Avengers Win on Late Plays
Somehow it all worked out for the Avengers.
After spending much of Sunday stumbling through a key game against division rival Arizona, the Avengers made enough big plays to come away with a 33-29 victory in America West Arena at Phoenix. The victory gave the Avengers sole possession of first place in the Western Division.
A defensive stand in the last minute was followed by a 36-yard touchdown pass, from John Kaleo to Kevin Ingram, that brought the Avengers from behind. When Sherdrick Bonner’s Hail Mary pass off the net fell incomplete as time ran out, the Rattlers -- ArenaBowl participants the last three seasons -- had lost their fifth game in a row.
“I don’t know if our guys just aren’t very bright or they just don’t quit,” Avenger Coach Ed Hodgkiss said. “That’s something that we can hang our hat on. If we get down and things are not going well, they keep trying hard. I give them respect for that.”
The Avengers (4-2) proved that again Sunday. The Rattlers (1-5) seemed to have the game in hand, with a 29-26 lead and a first down at the Avenger one-yard line. But the Avengers held on downs, with Greg Hopkins and Josh Jefferies making a key third-down tackle.
Moments later, Kaleo found Ingram streaking down the field.
“We’ve been behind the first half pretty much every game this season,” Ingram said. “We keep fighting back. This was nothing new for us.”
Also familiar were the Avengers’ offensive woes.
Kaleo completed 21 of 37 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for one touchdown. But the offense mostly sputtered. Kaleo was sacked four times, and the Avengers got inside the Arizona 10-yard line on their first three possessions but got only two Remy Hamilton field goals.
“To be honest, we’re not real good at all on offense,” Hodgkiss said. “I can’t tell you why that is or else I would fix it. The good thing is we have the bye week. We can watch a lot of film and decide what direction to go in, whether it’s personnel changes or the plays we’re calling.”
Chicago 45, Nashville 38 --
Todd Hammel threw five touchdown passes to lead the Rush to a victory over the Kats at Rosemont, Ill.
Hammel, who was starting in place of injured Raymond Philyaw, completed 20 of 31 passes for 223 yards for the Rush (3-3). C.J. Johnson led Chicago in receiving with seven catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Tony Zimmerman threw four touchdown passes for the Kats (1-5).
New York 61, Philadelphia 54 -- Aaron Garcia threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Will Holder with five seconds left to give the Dragons a victory over the Soul at Philadelphia.
The Soul (2-4) tied the score at 54 with 15 seconds left on Tony Graziani’s 27-yard scoring pass to Steve Smith, but Derek Schorejs missed the extra point.Garcia threw six touchdown passes for the Eastern Conference-leading Dragons (4-1).
San Jose 57, Orlando 38 --
Mark Grieb threw five touchdown passes, and Barry Wagner scored three times in his return to Orlando, Fla., helping the SaberCats end a two-game losing streak to the Predators (4-2).
Grieb completed 22 of 35 passes for 280 yards with no interceptions. He threw four scoring passes, including two to Wagner, to stake San Jose (2-3) to a 33-26 halftime lead. San Jose stopped a five-game regular-season losing streak dating to last season.
Georgia 55, Columbus 48 --
Troy Bergeron caught four touchdown passes and set a single-game team record with 169 receiving yards to lift the Force (5-1) over the Destroyers (1-4) at Atlanta.
Tampa Bay 70, Grand Rapids 50 -- Shane Stafford threw seven touchdown passes to help the Storm (3-2) beat the Rampage (1-4) at Tampa, Fla.
Times wire services contributed to this report.
