Dragons Win in Blaze of Glory
March 7, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
New York Dragons News Release
There was plenty of drama in the last 15 seconds of the New York Dragons' 61-54 victory over the Philadelphia Soul on Sunday afternoon at Philly's Wachovia Center. Will Holder's nine-yard touchdown reception from QB Aaron Garcia proved to be the difference with just five seconds left in the game. The Dragons improved to 4-1 on the season.
With 15 seconds left in regulation, Philadelphia QB Tony Graziani hooked up with Steve Smith for a 27-yard touchdown reception to knot the game at 54. Philadelphia could have taken the lead at that point with a successful extra point, but kicker Derek Schorejs' attempt was wide left and kept the game deadlocked. It was his second missed extra point of the afternoon, and he followed that up by giving the Dragons prime field position on the ensuing drive by kicking the ball out of bounds on the kickoff.
Meanwhile, Garcia completed 21 of 29 passes for the Dragons and threw for 251 yards and six touchdowns. There was bad news on the injury front as OS Kevin Swayne dislocated his shoulder on the Dragons' first drive of the game. He did not return and his status will be re-evaluated this week back in New York.
The game started off in the Dragons' favor as they shut-out the Soul in the first quarter by opening up a 14-0 lead. FB/LB Josh "Zeus" White and Mike Horacek, who played OS after Swayne left the game, scored for the Dragons as the defense forced a turnover on downs on Philadelphia's sole possession. Horacek finished the game with nine receptions for 131 yards and four touchdowns.
However, the Soul came back in the second quarter by taking advantage of a fumble by Garcia. At one point, they closed to within a single point before the Dragons took an eight point lead into halftime, 28-20.
The two squads traded touchdowns twice the third quarter. The highlight of the period came when WR/DB Corey Johnson returned Schorejs' kickoff for a 55-yard touchdown. At the time, it was the team's fourth kick return for a score in five games. Later in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, Holder returned another Schorejs' kickoff back for a 49-yard score, which was the team's fifth on the season.
Philadelphia came back to tie the game in the fourth quarter to put pressure on the Dragons' offense. It turned out to be a familiar theme as the team that would make the mistakes down the stretched would lose.
On a crucial fourth and ten with 5:47 seconds remaining in the quarter, the Dragons failed to convert as a Garcia pass was overthrown for an outstretched Horacek in the back of the endzone. However on the Soul's next possession, Graziani fumbled a snap which let the Dragons get the ball back. Chris Anthony scored off a seven-yard pass. With a missed extra point, the Dragons took a six point lead, 54-48.
In the end, it turned out that the Dragons would hold-off the hosts' last-minute attempts at pulling off the upset. The Dragons return home for an engagement with Georgia this Saturday, March 12 at the Coliseum with a 7pm kickoff.
Game Superlatives:
Game Balls (Awarded by Newyorkdragons.com)
OS Mike Horacek: The two-way star filled in for Kevin Swayne at OS and scored a game/team high four touchdowns.
WR/LB Sean Scott (PHI): The Ironman of the Game caught five touchdowns for 82 yards. The Dragons could not stop him on Sunday.
Dragons KR's: The kick returners for the Dragons ran back two kicks for touchdowns to push the team total up to five on the season.
Unsung Hero:
WR/LB Chris Anthony: With Horacek moving over to OS for the last 50 minutes of game, Anthony was forced to play the rest of game at the two-way "Jack" position. Except for a few defensive snaps, Anthony played in almost every play from the middle of the first quarter on.
Milestones Reached:
FB/LB Kevin Clemens rushed for his 100th yard of his career in the first quarter.
Behind the Scenes:
The Friday Night Live Program from the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf signed the national anthem for the hearing impaired...AFL Commissioner David Baker was in attendance as was New York Giants RB Tiki Barber.
Notes:
The game attendance was 16,482...For the first time this season, the Dragons' defense did not force any interceptions.
NY Giants running back Tiki Barber was at today's game.
Kudos to NBC's coverage for its original idea of having players describe their touchdowns to sideline reporter Lewis Johnson while watching replays on a sideline monitor. Aaron Garcia and Corey Johnson gave insightful breakdowns of their TDs during the game.
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from March 7, 2005
- Late mistakes drop Soul to Dragons - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
- Las Vegas Gladiators game notes - Las Vegas Gladiators
- Nashville Kats game notes - Nashville Kats
- Week nine Philadelphia-Grand Rapids game rescheduled - Philadelphia Soul
- Georgia Force change kickoff of March 19 game to 7:05 p.m. - Georgia Force
- New York Dragons game notes - New York Dragons
- Attendance continues to soar - AFL I
- The OSC interview: AFL Commissioner David Baker - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
- Murray To Have Knee Scoped Today - Nashville Kats
- Orlando-Georgia kickoff changed in March 19 game - AFL I
- Soul Time on Comcast SportsNet - Philadelphia Soul
- Avengers Bite Rattlers in Arizona - OSC Original by Tim Peterson
- SaberCats dominate Preds - Orlando Predators
- Dragons Win in Blaze of Glory - New York Dragons
- 55-48 final sets new home victory record in front of record crowd - Georgia Force
- Destroyers fall on the road to Georgia, 55-48 - Columbus Destroyers
- Rattlers fall to Avengers in defensive battle - Arizona Rattlers
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