Bad Bounce Throws Piranhas for a Loss

Piranhas Coach Mike Hohensee has watched his Arena Football League team lose some tough games this season, but even he couldn’t believe this one.

Leading by 11 points with two minutes left and by eight with 28 seconds remaining, the Piranhas invented a new way to lose Saturday night. Milwaukee scored on a kickoff return, recovered a kickoff that took a strange bounce off the bottom of the end zone net and then kicked the game-winning field goal with no time left to win, 55-52, in front of announced crowd of 8,253.

“I almost have to believe that yes, I thought we had it won,” Hohensee said. “You don’t expect to get a bounce like that off the net and you don’t expect to have a kick returned on us after we’d shut them down all game. It’s unfortunate. This football team has been through a lot this season. They don’t deserve this.”

If it’s any consolation, the Piranhas’ fans seemed to appreciate their team’s effort. As backup quarterback James Guidry breathed some life into the offense after replacing injured starter John Kaleo (knee sprain), the crowd came alive and rallied behind Guidry. After Guidry scored on a sneak to give the Piranhas a 42-38 lead, some of the fans gave Guidry a standing ovation. Guidry responded by doing a little dance in the end zone.

“We’ve been giving these fans good football all year,” Hohensee said. “We’ve just been coming up short. But that doesn’t take away from the character these guys have shown all year through all the injuries and the toughest schedule in the league.”

Milwaukee (7-6) began the night hanging onto the eighth and final playoff spot in the AFL, so a loss to the 2-11 Piranhas would have been devastating. The Mustangs looked to be about done when Piranhas fullback Tim Brown rumbled 27 yards for a touchdown with 2:01 left for a 49-38 lead. Brown fell down at the 12 but was not touched, so he got up and bounced into the end zone.

Milwaukee trimmed the lead to 49-44 on a Todd Hammel to Gary Compton 23-yard touchdown pass. The Piranhas followed with a 49-yard Ian Howfield field goal to make it 52-44. Milwaukee’s Skip Stewart returned the ensuing kickoff 55 yards for a touchdown and Lincoln Coleman scored on a two-point conversion to tie it at 52.

Milwaukee wasn’t trying an onsides kick, but Kenny Stucker’s kick off the bottom of the net served the same purpose. Wayne Wade recovered the ball at the Piranhas seven. One play later, Stucker nailed the game winner from 17 yards.

The loss detracted from another big performance by defensive specialist/return man Rodney Mazion, who returned three kickoffs for 108 yards and a touchdown and intercepted two passes. Guidry, the Piranhas’ fifth quarterback, also had a nice game, completing five of nine passes for 42 yards and rushing three times for 15 yards and a touchdown.

“I was just patient,” said Guidry, an AFL veteran from Texas A&I;, who announced to the team before the game that he is retiring after the season. “I finally got a chance to show what I can do.”