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AFL Week 13 Recap

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

 

  • Kansas City pulled off a huge upset by beating Philadelphia 54-47. The Brigade jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead and were up by two touchdowns at halftime. The Soul scored twice to take a one-point lead in the third and both teams exchanged touchdowns until the Soul went up 47-46 with four minutes left in the game. Kansas City scored on an 8-yard pass and made the two-point conversion for their final margin of victory. The Brigade had 5 passing touchdowns and aded two more on the ground. Three Brigade receivers caught a touchdown pass. Matt D'Orazio threw for 6 touchdowns and 268 yards in the defeat. Chris Jackson was the top receiver for the Soul with 130 yards and 3 scores. Brent Holmes had 2 touchdown receptions and 5 Soul receivers caught a pass in the game. Philadelphia is just 1-3 in their last 4 games while Kansas City is tied with Grand Rapids for the last playoff spot in the American Conference.

  • Dallas appeared to struggle in the early stages of this game, but cruised to an easy victory after a dominating second half. The Desperdos outscored Orlando 39-13 after halftime to create separation in what looked to be an even matchup. In the first half, both offenses were executing very well and played to a 28-28 tie. The Desperados scores 25 straight points after forcing 2 safeties and recovering a kickoff. Dallas forced three turnovers and also stopped Orlando on downs a few more times. Clint Dolezel had 4 passing touchdowns and backup Chris Sanders threw one more. Anthony Armstrong and Marcus Nash both caught 2 touchdown passes. In the loss, Jake Eaton and Shane Stafford combined for 5 touchdowns and 212 yards. Both Orlando and Dallas are in first place in their divisions.



  • In an improtant matchup for playoff positioning, Tampa Bay came through with a 58-48 victory over Cleveland. The Storm took a narrow 28-26 halftime lead after consecutive touchdowns to close out the second quarter. The game was tied at 41 in the fourth before Tampa Bay scored 14 staright points sparked by a kickoff recovery. The Storm added a field goal with 13 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach. They limited Cleveland to just 2 out of 5 conversions on third and fourth downs. Brett Dietz threw 6 touchdowns and had 297 yards in the win, while Tyrone Simmons and Terrill Shaw each had 3 touchdown receptions. Raymond Philyaw passed for only 3 touchdowns in the defeat and the Gladiators could not make any big plays to fuel the offense. Tampa Bay improves to 6-6 and moves into a tie with New York, both teams are one game out of the last playoff spot, and Cleveland falls to 7-5 and tied with New Orleans for the final playoff position.

  • In a matchup that featured two completely opposite halves, Columbus edged out New York, 43-41. The Dragons and Destroyers put on an offensive display in the first half, and after a bunch of quick scoring drives, New York lead 35-30. The third quarter saw the Destroyers hold onto the ball for over 11 minutes and 19 plays, finally scoring a touchdown. In the fourth, both teams scored one touchdown and Columbus recovered an onside kick with under a minute to qrap up the game. Aaron Garcia threw for 6 touchdowns in the defeat and 3 Dragons receivers had 60 yards or more and 2 touchdown receptions each. Matt Nagy took command of a ball control offense for the Destroyers and tossed 4 touchdowns. Columbus also scored twice on the ground. There were no fumbles or interceptions, although each teams was stopped a few times on downs.

  • One of the most surprising outcomes of the season saw Utah pick up a home win over Chicago, 51-48. The Blaze dominated the first quarter, scoring the first 21 points. Chicago performed much better on offense as the game progressed, and by the end of the third they were only down 41-34. Chicago tied the game at 48 with 43 seconds to go, but Utah drove the ball down the field and set up an easy 18-yard game winning field goal. This was the first time Utah defeated a team with a winning record. Joe Germaine completed 28 passes and threw 5 touchdowns. Aaron Boone and J. J McKelvey both had 2 touchdown receptions and combined for 158 yards. Russ Michna passed for 5 scores, two to Damian Harrell and three to Donovan Morgan. Utah won despite being just 3 out of 10 on third and fourth down conversions.

  • Arizona improved to 6-6 and are safely in the playoff picture after another victory, this time over Grand Rapids. The Rampage and Rattlers alternated scores in the first half and the lead was never more than 7 points. In the third, Grand Rapids scored the only two touchdowns and went ahead, 42-35. Arizona scored a touchdown and a field goal to regain the lead, 45-42 and each team added another touchdown to make the final score 52-48. The Rattlers converted on 5 rushing touchdowns and only had 2 passing scores. Grand Rapids' aerial attack was not enough as James McPherson passed for 6 touchdowns and 270 yards on just 13 completions. Although the Rampage connected on a lot of big plays and averaged 20 yards per completion, they came up short on a few possessions in Arizona territory. Arizona is in the third playoff spot while Grand Rapids is tied with Kansas City for the sixth and final position.

  • San Jose put together a good overall performance as they beat a struggling Colorado team, 59-42. The Sabercats forced 3 defensive stops in the first half as they took a 35-28 lead. In the second half, San Jose scored on each of their possessions and forced 3 more stops, a total of 6 for the game. Co0lorado was just 3 out of 12 on third and fourth down conversions. Mark Grieb threw for 271 yards and 8 touchdowns. Cleannord Saintil and James Roe both had 3 touchdown receptions while Rodney Wright had 133 yards and 2 scores. In an inconsistent performance, John Dutton threw for 6 touchdowns and 308 yards but also had 2 interceptions. Four Colorado receivers had a touchdown recption and each caught 5 passes or more. The special teams units were exceptionally good in this game, both teams averaged 20 yards or more on kickoff returns and made all of the extra point and field goal attempts.

  • Georgia won an important divisional game over New Orleans, 40-29. Georgia jumped out 21-10 before the VooDoo scored twice to take a 23-21 halftime lead. New Orleans scored again to open the second half and go up 29-21, but they would not get any more points in the game, being shut out for the last 23 minutes. The Force went ahead in the fourth quarter and pulled away for a solid 11-point victory. Chris Greisen only had 4 incompletions and passed for 266 yards and 4 touchdowns. Troy Bergeron was the top receiver with 93 yards and 2 touchdowns. Danny Wimrpine tossed 3 touchdowns but completed only 28 out of 46 passes. The VooDoo receivers were forced into short completions throughout the game, averaging a little over 8 yards per catch. The 29 points is the lowest total for New Orleans and the fewest points allowed by Georgia.

  • Joe Germaine leads the league with 81 touchdown passes and 3995 yards. Chris Jackson has the most touchdown recptions with 39. T.T Toliver has 1456 receiving yards, the most by any player. Marlion Jackson leads the league in rushing touchdowns with 19 and rushing yards with 283.

  • San Jose and Chicago have already clinched playoff berths in the American Conference with Chicago also clinching their division. Every team in the American Conference is either in a playoff spot or within a half game of the final spot. In the National Conference, no team has clinched a playoff berth. In the entire league, no team has officially been eliminated from a postseason berth.

 

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!