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Storm Fall to Force in Divisional Round

May 29, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


The Tampa Bay Storm fell to the no. 1 seed Georgia Force in the Divisional Round of the Arena Football League Playoffs, 62-46, at Philips Arena on Sunday in front of 10,000 fans. The loss is only their 10th in franchise history, dropping them to 20-10.

Quarterback Shane Stafford threw for 304 yards, three touchdowns through the air and two on the ground, and Freddie Solomon caught five passes for 102 yards and two scores. Lynaris Elpheage made six tackles and had an interception on defense while making two catches for 21 yards offensively. Tory Bergeron made eight catches for the Force and had three touchdown grabs for the Southern Division champs.

Special teams proved to be Tampa Bay's downfall. Chris Jackson recorded 103 yards on kickoff returns and Bergeron also returned a missed field goal for touchdown. In all, Georgia amassed 205 return yards on kickoffs and missed field goals alone. The Force will host the Orlando Predators this coming Saturday. The game ensures that the Southern Division will be represented in ArenaBowl XIX.

The Storm opened the game with the ball on the five following a touchback. After a pass interference penalty Stafford completed a pass to Solomon to the 20-yard line. On third down Stafford's pass was intercepted by Kevin Gaines who had just been activated a day earlier. The Force wasted no time capitalizing as Nagy connected with Troy Bergeron from 27-yards out for the score.

After the kick went out of bounds and set them up with good field position Stafford hit Lawrence Samuels to get the Storm offense to the one. Two stuffed runs later, and Tampa Bay was looking at a third down. David White, on his third straight run, found his way into the end zone on a sweep to put the Storm on the board. They couldn't tie the game however as Matt George sent the extra point right.

Bergeron retruned the kick to the Georgia 17-yard line. Again, the Force offense powered it's way down the field to the Storm three-yard line but couldn't get into the end zone on fourth down and the Storm defense had their first stop of the game as Jonathan Ordway swatted the ball away from Derek Lee. The first quarter ended with the Storm trailing, 6-7.

A quick slant to Samuels on the first play of the second quarter set Tampa Bay up on the one. After a failed quarterback keeper by Stafford, the Georgia defense again held their ground on a pitch to White. On the third play Stafford would not be denied as he ducked behind center Rod Williams for the score. George knocked the point after though to give the Storm a, 13-6, lead.

The Force started their next drive on their own 10-yard line. Kelvin Kinney forced Nagy into an intentional grounding penalty on the first play of the game as he brought down the quarterback. On the next play, again with Nagy under heavy pressure, he lofted a ball which was picked off by Lynaris Elpheage and returned to the Georgia four-yard line.

On the first play of the ensuing drive Stafford had trouble with the exchange from Jimond Pugh and Robert Thomas jumped on the ball for the Force to give them the ball back. After a first down pass to Bergeron got the ball to the 16-yard line, Nagy found a wide open Chris Jackson streaking down the right side for a 34-yard touchdown strike. Nelson Garner missed the extra point and with it the Force's chance to take back the lead. With 8:09 remaining in the first half the teams were all locked up at 13.

The Storm offense began their next drive on the five after a touchback. After two passes to Clif Dell Tampa Bay was already on the Georgia 13. On the next play Stafford dropped back and found Solomon on a corner route and hit him in stride for the touchdown. George's point after attempt was blocked by Marcus Keys and the Storm clung to a six-point lead with just over five minutes left in the second quarter.

The Force took over on their own five on their next drive and after three incomplete passes Garner came in to attempt a 61-yard field goal. They pooch kicked it and Lee interfered with the Storm's Tramain Jones as he tried to field the kick. After the penalty, Tampa Bay took over on the Georgia 15-yard line. Following a pair of incomplete passes to Solomon, Stafford looked to find Samuels in the end zone but the pass was broken up by Rob Carey. Matt George came on to attempt a 30-yard field goal that was blocked by Adam Metts. The ball caromed back into the hands of George who flipped the ball to the holder Dell to throw down field. Dell's pass was picked off by Lee and returned to the Storm 20-yard line.

It took the Force four plays to find the end zone as Nagy hit Bergeron for a three-yard touchdown. It continued to be a rough day for kickers as Garner missed the extra point. With 14 second remaining in the half the teams were tied at 19. A quick pass to Ronney Daniels set up the Storm at the Georgia 23 with five seconds still on the clock. George came on to attempt a 39-yard field goal but he missed wide and Bergeron found a crack in the coverage and beat Dell to take the missed kick 56 yards to the end zone and give the Force a, 26-19, lead at halftime. The return was the longest missed field goal return against in Storm post-season history. The previous long was 48 yards by Barry Wagner of Orlando in 1998.

The Storm kicked off to start the second half and got an enormous break as the ball came off the net and into the hands of Ordway as he flew down the sideline. Ordway carried the ball into the end zone for the touchdown and the extra point tied the score at 26 with just 52 seconds off the clock in the second half. On the ensuing kickoff Jackson fielded the ball and returned it to the Tampa Bay 21. The Force got right back in front on the scoreboard as Thomas carried the ball for 10 yards and the touchdown. The play as set up by an 11-yard pass to Ricky Parker on the previous play.

The Storm opened up their next drive with Stafford airing it out to Solomon for a 31-yard completion. With the ball on the 16, Stafford hit Elpheage and he carried the ball to the four-yard line of the Force. Two consecutive running plays failed to net the Storm a touchdown, but on the third Stafford followed William and Kinney in for the score. The George point after tied the game at 33 with 7:18 left in the third quarter.

After a screen to Bergeron and a slant to Jackson the Force were called for off-sides and had a first and 15 on their own 16. Nagy was rushed out of the pocket by Ricky Hall and threw the ball in the direction of Daniels who could not haul it in. On third down Elpheage was able to recover and get his hand on the ball as Nagy threw to Jackson in the end zone. On the next play Nagy hit Bergeron in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown and a seven point Force lead.

After the kickoff went out of bounds the Storm offense took over at their own 20. Stafford was able to find Daniels running down the right side as he beat Nate Coggins for a 40-yard touchdown strike. George rang the point after off the upright and allowed the Force to cling to a, 40-39, lead. The extended their lead on the kickoff when Jackson picked the ball up off the turf, leaped over a Storm defender and scampered all the way to pay dirt with a 53-yard kickoff return.

The Storm failed to get anything going on their next drive as a pair of incomplete passes and an eight-yard pass to Elpheage lead to a fourth down, but Gaines broke up Stafford's pass to Samuels and the Force took over on downs at the Tampa Bay 13. Nagy had a rough start as the Force took over. He opened the drive by fumbling the exchange from center, then on the second play he was leveled and ridden into the ground by Williams. Garner came on and hit a 30-yard field goal to put Georgia up, 49-39.

Needing a score on their next drive, the Storm had trouble getting it going until Stafford hit Dell for a 11-yard reception for a first down. On the next play Stafford found a wide open Solomon who had turned around Georgia's Carey and hauled in a 31-yard touchdown. With the catch he went over the 100-yard mark for the game. With the point after the Storm trailed by three with 7:23 remaining in regulation.

Nagy and the Force offense were effiecient on their next drive, earning first downs and running the clock. With 3:41 left on the clock Nagy connected with Parker and he took the ball 12 yards for the touchdown to extend the Georgia lead to 10. Dell brough the kickoff back to the Storm 24 and the Storm offense needed to get on the board. They failed to get the ball down the field and had to settle for a 43-yard field goal attempt that went wide right and was returned by Bergeron to the eight-yard line. The Storm defense held them and Garner missed a XX-yard field goal attempt. Tampa Bay got the ball back with 17 ticks left on the clock. The drive started as Stafford hit Samuels to the Force 21. He again hit Samuels down to the one. They tried going to him again but Gaines had Samuels covered. As time expired Stafford threw a prayer toward the end zone, but it fell into the hands of Carey and he took it to the end zone.



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 29, 2005


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