Georgia Force down Austin Wranglers 60-51 in home opener
March 11, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Georgia Force News Release
ATLANTA, GA - The Georgia Force (2-0) defeated the Austin Wranglers (1-1), 60-51, in Georgia's first home game of the season. The win marked the first time the Force have started a season 2-0 in franchise history. With the win Georgia also improved its overall home record under head coach Doug Plank to 15-4 in just over two seasons. DL Ernest Allen (one), DL Jermaine Smith (two) and DL Mike Sutton (one) led the Force defense as each of the three linemen posted at least one sack. Allen's sack of Wranglers QB Adrian McPherson was the team's fourth of the contest, which tied a franchise-high that had been accomplished on three previous occasions (last time: vs. Chicago 4/29/06). Force QB Chris Greisen connected on 23 of 32 passes for 282 yards with seven touchdowns in the victory, and WR Chris Jackson hauled in eight receptions for 119 yards and five touchdowns.
The Force finished the first quarter with a 12-10 lead over the Wranglers. Georgia opened the first quarter with a four-play drive that resulted in Greisen connecting with Jackson for a 40-yard touchdown, giving Georgia a 6-0 lead. Jackson beat former Force DB Nate Coggins on the play for his first touchdown of the game and his second of the season. The front three of the Force defense started out with two sacks of Austin QB Adrian McPherson (DL Mike Sutton and DL Jermaine Smith), which pushed the Wranglers back to their own one-yard line. On third down, McPherson threw deep to a wide-open WR Derrick Lewis for a 49-yard score. Austin K Mark Lewis converted the PAT and gave the Wranglers an early 7-6 lead. Greisen led the Force back into Austin territory, where WR Derek Lee hauled in a four-yard touchdown pass from Greisen. Smith posted his second sack of the game on first and goal and Austin eventually settled for a 20-yard field goal from Lewis.
Georgia's offense and defense helped build a 33-24 lead heading into halftime. The Force opened the second quarter with a three-yard touchdown run by WR/DB Jarrick Hillery. The rushing touchdown marked the first of the season for Hillary and the second for the Force on the year. Austin answered with a one-yard touchdown run by DB Sedrick Robinson to cut the Force lead to 19-17. Greisen continued to throw to his trio of receivers, as he lofted a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jackson who caught the ball while being pushed over the back wall of the endzone. On the ensuing kickoff, Force DB David Crocker forced Robinson to fumble and then was aware enough to fall on the ball. Georgia returned the favor on the next play when Greisen was flushed from the pocket and was intercepted by Wranglers LB Dane Krager. Austin was unable to capitalize on the turnover as Lewis missed a 28-yard field goal attempt. On fourth down and eight yards to go, Greisen fired the ball to Lee who leaped over a defender for his second touchdown of the game. The score increased Georgia's lead to 16 points, 33-17. Austin scored on a third goal as McPherson scrambled until he found OL Donny Klein for a touchdown to cut the Wranglers halftime deficit to 33-24.
The pace of the game was slowed in the third quarter as Austin outscored Georgia 10-7 and trailed by only five, 39-34, heading into the final quarter of play. The Wranglers started the second half with a seven-play drive that consumed 4:38 minutes and resulted in a five-yard touchdown run by Robison. The Force failed to move the ball on their next possession and Austin converted the defensive stop into three points. Georgia scored their only points of the quarter on a play-action pass from Greisen to Jackson from 32 yards out.
Georgia rallied in the final quarter to hold off Austin with several outstanding plays by the Force defense. Following a slow third quarter, Greisen rebounded to throw two more touchdown passes to Jackson in the final quarter. Early in the quarter, Force DL Ernest Allen sacked McPherson on second and 13 from the Force 15-yard line, resulting in a 24-yard field goal by Lewis. Hillery's one-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds remaining capped the scoring in Georgia's 60-51 victory over Austin.
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