Command Totally Inept In Loss To Barnstormers

The Kansas City Command (3-13) suffered a tough 54-26 loss to their Central Division rival, Iowa Barnstormers (6-10) in front of 3,223 fans Saturday night at Sprint Center.  Barnstormers’ wide receiver Jesse Schmidt hauled in four touchdowns, earning the National Guard MVP of the game.
“It was an embarrassing loss, nothing positive other than the two blocked extra-point kicks that were returned by Sergio Gilliam.” said Command head coach Danton Barto.  “That’s pretty amazing and nobody has ever seen that in a game.”
Iowa quarterback J.J. Raterink connected with Jesse Schmidt to put the Barnstormers on the board first, but the extra point was blocked by Ken Scott and returned by Gilliam; the first of two blocked extra-point kicks that were returned by KC.  Iowa’s early attempt at an onside kick was recovered by OJ Simpson and the Command quickly put more points on the board with a rushing touchdown by Jackie Chambers.  KC took their only lead of the game 9-6 after one quarter.
Although the Command defense stuffed the Barnstormers on the opening drive, forcing a quick turnover on downs, costly interceptions in the second half kept KC’s offense on the sidelines and allowed Iowa to build a lead they would never relinquish.  Command defensive linemen Michael Robinson and Chris Lyle each had a sack on Iowa quarterback J.J. Raterink, while DB Rashad Barksdale led the team with 8 unassisted tackles. Raterink only passed for 164 yards, but accounted for five Barnstormers’ touchdowns.  
Kansas City’s offense stalled in the second quarter while Iowa put up 21 points.  With just four seconds remaining in the second quarter, Command kicker James Wilhoit connected on a 47 yard field goal cutting Iowa’s lead to 27-12 as the teams headed to halftime.
Command quarterback Matt Gutierrez threw three picks in the third quarter and the Barnstormers took advantage and widening their lead to 40-12 heading into the fourth.  Command backup QB, Zack Eskridge replaced Gutierrez; rushing for a touchdown and tossing another to Bret Smith, avoiding a KC second half offensive shutout.
As for Eskridge’s role for the final two games of the season, “I’ll need to evaluate it, look at the film, and we’ll go from there,” said coach Barto.  “Whoever is going to give us the best opportunity to win these last two games is the guy that is going to play.  The good thing is there will be some competition at wide receiver with Armand (Robinson) coming back.  We’ll also have Xavier (Lee) back next week, and competition is good.  Armand was playing really good football before he got hurt and I think he’ll help whoever is at quarterback, and help this team.”