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AFL Week 14 Recap

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

 

  • New Orleans broke out of their midseason slump by exploding on offense for a 83-61 victory over Columbus. In a tight first half, the VooDoo scored on all five of their possessions and took a 34-27 lead. New Orleans scored 21 points in the first seven minutes of the third quarter and pulled away towards the end of the game to win by a comfortable margin. Danny Wimprine threw for seven touchdowns and 265 yards and James Jordan and Javarus Dudley both had three touchdown receptions. The VooDoo had a lot of big passing plays and averaged over 14 yards per reception. For Columbus, Matt Nagy played well, but a shaky third quarter was enough to put his team in a huge defecit. Nagy passed for seven touchdowns and Calvin Russell caught nine passes for 77 yards and three touchdowns. New Orleans kicker Jonathan Ruffin made all 11 extra point attempts and both field goal attempts.

  • Dallas regained their consistent form on offense and was able to contain the Cleveland offense in the second half to pick up a 68-52 road win. The second quarter was very high scoring as the teams combined for 7 touchdowns and at halftime Dallas was up 34-31. Early in the second half, both teams traded touchdowns but eventually the Desperados scored consecutive touchdowns to go up 62-45 win about five minutes remaining in the game and held on for the victory. Clint Dolezel had a great performance with 8 touchdowns and Will Pettis, Marcus Nash, and Anthony Armstrong all had multiple touchdown receptions. Cleveland faded on offense late in the game and their seven total touchdowns was not enough. The top receiver was Otis Amey with 132 yards and all 4 touchdown recptions. Cleveland struggled on kick returns, averaging a little over 8 yards per attempt.



  • Georgia pulled out another exciting home comeback over Tampa Bay after rebounding from a 13-p0int defecit entering the fourth quarter. The Force won 56-55 after scoring the game winning touchdown and extra point with no time remaining. In the first half, both teams scored 4 touchdowns and Georgia lead 28-27. Tampa Bay would score the only points in the third and lead 41-28 with fifteen minutes left. Georgia receiced the ball with four minutes remaining but trailed 55-42. They would score on a five play drive and cut the defecit to 55-49 with under two minutes to go. Georgia intercepted a pass and scored on fourth down from the Tampa Bay one-yard line as time expired and the converted the game winning extra point. Chris Greisen passed for 4 touchdowns and Matt Huebner rushed for three touchdowns. For Tampa Bay, Brett Dietz also threw for four touchdowns and fullback Torrance Marshall had 32 yards and four rushing touchdowns. Georgia appears to be safely in the playoffs while Tampa Bay is a game out of the final playoff spot.

  • Arizona clinched a playoff berth and came through with an impressive road win over Orlando, 60-53. Arizona's defense looked to be too much for Orlando in the first half as they lead 29-13 at halftime after forcing a safety and 4 defensive stops. The Predators would tie the game with less than a minute after scoring 5 touchdowns and making 5 two-point conversions. Arizona broke the 53-53 tie by completing a 19-yard touchdown pass and stopped Orlando on its final possession. Shane Stafford threw for 6 touchdowns and backup Jake Eaton added another one, while five Predators receivers each caught a touchdown pass. In a losing effort, Matthew Sauk passed for 6 touchdowns while star receiver Siaha Burley had 105 yards and 3 scores. By clinching a spot in the playoffs, the Rattlers do not have to give refunds to all season ticket holders.

  • Chicago avoided an embarassing home loss by making a small comeback in the fourth quarter to defeat the Kansas City Brigade. In an unusually high scoring first halffor those teams, Chicago and Kansas City combined for nine touchdowns and the Brigade lead 34-28. Chicago scored the only touchdown in the third quarter and went up by a point. Kansas City had an interception return for a touchdown to take a 12-point lead with ten minutes remaining. The Rush responded with a scor of their own, stopped the Brigade on a fourth down play to regain possesion, and capped off a six-play drive with a short rushing touchdown. The final play for Kansas City ended up in a safety as a fumble went through the end zone. Russ Michna had 5 touchdown passes and 296 yards. Struggling quarterback D Bryant had just 4 touchdowns and 161 yards, and the Brigade have added former NFL quarterback Quincy Carter to the roster in hopes of improving the offense.

  • San Jose has gotten back to the level they were at last year, winning 6 of their last 7 games, this time a victory over the Los Angeles Avengers. The Sabercats never trailed and took a 10-point lead in a sloppy first half. The scoring definitely picked up after halftime and after two touchdowns by both teams in the third, the margin remained the same. The fourth quarter featured back-and-forth scoring and a very quick pace as San Jose and Los Angeles combined for 8 touchdowns and 56 points. In the end, it was a relatively easy win for the Sabercats. Mark Grieb passed for 7 touchdowns and Rodney Wright had 3 touchdown receptions. Los Angeles seems to have solved their quarterback dilemma as they let original starter Sonny Cumbie play the entire game. LaShaun Ward and Timon Marshall caught all 5 touchdown passes, but the Avengers still are inconsistent on the offensive end.

  • Utah took a commanding halftime lead and held on for a 63-56 win over Grand Rapids. The Blaze scored 42 points in the first half and outscored the Rampage by 14 points in both quarters to acquire their huge lead. The Utah defense relaxed a litle too much in the second half, allowing 6 touchdowns and letting Grand Rapids close the defecit to 7 with a few seconds remaining. Utah was able to recover an onside kick and run out the clock to escape with a win. Joe Germaine threw for just 4 touchdowns but the Blaze scored three times on the ground, once on a fumble recovery and once on a kickoff return. The nine total touchdowns represented a complete effort on all sides of the ball. Grand Rapids had 4 passing and rushing touchdowns. The Rampage offense played pretty well and did not commit any fumbles or interceptions, but the 28-point halftime decefit was simply too much too overcome.

  • In an exciting. fast-paced game, New York kept their playoff hopes alive with a 73-65 victory over Colorado. Both offenses were in sync the entire game and New York lead 38-31 at halftime. Colorado found consistency and energy in their passing attack and tied the game at 52 to end the third. The Dragons defense forced an interceprion midway through the fourth and quickly scored to take a 14-point lead and put the game out of reach. In an excellent battle of two quarterbacks, Aaron Garcia got the slight edge. Garcia threw for 7 touchdowns and lead his offense to 10 touchdowns. John Dutton wasw much more accurate and passed for 8 touchdowns, but the one interception proved to be the difference. Despite the loss, Colorado is still in the fourth playoff spot in the American Conference with a 4-9 record, while New York is in a tie with Cleveland for the final spot in the National Conference.

  • In the National Conference, Dallas and Philadelphia have clinched playoff berths. In the American Conference, San Jose, Chicago, and Arizona are already in the playoffs.

  • Joe Germaine continues to lead the AFL with 85 passing touchdowns and 4299 passing yards. Otis Amey and Chris Jackson are tied for the most receiving touchdowns with 39. T.T Toliver has the most receiving yards with 1561. Marlion Jackson leads the league with 22 rushing touchdowns and 295 rushing yards.

 

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!