Monster First Half Drives Playoff-Bound Force in Tampa
July 18, 2011 - Arena Football League (AFL)
Georgia Force News Release
Tampa, FL (July 16, 2010) - One night after clinching a playoff spot with Cleveland's nationally televised win, the Force never trailed en route to a 58-40 win over the Tampa Bay Storm on Saturday night.
A pair of touchdowns in an eight-second span late in the first half put an exclamation point on a stellar early performance. The Force found the end zone on offense to go up 24-7 before pinning Tampa Bay deep with the ensuing kickoff. The next snap was fumbled, and defensive lineman Eric Scott was in the end zone with the ball clutched between his paws when the dust settled to give his team a 31-7 lead heading into the locker room.
That was not the last time the defense would put points on the board, either. Defensive back Tracy Belton returned an interception 30 yards for a score in the fourth quarter for Georgia's final touchdown.
Darnell Kennedy led the Force on offense after Brett Elliott left the game early. Kennedy completed 12 of 20 passes for 130 yards and five touchdowns. The receiving Johnsons, C.J. and Michael, caught a pair of touchdowns each and finished with 60 and 61 yards respectively.
On the Storm side, former South Florida standout Matt Grothe made his Tampa Bay debut with 161 yards and five touchdowns, all in the second half. Receiver Amarri Jackson led all receivers with 112 yards and three touchdowns. The Storm were able to cut the lead to 11 points on three occasions, but could pull no closer.
The Force have now qualified for the postseason in each of their last five AFL seasons, but their exact seed has not been settled. Georgia and Orlando both sit at 10- 7, and will claim the two conference wild card slots. The Force hold the tiebreaker after outscoring the Predators 107-82 in two meetings this year. The #3 seed will travel to Cleveland for the first round, while the #4 seed visits #1 Jacksonville.
Georgia closes the regular season in Iowa, while Orlando welcomes New Orleans to central Florida. In their eight seasons in Arena Football, the Force have failed to reach the playoffs just twice.
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