Avengers Lose on Late Fumble

When quarterback Tony Graziani dropped the ball Sunday in the final minute, the Avengers also lost their grip on their bid for the top seeding and home-field advantage throughout the Arena Football League playoffs.

Andy McCullough returned Graziani’s fumble for a touchdown, clinching a 60-57 victory for the Dallas Desperados in front of 10,019 at Reunion Arena.

Though the Avengers already have sewn up a playoff spot, the loss dropped them into a tie with the defending ArenaBowl champion San Jose SaberCats, 65-49 winners over the Colorado Crush, atop the Western Division standings.

And in the race for the No. 1 overall seeding in the playoffs, the Avengers fell into a three-way tie for second place behind the Tampa Bay Storm, a 59-45 winner over the New York Dragons.

“I’m not real concerned with that,” Avenger Coach Ed Hodgkiss said. “We’re concerned with us getting back to playing smart right now. We’ll get to the playoffs ... but I want us to get there playing at a high level.”

The Avengers (9-4) had moved to the top of the standings by winning six of their last seven games. But they were entering the most demanding part of their schedule, a stretch in which they would play three of their last four games on the road.

And they were dealt an early blow Sunday when Kevin Ingram, their third-leading receiver and one of their top two-way players, suffered a broken left leg returning the opening kickoff. He is not expected to play again before the May 17 season finale.

Still, the Avengers put up a strong effort against the Desperados (8-5), intercepting three of Jim Kubiak’s passes in the end zone.

And, after winning four times on the final play of the game, they were positioned to pull off another late comeback, trailing, 53-50, as Graziani lined them up at the Desperado 23-yard line with less than 30 seconds to play.

As Graziani dropped to pass, however, Tim Martin broke through and knocked the ball loose. McCullough scooped it up and sprinted into the end zone.

“My heart just dropped,” said Graziani, who completed 28 of 42 passes for 327 yards and six touchdowns, with no interceptions. “I knew we lost the game right there, unless we could have pulled off another miracle.”

Martin’s eyes grew wide when he spotted his opportunity.

“Tony was facing toward me with the ball right there,” he said, “and I was able to just get my hand through and tap it out and we got a fortunate bounce.”

The Avengers weren’t finished, though. Graziani scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak with two seconds to play, and Siaha Burley recovered the ensuing onside kick with only a fraction of a second remaining.

But the 6-foot-4, 273-pound Martin foiled them again, blocking Remy Hamilton’s 53-yard field-goal attempt on the game’s final play.

“I knew it was going to be a low trajectory because of the length of the kick,” Martin said, “so I tried to get my hand up and fortunately my hand was in the same space as the ball.”