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Destroyers drop season finale, 64-51, to Vegas

May 30, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Columbus Destroyers News Release


LAS VEGAS, NV – Former Destroyers offensive specialist CoCo Blalock greeted his old team with six total touchdowns in leading his new team, the Las Vegas Gladiators, to a 64-51 decision over Columbus in both team's season finale at the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday afternoon.

With the loss, the Destroyers concluded their inaugural season with a record of 6-10, while the Gladiators finished 8-8.

Destroyers quarterback Ryan Vena finished his rookie season by completing 21-of-36 pass attempts for 223 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 16 yards and a season-high three touchdowns, becoming the Destroyers' all-time leading rusher in the process. Offensive specialist Gunnard Twyner finished with seven catches for 56 yards and Sedrick Robinson followed with five catches for 79 yards and a touchdown.

Blalock, who spent the first ten weeks of the 2004 season in a Destroyers uniform, finished the contest with a game-high eight catches for 147 yards and five receiving touchdowns, while also rushing for four yards and a score. Las Vegas quarterback Clint Dolezel finished 18-of-23 passing for 261 yards and seven touchdowns.

Both teams scored on their opening possession of the contest with Columbus breaking the scoring column first on a 40-yard field goal from kicker Steve Videtich. Blalock then scored the first of his six touchdowns in the game on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Dolezel. The extra point missed however, making the score 6-3 early in the opening quarter.

If Blalock was fired up about facing his old team, he wasted little time in showing it. He would go on to score Las Vegas' first four touchdowns of the game, three through the air and one on the ground to give the Gladiators a 27-10 lead early in the second quarter. Noticeably fearful of Robinson's ability to return the ball, Las Vegas would squib their first three kicks in an attempt to take Robinson out of the game. The three kicks he did have an opportunity to return in the first half went for a total of 55 yards. He finished the game with five kick returns for 91 yards.

The two teams traded scores throughout the second quarter with the Gladiators maintaining a double digit lead for the majority of the half. Vena registered consecutive rushing touchdowns in the second quarter from three and four yards out to keep Columbus within striking distance at 34-24. Vena's pair of first half rushing touchdowns gave him 13 on the season, which tied him for second all-time on the Destroyers career rushing list.

Blalock added his fifth score of the first half on a five-yard touchdown pass from Dolezel to extend Las Vegas' lead to 16 with just over two minutes remaining in the opening half of play. Columbus would make the most of the two minutes they had to work with, using the majority of the clock and finding the endzone with thee seconds remaining in the half on a six-yard touchdown connection between Vena and Robinson to close the gap to nine at 40-31, Las Vegas.

Following a Las Vegas field goal to open the second half, Columbus drove the length of the field on five plays, capped off by Vena's third rushing touchdown of the game to pull the Destroyers to within five points of the Gladiators. The touchdown was his fourteenth of the season on the ground, setting a single-season franchise record and giving him sole position in second place all-time. In addition, the eight-yard run made him the Destroyers' all-time leading rusher with a total of 234 this season.

Trailing 50-38 early in the fourth, the Destroyers kept pace, adding their fourth rushing touchdown as a team on the afternoon. This time the rushing score came courtesy of Robinson who found his way into the endzone from one yard out to bring Columbus back to within a touchdown of Las Vegas.

Another Blalock receiving score would push Las Vegas' lead back to double digits and a yard fumble recovery for a touchdown would put the game out of reach.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 30, 2004


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