Kats Comeback Falls Short in Philly
February 13, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Nashville Kats News Release
Down four points with the ball and 0:23 left on the game clock, the Nashville Kats (1-2) were unable to comeback from a 17-point fourth quarter deficit to the Philadelphia Soul (2-1), falling 59-48 on Sunday afternoon before a sold-out crowd at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.
Soul quarterback Tony Graziani threw for six TD's and one interception completing 18-of-27 passes. Soul receiver Steve Smith caught two of Graziani's touchdowns and also ran back a kick with only 0:04 seconds remaining in the first half.
For the Kats, quarterback Leon Murray also threw six TD's and one interception on a 27-for-46 afternoon. Two of receiver Jarrick Hillery's nine receptions were for touchdowns to lead the Kats.
Nashville started in a hole early going down 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. Graziani found Smith first and then a short scoring run by Marvin Brown gave the Soul the early advantage. The Kats blew an opportunity of their own in the opening period when Gabe Amey dropped a wide-open pass in the end zone on the team's first possession.
In the second period, the Kats finally got on the board on a 12-yard scoring toss from Murray to Hillery. After a failed onside kick attempt, Graziani hit Sean Scott for a TD pass to make the score 21-7. Philly was set to score again a few minutes later, but DeRon Jenkins picked off a Graziani pass in the end zone.
The Kats took advantage of the opportunity with a six-yard TD scamper by Murray. After Graziani threw a TD pass, Nashville cut the lead to seven on another TD pass from Murray to Hillery with four seconds remaining in the half. The seven-point margin disappeared quickly, however, when Smith took the ensuing kickoff back for a TD that left the Kats down, 35-21 at the intermission.
After a Soul field goal expanded their lead to 17 early in the third quarter, Murray led the Kats on a drive culminating in a TD pass to rookie Jermaine Lewis, playing in his first AFL game. Graziani then made perhaps his best play of the young season, throwing a 45-yard TD pass to Smith from his knees after tripping on the center exchange.
Nashville trimmed the Soul's lead to 10 in the third quarter after a 15-yard TD reception by Dan Alexander. The Soul answered on the first play of the fourth quarter with a 27-yard pass and catch between Graziani and Rob Milanese to make the score 52-35.
On the next drive Murray found Amey for his first TD of the Kats season on a 12-yard pass in the back of the end zone. The Kats stopped Philly on their next possession and then brought the game within one score when Murray hooked up with Fred Coleman for a seven-yard score. The extra point kick failed, making the score 52-48 with 2:19 remaining.
The next kick did not fail as kicker Gary Kral recovered his own onside kick to give the Kats the ball and a chance to steal the victory. Five plays later, Alexander mishandled a pitch from Murray and coughed up the football resulting in the failed comeback. Graziani found Milanese with 0:03 seconds left to make the final score 59-48.
The Kats will look to get back to .500 on Saturday, February 19 when they travel to New York to face the New York Dragons at 6 p.m. CST. The game will be televised on Fox Sports South on tape delay.
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from February 13, 2005
- Soul's new additions pave way to win - Philadelphia Soul
- Kats Comeback Falls Short in Philly - Nashville Kats
- VooDoo win home opener over SaberCats, 62-61 - New Orleans VooDoo
- Desperados Outlast Columbus, 35-31 - Dallas Desperados
- Crush Falls to Rush, 49-48 - Colorado Crush
- Turnovers prove costly as Destroyers fall to Desperados, 35-31 - Columbus Destroyers
- New Orleans Edges SaberCats In Home Opener - San Jose SaberCats
- Rush, Gispert boot Crush, 51-48 - Chicago Rush
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