SaberCats Fall in San Antonio to Talons 72-47
Saturday May 19, 2012
SAN ANTONIO – The San Jose SaberCats (7-3) fell 72-47 to the San Antonio Talons (7-3) at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Saturday night. The ‘Cats could not overcome their four turnovers, and Talons quarterback Aaron Garcia threw six touchdown passes in a winning effort for San Antonio.
The Talons opened the scoring in the first quarter, as Garcia found wide receiver Jomo Wilson for a five-yard touchdown to give San Antonio a 7-0 advantage. After a SaberCats turnover, the Talons took advantage immediately, as Garcia found a well-covered Burl Toler for a 30-yard touchdown to stretch the lead to 14-0 midway through the first quarter.
The SaberCats fumbled on the ensuing kickoff return and San Antonio struck immediately again, as Garcia hit fullback Chad Cook for a 14-yard score, pushing the lead to 20-0. San Jose opened their account with a two-yard rushing touchdown by wide receiver Hank Edwards, as he scored for the fifth consecutive game, cutting the lead to 20-7, which was the score after one quarter of play.
Garcia picked out Wilson for a 34-yard strike early in the second quarter as the lead was back to 20. San Jose responded, as defensive back Andre Jones intercepted a Garcia pass and fullback Johnie Kirton, scored his first touchdown as a member of the SaberCats from four yards out to bring San Jose closer, 27-14. Wilson then scored his third touchdown of the night for San Antonio, as he ran one in from two-yards out. The SaberCats kept fighting back, pulling within 13 points with a minute left in the half, when quarterback Mark Grieb hit wide receiver James Roe for an eight yard score.
The turnover bug bit San Jose two more times, as Grieb was intercepted twice, leading to two Talons touchdowns, one on a 56-yard pick six by defensive back Fred Shaw, and the other via Cook, who scampered in from 26 yards to move the lead to 51-21. Grieb found Roe from four yards out to cut into the deficit, but another Cook touchdown brought the lead back to 30 late in the third.
Grieb and Roe connected for the third time on the night from five yards, but Toler caught his second touchdown after an unsuccessful onside kick and San Antonio was up 65-35. Kirton found the end zone from a yard out to pull San Jose within 24 with eight minutes remaining and quarterback Danny Southwick scampered in for a late touchdown, but it wasn’t enough, as San Jose fell 72-47.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
San Jose SaberCats .. 7 14 7 19 47
San Antonio Talons .. 20 17 21 14 72
ABOUT THE SAN JOSE SABERCATS
The ArenaBowl XVI, XVIII and XXI champion San Jose SaberCats, opened their 16th season in the Arena Football League Saturday night. Fans and sponsors can go to thesanjosesabercats.com or call 408-673-3400 to sign up to receive the latest news and updates about the SaberCats, as well as to purchase 2012 season tickets. Make sure to follow the SaberCats on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest news on the team.
