Graziani Helps Lift Avengers to Victory

The Avengers left little to chance on Friday night.

They scored on every possession except their last, which they used to run out the clock and secure a 62-55 victory over the Detroit Fury before 11,125 at Staples Center.

The victory improved the Avengers’ record to 6-4 and kept alive their drive for one of eight playoff spots. Los Angeles plays at Chicago on April 25. They have six games remaining.

“We’d like to win them all, but we’ve got to win four,” Avenger Coach Ed Hodgkiss said. “We’ve got to get to 10 wins to get ourselves into the playoffs.”

On Friday, the Avengers’ offense made up for the play of the kickoff coverage unit, which gave up two touchdowns to one player for the second time this season. Ron Carpenter scored on 52- and 54-yard returns in the second half to keep the Fury within striking distance.

His second touchdown cut the Avengers’ lead to 55-48 with 8 minutes 25 seconds left.

Avenger quarterback Tony Graziani, who passed for eight touchdowns and a career-high 359 yards without an interception, answered with a five-yard touchdown pass to Russell Shaw that increased the lead to 62-48 with 2:34 remaining.

Detroit (4-6), which scored on all but one possession, cut the deficit to seven points when Andy Kelly threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to receiver Thabiti Davis with 19 seconds left.

But the ensuing onside kick went out of bounds, and the Avengers ran out the clock.

“It’s really hard to beat us if we take care of the ball,” said offensive specialist Chris Jackson, who had 10 receptions for 192 yards and three touchdowns.

The key sequence for the Avengers came late in the first quarter when linebacker Josh Jeffries stopped Fury fullback Juan Long on a third-and-one play at the Avenger six. Lineman Johnathan Taylor and linebacker Greg Hopkins stopped Long on fourth down, giving the Avengers a chance to extend a 7-6 lead en route to a 28-20 halftime lead.

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San Jose’s Mark Grieb threw five touchdown passes as the SaberCats (8-2) rallied for a 51-43 victory over Chicago (7-3) before 12,147 in San Jose.

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Times wire services contributed to this report.