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Blaze spark existence with 48-35 victory over SaberCats

January 29, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Utah Blaze News Release


SAN JOSE - Joe Germaine connected on 17-of-28 passes for 199 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions as the Utah Blaze (1-0) upset the heavily-favored San Jose SaberCats (0-1), 48-35, at HP Pavilion on Saturday.

"This was an unbelieveable victory for us," Blaze head coach/general manager Danny White said. "This ranks up there with the first championship I was apart of back against Orlando (ArenaBowl VIII) in 1994."

On a night of many firsts, Germaine hit OS Siaha Burley on a 4-yard touchdown pass to get the Blaze on the board and tie the game at 7-7 with 7:44 remaining in the first quarter.

San Jose QB Mark Grieb led a six-play, 36 yard drive that was capped with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Charles Pauley and gave the SaberCats a 14-7 lead.

Grieb finished 28-of-40 passing for 236 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Utah kicker Steve Videtich became the AFL's all-time scoring leader when he connected on an extra point at the 1:48 mark in the second quarter. Videtich passed Mike Black (1,253) and now stands at 1,260.

The Blaze went on a 24-0 run and went into halftime with a 31-14 lead.

"The defense was a huge part of this victory," White said. "Coach (Lee) Leslie and the defense really stepped up and made the difference tonight."

Germaine, who earned Offensive Player of the Game, tossed two touchdowns to the Ironman of the Game, WR/DB Orshawante Bryant and added two second-half touchdowns to Burley. Defensive specialist Kelvin Hunter earned Defensive Player of the Game by tallying 5.0 tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception in the end zone to stop a San Jose drive.

The Blaze will head home to play the Dallas Desperados on Saturday, February 4 at 7 p.m. (MT) for their home opener. The game will be shown live on KJZZ 14 and 1280 The Zone.

Single-game tickets for all eight home games are on sale now. Tickets are available at www.utahblaze.com, the Delta Center box office, by calling Ticketmaster at (801) 325-SEAT or at all Ticketmaster outlets. The Blaze kick off the 2006 season in San Jose on Saturday, January 28 against the two-time ArenaBowl champion San Jose SaberCats. Don't miss the return of the AFL on NBC and Fox Sports Net beginning in January.

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