Blaze beat SaberCats in opener
January 29, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
San Jose SaberCats News Release
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Jan. 28, 2006) - After winning their previous seven home openers, the San Jose SaberCats dropped their first game of the 2006 season at home 48-35 to the expansion Utah Blaze in front of 13,872 fans at HP Pavilion on Saturday night, giving Utah its first win in franchise history.
Utah QB and Offensive Player of the Game Joe Germaine ignited the Blaze, completing 17-of-27 attempts for 199 yards and five touchdowns, three to OS Siaha Burley.
After spending last season with the Chicago Rush, WR/DB Charles Pauley was one of the bright spots for San Jose, making a successful return to the SaberCats by hauling in 11 passes for 96 yards and three touchdowns.
The night started off strong for the SaberCats. Utah won the coin toss and marched down the field to the San Jose 10-yard-line, but lineman Joe Jacobs forced a fumble that was recovered by the SaberCats and returned to the Utah 11. QB Mark Grieb hooked up with WR/LB James Roe in the corner of the end zone on his first pass of the season for an 11-yard touchdown. On the play, however, Roe was injured and would not return to the game.
Utah responded by scoring the first touchdown in Blaze history when Germaine found Burley in the end zone to knot the score at 7-7. San Jose and Utah exchanged touchdowns on their next possessions and closed out the first quarter tied at 14-14.
Utah opened the second quarter with a field goal to break the tie and increased their lead after Germaine found WR/DB Orshawante Bryant in the end zone.
Utah recovered the ensuing kickoff in the end zone to take a 31-14 lead that held up into halftime. After being tied after the first quarter, San Jose was outscored 17-0 in the second quarter.
The SaberCats looked to get back into the game after a tough second quarter and did just that when FB/LB Phil Glover rumbled into the end zone on fourth and goal from the one yard line to cut the deficit to 21-31.
The Blaze responded with a field goal to extend their lead to 34-21.
The SaberCats looked like they were headed for another score after driving the ball to the Utah 14, but Grieb was picked off in the end zone by DS Kelvin Hunter for a touchback. However, the SaberCats defense held firm and didn't allow Utah to score off of the turnover.
San Jose had a chance to close the gap, but K Brian Schmitz missed from 29 yards out. On Utah's next possession, Germaine connected with Burley again to give the Blaze a commanding 41-21 lead with 6:27 to go.
San Jose responded with a 15-yard TD reception from Grieb to Pauley to cut the Utah lead to 41-28. The onside kick attempt by the SaberCats was unsuccessful and Utah took over at the San Jose 10 yard line. Once again, Germaine found Burley in the end zone for the score to extend their lead 48-28.
Backup QB Stoney Case, making his SaberCats debut, threw a 6-yard pass to Pauley with 11 seconds to go to complete the scoring.
After tonight's game, San Jose will embark on a team-record five-game road trip. The SaberCats next game will be on Mon., Feb. 6 when they travel to Las Vegas take on the Western Division rivals the Gladiators. Fans can catch the action live on television on WB20, San Jose's flagship station KNBR 1050AM or log on to www.KNBR.com to hear a live webcast of the game.
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