Storm clinch playoff berth with win

Published on May 22, 2005 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


COLUMBUS, OH -- The Tampa Bay Storm clinched their record 15th consecutive playoff berth Sunday with a 78-53 victory over the Columbus Destroyers in front of 12,990 fans at Nationwide Arena. The win gave the Storm their second road win of the season, but more importantly punched their ticket to the post season.

Tampa Bay scored a season-high 71 points and secured the National Conference's fourth seed with a Orlando win against New Orleans on Sunday. The Storm will travel to Atlanta to take on the Georgia Force in the first round of the playoffs this Sunday.

Shane Stafford led the Storm offense with 277 yards through the air and five touchdown passes. He also ran for three scores. Demetris Bendross led all Storm receivers with six catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Lynaris Elpheage recorded his first career interception and Lawrence Samuels recovered two fumbles.

Matt George opened the game by putting the opening kick off into the slack net for the Storm. Damien Groce returned the ball to the eight-yard line. It took two plays for Matt D'Orazio to connect with Cornelius White for a 31-yard touchdown pass. The extra point rang off the iron, but the Destroyers held a 6-0 lead to open the game.

After a touchback the Storm began their opening drive on their own five. After an apparent touchdown Samuels was called for offensive pass interference and the Storm failed to get in the endzone on third down. George's field goal attempt from 36 yards out was blocked. Columbus made quick work of the drive as D'Orazio hit Groce for a 31-yard touchdown pass. With the extra point the Destroyers had jumped out to a 13-0 lead.

Needing to get on the scoreboard, Tampa Bay took over on the nine-yard line. The Storm capped the 41-yard drive with a one-yard sweep by Stafford and Tampa Bay was on the board for the first time. The Destroyers fired right back as White beat Jonathan Ordway to the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown reception. At the end of the first quarter the Storm trailed 20-7.

Tampa Bay opened the second quarter with the ball on it's own eight. The Storm again failed to convert on a third down but this time they elected to go for it. Stafford was stopped at the three-yard line trying to sweep around the corner, but a facemask penalty gave the Storm a new set of downs. On the very next play Umar Muhammad ran the ball in from the two to close the deficit to six points.

Donvetis Franklin returned the following kick off to the 16-yard line of the Storm where Clif Dell made a touchdown-saving tackle. The Destroyers still managed to get in the end zone as Deon Dyer plowed through the line for a one-yard scoring run and Columbus extended their lead to 13 points with 4:37 remaining in the first half.

With Tampa Bay on their own 13 it appeared Stafford had connected with Demitris Bendross for another touchdown, but the play was called back because of an offside penalty. After running the same play on the next snap and not finding Bendross, Stafford hit Ronney Daniels for a 32-yard score. With 40 seconds left in the second quarter D'Orazio fumbled the snap from center and Umar Muhammad jumped on the ball for Tampa Bay.

The Storm offense took over at mid-field following the turnover. They took their first lead of the game as the Storm converted the takeaway into seven points with a two-yard pass from Stafford to Lynaris Elpheage. Stafford rolled to his right and found Elpheage on a slant route. The Destroyers attempted a 53-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, but it hit off the cross-bar and the first half ended with the Storm holding a one-point lead.

The Storm offense began the second half on it's own nine-yard line. Stafford extended the lead when he hit Bendross for a 22-yard score. With the George extra point Tampa Bay led 35-27. On the ensuing kickoff Franklin put the ball on the turf and it was recovered by Samuels to give the ball back to the Storm offense. Samuels was rewarded when he caught a three-yard touchdown throw from Stafford. With the score, Tampa Bay opened up a 15-point lead.

D'Orazio again fumbled the snap from center on the first play of the next Columbus drive. This time Kelvin Kinney jumped on the ball for the Storm and the offense returned to the field. Stafford made good of the turnover as he ran the ball in from the three behind the block of David White.

On the following kickoff Groce came out of the end zone and was then tackled behind the line by Ricky Hall for a safety. After a brief discussion the referee made the decision to grant the Storm the safety. After the free kick the Storm drove the ball down the field to the seven-yard line of the Destroyers as the third quarter expired with the Storm leading 51-27. Stafford capped the drive with a four-yard touchdown run. The touchdown was his third rushing touchdown of the game.

A good kick return got the Columbus offense to the five-yard line where D'Orazio hit Jeremy Unertl for the first Destroyers points since the second quarter. The Storm recovered the on-side kick and quickly found the end zone as Stafford found a streaking Bendross for a 19-yard touchdown.

The Destroyers added another touchdown of their own when D'Orazio connected with Bobby Olive after evading the rush of Kinney for an 11-yard score. They recovered the ensuing on-side kick and took over on their own 16. Elpheage stepped in front of a pass intended for Groce and picked it off for his first career interception. He fumbled the ball on the return but recovered the loose ball. Stoney Case came into the game at quarterback and hit Ronney Daniels with a three-yard touchdown pass.

D'Orazio against hooked up with White for another touchdown from four yards out. The two-point conversion was no good. Muhammad put the icing on the cake with a two-yard touchdown run to give the Storm 78 points for the game. Unertl caught the final pass of the game for a 14-yard touchdown to close out Columbus' season, but the Storm walked off the field with a 78-53 win and a playoff berth.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 22, 2005


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