Preds drop 70-49 decision to Dallas
March 26, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Orlando Predators News Release
Like Yogi Berra said, "It was like deja vu all over again." For the second consecutive year, the Orlando Predators battled the Dallas to a stalemate for nearly three quarters, only to see the Desperados pull away to a big 70-49 win.
A year ago, the Predators battled Dallas even for three quarters before the Desperados pulled away to an 87-62 win.
"There were a lot of parallels to the two games," Predators Head Coach Jay Gruden said. "It was especially true since we had to play them again without our best pass rusher Greg White. But clearly, Dallas was the better team tonight and deserved to win."
Orlando, who fell to 2-2 on the season, battled Dallas to a 35-35 stalemate in the first half. Both teams came up with one defensive stop. Dallas had a chance to take the lead into the locker room, but Todd Sievers' 34-yard field goal attempt at the buzzer sailed just right of the right upright.
The Predators kept the game close during the third quarter, as both teams scored touchdowns on their first possessions of the half to make it a 42-42 game with six minutes to go in the third quarter.
But things fell apart for the Predators after that. Will Pettis scored on a one-yard run to make it a 49-42 game at the 1:07 mark of the third quarter. On Orlando's ensuing possession, the Predators had two huge "no calls" that cost the team a chance to even the score.
On a third and long, Predators quarterback Shane Stafford's pass sailed over the head of Jerrian James, who looked like he was being held up at the 15-yard line. On the ensuing 4th down play, it appeared Dallas defenders jumped before the snap - but again no flag came out until Predators head coach Jay Gruden was flagged for protesting the no-call.
"It would have been nice to get one of those calls," Gruden said. "But that's football. We had to play a lot of new faces tonight and we found out that we are not good enough right now to beat a team of Dallas' caliber."
Orlando, who lost starting wide receiver Jimmy Fryzel (hamstring) and offensive guard Jim Sodano (torn patella tendon) earlier in the season, played the Dallas game without the services of both starting defensive ends in Greg White (elbow) and Chaz Murphy (hamstring). In addition, the Predators lost wide receiver DeAndrew Rubin to a broken arm in the third quarter. He will be lost 6-8 weeks.
But it was the Predators inability to stop a Dallas offense-particularly with quarterback Clint Dolezel and wide receiver Pettis-that made the difference in the game. Dolezel completed 23 of 28 passes for 230 yards and seven touchdowns - six of which went to Pettis who grabbed 12 passes for 108 yards. Pettis also scored on a 58-yard touchdown on a late kickoff return.
The Predators countered with a 276-yard, five-touchdown night from Shane Stafford who completed 23 of 42 passes. Stafford was intercepted once late in the game by Bobby Keyes who returned it 30 yards for a touchdown.
"I thought Shane played a great game," Gruden added. "He was getting a lot of pressure from the Dallas defensive line and he was still making the throws. The interception certainly was not his fault. We have to start doing a better job of protecting him."
Orlando had big receiving nights from both Jerrian James (11-116) and Javarus Dudley (10-133), who combined for five touchdowns. Marlon Moye-Moore had Orlando's other two scores on a pair of one-yard runs.
"It's going to be important for our team to work through this setback. We're not a great team when we are playing without our two best defensive ends and our best receiver," Gruden added. "We will work through this and get better as the seasons advances."
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