Bandits win OT thriller, clinch playoff berth

Bandits 63, Thunder 60 (ot)

The Bandits began their game with the Thunder as if they had their heads in the sand out on the beach. Robbie Jenkins made some poor passes, then got more accurate only to have his receivers drop some easy catches. All this, combined with the Thunder playing like warriors, led to a 21-0 Daytona Beach lead early in the second quarter. The Bandits got on the board thanks to a couple of excellent catches and runs by Marcus Richardson, and the defense got a couple of stops late in the first half with the score at the break 28-15. The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, but Richmond blocked two extra points and returned one of them for two to close the gap to eight points. But after another Thunder score and Nick Allison's third interception of the game, the Bandits trailed by 15 points early in the fourth quarter. The defense held, though, finally getting some pressure on Thunder quarterback Oscar Davenport, and registered two straight stops. Jenkins was in a groove, as he would go 9 for 14 with 6 touchdowns in the second half, and with 52 seconds remaining he found Redd Thompson in the end zone for the touchdown and again for the two-point conversion to tie the game. The Thunder responded with a quick scoring drive of their own, but left Jenkins and Thompson with 31 seconds to get back in the end zone. Redd's third TD of the game (and Chris Segaar's extra point) tied the contest with three seconds left, and Andy Eminger missed a field goal at the end of regulation. The Bandits won the overtime coin toss and took the first 4:06 of the five minute frame to set up a Segaar field goal from 19 yards. Pinned at their own 5 yard line after not returning the kickoff, the Thunder had a chance to tie or win in the last 54 seconds. But Davenport tried to throw across the middle, and Shannon Davis made a leaping interception, plucking the ball from in front of the Thunder receiver to ice the game.

Player of the Game: Robbie Jenkins, who engineered the biggest comeback in Bandits history by throwing for 309 yards and 8 touchdowns. His two-point pass to Redd to tie the game was reminiscent of the ending of the Canton game last year, when Robbie hit Redd with an absolute laser to win at the buzzer.

Offensive Stars: Redd Thompson, with 8 catches for 109 yards and three scores; Marcus Richardson, who made four catches for 104 yards and two TDs and sparked the comeback with a chance to show his athletic ability by making some Thunder defenders miss tackles in the open field.

Defensive Stars: Lawrence Lewis, who blocked an extra point, recovered it, then lateraled to Shernard Newby who ran it the rest of the way for two points. Shannon Davis made a highlight reel interception in overtime.

Other Links:	Times-Dispatch writeup
	Daytona Beach News-Journal
	Thunder website recap
	Bandits playoff announcement

Next: vs. AIFL Ghostchasers, Sunday 4pm