Desperados Survive Shootout in Arizona
Patrick Daly
Tuesday March 4, 2003
That’s essentially what happened during a controversial overtime period that saw the Dallas Desperados fail to recover an onside kick to open overtime before going on to knock off the Arizona Rattlers, 65-64.
According to league rules, each team is entitled to one possession in overtime, after which, if the game is tied, the remainder of the additional period is sudden death. Only if Dallas had fielded the ball and then lost a fumble on the kickoff would they lose their possession.
“Prior to the kickoff, the officials told me we each get a possession,” said Dallas head coach Joe Avezzano. “If we got the ball and fumbled it on the kickoff, that was our possession. That didn’t happen. What did happen is they kicked the onside so good, we defended it so bad, that it was good for us because we never touched the damn thing.”
For further proof of the rule, if you check your handy rulebook, you’ll find the following under the heading “RULE 15.3: Fairness of Overtime”:
… A fumbled kick return counts as a possession. A muffed kick or successful onside kick will not count as a possession.
Meanwhile, the Arizona Rattlers believed that, by failing to recover the onside kick, Dallas forfeited any chance to possess the ball on offense. The Desperados benefited from a correct interpretation of the rules, as well as a Nelson Garner missed extra point after Arizona QB Sherdrick Bonner connected on his eighth touchdown pass of the day on a one-yard toss to OS Chris Horn.
Dallas took advantage of their overtime possession when QB Jim Kubiak drove the Desperados down the field and connected with OS Shannon Culver on a 10-yard strike, followed by Jason Wells’ successful point after try. Overall, Wells bested his opposite number by going 8-9 on extra point attempts, while Garner missed two of his nine tries.
As the ‘A’ game for NBC, Dallas and Arizona showcased the AFL’s most prized possession: potent offense. Dallas scored on every drive, with the exception of a Kubiak interception that was turned right back over to the Desperados on the run back when Culver stripped Arizona’s Mark Ricks of the ball on the return, resulting in a fumble that Kubiak recovered. Arizona only failed to score twice, the first time on a Will Pettis interception after the Rattlers recovered an onside kick early in the game and then later when Garner missed a 32-yard field goal as time expired.
While the defenses on both sides of the ball seemed to take the day off, Kubiak took advantage of the opportunity to set a team record for passing yardage with 387 yards and completions with 33. Kubiak also added two touchdown runs.
Kubiak took over the reigns after Dallas traded QB Andy Kelly to Detroit, and he has played well enough for Avezzano to feel that the offseason deal has been validated. Kubiak’s success in 2003, which includes 28 touchdowns and a 126.1 passer rating, should not be a surprise after his solid 2001 campaign as a rookie in Buffalo – Kubiak saw only limited time as Kelly’s backup in 2002. Kubiak also has the advantage of being four years younger than Kelly, which factored into Dallas’ decision to deal Kelly.
After two tough losses in Orlando and Detroit dropped Dallas to 2-2, the Desperados have to be happy with the win, although according to Avezzano, the win doesn’t mean anything if the team fails to build on it. However, after less than a season and a half of play, this may be the biggest win so far.
“We think so much of this team that, in all likelihood, was the best win we’ve had since we’ve been an organization, because we think so highly of Arizona, because of the way the game unfolded and the way we had to come back to win it and the way both teams played so well,” said Avezzano. “We really didn’t stop them; they didn’t really stop us.”
Patrick Daly has been an Arena Football League enthusiast since he first stumbled across the late-night ESPN broadcasts and has followed the Arizona Rattlers since their inaugural season in 1992. He graduated from Arizona State University with an engineering degree and is currently a member of a web development team for Direct Alliance in Tempe. Patrick currently resides in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler, Arizona with his beautiful wife, son and a very large football helmet collection.
