Avengers Stay Undefeated with Overtime Victory
Steven Herbert
Sunday February 16, 2003
The Avengers (3-0) took the lead midway through the second quarter and held it until Colorado’s John Dutton threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Damian Harrell and two-point conversion pass right back to Harrell, as the Crush took a 53-50 lead with one minute, 50 seconds to play.
Remy Hamilton’s 18-yard field goal with one second left sent the game into overtime.
Los Angeles won the coin toss and chose to start the overtime on defense. Colorado (0-3) drove to the Avengers seven-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs after Dutton (27-for-43 for 359 yards and eight touchdowns) threw three consecutive incomplete passes.
Greg Hopkins, limited to three receptions in regulation, made two in overtime, including catching the game-winning 21-yard touchdown pass from Tony Graziani, as Los Angeles continued the best start in the franchise’s four-season history and took a two-game lead in the Western Division.
“I was most impressed by the way our guys handled the overtime,” Hodgkiss said. “When the overtime came, everyone had confidence and poise. That’s the mark of a veteran team.”
After throwing a team-record four interceptions against San Jose, Graziani did not throw any against the Crush, completing 21 of 34 passes for 232 yards and four touchdowns.
“I thought Tony did a real nice job of bouncing back,” Hodgkiss said. “He got a lot of pressure and made good decisions. The difference was when he had to make the throws, he did.”
Chris Jackson caught 10 passes for 119 yards and three touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass for the second consecutive game for Los Angeles, but also lost a fumble in the fourth quarter that helped Colorado get back into the game.
“We would have won by 14 points if we don’t turn the ball over,” Hodgkiss said.
The turnover was the only one of the game for the Avengers, who converted both of their two takeaways into touchdowns. Los Angeles is 7-0 under Hodgkiss when it commits fewer turnovers than its opponents.
“We came out and played hard all the time,” Hodgkiss said. “I thought we could have played with a little more efficiency on offense. Defensively, I wish we could have played a little better overall.”
Steven Herbert began covering Arena Football in 1988, the league’s second season. He has covered the sport for The Associated Press, Arizona Republic, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Providence Journal-Bulletin, Palm Beach Post, Daily Oklahoman and other publications. Herbert has also written on college and NFL football for The Washington Post and spent five years as a Los Angeles Times staff writer.
