Avengers Show Life but Still Lose

The Avengers’ inconsistent offense finally displayed some stability Saturday night, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the expansion Utah Blaze.

Quarterback Joe Germaine, a former Ohio State standout, threw eight touchdown passes, including a game winner to Orshawante Bryant on the final play, to lead the Blaze to a come-from-behind, 68-66 victory at Staples Center.

Although the Avengers lost their fourth consecutive game, they may have found a quarterback in rookie Sonny Cumbie.

In his first Arena Football League start, Cumbie shook off a sluggish start to throw seven touchdown passes and almost lead the Avengers to a victory. Cumbie, who led the NCAA in passing as a Texas Tech senior in 2004, completed five second-half touchdown passes, including one to Greg Hopkins with 15 seconds left.

“I’m more inspired with how we played than the results,” said Avenger Coach Ed Hodgkiss, who has started three quarterbacks in four games. “[Cumbie] played well. He’ll be our starter next week.”

Cumbie completed 29 of 43 passes for 266 yards.

The night started off well for the Avengers, thanks to lineman Silas Demary, who returned from injury this week. Silas sacked Germaine on the first play from scrimmage and forced a fumble that was returned for a touchdown by Hopkins to give the Avengers a 7-0 lead.

But Germaine, who finished 31 of 40 for 387 yards, responded by leading Utah to touchdowns on its next five possessions. Germaine completed touchdown passes to Tom Pace, Siaha Burley and Bryant to lead the Blaze to a 35-28 lead at halftime.

Cumbie, who missed several open receivers early, steadily improved the rest of the game. He completed two touchdown passes to Hopkins in the second quarter and connected with Kevin Ingram for two more in the third to help the Avengers head into the final quarter tied with the Blaze at 42-42.

The Avengers took a 49-42 lead early in the fourth when Cumbie passed to Tony Locke for a touchdown and then surprised the Blaze by recovering the ensuing onside kickoff. A few plays later, the Avengers had their first two-touchdown lead when Locke caught his second touchdown pass of the quarter for a 56-42 lead.

But Germaine completed four touchdown passes in the game’s last minutes, which helped overcome Cumbie’s performance for the Avengers, who dropped to 1-4.

In other games:

Tampa Bay 58, Austin 48 -- Shane Stafford threw seven touchdown passes and became the first Arena Football League quarterback to top 400 yards in consecutive games, leading the Storm (3-2) over the Wranglers (4-1) at Tampa, Fla. Stafford finished 26 of 41 for 424 yards.

Dallas 55, Las Vegas 48 -- Clint Dolezel threw seven touchdown passes -- four to Dialleo Burks -- to lead the Desperados (4-1) over the Gladiators (1-4) at Dallas.

Nashville 47, Grand Rapids 31 -- Clint Stoerner threw four touchdown passes and also ran for a score to help the Kats (4-1) defeat the Rampage (2-3) at Nashville.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.