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Destroyers drop 56-55 decision to New York at Nationwide Arena

March 26, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Columbus Destroyers News Release


COLUMBUS, OH – Aaron Garcia hit Chris Anthony on a 12-yard touchdown pass at the beginning of the fourth quarter and New York's defense held off a late rally to give the Dragons a 56-55 victory over the Columbus Destroyers before a crowd of 14,193 at Nationwide Arena Saturday night.

Anthony hauled in four touchdown passes for the Dragons (6-2). Garcia finished 27-of-35 for 326 yards with seven touchdowns.

Columbus (1-7) was led by Damien Groce, who made seven catches for 119 yards with one touchdown. Sedrick Robinson added six catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns.

Quarterback Ryan Vena completed 23-of-37 passes for 310 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions for the Destroyers. Vena gave way to Matt D'Orazio with 6:27 left in the fourth quarter. D'Orazio led the comeback bid with a 44-yard scramble and then scored on a quarterback keeper from one yard out to make the score 56-55. The Destroyers created a defensive stop to get the ball back with 0:37 remaining in the game, but New York's DeShane Dennis picked off D'Orazio's first down pass to seal the win.

The Destroyers scored first when OL/DL Jamarr Ward plowed in from one yard out. New York answered on its second possession on a 2-yard run by Corey Johnson with 1:46 left in the first quarter.

Columbus opened the second quarter with an 8-yard pass from Vena to Cornelius White. The Destroyers then scored on an interception return by DS Donvetis Franklin from 10 yards to make the score 21-7. New York quickly scored with Garcia tossing a 24-yard touchdown pass to Mike Horacek and tied it with an 8-yard pass to Anthony. Both teams traded touchdowns to make it 28-28 at halftime.

The second half began with the Dragons and Destroyers trading touchdowns four times, but Columbus failed to convert a two-point conversion with 4:29 left in the third quarter that made the score 42-41. That would prove to be the difference in the game as the Destroyers scored with a 17-yard pass from Vena to White to pull Columbus to 49-48 at the start of the fourth quarter.

Sedrick Robinson led the Destroyers' defense with seven tackles.

The Destroyers play the second of consecutive home games versus the Philadelphia Soul on Sunday, April 3 at Nationwide Arena for a nationally televised game to be aired live on NBC Sports.

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