Dragons Hold Off Brigade For The Victory
May 20, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
New York Dragons News Release
The Kansas City Brigade made it close at the end, but the Dragons prevailed 62-56, Sunday afternoon at the Nassau Coliseum. The Brigade drew within six on QB Raymond Philyaw's eighth touchdown pass of the day with less than a minute remaining. On the ensuing on-side kick, the Brigade appeared to recover the kick, but due to a penalty - an illegal block - the Dragons retained the ball and ran out the clock.
The win gives the Dragons a record of 4-7 with five games remaining. The Dragons are only one game back of the final playoff spot with three of their final games at the Nassau Coliseum.
"We're breathing," said Head Coach Weylan Harding. "The way the league is playing out, we control our own destiny."
For the Dragons, QB Aaron Garcia went 24 of 37 for nine touchdowns, no interceptions and 261 yards. WR Kevin Swayne led the Dragons with five touchdowns and 130 yards.
When asked what he thought of the Garcia/Swayne tandem, Harding joked, "It's going to take a while to finish talking about them. They make the impossible, possible. They have a chemistry that no other quarterback/receiver combination has."
The Dragons received a serious blow when WR Mike Horacek went down with an ankle injury in the third quarter after colliding legs first into the endzone boards. Horacek chipped in with one touchdowns and 53 yards before leaving the game in. WR Jason Willis also scored two touchdowns, filling in for the injured WR/LB Chris Anthony.
"We're definitely progressing and getting all of the receivers into it," said Garcia. "The offensive line did a good job. We were hitting on all cylinders right out of the gate."
On the other side, Philyaw went 28 of 49 for eight touchdowns, no interceptions and 411 yards. WR Charles Frederick led the way up front for the Brigade with five touchdowns and 140 receiving yards.
The Dragons' defense was led by DB Will Holder, who recorded four pass break-ups along with six tackles. The defense came up huge to start the third quarter by forcing a fumble. DB Billy Parker forced the ball out of WR Anthony Hines' hands and was recovered by DB DaShane Dennis.
The Dragons made one crucial stop with less than a minute remaining in the first half to take a 42-28 lead through two quarters over the Brigade. The Dragons and Brigade traded off touchdowns until Philyaw couldn't connect on fourth down late in the first half. The Brigade were stopped twice more in the second half, while it took until the start of the fourth quarter for the Brigade to stop the Dragons' offense.
The Dragons return to the road next week to take on the New Orleans VooDoo, Monday night on ESPN2.
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 20, 2007
- Wranglers Lose In Final Seconds To Predators - Austin Wranglers
- Dragons Hold Off Brigade For The Victory - New York Dragons
- Dragons Slide For Good Cause - New York Dragons
- Georgia Force (9-2) suffer second loss of the season, 57-51 - Georgia Force
- Rampage Fall to SaberCats, 69-44 - Grand Rapids Rampage
- SaberCats win fifth straight - San Jose SaberCats
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