Your Quincy Carter/IFL Update

((HT: Abilene Reporter-News/Greg Jaklewicz))

It's not every day that you hear about a field goal attempt hitting the ceiling...

It happened in Quincy Carter's IFL debut for the Abilene Ruff Riders in their 39-24 win over the Odessa Roughnecks...

Georgia grad Quincy Carter threw four touchdown passes, two each to former Abilene Christian wideouts Jerale Badon and Chris Morris, to lead the Abilene Ruff Riders to a 39-24 win over the Odessa Roughnecks before 3,982 at the Taylor County Coliseum.

It was the season-opening game for both teams and the first win in Abilene franchise history.

"We did some things good on offense," said Carter, who was 18-of-31 for 235 yards. "Early on we were stalling out a little bit but we came out in the second half and put points on the board."

Carter was 3-of-9 before going 37 yards to Badon for the first touchdown in the Abilene team's history. The Ruff Riders played last year in Katy. Abilene led 17-16 early in the second half when the Ruff Riders scored three straight touchdowns, two set up by big defensive plays.

"The defense played strong all night," coach Gerald Dockery said. "At halftime, I told them, 'Don't let up. Come out on fire.'"
An interception and a fumble recovery gave Abilene a chance to add to its 24-16 lead and Carter cashed in both times. Suddenly a one-point game was a 36-16 lead for the Riders. Abilene's lead grew to 39-16 on Nich Pertuit's second field goal of the game before Odessa scored its only second-half touchdown with 5:12 to play, but the Riders ran out the clock with their ensuing possession.

Morris caught six passes for 83 years and Badon four for 91. Badon only joined the team seven days earlier.

"We got into a rhythm tonight," he said of catching two TD passes from Carter.

The first was the bomb that Badon caught in stride crossing into the end zone.

"I always have the first one, every season since I've been playing," Badon said.

Abilene took a 17-13 lead at halftime when Carter faked a run into the line and kept around right end with 3 seconds remaining. His body never made it into the end zone but he held the ball ahead of him to break the plane.

Carter was 9-of-18 in the half for 113 yards, including the 37-yarder to Badon. The Riders had the edge in yards, 145-93. For the game, it was 292-154 in favor of Abilene. The game was slowed by 12 penalties in the half, one that wiped out a Riders touchdown on an interception return by Willis Hogan and another that negated a 25-yard scoring pass by Gile, who was 14-of-24 for 116 yards.

Odessa took the second-half kickoff and cut the Riders' lead to 17-16 on Zeke Arevalo's 19-yard field goal. That score stood for just three plays. Carter went deep to Morris for 22 yards and the Riders began to pull away.

Joey Longoria's interception and a personal foul on the Roughnecks put the ball at the Abilene 24 seconds later and Carter went to Badon again for the TD.

Longoria said the Riders defense stared to play the pass over the middle better. On his interception, linebacker Rico Brooks pressured Gile, who threw high to his receiver.

"The game seemed like it was lagging and something like that happens and everyone jumps up," Longoria said.

Conner fumbled the kickoff and Brandon Henry recovered at midfield for the Riders.

Three plays later, Carter hit Morris crossing left and Morris broke through arm tackles to score and give his team a three-TD lead.

The first Ruff Riders points of franchise history were scored by Pertuit, who hit a 24-yard field goal 10:09 into the season.

The game was marred by an injury to Odessa's Steven Kennedy one play into the second quarter. Kennedy was taken from the field on a stretcher with a right leg injury.

Ruff Riders 39, Roughnecks 24

Odessa 6 7 3 8--24

Abilene 3 14 19 3--39

SCORING

First Quarter
ABI- Nich Pertuit 24 FG 4:51
ODE-Jimmy Conner recovers fumble in end zone (kick failed) 0:37

Second Quarter
ABI Jerale Badon 37 pass from Quincy Carter (Pertuit kick) 14:06
ODE Tony Taylor 1 pass from Dennis Gile (Zeke Arevalo kick) 11:39
ABI-Carter 3 run (Pertuit kick) 0:03

Third Quarter
ODE-Arevalo 19 FG 9:00
ABI Chris Morris 22 pass from Carter (Pertuit kick) 7:01
ABI-Badon 26 pass from Carter (kick failed) 4:56
ABI-Morris 12 pass from Carter (kick failed) 2:33

Fourth Quarter
ABI Pertuit 23 FG 8:11
ODE Torrey Day 3 pass from Gile (Eric Taylor pass from Gile) 5

Key stat
0 Turnovers by the Ruff Riders; Odessa had three, two in the second half that led to Abilene scores.

Key number
1 The jersey number of quarterback Quincy Carter, who threw four touchdown passes in his IFL debut, and the number of wins in Abilene franchise history.

Key play
Joey Longoria's third-quarter interception allowed Abilene to march to a touchdown that gave the Rough Riders a two-score lead (30-16).

Here's your highlights courtesy of the Reporter-News and "96.1 The Wolf"