Blaze Tame SaberCats in Opener
Josh Fisher
Sunday January 29, 2006
The game didn’t start great for Utah. Quarterback Joe Germaine fumbled on the team’s third play. San Jose then scored on an 11-yard touchdown strike from Mark Grieb to James Roe. Roe went head first into a pole on the play and left the field on a stretcher. Not even three minutes into their existence the Blaze trailed 7-0. No worry. On their next possession they marched down the field, aided by three San Jose penalties. Germaine capped the drive with the first of his three touchdown strikes to offensive specialist Siaha Burley. The first touchdown score in franchise history came with 7:09 left in the first quarter, and tied the game at seven.
After the SaberCats went ahead 14-7 on their next possession, Utah decided to take control of the game. The first play following the San Jose score, Germaine found Orshawonte Bryant on a 39-yard touchdown strike, tying the game at 14. The ensuing kickoff bounced off the net and was recovered by Utah’s Kelvin Hunter at the San Jose 4-yard line. Kicker Steve Videtich kicked a 23-yards field goal, giving the Blaze its first lead in franchise history, 17-14. That field goal also gave Videtich 1,253 career points, tying him for the most points by a kicker in Arena Football League history.
The two teams then gained a total of 11 yards are three possessions, five of which were on a Blaze penalty. Utah gained possession at the SaberCats 16-yard line after forcing a second straight 3-and-out. That led to the second of two Bryant TD receptions, an 11-yard strike from Germaine. Videtich added the point after and became the AFL’s all-time leader in points by a kicker.
Thal Woods recovered the next kickoff in the SaberCats end zone and just like that it was 31-14 for the Blaze. It appeared that San Jose was going to get something going before halftime, but kicker Brian Schmitz missed a 28-yard field goal as time expired on the first half.
The second half started much like the first. San Jose scored on its first possession, but that was followed by another Blaze scoring drive. Utah only gained seven yards on the drive and capped it with a 23-yard field goal from Videtich. On San Jose’s next possession, Grieb was intercepted in the end zone by Hunter.
Utah wasn’t able to do anything following the pick and turned it over on downs, but Schmitz another field goal with just more than seven minutes left in the game. Utah took over in a position to run some clock and close out the game. In stead they struck 45 second later on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Germaine to Burley.
San Jose would score on its next possession, but Grieb was forced into quick throws the entire drive. He spent most of the night under pressure and never looked comfortable. Following Burley’s third score of the night giving Utah a 48-28 lead with one minute left, San Jose drove for one final score. Grieb eventually left the game frustrated after being knocked down time-after-time and Stoney Case threw a touchdown pass on his only attempt of the night.
In a game with an AFL elite and an expansion team, the roles seemed to be released. San Jose never got into any rhythm offensively, due mostly to the heavy pressure applied by the Blaze defensive line. The SaberCats also committed 10 penalties for 106 yards. Utah played poised and in control most of the night. They made big plays and really dictated the action.
"The offensive line did a good job of protecting me tonight," Germaine said after the game. "Plus our defensive line did a great job of pressuring their quarterback."
Germaine finished with 199 yards and six touchdowns and Burley grabbed five balls for 54 yards and three touchdowns.
Josh Fisher has been a fan of the AFL for as long as he can remember. He followed the Arizona Rattlers since they began playing. Josh works for the University of Utah
as their head statistician. He is also the media contact for Klub Boom
Volleyball Club and the head volleyball coach at Park City High School.
