Piranhas Out of Playoffs After Fading in the Storm

The Piranhas were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs with a 68-43 loss to the defending Arena Bowl-champion Tampa Bay Storm in an Arena Football League game Saturday night at The Ice Palace in Tampa.

The Piranhas scored a touchdown in the second quarter on an 11-yard run by Darren Williams, pulling Anaheim as close as 10 points, 19-9.

After a Tampa Bay field goal, the Piranhas scored on a 35-yard pass from quarterback John Kaleo to Shannon Culver and, with the conversion, the Piranhas were down, 22-16.

The Storm countered with a one-yard touchdown run by Andre Bowden, but the Piranhas came back as Rodney Mazion ran back the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown. And with a fumble recovery in the end zone by Williams and a failed conversion the Piranhas took the lead, 29-28.

The breaking point for the Piranhas came when Stevie Thomas caught a 38-yard touchdown pass from Peter Tom Willis with no time left in the first half to put the Storm back on top for good, 36-29.

Said Piranha Coach Mike Hohensee: “Their last score of the first half really hurt. Instead of being up, we lost a lot of momentum.”

The teams each scored touchdowns early in the third quarter, then the Storm put the game away with four unanswered touchdowns to take a 68-36 lead late.

The Storm is 6-5; the Piranhas fall to 2-9.