The Sussex County Punishers of the Diamond Football League had their post-season hopes dashed by the three-time Northern Conference champions, the Gloucester County Generals, 50-14 in the semi-finals on May 12.
The Punishers held the lead briefly, following a fumble recovery by linebacker Jonathon Meiklejohn in the Generals’ end zone at the beginning of the second quarter. The Generals fired back and regained a 26-14 lead heading into halftime, and the Punishers then collapsed behind red-zone inefficiency and turnovers.
Punishers quarterback Kurt Purnell, who was still nursing a knee injury sustained in the second half of their 21-0 first-round victory over the Baltimore County Bulls, threw five interceptions — three of which were returned for Generals touchdowns.
Despite the turnovers, the Punishers were able to move the football, though they couldn’t find a way to punch it in end zone. On one occasion in the second half, punt returner Eduardo Rivera busted an 82-yard return but the Punishers offense sputtered.
“We had the ball in the red zone quite a few times,” said Punishers team owner Tina Dennis, “but we just couldn’t get anything going.”
“But, as far as playing ability, we were the same as the Generals,” she continued. “They were a little bit stronger [than us] but they just didn’t make the mistakes that we did. And in the end we lost to the better team.”
Dennis took over the team from her father and now-DFL commissioner Clayton Yocum in 2004. The Punishers made the DFL playoffs twice in the team’s eight seasons and had yet to win a post-season game — that was until this year.
The Punishers shed their former name and came out swinging. They won six games, lost two and averaged 27 points per game on their way to their first-ever division championship.
In addition, the Punishers were one of three DFL teams to crack the top-25 of the semi-professional football national rankings. The Punishers (No.24) came in behind the Virginia Pirates (No. 9) and the Generals (No. 6) — both of whom will play for the Mid-Atlantic Championship at Dover High School on May 19 for the right to play the Broward County (Fla.) Bears of for the East Coast Championship.
“I can’t be more proud of my team,” Dennis boasted. “It was a complete turnaround from last year and years in the past. They wanted to win and worked hard.”
“It would’ve been nice to go to the championship but now we’ll have to prepare for next year,” she continued.