Turnovers the Story as Cobras Drop Opener
January 31, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Carolina Cobras News Release
Turnovers doomed the Carolina Cobras on Friday night as they fell 60-20 to the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Football League season opener at the St. Pete Times Forum. The Storm took advantage of four interceptions thrown by Cobras quarterback Chad DeGrenier to score four touchdowns and break open a game that was close early. "Early on we were competing, but we just got outplayed," said Cobras head coach Mike Hold. "We didn't play well and we're going to find a way to win and improve. Whether you lose by 40 or you lose by one, it's still a sick feeling. There's a lot of room to improve and we're going to do it."
The teams traded touchdowns on the game's first four possessions before Tampa Bay took over the contest with 39 consecutive points over a 40-minute stretch. Storm quarterback John Kaleo led the way with 214 yards and six touchdowns on 16-of-27 passing. He connected for three touchdowns with former NFL wide receiver Freddie Solomon, who hauled in 10 passes for 132 yards.
DeGrenier finished with 113 yards and two touchdowns on 9-of-20 passing, before being replaced by Stewart Patridge in the fourth quarter. DeGrenier's four interceptions in the game tied a franchise record for a single player. Patridge went 7-of-13 for 57 yards and one touchdown, an eight-yard strike to Gabe Amey. The two combined for a team record five interceptions on the night.
"Sometimes it was the pressure, but a couple of the interceptions were just bad decisions by the quarterback," Hold commented about the turnovers. "We were able to get guys open, but just didn't have time to get them the ball down the field."
As the game began, the Cobras won the coin toss and received, but DeGrenier's first pass off the game was intercepted and run back for a 20-yard touchdown by Keita Crespina. DeGrenier bounced back with a 24-yard touchdown strike to Tramain Jones on Carolina's next possession. Tampa Bay's offense got on the board with 6:10 remaining in the first quarter as John Kaleo threw the first off his three first-half touchdown passes, a nine-yard toss to Freddie Solomon. The Cobras responded, though, as DeGrenier found Nick Ward for a three-yard score, tying the game at 14 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was all Tampa Bay, as the Storm defense held Carolina scoreless and picked off DeGrenier once more. Kaleo added two more touchdowns, one to Solomon and one to Troy Wilson. Basil Proctor's one-yard run with eight seconds remaining in the quarter capped the scoring and gave Tampa the 34-14 halftime lead.
Kaleo threw two more touchdown passes in the third quarter, one to Clif Dell and one to Gary Compton, as the Storm defense continued to shut down the Cobras. Kaleo hooked up with Solomon once more 63 seconds into the fourth quarter for Solomon's third touchdown reception. Carolina's final score of the night came on Amey's eight-yard reception from Patridge with 7:04 remaining. Tampa Bay capped the scoring on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Pat O'Hara to Compton, who became the third player in AFL history to reach 10,000 receiving yards.
The Cobras posted 78 yards of total offense in the first quarter, but could muster just 85 yards the rest of the way, as Carolina dropped its season opener for the third time in four seasons. The 40-point margin marks Carolina's second largest loss ever.
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