James Falls  -- SaginawSting.com

Kalamazoo, MI - Over 100 Saginaw fans made the 155-mile trip on the fan bus and made quite an impact at Wings Stadium, but it did not phase the Xplosion nor their fan count of a little over 2,500. But it was the Saginaw fans that were standing at the final seconds of the game when cornerback and Ernie Smith leaped and grabbed an interception with 12 seconds remaining to leave Saginaw victorious 41-37 and the honor of bringing the 2008 CIFL Championship back to the east side of Michigan.

Coach Karl Featherstone, who has the most wins in the CIFL with a 39-3 all-time record, wins his second championship in three years. He dedicates the win to the fans of Saginaw. “Residents in the (Saginaw) area told me that they have been waiting on winners,” says Featherstone.

Kalamazoo had the game in their hands when kicker Brian Selent stepped up and nailed one of his three big field goals, a 41-yard field goal with 42.5 remaining in the game. Previously, the Xplosion misfired two passes and quarterback Randy Hutchison was sacked on third down on what seemed to be their last drive of the game. Saginaw had just turned the ball over when Nick Body came within inches of a catch when the ball fell through his fingertips.

The Sting were called for a holding penalty that made their drive start from their own 22. Damon Dowdell found Nate Collins once again catching him on the fly for 27-yards and a spot at the one-yard line after a defensive interference penalty. John Radney, who scored one crucial touchdown early in the game, plowed through the middle to punch in the game-winning score to put Saginaw up with a 41-37 lead. “I’ve been waiting for this moment since the beginning of the season,” says Radney.

The facility’s low ceiling affected Saginaw in a tremendous way. The kick return team failed to bring the ball within their own 15-yard line and Anthony Gallagher struggled to boot the ball through the uprights on three different attempts.

However, Dowdell and Body did not waste any time making a statement in Wings Stadium hooking up a 38-yard bomb followed by a 9-yard touchdown after Dowdell, who completed 18 of 30 passes for 238 yards, dodged a T.J. Tyus blitz.

Quick to retaliate, Eric Gardner made an astounding one-handed grab at the back of the end zone on 4th and goal to tie the game at 7. Both teams then settled in for a battle that would go back and forth the entire game.

Since then, Saginaw had struggled to put points on the board. Special teams allowed two blocked kicks (extra point and field goal) and failed to return any kickoffs with in their own 15-yard line.

Nate Collins caught a 31-yard pass to keep their drive alive on 3rd and two, only to settle for Anthony Gallagher’s 21-yard field goal attempt that was blocked on fourth and goal.

Selent really came in for Kalamazoo landing a 41-yard field goal to give the XPlosion a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter and helped tie the game at 20 with a 51-yard field goal; his personal best.

As the time wound down, defensive lineman DeVaul Neal recovered a crucial fumble on a Kalamazoo 4th and goal at their own 13-yard line, but Dowdell gave the ball right back with an interception by Richard Newsome.

Randy Hutchison capitalized on the turnover with a 45-yard bomb to Brian Dolph to give the Xplosion a 17-13 lead late in the second quarter.

Kalamazoo gave Saginaw seven attempts to score within the five-yard line with two defensive holding penalties. John Radney finished off the last attempt with a one-yard touchdown with 56.6 remaining in the second quarter.

Coach Featherstone believed that the Xplosion was only keeping the game close due to Saginaw’s mistakes. “We simply played bad (in the first half,) says Featherstone. “We are dropping balls and we need to stop turning the ball over.”

A few plays into the third quarter, cornerback Corey Gonzales bit on a fake, which left Dolph wide open for a 23-yard touchdown to open up a Kalamazoo 27-20 lead early in the second half.

Just when Kalamazoo was making their way down the field for another score, safety Ruben Gay came up with an interception with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter, which turned into a sudden momentum changer.  

On the next drive, Saginaw drove down the field to set up Body for a 7-yarder while falling to the ground to help tie the game at 27.

Although the lead never changed, Saginaw never trailed more than seven points in the second half.  As time was running out, Mike Wilford, the six-foot-four 290-pound tight end caught a screen pass and brought the ball to the Xplosion one-yard line to end the 3rd quarter. The next play, Gardner played quarterback and snuck the ball in for a touchdown.

The next drive, Nate Collins pushed his way through defenders into the end zone to tie the game at 34. 

The two teams met in the beginning of the season when they scrimmaged just days before the season kicked off. Kalamazoo had the upper hand at the scrimmage, but Saginaw got the last win, which meant the most.

“We were able to show that Saginaw can compete,” says Corey Gonzales.

Nicholas Body, who was the game’s MVP, caught 12 passes for 155 yards and three touchdowns.

Hutchison completed 13 of 30 passes for 157 yards and three touchdowns and Brian Dolph, a former Saginaw Valley State All-American, caught five passes for 79 yards.

Box Score 

Quarter       1st    2nd    3rd    4th    Total

Saginaw       7      13     7    14       41

Kalamazoo  7      13     7   10        37

 

The Saginaw Sting captured the 2008 CIFL Championship on Sunday by defeating the Kalamazoo Xplosion 41-37. 

To see photos from the game click here.

James Falls  -- SaginawSting.com

Saginaw, MI - Was the Lehigh Valley Outlawz some of the better first half competition for the Sting? Yes. Did they startle the Sting in the first half? Yes. But did they capitalize and win the game? No.

With three defensive touchdowns by Corey Gonzales and limiting the Outlawz to only 13 second-half points this allowed the Sting to pull away to a 63-25 victory in front of a crowd of a 1,100 at the Dow Event Center.

Saginaw’s inaugural season continues with their first CIFL Atlantic Conference Championship and now heading to their sister team in Kalamazoo they will face the Xplosion for the CIFL Championship on Sunday. Kalamazoo defeated Rock River last Saturday 56 - 42.

Players from both teams were exchanging words throughout the game, but Jeremiah McLaurin said that it did more help than harm for Saginaw. “They just wanted to woof (bark) and holler to get us out of our game, but we were not having it,” said McLaurin.

Lehigh Valley had many opportunities to finish off the Sting. Saginaw had nine penalties for 62 yards and even stopped the Sting’s second-quarter momentum when they forced a fumble from a Damon Dowdell quarterback sneak at the one-yard line on 2nd and goal.

Lehigh Valley’s Fullback Gene Rich was bulldozing his way through the defense for two short gain (3-yard and 2-yard) touchdowns. Both two-point conversions were no good.

The game stayed tight throughout the third quarter, until the first of three interceptions was caught. Kyle McKenzie picked off an interception with a little over 8:42 remaining in the third quarter, then pitched the ball as he was being tackled to Corey Gonzales who scored and gave the Sting a 27-18 lead.

That is when Saginaw’s defense finally woke up and sealed the game.

Saginaw’s relentless defensive pressure helped Ruben Gay grab a late third quarter interception to set up a 47-yard bomb to Nick Body to give the Sting seven more points.

On fourth and one for Lehigh Valley, a pitch to Corey Brown was stuffed by Gonzales to end the third quarter.

Coach Karl Featherstone commentated that his players were playing conservative, which he did not like at all. “Too many (offensive) mistakes,” says Coach Featherstone. “Some of those mistakes shouldn’t be made period.”  

Even though Damon Dowdell threw 102 yards in the first half, Saginaw only had a 17-12 lead, which vanished the first play of the third quarter when Hassan Brockman caught a 33-yard pass for a touchdown.

Nicholas Body and Jim Roth scored the first two touchdowns of the game with a 3-yard bullet and a 45-yard bomb.

Eze Ejelonu came up with a big sack with 3:30 minutes remaining in the game. Ejelonu and Jeff Dembowske camp up with the only two sacks of the game.

With 1:24 remaining in the game, Corey Adderly received a pass from Kelvin Robinson when Adderly was smacked by McKenzie and fumbled the ball. Gonzales picked it up and ran in touchdown number two of his three scores of the night.  

Anthony Gallagher hit three field goals including a 54-yarder; beating his personal best of 51-yards.

Gonzales and McKenzie lead the defense with five solo tackles and Gay brought in four.

Ernie Smith, Gay, Gonzales all had one interception.

Dowdell finished the game 10-22 for 177 yards and four touchdowns. Body caught four passes for 65 yards and Roth caught two for 65 yards.

The Sting now travel to Kalamazoo to play the Xpolsion on Sunday June 29 at 3pm inside Wings Stadium for the CIFL League Championship.  There is a Fan Bus going from Saginaw and for more information e-mail Bill Wheeler Vice President of Football Operations at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Box Score 

Quarter             1st     2nd     3rd     4th     Total

Lehigh Valley    0       12        6        7         25

Saginaw            14       3       17       29        63