Cuasuz Rushes for Three Touchdowns as Voodoo Top Cyclones
Riley Kade — JRSports One
Julio Cuasuz ran for three touchdowns, Brandon Pais threw for 252 yards, and the New Orleans Voodoo beat the Chicago Cyclones 36-15. New Orleans never trailed, and Chicago's offense spent most of the night chasing a deficit it could not close.
The game turned at 13:29 of the first quarter, when Pais hit Luke Vand on a 31-yard touchdown pass that gave New Orleans a 7-0 lead. Cuasuz followed with a 3-yard touchdown run at 10:25 to make it 14-0, and New Orleans led 21-3 after another 3-yard Cuasuz run at 0:49.
Chicago answered with field goals. Austin Hetings made a 46-yard kick at 5:29 of the first quarter and a 50-yarder at 12:18 of the second. Joel Fianita then found Heath Whayder for a 3-yard touchdown at 8:08, and New Orleans led 23-12. Reed Kemwell's 21-yard field goal at 1:05 pushed the margin to 26-12 at the half.
The second half belonged to New Orleans. Hetings hit a 20-yard field goal at 8:22 of the third quarter to make it 26-15, and Kemwell answered with a 47-yarder at 4:30 for a 29-15 lead. Cuasuz's 2-yard touchdown run at 8:48 of the fourth quarter sealed it.
Chicago's turnovers did more damage than its scoring. Fianita threw three interceptions, two of them to Jordan Blear, who finished with 10 tackles, a sack, two interceptions and two forced fumbles. Scott Shinn intercepted Fianita at 12:18 of the first quarter, and Blear picked him off at 3:38 of the third and again at 2:46 of the fourth. Andrew Femby intercepted Pais at 7:44 of the first quarter, his only turnover.
Fianita finished 16 of 27 for 187 yards and one touchdown. Pais completed 24 of 27 for 252 yards and a touchdown. Cuasuz carried 17 times for 115 yards and three scores, and Adam Hor ran 15 times for 98 yards for Chicago. Vand caught seven passes for 88 yards and a touchdown, and Brady Gronings caught seven for 83 yards.
Several players were ruled out. Joaquin Sortado of Chicago was out with a shoulder sprain and will miss eight weeks. New Orleans lost Jack Dark, the quarterback, to a fractured hand, an injury expected to keep him out three weeks. Sam Chard was out with a hamstring strain, and Jhonny Viar with an MCL sprain. Cody Virdson of Chicago and Arturo Dert of New Orleans were listed as questionable.
New Orleans improved to 5-2 with the win. Chicago fell to 4-4.
