Turnovers, questionable officiating leads another loss for the Rampage

Among the gray skies at Chuck Coles Memorial Stadium in Dumfries on Saturday, there was a sense of optimism in the air as the Northern Virginia Rampage returned home to face the DMV Knights. The reason being was the introduction of new offensive coordinator Dennis Cornwell, who was looking to utilize the team’s speed as an advantage with a more spacious offense. Despite the changes, however, the optimism quickly dampened as the usual culprit of turnovers plagued the home team, leading to a 24-0 deficit that resulted in a 30-14 loss.

Upon receiving the opening kickoff, the offense started with great field position at their own 44-yard line, even showing off a motion-style offense which led to a run of 15 yards on the first play. However, as has been the case all season, the Knights defense scooped a fumble on the second play and returned 55 yards for the first score of the game.

The second possession did not produce much fruit either, as there was another fumble, giving the Knights the ball deep in Rampage territory. On fourth and 11 from the 38-yard line, the Knights converted on a deep throw and scored a touchdown, going up 16-0. It only got worse from there, as a tipped pass resulted in an interception by the Knights defense. Although the Rampage defense was able to get a stop on downs, they fumbled the punt and the Knights converted a safety.

As the old saying goes, when it rains it pours, and a missed facemask call on a fourth down attempt gave the Knights another offensive possession, who converted into a 24-0 lead.

The Rampage eventually found the end zone towards the end of the first half on a 14-yard touchdown pass, and scored again in the second half as the players got more comfortable running Cornwell’s system, mixing in the pass. However, the game started to get chippy, and with 49 seconds left in the game, the referees called the game, and the players all met in the middle of the field.

Although they’re 0-5, the team will continue to fight for their first win of the season next week at home vs. the Virginia Royals in a game that was rescheduled from March 12.