By Dan Wright
Contributor to CIFLFootball.com

It took a while to work out the first-game kinks, but once the Cincinnati Commandos got settled, they cruised to a 53-26 win against the Miami Valley Silverbacks in their inaugural game at the Cincinnati Gardens, Saturday night.

The Commandos held Miami Valley to 42 yards of offense and three first downs in the second half, scoring the final 39 points of the game.

“A lot of guys never played indoor football before,” said former University of Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk.  “We had to break the ice a little.”

Mauk completed 11-of-16 passes for 111 yards and four touchdowns in his pro debut, capping the night with a 45-yard touchdown to Dominick Goodman on a halfback pass out of the wildcat formation.

“We drew that up on the bench just before we ran it,” Mauk said.

Goodman led the Commandos with four catches for 50 yards, and both he and Robert Redd hauled in a pair of touchdown passes.  Ray Jackson added 52 rushing yards on seven carries and two touchdown on the ground.

“It was great,” said Goodman, Mauk’s teammate at UC and a Colerain High School graduate.  “There were a lot fans and I had fun playing against my friends who I’ve been playing against in my home town.”

After Mauk’s third touchdown pass, a 1-yard strike to Redd, gave Cincinnati its first lead of the game, 27-26, with 11:16 remaining, the Commandos defense made sure Cincinnati maintained the lead by ending three straight Miami Valley possessions with interceptions. 

Robbie Wilson intercepted a pass in the end zone after Miami Valley reached the Cincinnati 6-yard line, leading to Greg Moore’s 1-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.

On the next play from scrimmage, Jeff Franklin brought back an interception 12 yards for a touchdown, extending the Cincinnati lead to 40-26. “I was sitting back on the route, making him think it was open and the QB threw it late,” Franklin said.  “The easy part was going into the end zone.”

Chris Respress’s interception at midfield ended Miami Valley’s next possession, leading to Ray Jackson’s 20-yard touchdown run.

“We were tired,” said Miami Valley head coach Brian Wells.  “We were out of shape.”

While fresh, the Silverbacks seemed poised to end their 14-game losing streak, which dates back to May of 2008, by taking advantage of Cincinnati miscues.

A 28-yard pass interference penalty on the second play of the game led to a 4-yard touchdown run by Derrick Moss less than three minutes into the game.

A fumbled snap late in the first quarter led to a 3-yard touchdown run by Adell Givens, and Moss’ 8-yard touchdown run answered an 18-yard touchdown pass from Mauk to Redd, keeping the Silverbacks ahead, 20-7.

A one-handed catch by Goodman in the back of the end zone cut the lead to 20-14, but the Silverbacks scored again when Daniel Stover hauled in a tipped fourth-down pass in the end zone after a failed on-side kick attempt.

Stover finished with four catches for 52 yards, all in the first half.  Antonio Davis was 9-for-17 with 96 yards in the first half, finishing the game by completing 11-of-27 passes for 130 yards with three second-half interceptions.  Derrick Moss ran for 21 yards and two scores for Miami Valley.

Ray Jackson’s 1-yard touchdown pulled the Commandos back to within 26-21 by halftime before Cincinnati delighted the crowd of 5,490 by outscoring the Silverbacks, 32-0 in the second half.

“We’re for the fans and Cincinnati’s always been a football town,” said Commandos head coach Billy Back.  “The cuties were cute, the beer was $1, and the players played.  What more can you ask for.”