Phantoms Haunted by Last Minute Interception
June 27, 2002 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Toronto Phantoms News Release
Toronto, Ontario: For 59 minutes, Toronto Phantoms quarterback Pat O'Hara played a near-perfect football game â 22 completions for a new career and club high 352 yards with 4 TD passes. Unfortunately, his first big mistake came in the last minute of play of a 58-44 loss to the L.A. Avengers. With the Phantoms poised to score the game-tying touchdown, O'Hara threw his only interception of the night. Kevin Ingram returned it 49 yards for a touchdown to seal the final outcome.
"If you are not perfect in this league then you will lose and we were not perfect tonight," said O'Hara moments after Toronto lost its 3rd consecutive game at home. Toronto now sits under .500 at 5-6 for the second time this season. For the game MVP Ingram it marked his 2nd touchdown in the 4th quarter. His 27 yard touchdown reception at 12:21 broke a 37-37 tie giving L.A. a lead it would never relinquish. Ingram led the Avengers with 5 catches for 92 yards and 1 TD.
Three costly mistakes by the Phantoms in the second half â a questionable fumble in the endzone, a missed played kick-off and, of course, the interception returned for a touchdown -- led to Toronto's demise.
"We beat ourselves," said Head Coach and General Manager Mark Stoute. "We just need to focus mentally."
The game started out well for the Phantoms as O'Hara had the Phantoms in the lead at the half 27-24. In the second quarter alone, O'Hara connected on all 7 of his passes for 132 yards and three touchdowns. Included in that stretch were two bombs of 40 and 43 yards to wide receivers Charlie Davidson and Ty Law. The latter score marked the 40th TD of Law's career. In the third quarter and Toronto in the lead 34-30, LA recovered a questionable fumble in the endzone to take the lead. Both Stoute and O'Hara were at a lost for why the play was a called a touchdown.
"We never snapped the ball," O'Hara said, "How can it be fumble if you never snapped the ball â I honestly don't know. The refs just did not want to reverse the call."
"The refs missed the call. [The Avengers] kicked the ball and were clearly offside," Stoute added.
Toronto tied the game at 37 to start the fourth quarter but LA quarterback Tony Graziani, who was 13-22 for 191 yards, found Ingram for the score. Then the wheels fell off on special teams as Anthony Derricks misplayed a kick-off off the rebound nets that Greg Hopkins recovered in the endzone for the score and a 51-37 lead. Stoute made no excuses for his players. "We talked about it at the half. (Hopkins) and (Chad Dukes) need to be blocked and we doublet-teamed one guy and let the other run right by. We just didn't block him, and besides all that Derricks needs to make that catch off the net."
Stoute, visibly upset after the game, summed up the Phantom play as a matter of not making the needed plays. "The fact is we are not executing well on offence. Until we focus we will be a good team and not a great team. That's what takes a good team and transforms it into a great team â execution. We're not executing, so we're not a very good football team right now."
Among the bright spots for Toronto was the play of the two "jack linebackers", Kerry Brown and Ty Law. Both Brown and Law matched season highs scoring 2 touchdowns apiece. Both Brown and Law made 4 catches, combining for 133 yards. Damian Harrell led all Toronto receivers with 6 catches for 91 yards. However, he was held scoreless for just the second time this season â both of those games coming in the last 3 weeks.
Los Angeles fullback / linebacker Chad Dukes was selected as the Ironman, the top two-way player. Dukes rushed for a game-high 30 yards with 1 score. He also returned 5 kicks for 118 yards and recorded 5 tackles and 1 sack.
The Phantoms record at home now falls to 2-3 on the season. Toronto will try to even its home record next week when the club hosts the Carolina Cobras on Thursday, July 4th. It's the first and only time this season Toronto plays back âto-back home games. Kickoff at the Air Canada Centre is set for 7 PM. Tickets for that game are now on sale and can be purchased by calling (416) 341-1234 or by logging on to www.torontophantoms.com. Get "Insane for the Game" and be a part of "Thursday Night Gridiron Madness"!
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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from June 27, 2002
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