New Orleans Edges SaberCats In Home Opener
February 13, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
San Jose SaberCats News Release
NEW ORLEANS, La. (Feb. 13, 2005) - New Orleans QB Andy Kelly threw a franchise record eight touchdown passes and the VooDoo (2-1) survived a last second game winning field goal attempt to defeat the defending champion SaberCats 62-61 in an Arena Football League game on Sunday.
Following a 21-yard scoring pass from Kelly to Aaron Bailey with :26 seconds left, the SaberCats (1-2) drove to the New Orleans 17-yard line. Kicker Dan Frantz sent the potential game-winning kick wide right from 32-yards out as time expired.
James Roe started at offensive specialist for San Jose, the third starter in as many weeks for the team, and led all receivers with a career-high tying 13 receptions, 169 yards and five touchdowns. Roe's 12th catch of the game was the 327th of his career moving him past Steve Papin (326) as the franchise's career leader.
San Jose broke a 49-49 tie when Grieb connected with Baker, but a failed PAT following a holding penalty opened the door for New Orleans.
With under a minute to play Kelly found Jacques Rumph on a 13-yard scoring play and the successful PAT gave the VooDoo a 56-55 lead. Grieb found Roe in the corner of the endzone with 42 seconds left and San Jose failed to convert on a two-point attempt leaving the advantage at 61-56.
The game was tied seven times and no team had more than a 7-point advantage. Kelly completed 33-of-47 attempts for 340 yards while San Jose's Mark Grieb completed 30-of-39 attempts for 352 yards and seven scores. The team's combined 676 yards of offense and the SaberCats dropped to 39-5 all-time in games where they score 60 or more points.
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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