The Marion Mayhem attempted a valiant comeback yet fell short one more time this season in their 41-38 loss to the Chicago Slaughter. MARION - The ending was as a close as so many of their previous games, but the Marion Mayhem came just short one more time.
The Mayhem scored with just under a minute left in the game but were unable to get the ball back and lost 41-38 to the Chicago Slaughter Friday night at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Two touchdown passes from Ronnie Gordon to Keith Herron, one late in the third quarter and the other early in the final stanza, gave the Slaughter an 11-point cushion with 8:59 left. The Mayhem missed out on one scoring opportunity in the final quarter when Sidney Lewis intercepted a Stanley Jackson in the end zone. But the Marion defense held, giving the offense one more chance to score, taking over from the midfield stripe.
Two plays later Jackson connected with Maurice Douse for a 12-yard touchdown and Douse's two-point conversion cut the lead to 41-38 with 54 seconds left.
But Chicago was able to recover the onside kick and run off the final seconds, sending the Mayhem (4-5) down to their third straight defeat.
"It was a tough one," Mayhem coach Pepe Pearson said. "We made too many mistakes and did not put enough points on the board."
Several times the Mayhem defense was within a whisker of getting to Gordon, but he was able to
slip away for either a run or a completed pass.
"We just had to get there a little quicker," Mayhem defensive lineman Emmanual Darty said. "It's disappointing, but we just got to keep working hard."
Despite trailing at the half, Chicago defensive coordinator Keith Hac was pleased with how his unit played.
"We played well enough in the first half," he said. "We didn't panic and we made the plays in the second half. We changed some of our coverages, going to more of a cover two, and we blitzed the corners a little more."
In addition to Lewis' interception, Lenny Radtke also had a pick in the third quarter when a Jackson pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and Radtke caught the rebound, returning it 17 yards for a touchdown.
The Mayhem took advantage of a pair of Slaughter turnovers late in the second quarter to take a 23-21 haftime lead.
The first Chicago miscue came two plays following a missed 33-yard field goal attempt by Andy Wernicke.
A 10-yard pass from Gordon to Charles Owens ended with Owens fumbling the ball and the Mayhem pounced on the ball at the Slaughter 16.
A holding penalty pushed the Mayhem back to Chicago 21, but three plays later Jackson connected with Darryl Frager for a 6-yard touchdown. Wernicke's PAT kick cut the lead to 21-20.
Another fumble was recovered by Chicago but it came on fourth down and the Mayhem had the ball once again on the Slaughter 20 with two seconds left in the half.
Wernicke once again attempted a 33-yard field goal and this time the former Ohio Dominican University kicker split the uprights, giving the Mayhem a 23-21 lead at the half.
Both Jackson and Gordon were on the money with most of their passes in the first half.
Jackson went 11-of-15 for 94 yards, which included 29-yard scoring toss to T.R. Dues in the first quarter and 22-yard connection with Frager early in the second quarter.
But Gordon was not far behind in his efficiency, completing 11 of 16 passes for 85 yards. He had touchdowns passes, one in each quarter, of 6 yards and 11 yards to Dontrell Jackson.
Chicago also had a 4-yard TD run by J.R. Taylor in the second quarter.
But the Mayhem scored just one touchdown in each of the final quarters.
"We had our chances on offense, but once again we didn't come through," Pearson said. "We have to keep working at winning these types of games.
