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AFL Week 12 Recap

Pro Football Fans Staff Writer Chad Fukoka brings us his latest recap of the past week in the Arena Football League.

 

  • Tampa Bay continued their quest for a playoff spot with a 58-50 road victory over Grand Rapids. The Storm struggles early in the game, falling behind 21-7 at the end of the first quarter. They scored three consecutive times to take a lead towards the end of the first half and nevr trailed after that point. The pace slowed down during the second half and Tampa Bay made a few defensive stops to hold on for the win. Brett Dietz completed only half of his passes but still threw 5 touchdowns. Each of the four Storm receivers caught a touchdown pass and averaged ten yards or more per reception. James McPherson threw 6 touchdowns but 4 interceptions for Grand Rapids. The Rampage had a total of 6 turnovers in the loss. Tampa Bay has won 3 out of their last 4 games while Grand Rapids has lost 3 straight games.

  • Philadelphia avoided an embarrassing loss by taking control of the game in the second half as they defeated Columbus 51-43. The first half provided a lot of long scoring drives as each team traded touchdowns on their way to a 21-21 tie. The third quarter is when the Soul pulled away, outscoring Columbus by 16 points. The Destroyers closed the margin to a single touchdown, but Philadelphia managed to run out the clock. Matt D'Orazio threw 7 touchdowns and completed 19 of 23 passes. Chris Jackson caught 3 touchdowns while Larry Brackins added 2 scores for the Soul. Columbus could not convert on many big plays and Matt Nagy contributed just 3 touchdowns for the Destroyers, although his team had 3 more rushing scores. In the end, it was another close loss for Columbus due to a lack of offense, and a much needed victory for the Soul, who previously lost back-to-back games.



  • Arizona stunned Dallas with an improbable win, scoring 40 second half points in a 55-54 win. The game started off very slow, with two scores by each team in the first half, including a missed field goal return for a touchdown by Arizona as the took a 15-14 lead. The second half featured 12 touchdowns and Arizona scored with 31 seconds to take a 1-point lead. Dallas scored on one play to go ahead with 18 seconds remaining. On the final play of the game, Arizona connected on a 16-yard touchdown pass and capped off an amazing last minute of action. Jeff Smoker threw 6 touchdowns, and 3 Rattlers receivers each had 2 scores. In a surprising loss, Clint Dolezel threw for 5 touchdowns, but poor defense proved to be costly for the Desperados.

  • Cleveland picked up a nice road win, controlling the pace and maintaining a small lead throughout the third and fourth quarters. The Gladiatord forced 2 fumbles and held an explosive Colorado offense to only 46 points. Raymond Philyaw threw for 324 yards and 6 touchdowns and Otis Amey had 131 receiving yards and 4 scores. John Dutton threw for 5 touchdowns and completed 31 passes. Ben Nelson was the top receiver with 125 yards and 3 touchdowns. Chad Owens played on both special teams and offense, with a 19 yard kickoff return average and 9 receptions. Cleveland forced 3 defensive stops but took Dutton and the Crush out of rhythm by limiting them to short completions and putting them under pressure throughout the game.

  • This matchup lived up to the hype as there were plenty of points scored and nonstop offense in every quarter. There were only two stops on the first half, one forced by each team and the Sabercats and Blaze played to a 42-42 tie. Both teams scored 28 points in the second quarter. In the thirs, the Sabercats defense took over and created a safety, allowing them to take an 8-point lead. San Jose extended the margin to 18 after a Utah fumble and a quick touchdown. Utah converted on consecutive scores and they trailed 67-64 before San Jose recovered an onside kick and put the game out of reach on their way to a 74-64 victory. Joe Germaine passed for 6 touchdowns and J.J McKelvey caught 3 touchdowns . Mark Grieb had a great game with 9 touchdowns and 3 San Jose receivers contributed with multiple touchdown receptions. San Jose improved to 7-5 and is comfortably in the division lead, while Utah fell to a league worst 2-10 record.

  • Orlando overcame a shaky start to rally for a 58-51 win over Kansas City. The Predators trailed 31-21 but scored on a short touchdown pass and recovered a fumble for a score to take a 35-31 halftime lead. Kansas City regained the momentum with a kickoff return for a touchdown and after a Predators forced safety and two touchdown by each team, the game was tied at 51 with inder a minute remaining. Orlando received the ball and immediately connected on a 37-yard reception. They scored two plays later to go up 58-51 and time ran out on the Brigade's last possession. Shane Stafford threw for 5 touchdowns and 305 yards while Kansas City had 5 rushing scores and just 1 passing touchdown. Orlando maintains a half game division lead over New Orleans and Kansas City is only 3-9 but just a half game out of the last playoff spot in the American Conference, currently behind Grand Rapids.

  • Although New York is regarded as one of the better defensive teams, they gave up 72 points to Georgia and lost a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. New York scored 5 touchdowns in the second quarter and appeared to be in control of the game. The Force and Dragons traded touchdowns in the third and early in the fourth, Georgia scored back-to-back touchdowns after recovering an onside kick. The Force scored to go ahead with one minute left and stopped the Dragons on their last possession. Both quarterbacks had an amazing game with Chris Greisen throwing for 9 touchdowns and 403 yards on 32 completions while Aaron Garcia completed 40 passes for 289 yards and 10 touchdowns. The teams combined to have 6 receivers with 8 or more completions, 4 receivers with 100 or more yards, and 5 receivers with multiple touchdown receptions. Georgia ans New York have identical 6-5 records and are tied for the last playoff position in the National Conference.

  • Chicago clinched a division title and improved their conference best record to 9-2 with a 72-28 annihilation of Los Angeles. Chicago opened the game with two touchdowns after creating an Avengers interception. After Los Angeles cut the lead to 20-14, the Rush scored 24 consecutive points while forcing 2 safeties. The Rush doubled up on Los Angeles in the second half, outscoring them 28-14 to give them the final margin of victory. Chicago created 6 defensive stops and the 28 points allowed was their best performance of the season and also the lowest point total for Los Angeles. The Avengers quarterbacks combined for only 2 touchdown passes and 4 interceptions. For Chicago, Russ Michna had 6 touchdown passes and completed 18 out of 22 passes.

  • Joe Germaine continues to lead the league with 76 touchdowns and 3762 yards. Five quarterbacks have 60 touchdowns or more and seven have 3000 passing yards or more.

  • In the American Conference, only San Jose and Chicago have winning records. Six teams have losing records and all eight teams are currently in a playoff spot or one game out of a playoff spot. In the National Conference, seven teams have a winning record, and in the Southern Divison there is only a 2 1/2 game difference between first place (Orlando) and last place (Tampa Bay).

 

By Chad Fukoka
ProFootball-fans.com Staff Writer

 

> Check out Chad's Arena Football Rules & AFL Basics article and see how your team is doing in the 2008 AFL standings as AFL teams continue to battle for a chance to play in Arena Bowl XXII!