Columbus Aviators earn 1st win at home 28-14 over Renegades

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The Columbus Aviators (1-3) earned their first franchise win by beating the Dallas Renegades 28-14 in front of an electric home crowd at Historic Crew Stadium April 17.

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The Aviators' previous game was a 28-23 road loss, also against the Renegades (3-1). Columbus played that game without head coach Ted Ginn Jr. The former Ohio State wide receiver had been arrested on charges of DWI.

Aviators staff handed out navy "United We Fly" flags to a majority of the 8,729 in the stands. Despite Historic Crew Stadium being half empty, the fans caused the press box to shake on every opponent's third down.

At the two-minute warning in the first half, the wave started in the "Flightdecke," the Aviators fan section whose name is an homage to the Crew's supporters' section, the Nordecke.

Down 14-7 with one minute remaining in the half, Ginn Jr. challenged a missed pass interference call to keep possession. Such a "super challenge" is unique to the UFL.

One play later, quarterback Jalan McClendon threw a pass towards the left corner of the endzone. Making an almost-impossible acrobatic effort, wide receiver Keke Chism reeled in the pass with one hand and spun his body toward the pylon for a touchdown.

Chism, a Missouri product, broke out an "O-H-I-O" touchdown celebration.

On the first possession of the second half, McClendon sprinted towards the end zone from the five-yard line. Despite the open lane in front of him, he fumbled the ball just before entry. Players from both teams pounced. Aviators tight end Alize Mack recovered it for the first Aviators' lead of the game.

After trading punts, the Aviators, who set a league record with 47 rushing attempts, embarked on an 18-play, 97-yard drive that lasted just over 10 minutes. There was mostly a lull in crowd noise in between chunk-yardage plays, but several times the video board woke fans up. One fan, who was featured twice, took his shirt off and riled up the crowd. A couple "O-H-I-O, A-VI-A-TORS" chants broke out.

Finally, Aviators running back Toa Taua pushed in a two-yard touchdown, marking the first time the Aviators have owned a two-touchdown lead at any point this season. Aviators safety Smoke Monday sealed the victory with an interception. Monday and his teammates climbed the wall past the end zone and celebrated on top of the Crew Stadium stage. Ginn Jr. got a water cooler dumped on his head for his first win ever as a head coach.

The Aviators return to play on May 1 against the Houston Gamblers.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Aviators' first franchise win comes in front of home crowd

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