The Alaska Wild remained winless in Indoor Football League action, falling to Maryland for the second straight week as the Maniacs served the Wild a 52-33 beat-down Saturday night at Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md.
The Maniacs' win extended Alaska's all-time road record to 0-16 and left Floyd Johnson still seeking his first victory as head coach of the Wild (0-3).
A win was briefly in Johnson's view when he put in Damion Ward to replace Earl Mason at quarterback. At that point, the Wild trailed 20-7 with seven minutes left in the second quarter.
The newly signed Ward -- the Wild's fourth quarterback in three games -- led the Wild on a promising 21-yard scoring drive that ended with his 3-yard sneak to trim the Maniac's lead to six points.
Then the wheels -- or shall we say hands -- came off quickly for Ward, who unofficially completed 5 of 13 passes for 76 yards, with an interception and two touchdowns.
His most staggering statistic was accounting for five of Alaska's seven fumbles. Only two resulted in turnovers, but still, losing the ball has spelled trouble for Alaska this season.
But so has the Wild's carousel quarterback situation, which took another spin when Ward substituted for Mason, a soldier at Elmendorf Air Force Base who was largely ineffective in his first IFL start.
The 27-year-old from Alabama completed just 1 of 7 passes for 8 yards. He put together a 31-yard drive early in the game with the Wild trailing 7-0. But with Alaska facing fourth-and-goal on Maryland's 9, Mason was sacked.
Maryland needed only one play from scrimmage to take a 13-0 lead as Michael Fitzgerald zip-lined a 24-yard touchdown pass to Terry Moss.
Fitzgerald filled in for Bryson Spinner, who got married Saturday, nearly a week after chucking four touchdown passes in a 49-40 Maniacs win over Alaska at Sullivan Arena.
Spinner wasn't missed by the Maniacs -- his backup also stung the Wild on four touchdown passes. Fitzgerald unofficially finished on 12-of-24 passing for 202 yards and an interception.
The only bright spot for the Wild was their special teams. Fleet-footed DeMarcus James ran back two kickoffs of 60 and 40 yards for touchdowns.
The Wild sit last in the Pacific Division of the Intense Conference behind the Colorado Ice, Fairbanks Grizzlies and division-leading Billings Outlaws.
With 11 games to go in the regular season, the Wild have dug themselves into a giant hole just in time for the hardest stretch on the schedule.
After the Wild face Colorado (1-2) in a Sunday matinee at Sullivan Arena, they'll take on Bloomington (3-2), then Billings (4-0), a team that annihilated Fairbanks 74-3 last week.
"Colorado is a game we can't afford to lose," Johnson said Thursday, "and Billings is a powerhouse."
Find Kevin Klott online at adn.com/contact/kklott or call 257-4335.
Unofficial Scoring Summary
Wild 0 14 \ 7 12 -- 33
Maryland 7 21 17 7 -- 52
First Quarter
Maryland -- Overton 14 run (Ennis kick), 11:31.
Second Quarter
Maryland -- Moss 26 pass from Fitzgerald (kick failed), 14:14.
Wild -- D. James 60 kickoff return (Tongate kick), 13:59.
Maryland -- McCarter 45 pass from Fitzgerald (Ennis kick), 7:01.
Wild -- Ward 3 run (Tongate kick), 2:14.
Maryland -- Fitzgerald 1 run (Fitzgerald run), 1:12.
Third Quarter
Maryland -- Ennis 25 FG, 7:30.
Wild -- D. James 40 kickoff return (Tongate kick), 7:16.
Maryland -- Moss 26 pass from Fitzgerald (Ennis kick), 6:50.
Maryland -- Overton 3 run (Ennis kick), 4:30.
Fourth Quarter
Maryland -- Bryant 45 pass from Fitzgerald (Ennis kick), 14:09.
Wild -- Byrd 44 pass from Ward (pass failed), 13:10.
Wild -- Jones 3 pass from Ward (pass failed), 2:37.
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