Down 19-7 and poised to get back into the game, Vapor quarterback Rick Straw threw a bomb to receiver Darius Prince, who caught it in the end zone for what appeared to be a momentum-turning touchdown.
Unfortunately for them, it didn’t count.
An inadvertent whistle for roughing the passer nullified the score, and the drive ended in an interception as REIGN earned a 25-13 win over Vapor.
“It took the rug right out from underneath us,” said Straw, who finished 17 of 23 for two touchdowns and two interceptions.
REIGN’s Jason Hagerty blitzed Straw and was whistled for roughing the passer just after Straw released the ball. VAPOR, always a vocal and supportive team, argued the call, but the whistle stopped the play immediately.
“Every game we play, we just flat out beat teams,” REIGN’s D.J. Douglas said. “You don’t worry about the refs.”
After trading opening touchdowns, REIGN scored on the first half’s last play gaining a 12-7 lead. Mike Lucyk slinged the ball into Hagerty at the near pylon. Hagerty bobbled the catch but was ruled inbounds by the officials.
After stalling a Reign’s first drive of the second half, Straw threw an errant third-down pass picked off by Jason Cahill, who returned it for a touchdown.
“I just lost focus,” Straw said. “I didn’t see him, but everybody else did.”
Reign’s Lucyk completed 9 of 19 passes for three touchdowns. Two of those went to Cahill, who also had four receptions and two interceptions as Reign won their second game of the day.
“It means a lot,” Douglas said. “We took out two of the top-five teams in the league.”
