June 6, 2010 (Baltimore, MD) – The Erie Storm lost the turnover battle decisively resulting in a disappointing 51-34 loss to the Baltimore Mariners on Saturday night at the First Mariner Arena in Baltimore. With the loss, Erie season record fell to 7-5 and into a tie for third-place with Reading in the AIFA’s East Division. The Storm will try to even up the season series with Baltimore this weekend when they host the undefeated Mariners in Erie.

The Erie offense outgained Baltimore 246-109 in yards of offense, made 18 first downs to the Mariners’ 10, and the Storm defense allowed just 7 Baltimore pass completions. However, those advantages were negated by an opportunistic Mariners defense which recorded six interceptions from five different players, two of which were returned for defensive touchdowns, and as a result, Baltimore improved its season record to 11-0 and with the victory, clinched its first AIFA division title.

Quarterback Rod Rutherford had a difficult evening passing, completing just 18 of 41 attempts for 193 yards and one touchdown, but was picked off a season-high five times. Eugene Baker was Erie’s leading receiver with ten catches for 118 yards and a 32-yard touchdown, and linebacker Tommie Weatherspoon grabbed his first interception of the season and returned it 10 yards for a score, one of the few highlights for the Storm in the second half.

Erie scored the first touchdown of the game on a Rutherford 1-yard quarterback keeper and held leads of 7-1 and 14-9 during the first half. However, Baltimore responded with 21 unanswered points in the second quarter, including a 50-yard interception return by Richard Johnson and a 12-yard interception return by Adam Goloboski which gave Baltimore a sixteen point lead at halftime.

The Erie defense began the second half strong with Weatherspoon's interception and touchdown to reduce the Storm deficit to just eight. However, the Mariners responded quickly with just one play, a 44-yard touchdown pass from quarterback E.J. Nemeth to receiver Aaron Yarbrough. During the second half, Erie scored on two occasions to pull within ten points, but could never get closer thanks to four more interceptions by the Mariners defense. An unsuccessful Erie onside kick near the end of the game gave Baltimore a short field from which they scored on a 2-yard run by Isaiah Greer resulting in the final score of 51-34.

The Erie Storm returns home to the Tullio Arena for their regular-season finale against Baltimore on Sunday afternoon with kickoff scheduled for 2:00 PM. Tickets are available at the Tullio Arena box office and through all Ticketmaster outlets. Erie will complete its regular-season with a long road trip to North Carolina when they visit the Fayetteville Guard in a rematch of their game four weeks ago won 55-52 by the Storm in Erie. The first round of the AIFA playoffs will begin the first weekend of July at sites yet to be determined.