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Command to Battle Georgia Saturday, May 26

May 25, 2012 - Arena Football League (AFL)
Kansas City Command News Release


KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City Command host the Georgia Force Saturday, May 26 at 7 p.m. (CT) at Sprint Center in the Power & Light District. The Command (1-8) earned their first victory of the season last week beating the Pittsburgh Power 43-37. The Force (6-4) are on a three game winning streak and lead the American Conference South Division.

Against Pittsburgh, Command QB Matt Gutierrez (6-4, 230, Idaho State) earned Russell Offensive Player of the Game throwing for 262 yards, 4TD's and rushed for another, while KC's Defense continued their dominant play holding Pittsburgh (2-8) to their lowest point total of the season. Gutierrez also won the National Guard MVP for Week 11 as voted on by fans.

"It feels great to finally get one," said Command coach Danton Barto. It was ugly all the way to the end but we got the win we needed. It shows you a lot about the character of this team because 0-8 teams don't find ways to win."

Despite 14 penalties against the Command (1-8), the defense continued to keep KC in contention with DB J.C. Neal forcing his third fumble of the season, and DL's Chris Lyle and Tommy Chavis each having fumble recoveries to keep Pittsburgh from pulling away.

"I've been saying all year our defense is pretty good," said coach Barto. "On offense, we find ways to make mistakes but we rallied around each other and found a way. Our defense stepped up like it always does and we put it on them to win it for us."

Kansas City spread the ball around earning scores from four different receivers including former Power WR/QB Xavier Lee who rushed for a touchdown, and Olathe, Kansas-native Anthony Parks earned his first career touchdown (27 yards). The Command offensive scored on four of five drives in the first half, their best offensive effort of the season.

KC's third quarter scoring woes continued as Pittsburgh's defense stopped the Command on back-to-back drives to start the second half while continuing to put the ball in the end zone and going up 34-27 with 4:07 in third quarter. The Command scored their only third quarter offensive points at 1:21 to stay even with the Power at 34-34.

Kansas City's biggest lead of the season came with just 1:22 left in the fourth quarter when Command QB Matt Gutierrez connected with WR Armand Robinson for a 20-yard touchdown, putting KC up 43-34 and bringing Robinson's touchdown total to seven in just three games.

Previous Meeting

Kansas City and Georgia have played three times (twice in 2006 and once in 2008), when the team was originally the named the Kansas City Brigade. Georgia won all three contests.

Up Next

The Command stay in Kansas City to host the Utah Blaze (6-4) Saturday, June 2 at 7 p.m. at Sprint Center. The game will air live on Sports Radio 810 WHB, KSMO TV 62 and Ustream.tv/kansascitycommand. The Force play host to New Orleans VooDoo Saturday, June 2nd 7:00 p.m. at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.

About the Command: The Kansas City Command brought the hard-hitting excitement of Arena Football back to Sprint Center! Season, single game and group tickets for 2012 are on sale now by calling 855-KC-ARENA or e-mailing tickets@kccommand.com . The Kansas City Brigade introduced local fans to Arena Football in 2006 and quickly established a reputation for a unique blend of football and entertainment. Now the team is back with a new name but the same fun, family-friendly, fast-paced action!

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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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