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Brigade loses 55-54 heartbreaker to Utah

May 13, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Kansas City Brigade News Release


SALT LAKE CITY (May 12, 2006) - In what turned out to be a microcosm of its inaugural season, the Kansas City Brigade left every ounce of fight and desire on the field. The team played to win until the clock hit zeros Friday night, but fell just inches short, losing 55-54 to the expansion Utah Blaze, who clinched a playoff spot. The Brigade finishes its first season in the Arena Football League at 3-13 but returns home knowing that it is capable of playing with any team in the league and has the pieces in place to make 2007 a great season.

A see-saw battle ultimately came down to the final quarter. The third quarter ended with the Brigade in the lead 44-38 as MacKenzie Hoambrecker missed the extra point following a Dawan Moss two-yard touchdown run. The Blaze opened the fourth quarter with a touchdown run of its own and converted the PAT to lead 45-44.

Kansas City got a scare as the Blaze then attempted an onside kick that bounced around before Byron Douzart fell on it at the Utah 12 yard line. Douzart thought he got rewarded for his great special teams play with an apparent catch-and-run touchdown on the first snap, but it was brought back by a penalty. The Brigade still made a play, though, as Raymond Philyaw fired a missile into the end zone behind Aaron Boone that allowed him to turn around and adjust to the ball for an 11-yard touchdown.

Utah charged down the field again looking to regain the lead, but Kansas City's defense stiffened in the red zone. The Brigade stopped the Blaze a long yard short of the marker on third down and Utah decided to go for it with the playoffs hanging in the balance. Former Brigade quarterback Andy Kelly pitched to Tom Pace, who was forced wide by a penetrating BJ Cohen. Pace then turned up field only to be met by Jerel Myers to end the threat at the six yard line.

Kansas City found itself in the perfect situation to make it a two-score game. On third-and-one from its own 17 yard line, Jerel Myers' defender bit on a hitch route and Philyaw went deep. The ball was just out of reach, though, and fell through the fingertips of a diving Myers. The Brigade had to go for it on fourth down, but the pitch to Moss was stopped short and the Blaze took possession at the 16 yard line.

What had been an offensive game suddenly came down to which defense would hold up under the pressure of a short field. Kansas City held again as former Blaze lineman Bryan Henderson knocked down Kelly's third down pass to force a Steve Videtich field goal. His 26 yard attempt sailed through the uprights to tie the game at 48 with 1:04 left.

The anticipated onside kick bounced into the stands to give the Brigade possession at the Utah 11 yard line. Philyaw immediately went for the end zone and hit Boone on an out route, for his fifth touchdown of the game, for a quick strike and another lead. Hoambrecker's extra point was blocked, though, so Kansas City's edge remained at six with 00:53 left in the game.

The Brigade defense had to come up with one more stop, but the Blaze had just enough time and just enough chances to get into the end zone. Kelly hit Pace for a four-yard touchdown with 5.7 seconds left and Videtich's extra point snuck just inside the left upright for a one point lead. After the kickoff Kansas City was left with only one option with 2.9 seconds on the clock: a long field goal. Hoambrecker's 56-yard attempt was accurate but fell inches short of the crossbar and landed out of bounds to end the game.

The game began as well as the Brigade could have scripted with Philyaw making his first start since last season's American Conference championship game. He the Brigade on a strong opening drive, covering 40 yards on seven plays in 3:56. He threw only two incompletions and scored on a designed draw from nine yards out. Hoambrecker hit the extra point for an early 7-0 lead. Kelly led the Blaze on an equally impressive drive, scoring on a Tom Pace three-yard touchdown run to tie the game midway through the first quarter.

Kansas City faced an uphill battle after the ensuing kickoff as backup center Kyle Rasmussen was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct. The offense did not lose focus, though, and a veteran move beat the Utah defense. In the red zone, the Brigade had to rush to the line of scrimmage as the play clock wound down. Philyaw noticed a Blaze defender playing way off his man and quickly snapped the ball and flipped it to Boone, who beat the defender and two others to stretch the ball across the goal line for a four-yard touchdown.

The Blaze took advantage of a turnover-on-downs to take a 21-14 lead, but Philyaw and the offense came back onto the field unfazed. A series of short passes to the outside took the Brigade into the red zone, where the offensive line gave Philyaw enough time to make a play. He threw a rocket in the end zone in the only place Boone could grab it for another four-yard touchdown. Hoambrecker's extra point tied the game at 21 late in the first half.

The first huge defensive play of the game went to Kansas City on Utah's next possession. Kelly looked deep for Siaha Burley but did not see Calvin Spears drop underneath in zone coverage. As the ball sailed towards Burley in the end zone, Spears suddenly appeared and made a leaping interception.

The Brigade started at the five yard line and continued the short passing game, but Sam Simmons turned the first play from scrimmage into a 34-yard gain. He put a move on the defender in front of him, cut across the field and ran all the way down to the Blaze 11 yard line. Two plays later Kansas City had a first-and-goal at the one yard line with less than a minute left. Douzart finished the drive, getting around the left edge on a block by Boone for a two-yard touchdown to regain the lead at 28-21 with 40.9 seconds remaining.

Kansas City stepped up the defensive pressure on the Blaze's final drive of the half to keep Utah out of the end zone. Kelly was forced to throw away two passes and Steve Videtich had to come on the field to convert a 21-yard field goal on fourth down.

The second half began with Kelly-to-Burley touchdown pass, but the Brigade caught two breaks on its first drive to keep pace. A Blaze interception with Kansas City backed up in its own territory was nullified by a penalty to keep the drive alive. Then a fan interference call that effectively erased a potential touchdown allowed the Brigade to replay the down. Philyaw did not waste the opportunity, finding Boone on a seam route for a 40-yard touchdown and a 35-31 advantage.

Notables

- Aaron Boone, who was a famed high school and junior college player in Utah, had over 100 family and friends in the audience and gave all of his touchdown catches to them. He tied a career-high and a Brigade single-game record with five touchdown catches and led the team with 19 on the season.

- Sam Simmons and Aaron Boone each had their first rushes of the year

- Lucas Yarnell had to play OS at the end of the first half due to pulling extra duty after Kyle Rasmussen was ejected in the first quarter for fighting.

- Calvin Spears' interception gave the defense consecutive games with one, the first time that happened since the first two games of the season.

- This game marked the first Brigade loss in four games when the team was leading at halftime. It also marked the first time this season that Utah beat a National Conference team (1-3).

Quotes

Head Coach Kevin Porter

"It was a great football game overall. It was a difficult result and disappointing, but we have got a lot to look forward to next year. A lot of people played well tonight, and we will carry that over to 2007. I will always be proud of the effort of this team this year. We stayed together as a family and I will never forget it."

QB Raymond Philyaw

"Being a quarterback, you have to see everything on the field and take advantage of any time a defense is not set. It is my responsibility as a quarterback to get the ball into the receivers hands. The best thing for next season is that we will have no more rookies. Now we have to learn how to win and be winners in the fourth quarter. I know this team will be successful. Now we have experience which is the number one key. We have to get back to work even though the season is over. Champions do not take days off. It is especially tough for me to since I am just getting started."

OS Aaron Boone

"I've never has so much fun playing football as I did in Arena the last seven games. It was so special that my family and friends were here tonight. I had high school coaches, old teammates, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews. I got to throw each touchdown ball to my family and my mom got the first one."

"We are definitely coming together as a team and it was unfortunate that it snuck away from us tonight. What a game it was and we will be on the other side of games like this next year."

DS Calvin Spears

"I'm in for games like this. I hope that I keep the team's spirits up and loose out there. I understand the game as I have been it arena for a while. This team now has an identity, we now know who we are. It takes expansion team a while to find that because we all came in without knowing how each other play. We are all excited for next season."

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 13, 2006


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