Avengers crushed at Colorado, 58-40
February 27, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Los Angeles Avengers News Release
DENVER -- Colorado crushed the visiting Avengers, 58-40, behind the unstoppable play of offensive specialist Damian Harrell and great red-zone defense on Sunday afternoon at the Pepsi Center.
Both teams are now 3-2.
Harrell torched the Avengers for 10 catches for 135 yards and five touchdowns, earning "Offensive Player of the Game" honors.
"We really wanted to come out and put on a good show," Harrell said. "We just took whatever they were giving us. For some reason they were playing me one-on-one. We will take that all day."
In three career games against the Avengers, Harrell now has recorded 420 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns.
"Harrell is a great player ... a difference maker," Hodgkiss said. "He is a guy you cannot simulate in practice, and we didn't do a good job covering man-to-man."
The man throwing the ball to Harrell also had a spectacular game. Crush quarterback John Dutton was 23-of-30 for 282 yards and six touchdowns, with one interception.
"We just played our game and took what they gave us," Dutton said.
Meanwhile, the Crush defense found a way to consistently frustrate the Avenger offense, holding Los Angeles scoreless on two trips to the red zone. Leading the way was Crush defensive specialist Rashad Floyd, who set an Arena Football League single-game record with 17.5 tackles, breaking the old mark of 17, set by former Avenger DS Kevin Cobb in 2000.
Los Angeles quarterback John Kaleo finished with good numbers, completing 31-of-47 for 284 yards and five touchdowns, but he struggled down near the goal line and threw a crucial interception on his first attempt of the game, which was returned for a touchdown by WR/LB Kevin McKenzie to put the Crush up, 14-0, less than four minutes into the game.
"Our red-zone offense was dismal today," Avenger head coach Ed Hodgkiss said. "We didn't run the ball well down there, receivers weren't getting open and we missed some passes. Sometimes you win as a team and sometimes you lose as a team. Today, we didn't play well in all three phases of the game and lost as a team."
Los Angeles once again got off to a slow start and trailed at halftime for the fourth time in five games this season. However, this time the Avengers were down by 17 after 30 minutes of play and could not muster a dramatic second-half comeback as they did on two occasions earlier this season.
"We turned the ball over early on, and got ourselves in a hole that we just couldn't crawl out of," Hodgkiss said.
The Avengers finally got on the scoreboard midway through the first quarter when Kaleo found offensive specialist Tony Locke for an eight-yard score. But, Dutton came right back to Harrell for a 28-yard touchdown, giving the Crush a 21-7 lead at the end of a period of play.
On its next possession, L.A.'s offense stalled and had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Remy Hamilton to make it 21-10. He added another field goal just before halftime and now is 15-of-16 on the season.
But unfortunately for Los Angeles, Harrell could not be stopped. He was wide open over the middle for second touchdown, making it 28-10, taking advantage of what was a defensive breakdown by the Avengers.
"We just had some blown coverages," Avenger WR/LB Greg Hopkins said. "Guys were not on the same page, and we gave up some big plays."
Locke did his best to keep the Avengers in the game with a spectacular one-hand grab for another eight-yard touchdown, which trimmed Colorado's lead to 28-17. Locke and Kaleo have now hooked up for five touchdowns in the past two games.
However, the Avengers normally solid defense blew another coverage later in the quarter, as "U.S. Army Ironman of the Game" Ahmed Hawkins was wide open for a 45-yard score.
Then, as time expired in the first half, Crush kicker Clay Rush hit an incredible 62-yard field goal to make it a three-possession game at 37-20. The three-pointer was the second-longest in AFL history, trailing only the 63-yard boot by Aaron Mills of the San Jose SaberCats in 1996.
In the third quarter the Avengers looked like they were going to make a game of it when Hopkins caught a pass at the Colorado five-yard line and drove three Crush defenders with him into the end zone.
Then, Avenger defensive specialist Damen Wheeler, fresh off injured reserve list, picked off a Dutton pass in the end zone, which led to a Kevin Ingram touchdown that brought Los Angeles to within three points at 37-34, with 6:48 left in the third quarter.
"I saw Harrell come in like he was going to the post, and I saw that Dutton was about to throw it, so I just jumped the route," said Wheeler, who now has eight interceptions in the last 13 games he has played, dating back to the tail end of the 2003 season. "I thought I was going to score on the return, but guess who made the tackle ... Harrell."
The Avengers bid for a comeback fizzled after an onside kick attempt failed and Dutton threw a quick strike to Harrell over the middle for his third touchdown, putting Colorado up 44-34.
The fourth quarter was all Dutton and Harrell as they hooked up for two more touchdowns, before Los Angeles closed out the scoring with a five-yard toss from Kaleo to Hopkins.
The Avengers remain on the road next week as they visit the struggling Arizona Rattlers (1-4) on Sunday, March 6. Kickoff at America West Arena in Phoenix is set for 5 p.m. (Pacific) and the game will not be televised.
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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from February 27, 2005
- Avengers Crushed in Colorado - OSC Original by Tim Peterson
- Dragons defense ties AFL interception record - AFL I
- Avengers crushed at Colorado, 58-40 - Los Angeles Avengers
- Colorado's Rashad Floyd adds another tackling record - AFL I
- Destroyers fall in Grand Rapids, 66-57 - Columbus Destroyers
- Dragons Pick Off Rattlers with 6 interceptions - New York Dragons
- Rampage win 66-57 over Columbus - Grand Rapids Rampage
- Desperados Dominate Soul, 72-43 - Dallas Desperados
- Crush Sprints Past Avengers - Colorado Crush
- Colorado's Clay Rush connects on 62-yard field goal - AFL I
- Gladiators prevail on the road in Nashville, 40-32 - Las Vegas Gladiators
- Gladiators defeat Nashville - Nashville Kats
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