Avengers Hold off Brigade
by Tim Peterson
Published on June 15, 2008 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Los Angeles Avengers
(Los Angeles) - Timon Marshall sprinted three yards into the end zone on a reverse play with 34 seconds left and Sonny Cumbie followed with a strike to Kevin Ingram in the corner of the end zone for a two point conversion to give the Avengers a 51-48 victory over Kansas City Saturday before 11,282 at Staples Center.
Despite a record of 5-10, the win kept the Avengers playoff hopes alive. Several things must happen in order for the Avengers to sneak in but in a down Western Conference they still have a shot.
The Brigade's Quincy Carter hit Mike Horacek on a 14 yard scoring pass with 7:01 left in the contest to put KC up 48-43. Denario Smalls then intercepted Cumbie on LA's next possession and were in a position to put the game away. But the Avengers came up with a stop when Carter's fourth down pass fell incomplete at the LA 17 with just over three minutes remaining.
The Avengers then marched down the field and Marshall capped it with a three yard run. The two point pass gave the Avengers a little breathing room.
"It was a play that was actually pretty safe. We faked a dive and I knew they would be crashing pretty hard," said Avenger Coach Ed Hodgkiss of the winning touchdown. "We flipped it to Timon and he has the option to either run it in or hit LaShaun Ward if that corner fills on him. So it worked out well for us."
The Brigade had one last opportunity to get even but after moving the ball down to the Avenger 16, Peter Martinez missed a 31 yard field goal attempt as the clock ticked down to zeros.
The Avengers struggled to find an offensive groove in the first half as they fell behind 31-20 at the break. Cumbie found Ward for a seven yard scoring strike early in the second quarter to give LA a 17-14 advantage but Kansas City responded with a Dawan Moss four yard run and a 23 yard TD toss by Carter to Jerel Meyers to lead by 11 at halftime.
The Avengers scored twice in the third on a Cumbie 27 yard strike to Marshall and a three yard run by Ward to slice the deficit to 38-34 after three.
Brandon Perkins sacked Carter in the end zone for a safety early in the fourth to cut it to 38-36 leading to the eventual LA win.
Cumbie completed 22-36 for 270 yards and four touchdowns and the late interception. Marshall caught eight passes for 96 yards and a score and Ingram hauled in seven receptions for 45 yards and two touchdowns.
"In think in the last three weeks we have improved our play and we still have a long ways to go. But we were able to keep our playoff hopes alive and we are fortunate enough to be in that situation," Cumbie said. "We have to just go out next week and play hard."
The Avengers finish the season at Tampa Bay next week with their post season possible riding on the outcome.
"It's crazy that we still have a chance to get into the playoffs but it is what it is. We're trying to move the team forward and play well and we if we have a shot to get to the playoffs and we're playing well, then we will definitely take that," Hodgkiss added.
KC 7 24 7 10 48
LA 10 10 14 17 51
Passing: KC- Carter 21-34-223-4-1. LA-Cumbie 22-36-270-4-1.
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