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Storm Extinguish Dragons to Open Playoff Door

May 15, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


The Tampa Bay Storm opened the proverbial playoff door a little farther on Sunday with a 61-58 win over the New York Dragons in front of 18, 244 fans at the St. Pete Times Forum. With the win they also became the second team in AFL history to finish the season undefeated at home. The Georgia Force accomplished the feat a day earlier with a win over Dallas.

The Storm can now clinch a playoff berth with a win next week in Columbus. Tampa Bay can also clinch a third seed with a win and an Orlando loss. Tampa Bay improved to 45-2 all-time when scoring 60 points or more and 7-0 this season when leading after the first half.

Quarterback Shane Stafford threw for 317 yards and seven touchdowns. He hadn't thrown more than six touchdowns in his past six games, dating back to March 20 at Philadelphia. Storm WR/LB Lawrence Samuels caught nine balls for a season-high 166 yards and three touchdowns. FB/LB David White ran for a career-high 36 yards. He also had two rushing touchdowns. It is the first time a Storm player recorded thirty or more rushing yards since May 10, 2002 when Basil Proctor ran for 31 yards.

Freddie Solomon returned the opening kickoff to the 18. On the second play from scrimmage Stafford connected with Clif Dell for a 27-yard touchdown strike on the Storm's initial drive. On first down during the next drive New York quarterback Aaron Garcia tried to get rid of the ball with Kelvin Kinney on his ankles and threw it right two the Storm's Anthony Derricks but he could not make the interception. Garcia made the defense pay as he connected with Chris Anthony for a six-yard touchdown pass.

Tampa Bay again got good field position at their own 15, this time thanks to a 15-yard kickoff return by Derricks. Two plays later Stafford connected with Solomon for an eight-yard score through the air. Solomon had missed the previous two games with a knee/quad injury. On their next drive the Storm defense put heavy pressure on Garcia and he was called for intentional grounding as DeMarcus Johnson dragged him to the turf. From there the defense held and forced a missed field goal from 49-yards out by Rob Bironas, which Solomon returned to the Storm five.

The Tampa Bay offense wasted no time taking advantage of the defensive stop. It took three plays for Stafford to connect with Ronney Daniels who was wide open on the left sideline for a 19-yard score that put the Storm up, 21-7 with 1:18 remaining in the first quarter. Garcia and the New York offense drove the ball to the 15 where he hit Mike Horacek in stride to pull the Dragons to within seven points.

On the ensuing drive the Storm extended their lead back to 14 points when Stafford hit Lawrence Samuels and he did the rest. He broke two tackles on his way to the end zone for a 40-yard touchdown catch. The Tampa Bay defense made another huge stop when Jonathan Ordway intercepted a Garcia pass in the end zone intended for Horacek. It was his sixth interception of the season. He went out of bounds in the end zone for a touchback and the Storm took over on their own five.

White and the Tampa Bay offense made the Dragons pay for the turnover. David White broke multiple tackles en route to a 19-yard touchdown run. They failed on the extra point attempt when the snap got past the holder. It was White's third touchdown of the season and Tampa Bay held a 20-point lead with 5:47 remaining in the first half.

The Storm defense continued to keep the pressure on Garcia during the next drive. Mike Sutton led the push up front as he recorded his first sack of the season. Garcia fought threw the pressure though and found Horacek again for a 22-yard touchdown. The Storm got a break when a deep ball intended for Samuels was apparently picked off by Chris Angel but an illegal defense penalty brought the play back and Tampa Bay maintained possession. White again made the Dragons pay with a 13-yard touchdown scamper for his second score of the afternoon. With three seconds left in the first half the Storm led by 20.

The Storm pouch kicked the kickoff and New York jumped on the ball at the 25. Bironas came in and connected on a 33-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter. At half time Tampa Bay led the Dragons, 41-24. Tampa Bay is 6-0 when leading after two quarters this season.

On the opening kickoff of the second half Will holder returned the Matt George kick 57 yards for a score. Thanks to the quick score the Dragons only trailed by 10. Holder again made an enormous play on the second drive of the Storm's next drive when he picked off a Stafford pass intended for Solomon. The Dragons took over on the one yard line after Solomon knocked Holder out of bounds. On third down and short New York tried to run for the first down but Chin Achebe was stopped at the line by Ernest Certain. Certain made another big play on fourth down when he tipped Garcia's pass at the line and it fell incomplete.

The Storm took over but they didn't hold on to it very long as Billy Parker intercepted a Stafford pass intended for Solomon to get the ball back for his offense. On the first play of the drive Garcia eluded a rush from Rod Williams and connected with Horacek for a 40-yard touchdown. He was leveled by Samuels as he released the pass. The Dragons missed the extra point and closed the gap to four points. The Storm again extended the lead when Stafford drove the ball to the 24-yard line and from there hit Samuels for a score. Samuels made a magnificent one-handed catch on the play for his second score of the game. For Stafford, the touchdown pass set a new Storm record for touchdowns in a season with 76. New York blocked the extra point and the Storm held on to a 10-point lead.

The Dragons jumped right back into the game and made it a one-possession game when Garcia hit Todd Doxzon with a 30-yard touchdown on the right sideline. He made one man miss and found the goal line. They now trailed by only three points with 4:27 left in the third quarter. After three dropped passes the Storm appeared to turn the ball over on downs but an illegal defense gave the Storm offense new life. Tampa Bay made the best of the chance as Anthony Derricks made a catch and ran for a 35-yard touchdown. With 37 seconds remaining in the third quarter the Storm again held a 10-point lead.

The Dragons kept pace and pulled to within three yards on the ensuing drive when Garcia connected with Horacek again for his fourth touchdown catch of the game from six yards out. Parker again hurt the Storm when he picked off his second pass of the game and gave the ball back to his offense at the storm 11. Anthony caught his second touchdown pass of the game from three yards out to put the Dragons up by four with 10:21 left in regulation.

Tampa Bay wasted no time in taking back the lead as Stafford connected on a deep pass to Samuels for a 45-yard touchdown strike. Following the George extra point the Storm led, 61-58. The Storm defense held the Dragons to a third and six on the Tampa Bay five-yard line and Garcia's pass to Horacek in the back of the end zone fell incomplete. Bironas came in and rang a 22-yard field goal off the upright. The kick would have tied the game.

With a chance to put the game out of reach, the Storm took over at their own 13. A pass interference call against Parker on third down gave Tampa Bay a new set of downs as the clock approached one minute remaining in the game. On third on one White ran the ball two yards to pick up the first down and keep the clock running to under 30 seconds remaining in the contest. Another run by White and the clock ran out on the Dragons. Tampa Bay held on for a 61-58 win.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 15, 2005


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