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Fire overcomes early mistake, down Admirals

Apr 20, 2007 - 11:18 PM AMSTERDAM (Ticker) -- Following a game in which they could only muster a field goal, the last thing the Rhein Fire needed was to give the Amsterdam Admirals a gift on the opening kickoff.

Conor Hughes kicked three field goals and the Fire's defense limited the Admirals to 137 total yards on their way to a 16-10 victory to end their three-game losing streak to Amsterdam.

Rhein started slow again in this contest when kick returner Michael Franklin fumbled the opening kickoff, leading to a four-yard touchdown by running back Jonathan Smith six plays later. The Fire answered with a Hughes field goal on the following possession to narrow the deficit to 7-3.

After an Amsterdam missed field goal on the next possession and another Hughes conversion to cut the Admirals lead to 7-6, the Fire defense did not allow a drive longer than 29 net yards on their way to allowing only 66 yards of total offense over the last three quarters.

Rhein took the lead for good on their first possession of the third quarter, when Taurean Henderson, allocated from the Atlanta Falcons, scored from a yard out to give the Fire their first lead at 13-10. Hughes nailed his final field goal with just over two minutes remaining to extend the lead.

Drew Olson, allocated by the Baltimore Ravens, directed the Amsterdam attack, completing 16-of-30 passes for 115 yards.