Kats, Desperados end in rare tie
April 9, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Nashville Kats News Release
This has been a season of firsts for the Nashville Kats, as the team was resurrected after a three-year hiatus, but Friday night's game against the Dallas Desperados takes the cake. The Kats went through 15 minutes of overtime with Dallas and finished with the second tie game in arena football history. The game finished 41-41 - the first AFL tie since 1988.
The game had more ups and downs than a roller coaster, as Nashville rallied from a 11-point fourth quarter deficit to seemingly have the game won before Dallas QB Clint Stoerner completed a desperation pass to Bobby Sippio off the net with no time remaining, tying the game at 41 and sending it to overtime.
From there, Nashville's Kahlil Carter got an INT, then Fred Coleman fumbled away a chance to give the Kats the win a few plays later. Dallas fumbled on its next possession, but Nashville once again failed to put the game away when new kicker Matt Hutto, in his first career AFL game, missed a 31-yard field goal attempt. The Desperados then had their own chance to win the game with a field goal, but Carlos Martinez missed a 43-yarder.
The game was a strange one from the beginning, as neither team scored in their first three possessions. The Desperados missed a field goal and threw a pair of interceptions, while Nashville's Hutto missed a pair of field goals and quarterback Leon Murray had a pass picked off.
The Desperados finally got on the board with 4:13 to go in the first half when Clint Stoerner hit Jason Shelley for a 15-yard TD pass. Leon Murray answered a few plays later on a 37-yard pass to T.T. Toliver, who made a diving grab for the score. Toliver caught his second TD pass on Nashville's next series to give the Kats their first lead, but Dallas' Carlos Martinez narrowed the score to 13-10 with a field goal on the last play of the half.
The Kats were dealt a bad break on the opening kickoff of the second half when Fred Coleman could not field the ball off the net and Dallas' Will Pettis recovered it for the go-ahead score. Stoerner threw two TD passes in the third quarter to give the Desperados a 31-20 edge after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter the Kats rallied to take the lead on the strength of TD runs by Rupert Grant and Levelle Brown. After Grant scored to trim the deficit to four points, Nashville's Kahlil Carter recovered a kickoff that Dallas could not field off the net. Brown rumbled in from three yards out two plays later to give the Kats the lead. The Dedsperados took a one-point lead on a Martinez field goal, but Nashville got what looked to be the clinching TD on a one-yard run by Hammond. That was before Stoerner, who finished the day 26-of-45 for 260 yards, four TD's and three INT's, completed the miracle heave off the net to Bobby Sippio to send the game to OT.
Nashville's kicking game continued to struggle with new kicker Matt Hutto, who missed three field goal attempts, including the potential game-winner, and two PAT tries on the night. It was the rookie's first career AFL game.
Murray finished the night 22-of-40 for 244 yards, three TD's and two picks. Hammond led Kats receivers with seven catches for 56 yards and a score.
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 9, 2005
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- Rattlers throttle Destroyers - Arizona Rattlers
- Kats, Desperados end in rare tie - Nashville Kats
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