Saturday. August 6th 2016 the Tri-City Outlaws defeated the Steel City Patriots by a score of 29 – 18 and advanced to the NFC semi-finals. The Outlaws will travel to Sarnia next to Saturday, August the 13th to play the division leading Sarnia Imperials. The Outlaws had to come behind with the Patriots scoring first on a touchdown late in the first quarter.
With a 21-7 lead nearing the end of the first half the Outlaws seemed to be in complete control but a late 2nd quarter TD by the Patriots made for an exciting second half. A solid running game allowed the Outlaws to use up the clock in the second half but the outcome was in doubt up to the final minute.
Running back Josh Reason led the offence with 130 yards on 30 carries scoring 3 touchdowns on the night earning a playoff – player of the game award.
The Patriots quarterback Matt Beardwood earned his team’s player of the game; who finished the game with a respectable 21 completions in 35 pass attempts for 302 yards and 2 TDs
Other Tri-City players made contributions to the victory: Kris Kusch scored the other touchdown on a 1 yard plunge. Dan Daigle completed 10 of 15 passes for 188 yards. Five receivers caught passes: Josh Reason, Jesse Hill, Max Knight, Brian Lane, and Ryan Watt-Dennis. Jose Patino kicked 3 successful conversions; Kris Kusch ran for a 2-point conversion.
Kris Kusch led the defense with 8 tackles, Jesse Collins and Marc Fernandes both made 4 tackles. The Outlaws picked off 4 Steel City passes – four players had one interception each: Jesse Collins, Shayden Smith, Jake Egers, and Cody Quinney
