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Command drops finale

July 23, 2011 - Arena Football League (AFL)
Kansas City Command News Release


Kansas City, MO - The Kansas City Command dropped their 2011 season finale to Tulsa 71-55 Saturday night in front of 5,575 at Sprint Center. Four Command turnovers proved to be the difference in the game. Kansas City trailed 34-14 at halftime and never got closer than nine points in the second half.

"We just seemed out of rhythm all night," coach Danton Barto said of his offense. "Even our big plays seemed like broken plays."

The Command finish 2011 with a record of 6-12. Tulsa's season is also over with a final record of 8-10.

Command quarterback Stephen Wasil struggled, throwing three interceptions on the night. He completed 14 of 26 passes for 259 yards and six touchdowns.

"That's the growing pains of a rookie quarterback," Barto said. "It seemed like all night he wasn't comfortable."

Tulsa, meanwhile, was efficient on offense throughout the game. The Talons scored touchdowns on 10 of their first 12 possessions before running out the clock at the end of the game.

"We lost (leading tackler) Kenny (Fontenette) in the first half," Barto said. "He was having stomach troubles, and that hurt us (defensively)."

Tulsa led 14-7 late in the first quarter when Kansas City made the first mistake of the game. Wasil was intercepted by Talons defensive back JC Neal on a first down play from the Tulsa 13. The Talons then went on a 10-play drive to take a 21-7 lead.

Wasil then hit Brent Holmes for a 35-yard score to get the Command back within seven with 8:49 remaining in the second quarter. Holmes finished with six receptions for 109 yards and three touchdowns.

Tulsa would then hold KC scoreless for the rest of the half while scoring two touchdowns of their own to take the 20-point lead at the break.

The Command scored two straight touchdowns and held Tulsa to a field goal to start the third quarter and draw within nine points at 37-28. However, the Talons scored 14 straight, forcing a Kansas City fumble, to reassume control of the game.

The teams each scored 27 points in a high scoring final quarter with the Command trying to mount a comeback with onside kicks. Some highlights for Kansas City were two touchdowns to Holmes and a 45-yard strike from Wasil to Bubby Gill, who finished with 104 yards receiving and two touchdowns. It was the fourth 100-yard receiving game of the year for Gill who finishes the season with 811 yards and 12 touchdowns, all but 23 yards coming in the last 10 games.

The halftime deficit proved too much to overcome for the Command, though.

"It was one of those nights where nothing bounced our way," Barto said. "And give credit to Tulsa, they played better than we did."

When asked to review the season as a whole, Barto immediately thought of the games that got away.

"As a coach you look at all the close games you lost," he said. "We were in so many games with a minute to go that we could have won and we didn't."

Three of the Command's six wins came against 2011 division champions, a fact Barto thinks shows his young team's tendency to play at the level of their competition.

"Week to week, we're like a wave, some weeks we're great and some we're bad," he said. "The great teams in this league are consistent."

Despite the tough end to the 2011 campaign, Barto remained optimistic about the future of the Kansas City Command and identified several off-season priorities.

"There are some places we need to get better," he said. "We wanna bring in a veteran quarterback. We've got some more evaluating to do. We've got to sit down and watch the whole year of film. Our priority is to keep the guys we wanna keep here.

"I'm glad I'm here in Kansas City. It's the right place for me. I'll go home for a week and then I'll be ready to go back to work and build this thing into the winner I know it can be."

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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