Avengers Downed by Desperados
by Tim Peterson
Published on March 19, 2005 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Los Angeles Avengers
(Los Angeles) â The Los Angeles Avengers were down 14-0 before they had their first possession and they never recovered, falling to Dallas 72-50 Friday night before 11, 702 at Staples Center.
The Desperados took the opening kickoff and drove 44 yards in six plays to jump out in front. Clint Stoerner hit Jason Shelley on a 22 yard touchdown pass for the 7-0 lead. On the ensuing kickoff Bobby Sippio of Dallas recovered the kick off the net and returned it four yards for a touchdown to put the Desperados up 14-0. The late arriving crowd was still filing into Staples Center and LA was already down by two touchdowns.
"It was a down fall from there," said Avenger Coach Ed Hodgkiss of the kickoff recovery. "It put us behind the eight ball early and we had to play catch up the whole time."
The Avengers came back with a five yard scoring toss from John Kaleo to Kevin Ingram to cut the lead in half but Dallas scored again before the first quarter ended to take a 21-7 lead. This time, they went to the rush Will Pettis busted in from the one to cap a four play, 29-yard march.
The teams exchanged touchdowns in the second period before Remy Hamilton booted a 41 yard field goal at the end of the first half to cut the Desperados lead to 35-24.
On the first series of the second half, LA got as close as they would get. Brian Sump caught a 21- yard pass from Kaleo and the Avengers were within four. Dallas came back with a vengeance. The Desperados scored the next 17 points to open up a 20 point advantage.
First Pettis hauled in a seven yard strike from Stoerner. Then came the back breaker. On the Avengers next possession, Jermaine Jones stepped in front of a Kaleo pass and was off to the races. By the time he put on the brakes he was standing in the end zone with a 44 yard interception return for a touchdown. A four point game was now on the verge of a blow out.
"Turnovers were our downfall," Hodgkiss said. "Our offense actually played better than they have been but the turnovers hurt us."
The Avengers and Dallas traded scores the rest of the way. LA tried a couple of onside kicks but the Desperados were up to the challenge.
Coleto Washington grabbed a three yard pass from Stoerner with just over a minute left in the contest to drive the final nail in the coffin.
"We have to stop playing from behind," said Avengers defensive back Antuan Simmons. "It puts a lot of pressure on our defense."
"We came out a little flat in the first half," said Damien Wheeler who plays opposite Simmons. "They didn't do anything offensively we didn't expect. They couldn't beat us. Every time they scored we were in a zone but our pass rush wasn't getting to them so we had to play zone."
Kaleo threw for seven touchdowns and 251 yards but the one interception proved to be costly. Stoerner finished 18 for 30 for 143 yards and four touchdowns for Dallas.
Los Angeles dropped to 4-3 with the loss while Dallas improved to 6-2. Next week the Avengers will host Tampa Bay Saturday night at Staples Center.
D 21 14 16 21 72
LA 7 17 14 12 50
Passing: D- Stoerner 18-30-143-4-0, LA- Kaleo 22-36- 251-7-1.
Total Yards: D- 165, LA- 265.
Photos by Duane Barker.
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