BREAKING: Two-time NFL Pro Bowler & All-Pro Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie eyes A7FL Title with Tampa Nightcrawlers

DRC joins the Tampa Nightcrawlers in the A7FL playoffs on the road to the championship on July 23

LIVE GAME UPDATES:

GAME ONE – Tampa Nightcrawlers vs. O-Town Orange

In our first Game of the Week of the A7FL Playoffs, we saw the Tampa Nightcrawlers and former NFL first-round pick Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie make his A7FL Game of the Week debut as they took on the O-Town Orange to decide the Florida Division Championship.

The Nightcrawlers would start the game on offense, and it wouldn’t take long for them to score on a pass from quarterback Mark Bagway to go up 8-0. The O-Town Orange would respond with a double-pass play to get a 90-yard touchdown to make the score 8-6. On the following 3-on-1 return, Tampa makes a huge play and returns it for a touchdown to extend Tampa’s lead to eight, all within the first three minutes of the game. After a fumble by O-Town, the Nightcrawlers would throw a touchdown to Bagway to inflate their lead to 22-6 with 11:44 left in the quarter. On the Orange’s following possession, they would fail to convert a 4th-and-6 to give the ball back to the Nightcrawlers with 4:10 left in the first. Tampa would score with five seconds left on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Logo to put the Nightcrawlers up 30-6 at the end of the first.

The Orange would start the quarter with the ball, but they would give it right back to Tampa by way of an interception, setting up Tampa on the Orange’s 40-yard line with 13:40 left in the second. Shortly after, Tampa would follow suit and throw an interception of their own to keep O-Town in the game with 12:04 left in the quarter. They would get some momentum going, but would fail to convert a 4th-and-10 to give the Nightcrawlers’ offense another chance at points with 5:59 left until halftime. Tampa would drive down the field and score on an 8-yard speed option to go up 38-6 with 3:25 left in the half. The Orange would only go backwards on their next drive and would throw-off back to the Nightcrawlers with 1:15 left until halftime. With just eleven seconds left, the Nightcrawlers score on an unbelievable play with multiple pitches to go up 46-6 at halftime.

The Orange would start the second half with the ball with a lot of work to do. They once again would not do anything of note, and Tampa would score again on a 9-yard pass from Logo to Bagway to go up 54-6 with 10:19 left in the third. To make matters worse for the Orange, the Nightcrawlers would recover the throw-off and get the ball right back in the red zone. With 8:29 left in the quarter, Tampa would punch in another 9-yard score to go up 62-6 to join the 60 Boyz club. The Orange would throw another interception, and on the following play the Nightcrawlers would score again to go up 70-6. On the next possession for the Orange, they would throw a pick-six to go down 78-6. The clock would run out in the third, but not until the Nightcrawlers put up one more touchdown to enact the mercy rule to end this game. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie made his impact felt throughout the game as you would expect a former NFL first-round pick to, playing blanket coverage and making hard contact on every tackle. The Tampa Nightcrawlers made an emphatic statement in their first playoff game of 2023 and will look to carry that momentum into next week. Final: Tampa Nightcrawlers 84 O-Town Orange 6   

GAME TWO – Trenton BIC vs. Paterson U

Our second Game of the Week featured the biggest and most heated rivalry in our league and a rematch of the 2022 A7FL Championship as the Trenton BIC faced off against the Paterson U. 

Trenton would start the game with the ball and get a nice opening return from Ashante Worthy to set up the BIC at the 25-yard line, but the U’s defense would hold firm and force a turnover on a 4th-and-11 to set up the U’s offense on their own 28-yard line with 11:56 left in the first. The U moved the ball efficiently down the field with their rushing attack and would score on a 21-yard pass from Moon to Smoky to put the U up 7-0 with 6:29 left in the first. The BIC drove the ball into U territory, but Sterry Codrington would throw an interception with 2:09 left in the first to give the ball back to the U. The quarter would end with the U’s offense on their own 19-yard line, still up 7-0.

The second quarter would see the U’s offense throw an interception on their drive with 12:05 left in the quarter, giving the ball back to BIC on the U’s 45-yard line. The BIC’s passing attack got them chunks of yards on this drive, but Courage Mozie would finish the drive on a 5-yard rushing touchdown to bring the BIC within one point with 6:29 left in the first half. BIC’s defense would stifle the U’s offense on their next drive and force a three-and-out, and the BIC’s offense would take over on their own 23-yard line with 3:58 left in the second quarter. The BIC would get a huge passing touchdown from Codrington to Kason Campbell for a 45-yard strike to go up 14-7 with 2:21 left in the quarter. The U would be forced to give the ball back to the BIC with 45 seconds left in the half after a three-and-out, but the BIC would be unable to score as this heated rivalry goes into the half with the BIC up 14-7. 

The U would start the second half with the ball and their rushing attack would lead the charge down the field and would finish the drive with a Steven Jones Jr. 4-yard score with 10:56 left in the quarter. The BIC would get more big pass plays to move the ball down the field and would eventually score on a 20-yard strike from Codrington to Worthy to go up 20-14 with 2:46 left in the third. The U would end the quarter with the ball on their own 48-yard line. 

The U would grit and grind their way down the field as you could feel the intensity as the fourth quarter started. Faced with a 4th-and-2 with 7:50 left in the game, Carlos Croslin throws a pinpoint pass to tie the game. The U would take a 21-20 lead after the conversion with 7:25 left in the game. The BIC would be helped out by a penalty on a 30-yard sack by the U defense, and not soon after Codrington would throw it up to Worthy for a 30-yard touchdown to take a 26-21 lead with 3:35 left in the game. The U would end up with one last chance to take the lead. They would convert a 4th-and-10 with 39 seconds left on a Carlos Crolsin scramble which would set up a one-yard quarterback sneak by Kareen Moon for a touchdown with two seconds left. The BIC would have a 3-on-1 return and one final play to score, but the U holds on to get the victory in this instant A7FL classic. The U will face the Baltimore Watchmen in the Northeast Championship next week. Final: Paterson U 28 Trenton BIC 26 

GAME THREE – Insomniacs vs Over The Top

In our final Game of the Week in Week 2 of the A7FL Playoffs, we saw a couple of Vegas teams in the Las Vegas Insomniacs and the Vegas Over The Top fight for their right to advance to the next round. 

The OTT would start with the ball and would fail to convert a 4th-and-10 to give the Insomniacs the ball with 12:11 left in the quarter on the OTT’s 34-yard line. They would score in two plays on a run by RTC to go up 8-0 with 11:20 left in the first. The OTT would go three-and-out once again and the Insomniacs would set up shop on the OTT’s 7-yard line after a great return on the 3-on-1.One play later on a quick screen to go up 14-0 with 7:55 left in the quarter. Another OTT possession ends in a failed fourth-down conversion to get the Insomniacs the ball on the OTT’s 29-yard line with 5:28 to go in the first. One play later, the Insomniacs scored on a passing touchdown to go up 20-0 with still 4:17 left in the first quarter. For the third straight possession, the OTT would fail to convert a fourth down to give the Insomniacs the ball back. The quarter would end with the Insomniacs with the ball and up 20-0.

The Insomniacs would face a 4th-and-13 and would throw an interception with 13:52 left in the quarter. The OTT would turn the ball over on a fumble to give the Insomniacs great field position at the OTT 7-yard line. One play later, one more touchdown would be scored on a 7-yard rush to go up 28-0 with 11:39 left in the first half. The OTT would give the ball right back to the Insomniacs by fumbling on the 3-on-1, and the Insomniacs would score one play later again to go up 36-0 with 11:06 left until halftime. A nice 3-on-1 return would set up the OTT offense in Insomniac territory and they would finally get on the board after a Jonathan Earl scramble with 5:39 left in the half. Unfortunately for the OTT, the Insomniacs would score on the following 3-on-1 throw-off to extend their lead to 42-6. Another OTT failed fourth-down conversion would give the ball back to the unstoppable-looking Insomniacs offense with 2:48 left in the half. Instead of one play, this time it would take two for the Insomniacs to find the endzone to go up 48-6. The OTT would turn the ball over on the throw-off again, and the Insomniacs would score again to balloon the lead to 56-6 with 1:58 left in the first half. The OTT would fumble again on the 3-on-1, and the Insomniacs would score again with 53 seconds left until halftime to put them up 62-6 going into the locker room. 

The Insomniacs would start the half with the ball and take three plays to score again with 12:15 left in the third to go up 68-6. The OTT would throw an interception on their ensuing possession and the Insomniacs would capitalize by scoring again on a RTC 15-yard run, and the score became 76-6. The OTT would get the ball with 6:50 left in the third and would turn it over on another failed fourth down conversion and the Insomniacs would score one more time before the end of the third to enact the mercy rule and inflate the final score. Final: Las Vegas Insomniacs 82 Vegas Over The Top 6

JUNE 8, 2023

For Immediate Release

Boca Raton, Florida

Days away from the America 7s Football League beginning their ninth playoff tournament, the league has formally introduced one of the best players on the planet to the league, as the Tampa NightCrawlers will feature former All-Pro and Pro Bowler, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

Cromartie, who was signed to the NightCrawlers prior to the season, will make his official A7FL debut on June 11th on A7FL.TV, when he and the undefeated Tampa squad will look to lock their second straight division championship.

“This is a defining moment for our league in the midst of one of our biggest seasons in league history,” claimed A7FL CEO Sener Korkusuz on the addition of the player known as DRC to the league that features players such as Kenneth Mack, a standout for the University of Nebraska and currently blocks for the undefeated Las Vegas Insomniacs.

“We’ve had great players in the past, but with multiple pro bowls and a decade-long career in the NFL, his talent and knowledge will be hugely beneficial to not only the NightCrawlers, but the league as we head into our tenth season” Korkusuz concluded.

DRC joins a list of NFL and NCAA Division I alums who have stepped onto an A7FL field, but his resume and commitment to the Tampa club is an entirely new level of commitment. With DRC, the NightCrawlers look to win their second division championship and make the A7FL Conference Finals for the first time. The conference final is set for July 8th in Cincinnati, and this team looks to be the one to play the winner of the Northeastern Championship game slated for the last weekend of June.

The A7FL Playoffs throw off on June 4th with games in Los Angeles, Ohio, Las Vegas, Florida, and New Jersey beginning with our first matchup of the day featuring NFL All-Pro Dion Dawkins’ sponsored Rahway Shnow Tribe battling the multi-time A7FL Champion, Paterson U.

Watch the games LIVE on A7FL.TV or select broadcasts internationally on DAZN.