Sports Radio Service


		Mountain Lions ground Nighthawks By Tony Renteria and Greg Lee November 13, 2010

	The Mountain Lions demolished the Omaha Nighthawks 41-3, in front of capacity crowd at Spartan Stadium. The Mountain Lions wrapped up their inaugural regular season in Sacramento with a 4-4 record and a shot at the UFL Championship game, on November 27. Daunte Culpepper and Cory Ross led the Mountain Lions to a devastating victory over an Omaha team that had been ready to print their own Championship tickets early in the season. Culpepper finished with 212 yards on 17 for 28 passing with one touchdown and one interception, while Ross had 11 carries for 125 yards and two rushing touchdowns to go along with 39 receiving yards. In the second quarter, Ross exploded for a UFL record 76 yard touchdown. The Mountain Lions’ offense was so effective, barring a couple of turnovers, that they hadn’t been forced to punt until the waning seconds of the third quarter. Sacramento took an early 7-0 lead, on a drive that featured a flea-flicker from Ross back to Culpepper that went for 59 yards setting up the first touchdown of the night. On the ensuing kick-off, the Nighthawks fumbled, setting up a Fabrizio Scaccia field goal to extend the lead to 10 and the Sacramento never looked back. Favorite son, Jeff Garcia returned to Northern California at the helm of the Nighthawks. Unfortunately for the one-time NFL Pro-Bowler, the Omaha offense never got on track. In fact, throughout the night between sideline brawls and heated exchanges on the Omaha sideline must have reminded Garcia of his last days with T.O., Dennis Erickson and the Niners. Garcia finished a frustrating 11 of 22 and 107 yards passing. Sacramento boasts a “favorite” or at least semi-famous son of their own. Running back, J.D. Washington also had a big night with 12 carries, 39 hard fought yards and a touchdown. Washington, of course, is probably best known as the son of Academy Award winning actor, Denzel Washington. Despite the loss and being eliminated from the post-season, the road to the UFL Championship game will still run through Omaha. Even though the Nighthawks will no longer be able to host the Championship game at historic Rosenblatt Stadium, next week they will look to defend their turf against the the surging Florida Tuskers. A Tuskers victory would send them to a re-match of last season’s Championship match against the Las Vegas Locos. Sacramento’s post-season hopes hinge on that same Omaha v. Florida game. A Florida loss would launch the Mountain Lions to a Championship berth. Though, over the past few weeks Omaha and Florida are two teams heading in opposite directions. While the Tuskers have seemingly caught fire, the Nighthawks have all but crashed and burned. Regardless, it has been a fantastic finish for the Mountain Lions, who made the most of their first season in their new home in the Capitol City.