Cant Weather The Storm

The Xpress traveled to Long view to take on a Storm team that was looking to rebound from a lost to the Sharks the week before. On the Xpress 1st possession the Offense moved the ball successfully on the ground and moved the ball down to the storm 15 yard line only to have Nelson snap the ball in the ground and the Xpress missed a opportunity to get 3 points early. The Xpress defense got the team out to an early lead when they forced a turnover and middle LB Sam Crawford took it in for the first score of the game, the extra point was no good and at the beginning of the 2ND quarter the Xpress were leading 6-0. The Storm would not go away they immediately went to the air and threw a 39 yard T.D. to take a 7-6 lead. The Xpress offense continued to have problems moving the ball. After a Matlock punt the Storm went to the air again this time scoring on a 27 yard T.D. that put the Storm up 14-6. The Xpress got an excellent return from return specialist Isiah Johnson down to the Storm 15 yard line, with 28 seconds left to go in the half and knowing the team would come away with a least 3 points, only to have Nelson get sacked after holding the ball too long and another 3 points left on the field. At the start of the second half Isiah Johnson Took the opening kick-off down to the Storm 22 yard line, and once again the Xpress came away with no points. After the Xpress defense forced a punt the Xpress inserted back-up quarter back James Chism and immediately received a spark when Chism hooked up with Larry Cooper on a 48 yard pass 4 plays later Rocky Frank took it in from 6 yards out, the 2 point conversion was good by Guy Smith and to start the 4Th quarter the score was tied 14-14, The Xpress had many opportunities to score but could not capitalize on the many turnovers that the Xpress defense forced throughout the game. In the end the Xpress lose another close one this time in overtime 20-14.

Re Signing

The DFW Xpress released Michael Cotton only to resign him hours later. Coach Vernon had decided to release Mr. Cotton because of his lack of attendance at practice. Coach Vernon was notified by Mr. Cotton on why he had been missing team practices, the conversation lasted about 5 mins and end the end Cotton was resigned. I personally want to apologize to Mr. Cotton for the miscommunication on my part on the mistake of releasing him.

Released

The DFW Xpress have released Wide Receiver Michael Cotton, for conduct detrimental to the team. Mr.Cotton who was coming off a career game against the Sharks with 3 catches for 90 yards and a T.D. in the Xpress 7-6 win. The Xpress tried diligently to satisfy the Star receiver but could not get him to give full commitment to the team. What started out to as promising signing for the Xpress ended up as a disappointing lost for the team. The Xpress have released two star wide outs in the past month because of both players lack of practice participation. What this does for the Xpress it puts the roll players in a position to step up and produce. Players like Melvin Harris, Larry Cooper, and Andrew Ruben, and with the re-signing of Rocky Frank the Xpress offense will be fine. The Xpress wish Mr. Cotton the best and maybe both sides can come to an agreement on re-signing him for the 2011 season.

Xpress Capture Sharks

The Xpress and Sharks played for the 2nd time in 2 weeks, both teams had something to prove, the Xpress wanted to prove that the team did not need a late game F.G. to beat the Sharks, and the Sharks wanted to prove that the Xpress late game heroics was a fluke. The Xpress made some position changes, starting back up Q.B. James Chism, taking T.E. K. Matlock and moving him to W.R. and starting Guy Smith at R.B. The mind set was to try and just start the offense early. Chism showed his game inexperience fumbling 2 snaps losing one of them, and showing more of his talent to run rather then displaying his arm. Guy Smith and Ron Hallum were effective running the ball but the offensive consistently made mistakes with penalty's. The game was tied 0-0 with the Xpress manageing to rack up more offensive yards then the Sharks. At the start of the 4Th quarter and the score still tied 0-0 the Xpress inserted Kevin Nelson back in at Q.B. and he took the Xpress down field on a 5 play 75 yard drive while completing 3-4 passes the last completion to Michael Cotton for the only Xpress T.D. with a Cadenas kick the Xpress were leading 7-0. On the in suing kickoff the Sharks got a excellent return that could have been a T.D. but kicker Cadenas made a game tackling T.D. save at the Xpress 45 yard line. The Sharks pounded the ball down to the 3 yard line and 1 play later the score was now 7-6, Coach Hambrick head coach of the Sharks decided to go for the win and opted to go for 2 and the Xpress defense stepped up and made the stop. The Sharks kicked-off to the Xpress and the Xpress took over at their own 42 yard line, the Xpress managed to have little success running the football late in the game and on 4 and 3 at the Sharks 36 yard line the Xpress were stopped 2 yards short of the first down marker. The Sharks took over at their own 35 yard line with 1:23 seconds left to go in the game, but on the second play of the series CB. Chris Hicks picked up a fumble returned 13 yards to the Sharks 22 yard line, and that sealed the game for the Xpress, and gave the Xpress the tie breaker over the Sharks.

Outlaws Out Run Xpress

In a game that was suppose to be a offensive display turned out to be a defensive ball game. Both teams showed how good their defenses were and how stagnant their offense can be. The Outlaws were coming off a dismantled win over the East Texas Storm 42-18 while the Xpress were coming in on an emotional high after winning a nail biter over an undefeated Terrell Sharks team. The Xpress offense has been sputtering the past few weeks and has had to rely on it's defense to win games for the team. Chris Hicks the 2009 Xpress rookie of the year helped the Xpress get on the board first with a fumble recovery and return for a T.D. QB Kevin Nelson scored on the very next play for a 2 point conversion, that put the Xpress up 8-0. The Outlaws did not score until late in the 3rd quarter to narrow the lead to 8-6. Both defenses continued to play hard, forcing the Outlaws to punt, Punt returner sensation Isiah Johnson took the ball from the Xpress 27 and returned it to the Outlaws 33 yard line the offense then moved the ball down to the 17 that was as far as the Xpress could get before the offense had to rely on points from Kicking sensation Nestor Cadenas as he kicked a 34 yard F.G. to put the Xpress up 11-6. The outlaws never gave up, this time with less then 7 minutes left to go in the game the Outlaws Q.B. found one of his favorite targets for a late game T.D. and give the Xpress their 2nd defeat of the season 12-11.

XPRESS CAPTURE SHARKS

March 27th The DFW Xpress took a road trip down to Terrell to take on an unbeaten Terrell Sharks the results were a slim win for the home town heroes. With many changes occurring , from players being demoted, players quitting the team, and players having injuries did not stop the Xpress from being victorious. Several Players stepped up their game, backup RB Jesse Wyatt scored the Xpress only T.D. of the game with a 3 yard plunge off the left side of the line, James Roberts had a career high in rushing attempts with 17 carries for 62 yards, 2009 all star nominee Chris choice had 4 receptions for over 40 yards, and Melvin Harris had 3 catches for over 44 yards. The Xpress nasty defense gave up only 5 first down the entire game. With the score being 7-0 in favor of the Xpress, going into the middle of the 3rd quarter the team seemed to self destruct! first back-up quarter James Chism was caught in the end zone for a safety. On the next Xpress offensive series Xpress starting QB Kevin Nelson threw a pass intended for Chris Choice and the pass was intercepted and run back for a 37 yard T.D. and just like that a 7-0 lead was now a 9-7 turnaround. Late in the 4Th quarter the Xpress defense performed another miracle for the Xpress offense the Defense forced a punt by the Sharks and the Xpress started on the sharks 47 yard line, Nelson then scrambled for a first down taking the ball down to he Sharks 31 yard line where Nestor Cadenas kicked a career long and game winning 48 yard F.G. with just 23 seconds left to go in the game.