
Storm End on High Note
July 23, 2011 - Arena Football League (AFL)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release
TAMPA BAY - The Tampa Bay Storm (7-11) defeated the San Jose SaberCats (7-11) Saturday night at the St. Pete Times Forum by a final score of 57-44 in front of 10,738 fans to end the 2011 AFL season on a high note.
The Storm defense led the way as it recorded three turnovers, and scored two defensive touchdowns, including an interception returned for a touchdown on the final play of the game by defensive back Erick McIntosh. The defensive line put heavy pressure on SaberCats quarterback Mark Grieb throughout the game and finished the game with three sacks, including two by Jermaine Smith, to set a team single-season AFL record with 40 sacks in a season.
Quarterback Matt Grothe had an efficient night finishing with 279 yards passing and five touchdowns on 17 completions while adding another touchdown on a three-yard scamper early in the fourth quarter to give the Storm a 43-41 lead.
San Jose's Mark Grieb completed 25-of-44 passes for 315 yards to finish the season with 5,312 yards passing setting an AFL single-season record. Wide receiver James Roe led the SaberCats with eight catches for 98 yards, catching three of Grieb's five touchdown passes. Roes' fourth catch of the evening, a 21-yard reception early in the second quarter pushed him over 10,000 career receiving yards. He is the 11th player in AFL history to eclipse that mark.
Tampa Bay's Amarri Jackson led all receivers with 116 yards and four touchdowns on six catches while Hank Edwards finished with eight receptions for 116 yards and the game winning touchdown reception with 0:08 left in the game. Jackson finished the season with 125 catches for 1,619 yards and 35 touchdowns, all franchise rookie records.
After a rough start to the season, Tampa Bay finished 5-5 in its final 10 games. The team has several bright spots and a nice nucleus of players to build upon as it looks towards the 2012 season.
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Arena Football League Stories from July 23, 2011
- Vigilantes Fall to Rattlers, 55-49 - Dallas Vigilantes
- Rattlers Dismantle Vigilantes in Regular Season Finale - Arizona Rattlers
- Barnstormers Drop Season Finale to Georgia 63-59 - Iowa Barnstormers
- Force lock in seed with heart-stopping win at Iowa - Georgia Force
- SaberCats Lose To Storm In Season Finale, 57-44 On Touchdown Catch In Final Seconds - San Jose SaberCats
- Storm End on High Note - Tampa Bay Storm
- Predators End Regular Season With Convincing Win Over VooDoo - Orlando Predators
- Command drops finale - Kansas City Command
- Rush Fall To Milwaukee Mustangs In Regular Season Finale - Chicago Rush
- Mustangs Upset the Rush, 54-41 - Milwaukee Mustangs
- Grothe Helps Storm Close Season with Win - Tampa Bay Storm
- Jacksonville defeats Spokane 75-56 - Spokane Shock
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