Piranhas Self-Destruct in the Storm and Fall Flat, 34-28

The Piranhas showed the Tampa Bay Storm their 7-0 record was no fluke, but they also showed they can self-destruct with the worst of teams. An ugly combination of fumbles, dropped passes, interceptions and poor kickoff coverage led to a 34-28 Tampa Bay victory Saturday night in front of an announced crowd of 14,102 at the Pond.

“We beat ourselves,” Piranhas Coach Babe Parilli said. “I hope we meet them again in the ArenaBowl because I think we can beat them.”

The Piranhas had more than enough chances to defeat the Storm (7-0), but every time they didn’t execute as they had all season. Nearly every phase of the game in which the Piranhas excelled, they broke down Saturday.

Anaheim had been excellent covering kickoffs but Tampa Bay’s George La France gave the Storm its first two touchdowns with returns of 42 and 55 yards.

“We knew the returns were something they were good at,” Parilli said. “They’ve been beating everybody with it but we weren’t good enough to stop it.”

Said Piranhas’ quarterback Scooter Molander: “George is a friend of mine from Phoenix. People have been trying to stop him for 10 years and they still can’t do it.”

La France, named the game’s MVP, also hurt the Piranhas, catching five passes for 68 yards and two touchdowns.

The Piranhas hadn’t turned the ball over much until Saturday, but Molander threw two interceptions deep in Tampa Bay territory--one on the goal line to Lawrence Samuels with the Piranhas’ trailing, 14-7.

“I just made a poor read there on the goal line,” said Molander, who had six passes intercepted in the Piranhas’ first seven games.

The most costly turnover might have been fullback James Johnson’s fumble on the Tampa Bay 10 late in the fourth quarter with Anaheim trailing, 34-20.

“If we don’t fumble at the end of the game, I think we beat them by one point,” Parilli said. “It was a good exchange on a trap, the guy just stuck his hand in there.”

Molander, who completed 25 of 46 passes for 265 yards and three interceptions, had at least eight passes dropped by his receivers, many of them by Adrian Jarrell, the AFL’s fifth-leading receiver. Jarrell still caught 11 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown but he could have had at least one more touchdown if he had hung on to a few more of Molander’s passes.

Tampa Bay led, 21-7, at halftime and 28-14 after three quarters, but the Piranhas outplayed the Storm for much of the second half and began to get to quarterback Jay Gruden, who completed 13 of 28 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns. Gruden, the AFL’s top-rated passer, was sacked once and threw two interceptions.

“That was the hardest game I’ve played in a long time,” Gruden said. “They have the best defensive line and pass rush I’ve seen. I’m just glad to get the heck out of here.”

Tampa Bay Coach Tim Marcum also gave the Piranhas’ credit.

“There’s a reason they’re 7-0,” he said. “That’s a good football team. They started coming on in the fourth quarter. I think we got tired.”

Said Parilli: “It was a great finish but we shouldn’t have been in that position.”

The Piranhas do not meet Tampa Bay again in the regular season. But they do play Western Division rival Arizona Saturday in Phoenix. Arizona’s victory over Memphis Saturday moved the Rattlers into a first-place tie with Anaheim.