Blitz Edge Riptide, 57-54
April 17, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
San Diego Riptide News Release
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. â It came down to the last play of the game, but the Riptide dropped their third straight and remain winless on the season. Kane Claunch passed for five touchdowns and Ryan Smith returned an interception for a score in the fourth quarter to give the âTide a chance late, but it wasn't enough to overcome the seven touchdown passes from Blitz QB Chad Elliot, as Bakersfield won the game 57-54.
Elliot out-dueled Claunch, completing 28 of 37 passes for 308 yards and seven touchdowns and Eric Mahanke and Steve Wofford each scored three times to lead the Blitz. Claunch countered with 310 yards and five scores of his own, but Wofford, who scored the first two touchdowns of the game for Bakersfield, both on 45-yard receptions, returned a kickoff for a touchdown after San Diego had grabbed a three-point lead late in the fourth quarter that proved to be the game-winner.
Bakersfield moves to 2-1 on the season, good for first in the division, half-a-game better than the Hawaiian Islanders who were in action Saturday night. San Diego falls to 0-3, last in the National West.
Both teams got off to big starts, each putting seven points on the scoreboard on their first drives of the game. Bakersfield scored on their first play of the game when Elliot connected with Wofford on a 45-yard score to grab the early lead, 7-0, just 1:16 into the ball game. Not to be outdone, however, San Diego came right back, finding the end zone on their second play â a Claunch-to-Jesus Reyes 25-yard score.
The two teams exchanged another set of touchdowns as the first quarter expired, with the Blitz also adding a field goal to take a three-point lead midway through the second, before the Riptide grabbed their first lead of the game on a 5-yard Claunch-to-Ryan Smith touchdown pass to go up by four.
The lead was short-lived, however, as the Blitz defense took over the remainder of the first half. After Elliot hooked up with Mahanke to regain the lead for Bakersfield, the turnover bug-a-boo hit the Riptide once again. After recovering a fumbled exchange on the previous play, Claunch was hit hard as he dropped back to pass at his own 15-yard line and fumbled once again. This time Kenney Williamson recovered for Bakersfield, setting up another Blitz touchdown, a 5-yard catch by Vaughn Corley.
San Diego had a chance to cut into the lead as time ran out in the first half, but the Bakersfield defense stepped up once again, stymieing Claunch and the âTide offense at the Blitz' 8-yard line, taking a 10-point lead into halftime.
The teams exchanged pairs of touchdowns to start the second half before Claunch connected with Dwight Carter for the second time in the game, this time for a 19-yard score that, with a Marty Graham two-point conversion, pulled the âTide to within three, 44-41 as the third quarter came to an end.
After trading touchdowns once again, the âTide defensive front finally got the better of the Blitz offensive line on Bakersfield's next drive, sacking Elliot twice and keeping the Blitz from coming away with points for the first time in the game, getting the ball back with a chance to regain the lead with under six minutes left to play. Ashley Burrows hauled in a catch on the first play of the ensuing San Diego drive to give the Riptide a first-and-goal, but the Blitz secondary broke up three straight pass attempts before Nathan Munson picked off a Claunch pass in the end zone to keep maintain the three-point lead for Bakersfield.
Desperately in need of a big on defense, the Riptide got one when Smith picked off Elliot, returning it for a touchdown that, after Scott Collins missed his third extra point of the game, put San Diego up by three.
The interception was the first turnover of the game for Bakersfield, but they wouldn't suffer for long. On the ensuing kickoff, Wofford returned the kick 58 yards to give Bakersfield the lead once again, 57-54.
San Diego had a chance to win it, but Claunch fumbled the snap, recovedred, then overthrew his receiver in the end zone on a 4th-and-three with just 12 seconds to play, effectively ending the game for the Riptide.
Baby Ruth Real Deal Offensive Player of the Game: Chad Elliot (BAK)
U.S. Army Ironman of the Game: Eric Mahanke (BAK)
ADT Defensive Player of the Game: Nathan Munson (BAK)
SHARK BITES: The 54 points are a season high for the Riptide... San Diego lost the turnover battle for the third time this season, 2-1. They have now committed 12 turnovers on the year, compared to just four by their opponents... Carter's three TD catches give him seven for the year, tops on the team... Claunch passed for five touchdowns in the game, giving him 10 in his last two contests... Six different receivers caught passes for San Diego in the game... Nakoa McElrath and Mike Wessell were activated from the injured reserve prior to the game... QB Kevin Feterik was added to the short-term injured reserve this week with a finger injury... The Riptide added former Sacramento State QB Tony Corbin to their roster to replace Feterik as the backup signal caller... Raul Gomez remains on short-term IR...
NEXT GAME: The Riptide return home for Week 4 to take on former head coach Cree Morris and the Central Valley Coyotes. Mouse Davis will look to exploit a porous Coyote defense which ranked last in the af2 through the first two weeks of the season. This will be the first of four meetings between San Diego and Central Valley this year. Fans can catch all the action for all 16 Riptide regular season games at www.WorldTalkRadio.com with Mark Rogandino calling the play-by-play.
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