Avengers Close Season Out With Another Loss

The Avengers did not go quietly in their final regular season game Friday, but they can put their inaugural Arena Football League season to bed.

Friday’s 60-52 loss to the Buffalo Destroyers, before 10,029 at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, N.Y., ended the Avengers’ faint playoff hopes. The Avengers finished 3-11.

“It’s disappointing to end the season that way,” Avenger Coach Stan Brock said. “But we did not play well enough to win. We’ve got to get everything better. That’s what I have to do in the off-season. I’ll start preparing on Monday to get ready to put a team together.”

Buffalo (5-8) won its fifth in a row. The Destroyers, who have one game left at San Jose, did not clinch a playoff berth, but they have a strong grip on the final spot. And the Destroyers continued their surge to respectability, after going 1-13 last season and losing their first eight games this season.

The Avengers’ cause was hurt after kicker Kyle Pooler missed four extra point attempts.

The Avengers played without quarterback Todd Marinovich, whose bruised ribs had not healed enough for him to make the trip. But Scott Semptimphelter proved to be an able replacement, throwing three first-half touchdowns, two of them to Chris Jackson.

Buffalo took a 23-19 halftime lead when quarterback Browning Nagle passed to receiver Darrick Branch for a 35-yard touchdown with 22 seconds left in the second quarter. Branch could have been stopped at the Avenger 18 but defensive back Kevin Cobb overran the play, which allowed Branch to spin away from the tackle and race into the end zone untouched.

Nagle, who completed 25 of 38 attempts for 381 yards and seven touchdowns, found Terrel Shaw (seven catches, 130 yards) on a 32-yard scoring pass to open the third quarter, and the teams spent the rest of the game exchanging touchdowns. Los Angeles never got closer than five points.

“I felt we had a shot coming into the second half,” Brock said. “We needed a defensive stop early, but could not get one. I don’t think we had one all night.”

Semptimphelter completed 25 of 42 pass attempts for 319 yards and threw seven touchdown passes, equaling the number of passing scores he had last week in relief of Marinovich in three-plus quarters against San Jose.

Once again, as often has been the case for the Avengers, it wasn’t enough.

“It’s frustrating because this was like a lot of games this year that could have gone our way but didn’t,” Semptimphelter said. “But good teams win the close games. Teams that go to the playoffs find ways to win games and we did not.”

Buffalo’s 60 points raised the season point total allowed by the Avengers to 831, which breaks the league record set last year by Houston (821).

Jackson needed 128 yards to set a rookie season record for receiving yardage, but finished with 117 yards on nine receptions and three touchdowns.