover it appeared that the Sentinels were going to take a 17-0 lead until LaBrandon Toefield fumbled into the end zone.
And then it was seemingly off to the races for the Tuskers.
Bollinger led a touchdown drive, capped with a touchdown pass to Frank Murphy, to bring the score to 10-7. Fakhir Brown then brought the Tuskers back on to the field with an interception off of Quinn Gray. The Sentinels blew a coverage leading to Taye Biddle hauling in a long touchdown pass from Bollinger to take a 14-13 lead into halftime, a result that few would have expected after the first quarter.
The Tuskers would take a 21-10 lead on the first drive and after another Sentinel turnover they would add to their total on a Tatum Bell touchdown run.
Brooks Bollinger would give way to Chris Griesen in the second half after a strong performance. He went 19 for 25 with 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception.
Tatum Bell looked like he belonged back in the NFL with a strong second half performance which came after the Tuskers line seemingly realized that they needed to start blocking. The Tuskers lines looked poor in the first half of the game which allowed the Sentinels to get off to a strong start.
By the end of the game the Tuskers would defeat the Sentinels 35-13 in front of 11,203 fans for their home debut.
More coverage:
Video Replay of the Game on FanHouse
it was 14-13 at halftime. Remember? The announcers thought Ted Cottrell would be happier with his team during his halftime speech for bringing it back within a point after allowing 14 straight.