Avengers Outlast SaberCats, 71-69

The Avengers discovered a quality receiver and then nearly lost a considerable fourth-quarter lead Sunday afternoon before holding on for a 71-69 victory over the San Jose SaberCats in front of 13,088 at Staples Center.

Offensive specialist Tony Locke, in his first game as an Avenger and third in the Arena Football League, tallied all three of his touchdown receptions in the second quarter and finished with all 118 of his receiving yards in the first half.

But the Avengers, who appeared headed for an easy victory after taking a 68-49 lead with 2 minutes 5 seconds left on a 25-yard touchdown reception by offensive specialist Jerome Riley, had to sweat out the final minute after San Jose registered consecutive quick-strike touchdowns to make it 68-62 with 52 seconds remaining.

Kicker Remy Hamilton, who earlier had missed a 31-yard field-goal try, his first miss of the season after converting 11 consecutive attempts, made a 19-yarder with 34 seconds left to give the Avengers a 71-62 lead.

And still the game wasn’t over.

San Jose’s Barry Wagner, who became the AFL’s all-time leading receiver with his fifth catch of the game, hauled in a nine-yard touchdown pass to pull the SaberCats to within 71-69 with 18 seconds left. Wagner finished with seven receptions and has 952 in his 14-year career, passing the retired Eddie Brown (949).

Only when San Jose’s ensuing on-side kick sailed out of bounds was the Avengers’ victory over the defending ArenaBowl champions secure.

“You’d like to find a way to finish,” said Coach Ed Hodgkiss, whose Avengers (3-1) opened a two-game lead on the SaberCats (1-3) in the Western Division. “Obviously, that’s something we’ve got to fix. We don’t want to give those long ones up.”

The Avengers were still smiling afterward, in part because of their good fortune in signing Locke from the practice squad Saturday to fill in for the injured Rob Turner. Locke made touchdown catches of 21, four and 23 yards during the Avengers’ 34-point second quarter.

“It felt great to get in the end zone and put points on the board,” said Locke, who finished with seven catches.

Locke, a 2001 graduate of Ohio State, took two years off from football to work as a substitute teacher before feeling the lure of the game again last year. He played in two games with the Columbus Destroyers before latching on with the Albany Conquest of arenafootball2, the developmental league established by the AFL in 1999.

How long will Locke stick with the Avengers?

“As long as they want me,” he said.

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OTHER GAMES

Jim Kubiak threw five touchdown passes to lead the Georgia Force to a 38-13 win over the Gladiators at Las Vegas.... Andy Kelly threw for 315 yards and seven touchdowns, leading the VooDoo to a 61-47 win over the Philadelphia Soul at New Orleans.