SaberCats Beat Avengers 55-52
March 27, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
San Jose SaberCats News Release
San Jose, CALIF. (March 26, 2004)- San Jose quarterback Mark Grieb completed the game deciding 18-yd touchdown pass to Fred Coleman with 4:03 remaining in the game to lift the SaberCats (6-1) to a 55-52 win over Los Angeles (4-3).
Grieb, the Offensive Player of the Game, went 19 of 28 for 230 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions.
Los Angeles struck first on a 23-yd touchdown pass from quarterback Tony Graziani to Kevin Ingram. Graziani finished the game 24 of 36 for 232 yards with five touchdowns.
Game Ironman James Roe came up with the big plays to help San Jose overcome a 14-point first half deficit.
He caught a pair touchdown passes in the second quarter to keep San Jose close and finished the game with 10 catches for 100 yards and two scores.
Roe intercepted a Graziani pass early in the third quarter and returned it 9-yards for a touchdown to give San Jose its first lead of the game, 35-31. Graziani had thrown 210 passes without an interception this season.
Grieb's 10-yard scoring pass to Roe early in the second quarter brought San Jose within 21-14 and was the 300th career scoring pass of his career. Grieb joins 11 other QBs in AFL history with over 300 scoring tosses in a career.
Los Angeles capitalized on a Grieb fumble in the first quarter to build a 21-7 lead. Silas DeMary sacked and forced the fumble in the San Jose endzone, which was recovered by Josh Jeffries for the touchdown. The two sacks and one forced fumble by DeMary earned him the defensive player of the game.
With San Jose leading 52-45, Sam Hernandez sacked Graziani and forced a fumble that was recovered by George Williams with :52 seconds left in the 4th. The fumble recovery allowed SaberCat kicker Dan Frantz to assure the victory with a field goal and a 55-45 lead.
Los Angeles scored the final touchdown on a Graziani 5-yard run with :02 left.
The SaberCats swept the season series and now lead the all-time series with Los Angeles 8-2. The Cats are 5-0 against the Avengers at home.
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