Week 1
HARMAR HURRICANES VS. SHENANGO VALLEY STORM
It didn’t take long for the fans and players of Shenango Valley to see why the men from Harmarville call themselves the ‘Hurricanes.’ On his very first offensive play, Harmarville quarterback Camdin Crouse fired a 40-yard bomb to wideout Stephen Conto to give his team a quick 6-0 lead. Harmarville lit up the scoreboard seven times in all, en route to a devastating 46-20 victory.
Crouse did most of the damage to Shanango Valley as he figured in on all but one of the Hurricanes touchdowns. The former Robert Morris signal caller and the team’s current quarterbacks’ coach, hooked up with Conto three times through the air while also collecting two rushing scores. Crouse capped off his night with a receiving touchdown off a reverse.
Defensive back Bob Reiter, who was also a solid force of offense, scored the Hurricanes other touchdown as he returned an interception 45 yards midway through the second half.
While Harmarville controlled the action for most of the game, the Storm kept the contest somewhat close in the first half. Despite falling into a 14-0 hole early on, Shenango Valley narrowed the gap to six, when quarterback Seth Powell, after bobbling the snap, scrambled to his left and then back toward the middle of the field and found Will Peake in the endzone. Running back Ike Griffin hammered his way to paydirt on the conversion and the Storm seemed to be right back in the game.
It didn’t last long as the dynamic duo of Crouse and Conto connected for the second time to help the Hurricanes regain their double-digit lead. While the first score between the two was an easy throw and catch, this time Conto had to battle his way into the endzone. The wideout hauled in a pass on the far sideline around the five-yard line, fought off a defender and was able to give his team a 20-8 lead.
Before the half, Shenango Valley again closed within six when Powell connected with Chris Hunt from a few yards away, but that was as close as they would get. The Hurricanes scored the next three touchdowns and finished with an easy 26-point victory.
Week 2
PITTSBURGH REBELS VS. HARMAR HURRICANES *GAME OF THE WEEK*
It was originally billed as the ‘Game of the Week,’ but, ultimately, it may end up being the battle of the year. Whatever you want to call it, the clash between the Pittsburgh Rebels and the Harmarville Hurricanes was everything and more for the packed house at Pittsburgh’s Premier Indoor Sports Arena.
After numerous lead changes through the first 50-plus minutes of action, the Rebels found pay dirt for the final time when quarterback Larry Carson hooked up with receiver Jamar White with less than a minute remaining to claim a 26-20 victory. While the play took just seconds to complete, it was something that the duo was building toward the entire game.
“I saw (the defensive backs) inching up on me all game,” White said. “We got together and I said we need to run a hitch and go. I knew it would work. It was such a bang-bang play, I didn’t have time to think. I just ran and caught it.”
With the score knotted at 20-20, it was the Hurricanes who seemed poised to take the lead as they moved into Pittsburgh territory with less than three minutes remaining. But after a solid gain on first down, the Rebels defense stiffened thanks to two tremendous tackles in the backfield by lineman Brandon Carter. The first came after a fake handoff as Hurricanes’ quarterback Camdin Crouse tried to sneak his way up the middle of the field. Carter, who was a defensive menace all game, leveled Crouse again, this time deep in the backfield, as the Rebels secondary had all of quarterbacks’ options locked up. On fourth down, Crouse again was unable to find anybody downfield and, after scrambling out of the pocket, came well short of the first down marker. The Rebels took over on downs and that’s when Carson and White, literally, completed the job.
“I don’t know if Jamar called (the touchdown play), but it was something we definitely saw as the game was going on,” Carson said. “We talked about it and we knew sooner or later we could get it.”
Harmarville began the game similar to how it started last week’s contest, as Crouse hooked up with his favorite target, wideout Stephon Conto, for the games’ first score. The conversion failed and just like that, Harmarville had a familiar 6-0 lead.
But, unlike last week, the Hurricanes’ opponents had an answer. It took the Rebels just two plays to tie the game at six as Carson scored on an eight-yard run.
After a Hurricanes turnover, Carson led his team on another scoring drive before capping it off on what could be considered the longest play in arena football history. Carson, who was a former three-sport star at Sto-Rox High School and a outfield prospect in the Montreal Expos and Baltimore Orioles farm system, scrambled left, right, in and out of the pocket, for what seemed to be an eternity. It appeared to be a futile effort as the Harmarville defense finally closed in, but Carson somehow found White in the right side of the endzone. This time the kick was good and Pittsburgh took a 13-6 lead.
Harmarville didn’t back down, however as they had a couple answers of their own. The Hurricanes scored on their next drive, finally converted on their conversion attempt, and took a 14-13 lead into the locker room. After nearly 20 minutes of scoreless play to start the second half, Harmarville again scored to stretch its lead to 20-13. It didn’t last long, however as Pittsburgh was determined to claim victory. The squad scored on their next two possessions and held on to improve to a perfect 2-0.
“Those guys definitely gave us a battle,” Carter said. “We knew it would be hard fought. Maybe not this hard, but it was well worth it. It was a good win.”
With the loss, Harmarville fell to 1-1.
Week 3
HARMAR HURRICANES vs. STEEL CITY SPEED
PISA’s indoor football league could be witnessing a rebirth of the NFL’s “Greatest Show on Turf.” While it’s unlikely any members of the St. Louis Rams’ Super Bowl winning team will be making a return to the gridiron, a few players from the Harmarville Hurricanes did a great job filling in as the former stars.
Quarterback Camdin Crouse played the role of Kurt Warner as he threw four touchdowns to three different receivers to help lead Harmarville to a 34-2 drubbing over Steel City.
Wideout Bob Reiter caught the first two scoring passes as the former Springdale Dynamo looked perfect for the part of Isaac Bruce. On the Hurricanes’ first possession, Reiter hauled in a quick pass, shed a couple of would-be tacklers, then dove head-first into the endzone. The conversion run was good and Harmarville quickly grabbed an 8-0 advantage.
Steel City turned the ball over on its opening drive and immediately the show continued as Crouse hooked up with Reiter again, this time from 46 yards out.
Reiter, isolated on the right, made a quick move on his defender, then quickly turned on the jets as Crouse lofted a bomb down the field that landed softly in Bruce’s, correction, Reiter’s hands.
“It was a stutter and go,” Reiter said. “The dude bit on the first move and I was gone. (Crouse) threw a perfect pass and it was pretty easy.”
Both teams failed to put points on the board in their next few possessions and the score remained 14-0 until another one of Crouse’s receivers got in the act. This time it was the reliable Stephen Conto.
Playing the position of Torry Holt, Conto has been the Hurricanes’ go-to guy all season. In two games, Conto has reached pay dirt five times, four in Week 1 alone. He made it number six on the season when he caught another long scoring pass from Crouse, this one from 45 yards away.
Toheeb Akinola, with an obscure name like former Rams’ receiver Az-zahir Hakim, pulled off the final imitation as he grabbed Crouse’s fourth scoring pass to push the Harmarville lead to 26. Crouse capped off the act with a 13-yard scoring run and a two-point conversion attempt late in the second half. Steel City recorded a last-minute safety, but the show was already over.
With the win, Harmarville pushed its record to 2-1 while the Speed dropped to 0-3.
WEEK 4
SHENANGO VALLEY STORM vs. HARMAR HURRICANES
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
On opening night of the PISA Indoor Football season, Shenango Valley and Harmar squared off in a high-scoring affair that concluded with 66 total points. Harmar scored on their first offensive play and never looked back en route to a 46-20 victory.
Fast forward three weeks and this time it was Shenango Valley that jumped out of the gates early and found pay dirt on their opening drive. While the Storm certainly proved to be much tougher in the second go-round, Harmar again led at the final buzzer and walked away with a 36-24 win.
As was the case in the first meeting between the two teams, fans were blessed with an offensive barrage. This time, however, the battle was much tighter as the two teams exchanged the lead six times. While they trailed for the entire 60 minutes in game one, Shenango Valley (1-3) actually held a narrow two-point lead with less than eight minutes remaining in the second tilt. But again, Hurricanes’ quarterback Camdin Crouse and his high-flying offense proved to be too much as they scored the games final 14 points to help their squad improve to 3-1 on the season.
The game-winner came with a little over four minutes on the clock as Crouse hit wideout Bob Reiter on a deep post from nearly 40 yards out. Reiter, who also scored the Hurricanes’ first touchdown, said the play was “designed” seconds before it happened.
“We were in the huddle and (Crouse) just told me to run a post,” Reiter said. “We had our two other guys run hitches and I just beat the safety on the backside.”
Reiter’s teammate, Stephen Conto, put the icing on the victory cake and matched his teammate’s two-touchdown night with the games final score with less than 30 seconds remaining. While both of Reiter’s scores came threw the air, Conto scored one by way of the pass and the other by way of the run. It was the second time the duo finished the game with multiple touchdowns. Reiter did it last week against Steel City, while Conto posted four in the season opener.
Not too be outdone was Mario Poston who racked up well over 100 return yards for the Hurricanes. The 5-foot-7 lightning rod, posted a 41-yard touchdown jolt just before the half and nearly sent the packed house into a frenzy to start the second half as he just missed setting a PISA record with number two.
For the Storm, quarterback Cle Ragster led the way as he figured in on all four of his team’s touchdowns. Ragster was a duel threat as he posted two passing and two rushing scores.
HARMAR HURRICANES VS. SHENANGO VALLEY STORM
It didn’t take long for the fans and players of Shenango Valley to see why the men from Harmarville call themselves the ‘Hurricanes.’ On his very first offensive play, Harmarville quarterback Camdin Crouse fired a 40-yard bomb to wideout Stephen Conto to give his team a quick 6-0 lead. Harmarville lit up the scoreboard seven times in all, en route to a devastating 46-20 victory.
Crouse did most of the damage to Shanango Valley as he figured in on all but one of the Hurricanes touchdowns. The former Robert Morris signal caller and the team’s current quarterbacks’ coach, hooked up with Conto three times through the air while also collecting two rushing scores. Crouse capped off his night with a receiving touchdown off a reverse.
Defensive back Bob Reiter, who was also a solid force of offense, scored the Hurricanes other touchdown as he returned an interception 45 yards midway through the second half.
While Harmarville controlled the action for most of the game, the Storm kept the contest somewhat close in the first half. Despite falling into a 14-0 hole early on, Shenango Valley narrowed the gap to six, when quarterback Seth Powell, after bobbling the snap, scrambled to his left and then back toward the middle of the field and found Will Peake in the endzone. Running back Ike Griffin hammered his way to paydirt on the conversion and the Storm seemed to be right back in the game.
It didn’t last long as the dynamic duo of Crouse and Conto connected for the second time to help the Hurricanes regain their double-digit lead. While the first score between the two was an easy throw and catch, this time Conto had to battle his way into the endzone. The wideout hauled in a pass on the far sideline around the five-yard line, fought off a defender and was able to give his team a 20-8 lead.
Before the half, Shenango Valley again closed within six when Powell connected with Chris Hunt from a few yards away, but that was as close as they would get. The Hurricanes scored the next three touchdowns and finished with an easy 26-point victory.
Week 2
PITTSBURGH REBELS VS. HARMAR HURRICANES *GAME OF THE WEEK*
It was originally billed as the ‘Game of the Week,’ but, ultimately, it may end up being the battle of the year. Whatever you want to call it, the clash between the Pittsburgh Rebels and the Harmarville Hurricanes was everything and more for the packed house at Pittsburgh’s Premier Indoor Sports Arena.
After numerous lead changes through the first 50-plus minutes of action, the Rebels found pay dirt for the final time when quarterback Larry Carson hooked up with receiver Jamar White with less than a minute remaining to claim a 26-20 victory. While the play took just seconds to complete, it was something that the duo was building toward the entire game.
“I saw (the defensive backs) inching up on me all game,” White said. “We got together and I said we need to run a hitch and go. I knew it would work. It was such a bang-bang play, I didn’t have time to think. I just ran and caught it.”
With the score knotted at 20-20, it was the Hurricanes who seemed poised to take the lead as they moved into Pittsburgh territory with less than three minutes remaining. But after a solid gain on first down, the Rebels defense stiffened thanks to two tremendous tackles in the backfield by lineman Brandon Carter. The first came after a fake handoff as Hurricanes’ quarterback Camdin Crouse tried to sneak his way up the middle of the field. Carter, who was a defensive menace all game, leveled Crouse again, this time deep in the backfield, as the Rebels secondary had all of quarterbacks’ options locked up. On fourth down, Crouse again was unable to find anybody downfield and, after scrambling out of the pocket, came well short of the first down marker. The Rebels took over on downs and that’s when Carson and White, literally, completed the job.
“I don’t know if Jamar called (the touchdown play), but it was something we definitely saw as the game was going on,” Carson said. “We talked about it and we knew sooner or later we could get it.”
Harmarville began the game similar to how it started last week’s contest, as Crouse hooked up with his favorite target, wideout Stephon Conto, for the games’ first score. The conversion failed and just like that, Harmarville had a familiar 6-0 lead.
But, unlike last week, the Hurricanes’ opponents had an answer. It took the Rebels just two plays to tie the game at six as Carson scored on an eight-yard run.
After a Hurricanes turnover, Carson led his team on another scoring drive before capping it off on what could be considered the longest play in arena football history. Carson, who was a former three-sport star at Sto-Rox High School and a outfield prospect in the Montreal Expos and Baltimore Orioles farm system, scrambled left, right, in and out of the pocket, for what seemed to be an eternity. It appeared to be a futile effort as the Harmarville defense finally closed in, but Carson somehow found White in the right side of the endzone. This time the kick was good and Pittsburgh took a 13-6 lead.
Harmarville didn’t back down, however as they had a couple answers of their own. The Hurricanes scored on their next drive, finally converted on their conversion attempt, and took a 14-13 lead into the locker room. After nearly 20 minutes of scoreless play to start the second half, Harmarville again scored to stretch its lead to 20-13. It didn’t last long, however as Pittsburgh was determined to claim victory. The squad scored on their next two possessions and held on to improve to a perfect 2-0.
“Those guys definitely gave us a battle,” Carter said. “We knew it would be hard fought. Maybe not this hard, but it was well worth it. It was a good win.”
With the loss, Harmarville fell to 1-1.
Week 3
HARMAR HURRICANES vs. STEEL CITY SPEED
PISA’s indoor football league could be witnessing a rebirth of the NFL’s “Greatest Show on Turf.” While it’s unlikely any members of the St. Louis Rams’ Super Bowl winning team will be making a return to the gridiron, a few players from the Harmarville Hurricanes did a great job filling in as the former stars.
Quarterback Camdin Crouse played the role of Kurt Warner as he threw four touchdowns to three different receivers to help lead Harmarville to a 34-2 drubbing over Steel City.
Wideout Bob Reiter caught the first two scoring passes as the former Springdale Dynamo looked perfect for the part of Isaac Bruce. On the Hurricanes’ first possession, Reiter hauled in a quick pass, shed a couple of would-be tacklers, then dove head-first into the endzone. The conversion run was good and Harmarville quickly grabbed an 8-0 advantage.
Steel City turned the ball over on its opening drive and immediately the show continued as Crouse hooked up with Reiter again, this time from 46 yards out.
Reiter, isolated on the right, made a quick move on his defender, then quickly turned on the jets as Crouse lofted a bomb down the field that landed softly in Bruce’s, correction, Reiter’s hands.
“It was a stutter and go,” Reiter said. “The dude bit on the first move and I was gone. (Crouse) threw a perfect pass and it was pretty easy.”
Both teams failed to put points on the board in their next few possessions and the score remained 14-0 until another one of Crouse’s receivers got in the act. This time it was the reliable Stephen Conto.
Playing the position of Torry Holt, Conto has been the Hurricanes’ go-to guy all season. In two games, Conto has reached pay dirt five times, four in Week 1 alone. He made it number six on the season when he caught another long scoring pass from Crouse, this one from 45 yards away.
Toheeb Akinola, with an obscure name like former Rams’ receiver Az-zahir Hakim, pulled off the final imitation as he grabbed Crouse’s fourth scoring pass to push the Harmarville lead to 26. Crouse capped off the act with a 13-yard scoring run and a two-point conversion attempt late in the second half. Steel City recorded a last-minute safety, but the show was already over.
With the win, Harmarville pushed its record to 2-1 while the Speed dropped to 0-3.
WEEK 4
SHENANGO VALLEY STORM vs. HARMAR HURRICANES
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
On opening night of the PISA Indoor Football season, Shenango Valley and Harmar squared off in a high-scoring affair that concluded with 66 total points. Harmar scored on their first offensive play and never looked back en route to a 46-20 victory.
Fast forward three weeks and this time it was Shenango Valley that jumped out of the gates early and found pay dirt on their opening drive. While the Storm certainly proved to be much tougher in the second go-round, Harmar again led at the final buzzer and walked away with a 36-24 win.
As was the case in the first meeting between the two teams, fans were blessed with an offensive barrage. This time, however, the battle was much tighter as the two teams exchanged the lead six times. While they trailed for the entire 60 minutes in game one, Shenango Valley (1-3) actually held a narrow two-point lead with less than eight minutes remaining in the second tilt. But again, Hurricanes’ quarterback Camdin Crouse and his high-flying offense proved to be too much as they scored the games final 14 points to help their squad improve to 3-1 on the season.
The game-winner came with a little over four minutes on the clock as Crouse hit wideout Bob Reiter on a deep post from nearly 40 yards out. Reiter, who also scored the Hurricanes’ first touchdown, said the play was “designed” seconds before it happened.
“We were in the huddle and (Crouse) just told me to run a post,” Reiter said. “We had our two other guys run hitches and I just beat the safety on the backside.”
Reiter’s teammate, Stephen Conto, put the icing on the victory cake and matched his teammate’s two-touchdown night with the games final score with less than 30 seconds remaining. While both of Reiter’s scores came threw the air, Conto scored one by way of the pass and the other by way of the run. It was the second time the duo finished the game with multiple touchdowns. Reiter did it last week against Steel City, while Conto posted four in the season opener.
Not too be outdone was Mario Poston who racked up well over 100 return yards for the Hurricanes. The 5-foot-7 lightning rod, posted a 41-yard touchdown jolt just before the half and nearly sent the packed house into a frenzy to start the second half as he just missed setting a PISA record with number two.
For the Storm, quarterback Cle Ragster led the way as he figured in on all four of his team’s touchdowns. Ragster was a duel threat as he posted two passing and two rushing scores.