The Ceará Caçadores and João Pessoa Espectros played a balanced game which was decided in the details.
The ghosts of Paraíba (Espectros) defeated the squad of Fortaleza by 23-6 last Sunday, at the Presidente Vargas Stadium in Fortaleza. With the victory, the visitors earned a spot in the final of the Superliga Nordeste – their fifth consecutive and sixth overall.
The Caçadores started the game with high intensity against the Espectros, and early in the game running back Maranhão opened the scoring with a touchdown. They missed the PAT. The visitors reduced the lead with a 40 yard field goal by kicker Aranha, in the second quarter. Soon after, the ground game took over as Ícaro Morais scored on a 10 yard run to put the Espectros ahead 9-6.
After the halftime break, the team from Paraíba took advantage of mistakes by Ceará and extended the lead. Morais stepped up again, taking the ball in from 45 yards out scoring his second touchdown of the game.
In the last period, cornerback Vitor Veloso intercepted quarterback Romário Reis and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown. Aranha kicked the extra point to give the victory to the team from Paraíba and a repeat performance of the 2014 season.
For the head coach of the Caçadores, Bruno Rocha, it won the team who made the fewest mistakes:
“In the second half we came back with everything to turn it around, but we pressed on and this caused them to take advantage of an error following our and killed the game because they are a great team and took advantage of our mistakes”, Rocha explained.
At the end of the game, head coach of the Espectros, Brian Guzman, spoke of the feeling of accomplishment to have passed another stage and the pride he felt for his team to have beaten the Caçadores overcoming the difficulties.
“It was a difficult game with a well prepared team and we have achieved the result we wanted. We know it’s one obstacle at a time and we have more to overcome to compete for the northeastern title. Now, it’s time to prepare and fix the mistakes to reach the final of the Brazilian championship.”
Now the Espectros await the winner of the clash between the Recife Mariners and Recife Pirates on the November 8 in Recife. The final of the Superliga Nordeste should be exciting.
Highlights of the match between Caçadores and Espectros
