One Step Closer
May 27, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Dallas Desperados News Release
DALLAS - Forget the potential rust factor that comes with a first-round bye. Or the so-called pressures of playing at home throughout the AFL playoffs.
The Dallas Desperados apparently haven't forgotten the formula which helped them claim the top seed in the postseason.
Dallas (14-3) dispatched the defending National Conference champion Georgia Force, 62-27, Saturday at American Airlines Center to advance to the conference championship game for the first time in team history. They'll play at home next Sunday (2 p.m. CDT) against either Philadelphia (10-7) or Orlando (10-6), which play Sunday in the other divisional round match-up.
The National Conference champion will play in ArenaBowl XX on June 11 in Las Vegas.
"If we have to win on offense, defense and special teams we've got to make plays somehow," Desperados head coach Will McClay said of Saturday's victory. "Today was a collective effort."
The Desperados used standard operating procedure against the sixth-seeded Force - stifling defense mixed with their top-ranked passing attack, led by quarterback Clint Dolezel.
The Offensive Player of the Game finished 31 of 38 for 260 yards and eight touchdowns, including four to offensive specialist Terrill Shaw. The Desperados' offense scored on all nine of their possessions.
The Dallas defense entered the playoffs as the AFL's stingiest unit (44.4 points per game) and held Georgia (9-9) to a season-low 27 points. Force quarterback Matt Nagy, the most accurate passer in league history, threw four touchdowns but was picked off two times.
Georgia finished 1-6 this season when Nagy was picked off at least once.
"Offensively if we take care of it like that and we get a couple stops like we've been getting, we are very tough to beat," Dolezel said. "I keep harping on it, but it's hard to get stops. What our defense is doing is very unusual."
But in the first quarter, Dallas looked like a team which had been waiting four weeks to play a meaningful game. The offense lacked its typical quick-strike approach, and the Desperados got bogged down with penalties and shoving matches.
"We've been ready to play for a month," Dolezel said. "And for it finally to get here, we were cats walking in a room with rocking chairs. We were just trying not to get that tail run over."
Dallas eventually settled down and took a 20-6 lead in the second quarter off a Nagy interception. WR/LB Jason Shelley snatched a live ball off the net after Nagy was hurried into throwing the ball up for grabs.
"I shifted with him thinking that he might try to run and I see the ball leave his hand," said Shelley, who was named Ironman of the Game with two touchdown catches. "I realized that it was high so it had to go off the net."
The Dallas defense clamped down again in the third quarter. The Desperados extended their lead to 21 when Lineman of the Year Colston Weatherington recovered a Force fumble and Dolezel found Shelley for a 7-yard score three plays later.
Georgia's final three drives ended in a turnover on downs and interceptions by Nagy and backup quarterback Glen Gauntt.
McClay said he was "very, very impressed" with his team's defensive effort.
"We weren't getting pressure sometimes and the guys in the back held up, and then we got pressure," he said. "It's a team effort in taking advantage of the opportunities that we had."
The Desperados will wait to play either Philadelphia, which handed them two of their three losses this year, or Orlando, which lost to Dallas by five points back in March.
"I would like to see Philly again to let them know that we're not just a cakewalk," Dolezel said. "But Orlando, they're going to be a tough battle. So either one is going to be tough and we know that."
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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 27, 2006
- One Step Closer - Dallas Desperados
- Force season ends, 62-27 - Georgia Force
- SaberCats Advance With 62-48 Win Over Arizona - San Jose SaberCats
- San Jose's Nelson ties AFL postseason record - AFL I
- San Jose, Dallas advance to AFL conference championship games - AFL I
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