San Jose Squanders 26-Point First Half Lead
April 13, 2008 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
San Jose SaberCats News Release
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Apr. 12, 2008) - Philadelphia quarterback Matt D'Orazio scored on a 5-yard keeper with 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter and Clifton Smith converted the 2-point conversion to lift the undefeated Philadelphia Soul (7-0) to a 58-57 come back win over the San Jose SaberCats in an Arena Football League game Saturday night.
San Jose kicker A.J. Haglund had his 48-yard game-winning field goal attempt bounce off the right upright as time expired. The SaberCats dropped two-straight home games for the first time since 2006 when they lost their first two games and fell to 3-4 on the year.
San Jose built a 33-7 lead with under a minute left in the first half when Mark Grieb tossed a 22 yard scoring pass to Cleannord Saintil. Rodney Wright and James Roe had scoring grabs and Frank Carter added a pair of 1-yard scoring plunges.
D'Orazio was pressured early by San Jose's defense tossing a pair of interceptions to Marquis Floyd and completing just one of his first nine attempts.
But the Soul scored with 10 seconds left in the second quarter and outscored San Jose 44-24 in the final two frames. D'Orazio, who got the starting nod over Tony Graziani, had a sensational second half completing 17-of-22 passes for 202 yards. He ended the game 27-of-46 for 327 yards and five touchdowns. Chris Jackson led all receivers with 175 yards and two scores on 11 catches.
Grieb threw for 274 yards and six touchdowns on 24-of-37 passing. His 30-yard scoring strike to Wright gave San Jose a 57-50 lead with 49 seconds left in the game. Wright had a game-high 12 catches for 110 yards and a pair of scores. Roe had eight catches for San Jose, including the 700th of his career, which was an 11-yard TD giving San Jose a 47-35 lead with just under eight minutes left in the game.
San Jose takes to the road next week to battle the winless Utah Blaze on Friday night. Philadelphia takes its perfect record to Columbus to battle the Destroyers on April 21.
NOTES:
James Roe became the 13th player in AFL history with 700 career receptions (701)...Rodney Wright had his 200th career reception and 25th career TD catch...Frank Carter and Clevan Thomas each played in their 85th regular season game...Marquis Floyd had his 3rd career multi-interception game (2) and leads the team with 4...San Jose shutout the Soul in the first quarter, the first time Philadelphia has been held scoreless in any quarter this season, and held them to their lowest point total of the year...Alan Harper had his 5th career sack and his league-leading 4th forced fumble of the season...A.J. Haglund matched the AFL record for consecutive field goals with 12 when he drilled a 34-yard attempt. His game-winning 48-yard attempt went wide right and snapped his streak.
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 13, 2008
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- Arizona Snake One From The Storm, 63-62 - Tampa Bay Storm
- Rattlers Nip Storm, 63-62 - Arizona Rattlers
- Columbus Destroyers Downed By New York Dragons 62-44 - Columbus Destroyers
- Avengers Torch the Blaze - OSC Original by Tim Peterson
- Blaze Lose Division Contest On The Road, 79-62 - Utah Blaze
- San Jose Squanders 26-Point First Half Lead - San Jose SaberCats
- Soul's wild comeback tops San Jose - Philadelphia Soul
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