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Star-struck: Wranglers return to win column with 73-9 rout of New Mexico
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
After a pair of razor-thin defeats, the Allen Wranglers needed a game like Saturday's against the New Mexico Stars.
Be it for restoring confidence or getting the team's new coaching regime off on the right foot, Saturday provided all that and then some with a 73-9 shellacking of the visiting Stars.
The Wranglers (6-3) outgained the Stars, 239-156, en route to the team's most lopsided win of the season.
Allen barnstormed the Stars for six touchdowns and a 20-yard David Pino field goal before New Mexico was able to put its first points on the board -- a 26-yard field goal by Zeke Arvalo with 1:49 left in the third quarter.
The Wranglers had put the contest out of reach by then, claiming their first win since parting ways with former head coach Patrick Pimmel and appointing defensive coordinator Quinn Cairo and offensive coordinator Dixie Wooten as co-interim head coaches.
"We are pleased to have such great leaders on our staff that we know we can depend on in a time like this," said Jon Frankel, Wranglers owner. "We are confident [Cairo and Wooten] will be what we need during our search for a replacement."
The co-coaches had the benefit of the team's healthiest contingent in weeks, chiefly with the return of quarterback Casey Printers, who had missed the previous two games.
Printers shook off any rust in short order, accounting for five of Allen's first six touchdowns on his way to a 178-yard, six-touchdown performance on 14-of-24 passing. Printers' return also allowed backup quarterback Maurice Avery to return to his primary post at receiver, where he caught Printers' first three touchdown passes on receptions of 12, 3 and 14 yards for three of his six catches for 61 yards.
Coupled with a 1-yard touchdown run by Darius Fudge and the aforementioned Pino field goal, the Wranglers held a 31-0 halftime advantage.
Printers spread the love in the second half, opening the third quarter with a 32-yard scoring connection to Terrell Owens, who led the Wranglers with 76 receiving yards. Printers added a 24-yard touchdown strike to Luke McArdle and a 17-yard hookup with Ramonce Taylor to complete his scoring ledger.
On the other side of the ball, New Mexico surrendered the pigskin to Allen by every way possible, be it on downs, missed field goals, interceptions or lost fumble.
The Wranglers' had a hand in those efforts, planting quarterbacks Arkelon Hall and Roger Linn for a total of seven sacks -- three of which were tallied by Prince Hickman.
The Allen secondary claimed a pair of interceptions on Hall, who amassed just 108 passing yards and one touchdown. Anquanins Frazier and Jovan Jackson each recorded takeaways, while Frankie Solomon Jr. forced a fourth-quarter fumble that was recovered by Muhammad Shamsid-Deen and returned 7 yards for a touchdown that equated the 73-9 final.
The victory broke a two-game hex for the Wranglers. Allen maintains a one-game lead over the Colorado Ice for second place in the Intense Conference.
With five games left on the regular season docket -- three at home -- the Wranglers will enjoy their final bye week before returning to action May 19 for a 7:05 p.m. home tilt against the Everett Raptors (2-7).
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