The Triangle Torch suffered its first loss of the 2016 season, falling to the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks, 66-30 in a heated and controversial matchup at J.S. Dorton Arena Friday night.
Four interceptions doomed the Torch, as the Steelhawks swarmed the Torch on both sides of the ball, leading to the lopsided score line.
“They were mixing some stuff up and it may have caught us off guard a little bit,” head coach Josh Resignalo said. “We just have to get up on the film and make some adjustments.”
The game was marred by officiating controversies, as the Torch had several points taken off the board by officiating decisions.
The most important one came in the final minute of the second quarter, with the Torch trailing 32-17. Steelhawk quarterback Jake Jablonski scrambled to his left and appeared to fumble the ball after being sacked by defensive lineman Brandon Sutton. The ball caromed around before being scooped up by linebacker Allen Lee and returned all the way for a touchdown.
However, after a lengthy discussion, the officials ruled the play an incomplete pass, negating the touchdown and giving the ball back to the Steelhawks.
The Steelhawks wasted no time capitalizing on the second opportunity, scoring on the very next play to bring the score to 38-17.
The referees again made their presence known in the third quarter, when a Torch field goal was initially ruled good before the referees changed the call and negated the three points.
“The referees don’t win or lose the game but when you take 17 points off the board, I think it was just inconsistent,” Resignalo said. “But we put ourselves in the situations and the referees are not gonna win or lose the game.”
The game was a good measuring stick for a brand new Torch team. The Steelhawks are an established commodity in indoor football and the matchup offered a good opportunity to see how the roster stacks up against one the league’s best.
Unfortunately for the Torch, it seems the roster just wasn’t quite ready on this particular night.
The offensive line was bullied all night, as the Steelhawk defensive line put pressure on quarterback Garret Sutphen all night long, forcing four interceptions and two fumbles out of the 6-foot-4 gunslinger.
The defensive secondary had the worst showing, as the speed and physicality of the Steelhawks overwhelmed the Torch defensive backs, often leaving them to play catch-up as the receivers ran freely down the field.
The Torch adjusted defensively as the game went on and had a much better second half than first, but the damage was done.
“Defensively, I think we got exposed in the secondary,” Resignalo said. “Doesn’t help with the amount of turnovers we had and putting the defense in bad situations, but we have fight through that and find a way to make a play and not just let receivers run right by us.”
The Torch trailed 38-23 at the half, but buckled down in the third quarter and scored on everyone’s favorite play — the fat guy touchdown — to bring the game to 38-30.
With 12:30 left in the third, offensive lineman Harry John snuck off the line and caught a pass before rumbling into the end zone for the score. The play presented an example of an interesting rule in American Indoor Football, where one of the offensive lineman declares himself an eligible receiver and can catch passes and score touchdowns.
Unfortunately for the Torch, that would be as close as it would come. The Steelhawk offense slowly but surely opened the gap between the two teams and the Steelhawk defense clamped down on the Torch, keeping it off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
The Torch receives a much-needed bye week after two games in five days before traveling to face the American Indoor Football defending champions, the Central Penn Capitals April 9.
