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“THE ONLY YARDSTICK FOR SUCCESS IS BEING A CHAMPION. NO ONE REMEMBERS ANYTHING ELSE”- JOHN MADDEN

MAY 14, 2012

“MUSIC CITY MIRACLE II”- NASHVILLE STORM 26- WARREN COUNTY CYCLONES 21 ON MARIO MERRIWETHER’S MIRACLE 91-YARD PUNT RETURN AS TIME EXPIRES

SPECTACULAR PUNT RETURN AT FINAL HORN COMPLETES STORM COMEBACK FROM 21-7 2ND QUARTER DEFICIT “JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME” IN REMATCH OF 2011 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

STORM RB BATMAN MARTIN RUNS FOR A SHORT GAIN AGAINST A STOUT CYCONE DEFENSE- PHOTO BY MIKE CURRAN

“SUPER MARIO” MERRIWETHER (BETHEL COLLEGE) BREAKS TO DAYLIGHT ON THE 91- YARD TD PUNT RETURN THAT SNATCHED VICTORY FROM THE JAWS OF DEFEAT FOR THE NASHVILLE STORM- PHOTO BY MIKE CURRAN

PANDEMONIUM IN THE END ZONE AS STORM PLAYERS RUSH TO CONGRATULATE “SUPER MARIO” ON HIS GAME-WINNING PUNT RETURN- PHOTO BY MIKE CURRAN

On Saturday night, May 12, the Nashville Storm found out WHO THEIR MOST DETERMINED AND MOST HARDCORE 200 OR SO FANS WERE. Because the Nashville Storm’s home game against the Warren County Cyclones , which under normal conditions would be a really attractive home game to watch because it was a rematch of the 2011 Minor League Football National Championship Game (won by the Storm 18-13 in a really physical matchup in Warrenton, MO) was played in really miserable weather conditions that featured rainfall throughout the game which was REALLY HEAVY rainfall thru 2/3 of the contest. IF YOU SAW THIS GAME IN PERSON, YOUR BONAFIDES AS A NASHVILLE STORM FAN SHOULD NEVER AGAIN BE IN QUESTION. Especially if you saw ALL OF IT.

But sometimes suffering through miserable conditions BRINGS THE GREATEST REWARDS. The determined souls who paid $10 to cheer on the Storm in rain-soaked Buster Boguskie Stadium Saturday night SAW A FOOTBALL GAME THAT WOULD BE A BARGAIN AT $100, a heart-stopping thriller between 2 of America’s best minor league football teams that ended up decided by an unforgettable play, the kind of play you can tell your grandchildren about.

Nashville Storm WR/KR Mario Merriwether, one of 3 Nashville Storm players voted into the Nashville Storm Hall of Fame by Storm fans at the end of 2011, is a 5’10”, 175 pound bolt of lightning who has been a “home run threat” everywhere he’s played football. An All-State RB at Clarksville HS, Merriwether was converted into a Wide Receiver as a player at Bethel College. “Super Mario” became an excellent college Wide Receiver at Bethel, but was even more spectacular as a Punt and Kickoff returner--- and Merriwether was named as a 1st Team NAIA All-American as a Kick Returner his last year at Bethel. Merriwether is shifty and elusive and SPECTACULARLY fast even by NFL standards (at Bethel, Merriwether was reported to have run a 4.28 second 40-yard dash, and despite having been out of college for 7 years, he still consistently times at 4.4 or slightly less in the 40). In 2011, Merriwether caught 62 passes for 1183 yards and 10 TDs, while scoring 3 more TDs returning kicks (despite the fact that many teams kick away from him to prevent returns- in the Storm’s 2012 opener against the Clarksville Wolfpack, the Wolfpack deliberately kicked their only kickoff out of bounds, giving the Storm the ball at the Storm 40, rather than give Merriwether a return opportunity).

Merriwether, though, was never more spectacular than on Saturday night, May 12 ,2012 at Buster Boguskie Stadium, and as a result, the Nashville Storm moved to 3-0 in 2012 with a 26-21 victory over a Warren County Cyclone team that would have certainly defeated the Storm without Merriwether’s heroics.

This game couldn’t have started more explosively----- on the opening kickoff, Mario Merriwether gave the Storm a 7-0 lead by taking the opening kickoff 91 yards “to the house”.

THE STORM’S LEAD LASTED A GRAND TOTAL OF 19 SECONDS, AND THE STORM WOULDN’T LEAD AGAIN UNTIL THE GAME’S LAST PLAY. Because when the Storm kicked off to the Cyclones, the Cyclones’ McCray Harris quickly “returned the favor” by returning the kickoff 90 yards “to the house”to tie the ballgame 7-7 with only 32 seconds off the clock in the 1st Quarter.

That would be the only scoring in the 1st Quarter, though, as the defenses of both teams performed brilliantly in the wet playing conditions. The Storm did have one drive to the Cyclone 28 after QB Phellepe Hall hit Mario Merriwether for a 43-yard gain on a pass play, but the Storm were held on downs from that point. Meanwhile, the Cyclones went 3-and-out on their first 3 offensive possessions before getting a 4th possession at the Cyclone 38 in the last minute of the 1st Quarter when Cyclone LB Sergio Kahn intercepted a Phellepe Hall pass.

Cyclone QB Clayton Tunney (UCLA) got untracked in the last minute of the 1st Quarter, hitting Cyclone WR Jason Boyd (Arkansas State) with a 15 yard pass to give the Cyclones their 1st First Down of the game on the last play of the 1st Quarter .

The Cyclones’ drive continued into the 2nd Quarter, and Tunney put the Cyclones in “serious business” by hitting Tony King (University of Kansas) with a beautiful 33-yard pass that gave the Cyclones a First Down on the Nashville Storm 1-yard line. The Storm defensive front stiffened at that point, stuffing Keenan Miller (Missouri-Rolla) at the line of scrimmage on 1st down. Then on 2nd down, Storm DE Dedrick Tucker (Mississippi Valley State) nailed the Cyclones’ Deon Morris in the backfield for a 4-yard loss, giving the Cyclones 3rd and 5 at the Storm 5. Then, on 3rd down, Clayton Tunney lofted a pass on a fade route into the left corner of the end zone----- the ball was slightly overthrown, and Storm CB DeQuinn Watford (THE St Ambrose University) was actually closer to the ball than the Cyclone receiver, who appeared to bump Watford from behind. But the referees threw a Pass Interference flag on Watford, giving the Cyclones 1st down at the Storm 1-yard line once again. From there, Clayton Tunney scored from the 1 on a QB sneak on the very next play, giving the Cyclones a 14-7 lead with 10:27 left in the 2nd Quarter.

Mario Merriwether returned the ensuing kickoff 50 yards to the Cyclone 47, and after Phellepe Hall hit Storm WR Marquis Douglas (Whites Creek HS) with a 13-yard pass, the Storm appeared to be in business at the Cyclone 34. However, Hall threw his 2nd interception of the game on the next play, as Cyclone CB Kelvin Wiliams (Westminister College) won a battle for the football in the end zone.

The Cyclones, on their ensuing possession, boldly went for a first down on 4th and 1 from their 29-yard line, but the Storm defensive front stuffed Cyclone RB Keenan Miller on 4th down at the line of scrimmage, giving the Storm the ball on the Cyclone 29. This went for naught, though, when Phellepe Hall threw 3 straight incompletions on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th down from the Cyclone 26.

From there, Clayton Tunney went back to work, leading the Cyclones to paydirt on and 8-play, 76-yard TD drive capped by a pretty 38-yard TD pass on 4th and 2 from Tunney to Jason Boyd (Arkansas State), raising the Cyclone lead to 21-7 with 2:02 left in the first half.

However, the Storm offense finally came alive in the last 2 minutes of the first half. After Mario Merriwether’s 28-yard kickoff return gave the Storm the ball at the Storm 45, Phellepe Hall hit WR Steve Hendricks (STRATFORD HS) for 14 yards, Marquis Douglas for 15, and then hit Jeremie “Bird” Whittaker with a 26 yard TD strike to cut the Cyclone lead to 21-13. However on the extra point attempt, holder Matt Overton (Gallatin HS) had to field a slightly off-center snap and rolled out and tossed a shovel pass to Storm TE Jacques Kessee. The alert Cyclone kick defense unit, though, tackled Kessee at the 1-yard line, denying the 2-point conversion. This left the Cyclones with a 21-13 lead over the Storm at the halftime break.

The Cyclones got the ball to start the 2nd half, but on the Cyclones’ 3rd offensive play, Nashville Storm S Marcus Hill (McGavock/TSU) intercepted Clayton Tunney’s deep pass attempt at the Storm 40. After one first down, the stadium ‘s fans got a very anxious few minutes when Mario Merrwether landed awkwardly trying to catch a Phellepe Hall pass and had to be attended to on the ground by Storm trainers before being helped to his feet and walking off the field to the sideline----- appearing to be through for the night, if not longer.

The next play was a 3rd and 15 from the Storm 46----- Storm QB Phellepe Hall shocked both the crowd and the Cyclones by pulling the ball down and running 16 yards for a first down at the Cyclone 38. The Storm had substituted in CB DeQuinn Watford for Merriwether at WR, and on the very next play, the substitution worked like a charm when Phellepe Hall went “downtown” to Watford for a 38-yard TD pass with 9:57 left in the 3rd Qusrter. Storm K David Campbell (Tennessee) added the extra point to cut the Cyclone lead to 21-20.

From this point until the game’s last 2 minutes, the game reverted back into a defense-dominated struggle---- the Cyclones got only 1 first down on their next 4 offensive possessions , and the Storm’s only significant drive , a late 3rdquarter/early 4th quarter drive from the Storm 1-yard line to the Cyclone 42, ended when Storm RB Randall Tillery fumbled and the Cyclones recovered. In the meantime, though, there was one very significant development------ Mario Merriwether reentered the game as the Storm’s punt returner.

When Storm P Eli Spallinger punted to the Cyclones with 2 minutes to play at the Cyclone 22, the Cyclones appeared to have a chance to run out the clock and win a 1-point victory----- and when Cyclone RB Deon Morris ripped off a 41-yard run to the Storm 37-yard line, this began to become very likely. However, on the next 3 plays, the Storm defense stuffed the Cyclone runners for (-5) yards on tackles for losses by Storm DTs Danny Roberson (TSU) and B.J. Taylor (UT-Chattanooga). The Cyclones took a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty on 4th down to back the ball up to the Storm 47, and then lined up to punt the ball with 15 seconds left on the clock.

THE REST IS HISTORY THAT WILL BE REMEMBERED FOREVER BY THOSE WHO SAW IT. Mario Merriwether catches the ball on one hop at the Nashville Storm 9 and makes 3 Cyclone tacklers miss as he angles toward the home sideline, where he breaks into the clear at about the Storm 40. From there, Merriwether “turns on the afterburners” and streaks down the home sideline, Cyclone tacklers in pursuit. The final horn goes off with Merriwether about 15 yards from the end zone. THEY’RE NOT GOING TO CATCH HIM. NO FLAGS. TOUCHDOWN.

BALLGAME. 26-21, NASHVILLE STORM.

NOTES ON THE GAME:

• Mario Merriwether finished with an astonishing 260 yards on kickoff and punt returns for the game----- 3 kickoff returns for 169 yards and I TD, and the 91-yard punt return that won the game. Cyclone K/P Jonas Rodriguez punted 8 times in the game, and Merriwether’s TD was the only Cyclone punt that was returned.
• Nashville Storm P Eli Spallinger was a very valuable player for the Storm----- averaging 40.4 yards on 5 punts with no return yards, and getting the Storm 2 first downs from the punt formation----- one on a roughing the kicker penalty, the other on an 11-yard first down run.
• In the total offense battle, the Storm outgained the Cyclones 289-187. The Storm had 205 passing yards and 84 rushing yards, while the Cyclones had 122 passing yards (all but 2 in the 1st half) and 65 rushing yards (41 of which came on 1 run by Deon Morris in the last 2 minutes of the game). The Storm, though, committed 3 turnovers to just 1 for the Cyclones.
• Batman Martin led the Storm runners with 47 yards in 11 carries. Jeremie “Bird” Whittaker led the Storm receivers with 4 catches for 55 yards and 1 TD, while Marquis Douglas had 3 catches for 40 yards. Mario Merriwether’s 2 catches for 46 yards gave Mario 306 total yards on the night.
• Storm QB Phellepe Hall (Maplewood/TSU) was 14 for 31 passing for 205 yards, 2 TD passes and 2 INTs. This was actually Hall’s 2nd football game of the day----- Hall had played QB for the Maplewood alumni team that played a Stratford alumni team in an afternoon game at Buster Boguskie S tadium to raise funds for a new weightroom at Stratford.
• All-time-great Nashville Storm DE LONNIE HARRIS (Arkansas-Pine Bluff), a 4-time Minor League Football News All-American, retired after the 2011 season (where he was still highly productive with 9.5 QB sacks for the season). THIS RETIREMENT LASTED ALL OF 2 GAMES. Saturday, night, Harris was back in his familiar #95 and actually played some snaps inside at DT (with Harris’ return, former Austin Peay DE Chris Newell now wears #46 for the Storm).
• Dedrick Tucker (Mississippi Valley State), who played as a rotation DT the last 2 years for the Storm, is having a spectacular year after being moved to DE. Tucker had 2.5 TFLs and 1 QB sack against the Cyclones.
• Former Franklin HS All-State and University of Tennessee kicker David Campbell hit both of his extra point attempts (there was no extra point attempt after Merriwether’s game-winning punt return, as both sides decided it would be redundant with time expired), and showed excellent distance on kickoffs in some miserable weather conditions.

SATURDAY NIGHT, MAY 19- “THE BATTLE OF NASHVILLE”- NASHVILLE STORM @MUSIC CITY STARS

FORMER NASHVILLE STORM DE ROBBY SPEARS HAD A SUCCESSFUL 2011 DEBUT AS A TEAM OWNER- CAN HE “UP THE ANTE” IN 2012 AND CHALLENGE THE NASHVILLE STORM FOR LOCAL SUPREMACY? HERE’S WHERE WE FIND OUT

NOTE: ALTHOUGH THIS FOOTBALL GAME IS BEING PLAYED IN NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, THE NASHVILLE STORM ARE THE VISITING TEAM.

THE PLACE- THE FORMER TPS FOOTBALL STADIUM (CURRENTLY THE HOME FIELD OF THE EAST LITERATURE MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM), 1164 FOSTER AVENUE, NASHVILLE, TN 37210.

THE TIME- SATURDAY, MAY 19. THE FESTIVITIES START AT 5:00 PM WITH THE NASHVILLE STORM TAILGATE PARTY (NOTED BELOW), ADMISSION GATE OPENS AT 6 PM, KICKOFF IS AT 7 PM.

THE TEAMS- THE MUSIC CITY STARS ARE OPENING THEIR SECOND SEASON, AND WERE A VERY GOOD TEAM IN THEIR FIRST, POSTING A 7-3 SEASON AND A DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP. THEIR OWNER IS FORMER NASHVILLE STORM DE ROBBY SPEARS, AND HE'S WON SEVERAL RECRUITING BATTLES FOR LOCAL PLAYERS THE NASHVILLE STORM WANTED, SO THIS GAME WILL HAVE FUTURE RAMIFICATIONS FOR BOTH PROGRAMS.

THE NASHVILLE STORM ( http://www.nashvillestormonline.com ) ARE, OF COURSE, THE DEFENDING 2010 AND 2011 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS OF MINOR LEAGUE FOOTBALL, AND ARE 3-0 IN 2012 AFTER SATURDAY NIGHT'S "MUSIC CITY MIRACLE II", WHERE THE STORM, AFTER TRAILING THE WARREN COUNTY CYCLONES (THE STORM'S OPPONENT IN THE 2011 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME) FOR 59 MINUTES AND 45 SECONDS, WON THE GAME 26-21 ON MARIO MERRIWETHER'S 91-YARD TD PUNT RETURN ON THE GAME'S LAST PLAY.

THE COST- ALL ADMISSION TICKETS ARE $5.00. STORM FANS WHO HAVE COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS SHOULD NOTE THAT THEY ARE NOT USABLE HERE, SINCE THE MUSIC CITY STARS ARE HOSTING THE GAME.

SPECIAL NASHVILLE STORM TAILGATE PARTY- STARTS AT 5 PM IN THE PARKING LOT AT THE SITE OF THE GAME: THE HOST WILL BE KIM TUCKER OF THE REAL MOMS OF EAST NASHVILLE, WHO WILL BE SELLING SOME OF THE MOST DELICIOUS CHARCOAL-GRILLED FOOD EVER FROM HER GRILLING STAND DECKED OUT IN NASHVILLE STORM PURPLE. A GREAT START TO A BIG NIGHT OF FOOTBALL.

WHO "OWNS" NASHVILLE MINOR LEAGUE FOOTBALL????? FIND OUT THIS SATURDAY NIGHT!