Offense finds life as Panthers dominate Roughnecks
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Michigan Panthers ended their three-game homestand at Ford Field Sunday with a dominating performance against the Houston Roughnecks.
It was all led by quarterback EJ Perry who bounced back from last week’s loss against the Birmingham Stallions to throw for 208 yards, one touchdown and he also ran for two other scores. Perry had the same amount of touchdowns as incompletions on Sunday.
Michigan bested Houston 34-20 in front of the home crowd. But it wasn’t just a spectacular Perry performance, the Panthers dominated the Roughnecks throughout the day on every side of the field.
It didn’t start out great as the Roughnecks jumped out to a 8-0 lead to start the game and held an 11-9 lead with under a minute left in the first half. But as he’s done all season, kicker Jake Bates was spectacular once again, nailing a 55-yard field goal just as the half ended giving the Panthers the lead.
Once the teams took the field again, it was all Michigan. The Panthers outscored the Roughnecks 22-9 in the second half, including a 66-yard touchdown reception for Marcus Simms, his second 60-plus-yard touchdown in as many weeks.
As mentioned, Bates had another big day going 2-for-2 on field goals on Sunday, keeping him perfect on the year, but the rest of the special teams played well. Cornerback Kendrick Whitehead Jr. blocked a punt that set up a third-quarter touchdown run for Matthew Colburn II.
And as it has all season, the Panthers’ defense was big on forcing field goals instead of giving up touchdowns. The defense was also able to force another turnover as safety Kai Nacua picked off Reid Sinnett and tallied eight tackles in that game. Defensive end Breeland Speaks continued his dominating season with another sack as well.
The Panthers now move to 2-1 and the season and currently sit alone in second place in the USFL Conference standings behind the Stallions (3-0).
Michigan will now travel to Texas where they will play their first away game of the season against the San Antonio Brahmas who are coming off their first loss of the season. That game is set for Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
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