In front of a very enthusiastic, and season high crowd of 4,012 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, the Mustangs defeated the Tampa Bay Storm 50-33 in Arena Football League action Saturday night.  Big plays both offensively and defensively, coupled with fewer mistakes helped the Mustangs get their second win of the season and move their overall record to 2-5.  Marcus Everett, who had a stellar game defensively for the Mustangs summed it up when he said “today is the day we put two halves together.”

The Mustangs did exactly what they needed to do to open up the contest Saturday night.  A well executed drive that concluded with a Mykel Benson one yard touchdown run gave Milwaukee a 7-0 lead.  Tampa Bay would also put together a flawless opening drive which concluded with a Hank Edwards, 33 yard one handed reception from Brian Zbydniewski which tied the contest at seven.  On the next drive however, the mistake bug would once again bite the Mustangs has Ernest Smith fumbled the ball which was then recovered by the Storm.  One play later, on a Deonte Bolden, 21 yard touchdown reception, Tampa Bay would jump out to a 14-7 lead.

Garrett Lindholm got the Mustangs back on the board as the second quarter got under way with a 21 yard field goal to cut the Storm lead to 4.  Milwaukee linebacker Marcus Everett would get the Bradley Center crowd to its feet with an interception and a score.  Though the extra point was blocked, the Mustangs got a much needed stop and a lead at 16-14.  Kelvin Rogers of the Mustangs didn’t want to be out down by Everett, so on Tampa Bay’s next possession,  Rogers would intercept Brian Zbydniewski for a “pick 6”, and with the extra point, the Mustangs increased their lead to 9.  Tampa’s woes would continue as they would fumble the ensuing kickoff which would give Milwaukee the ball on their own 8 yard line.  A few plays later, Justin Lawrence would bull his way in from 3 yards.  With the extra point, the Mustangs would go up 30-14.   The Mustangs would continue to dominate the quarter when they came up with a huge defensive stop as Broderick Stewart knocked down a Brian Zbydniewski pass on 4^th and goal from the three, to give the Mustangs another offensive opportunity before the first half would come to an end.  A controversial call at the end of the first half negated a Garrett Lindholm field goal which appeared to go through the goal posts after bouncing off of the right upright, but still left the Mustangs with a 30-14 lead at the half.

Milwaukee’s Andre Jones would be next in line to continue the mulling of Tampa Bay quarterback Brian Zbydniewski’s as he would be the third Mustang player to intercept him on the evening.  That would lead to RJ Archer hitting a wide open Damian Harrell in the back of the end-zone which would inevitably increase the Mustang lead to 37-14.  After not seeing the end-zone since the first quarter, the Storm finally found their way across the end line as Huey Whitaker snagged a 4 yard pass from Zbydniewski and cut the Mustang lead to 17 on the missed extra point.  After a Lindholm field-goal gave the Mustangs a 20 point lead, the combination of Zbyniewski to Whitaker would strike again for the Storm  which would make the score 40-27 in favor of the Mustangs as the quarter came to an end.

Less than a minute into the 4^th quarter, RJ Archer would dive in from a yard out to put the Mustangs up by 20.  The Mustangs would add a field goal to increase their lead to 50-27.  The excitement however was tempered as quarterback RJ Archer would leave the field with an apparent leg injury.  Eric Ward would assume the play calling duties for the Mustangs for the remainder of the game.  The Storm would score one more time as the game winded to a conclusion.

The penalties, turnovers, and ineptness on offense that plagued the Mustangs last week was instead the downfall of the Tampa Bay Storm.  The Mustangs nearly cut the number of yards in penalties in half as compared with last week.  “There’s a fine line” coach Landsee talked about between being aggressive and putting yourself in situations where you hurt yourself by committing penalties.  Though the penalty situation was vast improved,  Coach Landsee understands that as a team “we have to get better.”  Coach did touch on the Archer situation stating that “they think it’s a mild sprain” which means he is day to day at this point with regards to his ankle.  The Mustangs head to Cleveland for a Friday night match up against the Gladiators as they try to win two in a row for the first time this year.