Destroyers Fall to Desperados in the Final Seconds, 53-51

Published on April 5, 2007 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Columbus Destroyers News Release


DALLAS, TX - The Columbus Destroyers (2-3) traveled to Texas to take on the undefeated Dallas Desperados (6-0) Thursday night and lost 53-51. With 3.3 seconds remaining in the game a field goal by Desperados kicker Todd Sievers from 16-yards sealed the Destroyers fate.

The Destroyers jumped out to a 37-7 lead with :30 left in the second quarter and didn't score again till the 14:58 mark of the fourth quarter. Five defensive stops by Columbus in the first half led to the 30-point lead. The Desperados came out of the half a brand new team as they scored on all-six possessions, outscoring the Destroyers 39-14 in the final 30-minutes of the contest.

Destroyers quarterback Matt Nagy completed 24 of 44 passes for 224 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. Damien Groce led all receivers with 11 grabs for 112 yards and one touchdown. Four different Destroyers receivers caught a scoring pass including Tony Locke, David Saunders, Josh Bush and Groce.

Offensive Player of the Game Marcus Nash, who was questionable coming into the game, made eight grabs for 117 yards and two touchdowns. Ironman of the Game Will Pettis kept things together for the Desperados as he hauled in 10 passes for 130 yards and four touchdowns. ON special teams he returned six kickoffs totaling 136 yards and finished second on the squad with 5.5 tackles on the night.

Following a Clint Dolezel strike to Marcus Nash in the end zone, fullback Harold Wells scored his third touchdown of the season as he rumbled in from two-yards. On the ensuing kickoff, Peter Martinez' kickoff hit the bottom of the iron and Saunders recovered the ball at the Destroyers four yard line. Saunders was immediately rewarded as he caught his seventh touchdown of the season on the next play. The grab extends Saunders' consecutive touchdown streak to 16-games. The Destroyers led at the end of the first quarter 14-7.

To start the second quarter the Desperados fifth ranked offense coming into the game was halted on a fourth and goal from the four-yard line. The Destroyers capitalized on a Martinez field goal from 39-yards. The defensive front four for the Destroyers then turned up the heat as Dolezel fumbled the ball after being stripped by Bernard Riley and Jerald Brown recovered the loose ball at the Columbus 19-yard line. Nagy found Josh Bush for a 25-yard strike to give the Destroyers a 23-7 lead with 5:38 remaining in the half.

The next Desperados drive Dolezel threw the ball right into the waiting arms of Rober' Freeman, his first interception of the season. Four plays later Nagy found Saunders for a four-yard score. A Will Pettis fumble on the following kickoff return setup the Destroyers for a Nagy touchdown to Damien Groce from 17-yards. The Destroyers took a 37-14 lead into the locker room at the half.

The Desperados came out of the locker room with guns-a-blazing to start the third quarter. Dolezel found Pettis for a 19-yard touchdown. Following a failed Destroyers fourth and goal attempt from the Desperados one-yard line, Dolezel drove the field again and capped a six-play, 49-yard drive as he found Nash for the nine-yard score. The Desperados cut the 23-point deficit to nine points at the end of three quarters of play.

Howard Duncan scored his first touchdown of the season as he hauled a three-yard pass in from Nagy to start things off for the Destroyers in the fourth quarter. Dolezel who came into the contest needing 10 touchdown passes to reach the 800 touchdown plateau in professional football, a feat no one has accomplished, threw a 15-yard strike to Nash and two touchdowns to Pettis from 26 and 8 yards respectively. The Desperados took the first lead since the 2:08 mark of the first quarter at 44-42.

The Destroyers answered with a 11-yard touchdown pass to Locke, playing in his first game of 2007. With the score 51-50 in favor of the Destroyers the Desperados ate up the final 1:14 of the contest ending in Sievers 16-yard field goal.

The Destroyers return to Huntington Field at Nationwide Arena on Saturday, Apr. 14 to take on the Austin Wranglers at 7:00 p.m. The Destroyers will host A Night with OSU Heisman Winners presented by Worthington Air. The night features the only two-time winner of the award Archie Griffin and the most recent winner Troy Smith. The two will hold a question and answer session in the lower bowl from 5-5:45 p.m. prior to the Destroyers game. Fans may enter through the McConnell Street entrance for this session, but must have a ticket to the game to attend. Smith's Heisman Trophy will be on display on the concourse of the arena.

All fans in attendance will receive a poster featuring all six Heisman winners from The Ohio State University. The poster is officially licensed by the Heisman Winners Association and was created by Ted Watts. A renowned sports artist, Watts illustrates images of all the Heisman winners, which are on display in the College Football Hall of Fame. Amongst his other work are pieces that are on display at the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Huntington $10 Ticket Blitz continues for every home game during the 2007 Destroyers season. A minimum of 225 lower bowl seats will be available for $10 at the Nationwide Arena Box Office two hours prior to every home game. The regular price on lower bowl seats is $26.

The Destroyers and Giant Eagle are teaming up with the Mid-Ohio FoodBank to TACKLE HUNGER in Central Ohio. Last year, with the help fans, the Destroyers raised enough resources to provide over 27,000 meals to those in need. Fans are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to all Destroyers home games to receive a raffle ticket. In addition to the food drive, if fans bring a non-perishable food item from Giant Eagle they will receive a voucher for $3 off a regularly priced ticket.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 5, 2007


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