San Jose Gets Top Seed With 47-43 Win Over LA
May 18, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
San Jose SaberCats News Release
SAN JOSE, Calif. (May 17, 2003) -- Mark Grieb tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to James Hundon with 3:46 left in the fourth quarter giving the San Jose SaberCats a 47-43 win over the Los Angeles Avengers clinching home field advantage throughout the playoffs and a fourth consecutive Western Division title for San Jose.
Hundon's second scoring reception of the game came on his team game record 14th catch capping a 3-play, 35-yard drive giving San Jose the advantage.
Los Angeles grabbed a 43-40 lead on a 32-yard Tony Graziani to Greg Hopkins scoring play. Graziani threw four scoring passes on 12 of 29 passing but was also intercepted four times.
Interceptions by Clevan Thomas, who set a league season record with his 13th, and Anthony Cobbs on the first two Avengers' possessions helped San Jose jump to a 20-0 lead after the first quarter.
Grieb tossed a 12-yard scoring pass to James Roe following Thomas' pick and Kevin McKenzie scored on a 1-yard run after Cobbs' interception. Los Angeles turned the ball over on downs on its third possession and San Jose capitalized when Grieb hit Hundon on a 14-yard scoring play to close out the first quarter. Grieb threw for 339 yards and six touchdowns with a career-high tying 30 completions on 43 attempts.
The Avengers climbed back into the game when Siaha Burley returned the ensuing kickoff 57-yards for a score closing the gap to 20-6. It was the first kickoff return touchdown of the season for the Avengers.
Three successive stops on the next three San Jose possessions resulted in touchdowns for the Avengers as they took the lead 26-20 on a 35-yard Graziani to Chris Jackson scoring pass.
San Jose regained the lead 27-26 and closed out the first half scoring on Grieb's 11-yard touchdown toss to James Roe.
Barry Wagner stepped up in the fourth quarter to help the SaberCats overcome a 2-point deficit. His 8-yard scoring catch early in the quarter gave San Jose a 40-35 lead and he picked off Graziani on Los Angeles' next possession.
San Jose failed to capitalize and turned the ball over on downs allowing the Avengers to take a 43-40 lead.
Wagner intercepted his second pass of the quarter with under a minute to go, just one play after Graziani was penalized for an illegal forward pass on a touchdown play.
Graziani avoided a fierce San Jose pass rush and stepped up to the San Jose 8-yard line to throw a dart to Russell Shaw in the back of the endzone. Only problem was that the line of scrimmage was the San Jose 11-yard line.
San Jose needed to run out the clock to preserve the win and Keala Keanaaina ran for 4-yards on a fourth-and-one play to give the SaberCats the victory.
The SaberCats will open the playoffs with a noon quarterfinal game at HP Pavilion on Saturday, May 31. San Jose will play the lowest remaining seed from the first round of the playoffs.
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 18, 2003
- Gladiators Top Destroyers in Regular Season Finale - Las Vegas Gladiators
- Week 16 AFL Game Summaries - AFL I
- Rampage Drop Fifth Straight, Look to Playoffs - Grand Rapids Rampage
- Buffalo Breaks Records, Fall In Season Finale - Buffalo Destroyers
- Desperados Win Central Division, Host Force Next Sunday - Dallas Desperados
- Gispert hits 16-yarder to lift Rush into playoffs - Chicago Rush
- San Jose Gets Top Seed With 47-43 Win Over LA - San Jose SaberCats
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
