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Columbus Destroyers Upset Top Seeded Desperados 66-

July 7, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Columbus Destroyers News Release


DALLAS - The sixth seeded Columbus Destroyers, presented by Germain, upset the number one seed Dallas Desperados in a 66-59 victory in the Mitsubishi Motors National Conference Divisional Round in front of 15,572 fans at American Airlines Center Saturday night. The Destroyers will advance to the National Conference Championship game for the first time in franchise history.

Destroyers quarterback Matt Nagy was named Offensive Player of the Game after leading the offense completing 20-of-32 passes for 285 yards and four touchdowns. He also added two rushing touchdowns. Defensive back Brandon Hefflin earned Defensive Player of the Game honors as he led all defenders with 9.5 tackles (8UT-3AT), recovered one fumble on a net recovery and intercepted one pass.

With the score 21-21, the Destroyers turned the ball over on downs on their own 18-yardline to start the second quarter. Desperados quarterback Clint Dolezel wasted no time as he found Will Pettis for a 7-yard touchdown and the Desperados first lead, 28-21 with 11:13 remaining in the second quarter.

Following a Pettis interception of Nagy in the Destroyers end zone, Dolezel found Marcus Nash wide open for the score from three yards out. The Desperados took a 14-point lead, 35-21 with 3:48 before halftime. The Destroyers cut their deficit to seven points when Harold Wells rushed in from two yards for the score. The Desperados started their next drive on the 4-yard line following a failed on-side kick attempt by the Destroyers. The Destroyers defense held Dolezel and company to three points, Columbus' first defensive stop of the night. The Destroyers entered the locker room at halftime down 10 points, 38-28.

The Destroyers opened the second half with two consecutive net returns of Peter Martinez kickoffs. The first was recovered by Josh Bush in the end zone and the second was recovered by Brandon Hefflin that set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Groce. In a span of 1:20 to begin the third quarter, the Destroyers scored 14 points and regained the lead 42-38. On the ensuing drive the Desperados drove the ball down to the Destroyers 1-yardline where Willis Marshall fumbled the ball into the end zone where it was recovered by B.J. Barre. Martinez converted on a 31-yard field goal and the Destroyers led 45-38 with 7:05 remaining in the third quarter.

Nagy found former Desperado Jason Shelley for a 28-yard touchdown to give the Destroyers their largest lead of the game, 52-38, to start the fourth quarter. The high powered Desperados offense, that finished the season first in the AFL scoring 63 points per game, was held scoreless for the first 19:56 of the second half. Dialleo Burks caught a 4-yard touchdown pass to break the Desperados scoring drought.

Destroyers leading rusher Wells scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Destroyers a 59-45 lead. Following a Dolezel touchdown run, Nagy threw his fourth touchdown of the game over Shelley's shoulder from eight yards to give the Destroyers a 66-52 lead with 1:00 remaining in regulation. The Desperados added a late touchdown from Dolezel to Burks from 12 yards as the Destroyers move to 13-0 in franchise history when scoring 60+ points in a game.

The Destroyers advance to the National Conference Championship game and will face either the Philadelphia Soul or the Georgia Force. The Destroyers march to ArenaBowl XXI continues Saturday, July 14 at 1 p.m. (ET) with live coverage on Russell Athletic Arena Football on ESPN. The Destroyers Radio Network and flagship station WINK 107.1 FM will air the National Conference Championship game with the pre-game show beginning at 12:30 p.m. (ET)

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