Sacramento quarterback Daunte Culpepper tucks the ball and runs in the Lions 41-3 win over the Omaha Nighthawks. (Click HERE for more game photos).  Photo by Joe Blenkle

MOUNTAIN LIONS DOMINATE

OMAHA NIGHTHAWKS 41-3

Click HERE for more game photos

Special to Sacramento Sports News

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Nov. 13, 2010) - Sacramento kept its championship hopes alive in emphatic fashion Saturday night. And now the Mountain Lions can only wait and watch.
    Sacramento beat the Omaha Nighthawks 41-3, eliminating the Nighthawks from UFL Championship Game contention. Sacramento (4-4), which concluded its regular season, now needs Omaha (3-4) to defeat Florida (4-3) next week to advance to the UFL Championship Game against Las Vegas (5-2). Sacramento owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Florida and Omaha.
    “I’m praying and hoping that Omaha comes out with a lot of pride and puts it on Florida so we can get to the championship,” Sacramento quarterback Daunte Culpepper said after the game. “I told (Omaha quarterback Jeff Garcia) go play, go play for the love of the game and hopefully you get a win.”

    Culpepper and the Sacramento offense used an early trick play and more than 200 passing yards in the first half en route to a 20-3 halftime lead.
    On the opening play from scrimmage, Culpepper took a flea flicker from running back Cory Ross and found receiver Taye Biddle for a 59-yard catch. Biddle was wide open down the right sideline, but Culpepper’s pass was slightly under-thrown, allowing cornerback Ricardo Colclough to catch up and make the tackle. Four plays later, Ross ran 5 yards for his third rushing touchdown of the season.

      Mountain Lions linebacker Prince Kwateng recovered the ensuing kickoff, which kicker Fabrizio Scaccia perfectly pooched to the 25-yard line, where both teams converged on the live ball. Three plays later, Scaccia kicked a 36-yard field goal. Scaccia added a 41-yard field goal to open the second quarter.
    Omaha’s lone first-half score came on a Jeff Wolfert 28-yard field goal with 10:31 remaining in the half.
    Sacramento closed the half’s scoring with a Culpepper 2-yard touchdown pass to fullback Tyler Clutts as Culpepper play-actioned to Ross, drawing in the linebackers and allowing Clutts to roll into the flat for the score.
    Ross opened the second-half scoring with the longest run from scrimmage in the UFL’s two-year history, scoring on a 75-yard burst. The Sacramento running back finished the game with 125 rushing yards on 11 carries and 39 receiving yards on six catches. He now has a league-best 56 catches on the season.
    “He gets better as the season goes on,” Sacramento coach Dennis Green said of Ross. “He always has. I think it’s part of coming from Nebraska, where things are hard-nosed and tough. By the time November comes around it’s cold and the ground’s hard and they have their best games coming up. Cory always played well at the end of the year, and he still does that.”
    Sacramento backup running backs Steve Baylark, with a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and John David Washington, who tagged on a 2-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter, capped the offensive onslaught.
    The 38-point victory is the largest margin of victory in UFL history.

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