SARASOTA -- The Puget Sound Jets felt that their late owner,
William "Mac" McIntosh, was watching from above on Saturday night when
the Jets defeated the St. Petersburg Sharks 29-15 in the 23rd Annual American
Football Association National Championship game at Ihrig Field.
The 59-year-old McIntosh suffered a heart attack while flying home from Las
Vegas last month.
"We made ourselves proud, the McIntosh family proud, and I hope we made the
Northwest Football League proud," said Jets head coach Ken Austin, who
cleared a spot symbolizing where McIntosh would have stood during the
presentation of the Arthur S. Arkush Memorial Cup.
Cornerback Terrance Ivory, who was named the game's most
valuable player, intercepted two passes and had a 83-yard kickoff return to open
the second half that gave the Jets a 15-0 lead.
"The plane ride over here everybody knew, but nobody spoke about it because
the McIntosh family was on the plane," said Ivory. "Everybody knew who
it was for and why we had to finish it this way. We had to."
Jakoba Square, who was the offensive player of the game, finished with three
receptions, two of them touchdowns, for 124 yards. Quarterback Lance Westendorf
connected with Square for a 75-yard touchdown to ice the game with 3:27 left.
"Actually, I saw the safety was cheating over on our other
receiver," said Square. "I ran the right route like we've been
practicing all year and just made the run after the catch."
The Sharks got on the scoreboard with 10:19 left in the third quarter as Charles
McKinnon capped a seven-play, 55-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown run.
With 6:02 left in the third quarter, Wade Sparks found Romaine Smith in the end
zone for a 36-yard touchdown and Andre Zahajko's extra point kick gave the Jets
a 22-7 lead.
Westendorf was 11-for-16 passing for 211 yards and two
touchdowns. Sparks completed 3 of 5 passes for 53 yards.
Former University of North Carolina quarterback Oscar Davenport and Bobby
Mitchell hooked up for a 71-yard touchdown with 2:19 left in the third quarter.
The Sharks got a second chance on the two-point conversion thanks to a pass
interference penalty and Sessions Byrd's run made it 22-15.
Davenport was 6-for-22 for 135 yards, and was picked off four times. Milton
Myers' interception at the goal line with 3:43 left set up Square's late
touchdown reception.
"It feels great," said Austin. "Coming down not
knowing anything about the other team. (The Sharks) knew a lot about us, but our
guys rose to the occassion."
Toure Butler was named the defensive player of the game. He intercepted
Davenport at the Jets 9-yard line with 8:40 left in the game.