CardSharks Fall at the Wire to Lexington

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Arena Football:
CardSharks Fall at the Wire to Lexington
Lexington - 67 Atlantic City - 66

Sunday, May 23, 2004

By Matthew Gionta
Atlantic City Cardsharks Correspondent

The CardSharks were dealt their first ever home loss by the Lexington Horsemen Sunday, May 23 at Historic Boardwalk Hall. The teams battled in a back-and-forth battle that saw Lexington go ahead by a point during the final seconds of play. The CardSharks fall to 3-5, and will host the Ohio Valley Greyhounds on Saturday night. The Horsemen move to 5-3 on the year, and will host the Evansville Blue Cats next week.

The battle between two of the league’s top Quarterbacks proved to be a great one, as each had outstanding games. CardSharks QB Tony Racioppi completed 19 of 31 passes for 188 yards. Horsemen QB Dusty Bonner would not be outdone, as he completed 20 of 34 passes for 210 yards.

Standing out at Wide Receiver for the ‘Sharks was Eric Magrini. Magrini had 6 receptions for 57 yards, including 2 touchdowns. Lexington’s Dougie Allen had a nice game with 6 receptions for 106 yards and 4 touchdowns.

The game was decided by a great effort by each team’s kick returner. Returning kicks for the CardSharks, Rocco DeMaise had 184 yards, including a touchdown. Dougie Allen for Lexington had 107 yards on 5 returned kicks, including returning the final one to the three yard-line and setting the Horsemen up for the go-ahead score.

“This was a disappointed loss, but was a classic NIFL battle,” stated General Manager and Head Coach Mike Siani. “Both teams were evenly matched, but Lexington came out on top today.”