20 Greatest Games of the 20th Season
Adam Markowitz
Friday June 16, 2006
20) Week 8: Nashville 48-Chicago 47: It was the 2nd time that the Kats and Rush hooked up on the season. Putting their perfect home record on the line, the Kats led the Rush 28-27 before scoring on back to back possessions to lift their lead to 41-27. The Rush fought back to tie the game at 41 before Kats QB Leon Murray hooked up with T.T. Toliver for his 2nd score of the day to make the Kats lead 7 once again. Rush QB Matt D’Orazio would have none of it, as he scrambled for a 5 yard TD to make the game 48-47 with just 28 seconds left in the game. The Rush went for 2, but their attempt failed. But just when you thought the craziness was complete, the Rush recovered the onside kick, but it was illegally touched before the 10 yard line. The Kats ran out the clock and preserved the 48-47 victory.
19) Week 9: Philadelphia 55-Dallas 51: In a game that featured both offensive and defensive excellence by both squads, the Philadelphia Soul became just the 2nd team to defeat the Desperadoes this season. Dallas led 45-34 at the end of the 3rd quarter and appeared set to earn their 5th straight victory, but the Soul outscored the Despoes 21-6 in the 4th quarter, capped by a controversial goal-line stand for the Soul at the end of the game. QB Clint Dolezel appeared as though he broke the plane of the end zone on the last play of the game, but FB/LB Chad Dukes knocked the ball away from Dolezel, to be recovered by Dallas FB Duke Pettijohn. Unfortunately for Desperado fans, a fumble can’t be advanced inside the 1 minute warning unless the fumbler is the one who recovers the ball and advances it.
18) Week 13: San Jose 63-Austin 59: The Wranglers appeared ready to walk into San Jose and knock off the perennial powerhouse, but the Sabercats fought back from behind 21-0 and the ball by knocking around Austin QB John Fitzgerald and executing perfectly on offense. The Sabercats scored on 9 of their last 10 possessions while the Wranglers failed to score on their first 4 possessions of the 2nd half. Despite the comeback, San Jose trailed 59-56 until QB Mark Grieb threw his 500th career touchdown pass with just 17 seconds left for the winning score. Veteran WR/LB James Roe caught the game winning score, finishing the day with 14 catches and 4 touchdowns on the day.
17) Week 14: New York 65-Philadelphia 58: Philadelphia QB Connell Maynor probably never saw this one coming. With the Soul facing a whopping 50-24 hole and their playoff lives hanging in the balance, he led Philadelphia on a 34-7 run, giving the Soul a 1 point lead with 9 minutes to play. Maynor wasn’t the only quarterback that didn’t see himself playing in this game though. Nick Browder was the 3rd signal caller for the Dragons on the season. Despite struggling on offense for the majority of the 2nd half, Browder hooked up with OS Kevin Swayne on the game winning score. Maynor attempted to lead the Soul for the potentially tying score, but he was stuffed up by OL/DL Andrew Tippins on the goal-line, securing the biggest victory of the season for the Dragons.
16) Week 2: New York 51-Chicago 47: Perhaps the single most controversial call of the season separated the Rush from their first victory of the season. In a game that was back and forth the entire way, Chicago found themselves down 4 points with 48 seconds to go. The used the clock perfectly and had the ball on the Dragons 2 yard line with just 10 seconds remaining. Rush QB Matt D’Orazio ran the ball around the corner and found the end zone, causing the 14,947 fans to erupt in what one Chicago fan referred to as "the most deafening moment in Rush history." But the fans went home disappointed, as the touchdown was waived off because of a Dennison Robinson illegal block. The game ended on the offensive penalty. In victory, Dragons QB Aaron Garcia went 24 for 31 and threw 6 touchdowns against no interceptions.
15) Week 11: Philadelphia 56-Chicago 55: With 11 minutes left in the game, gloom and doom set in for the Philadelphia faithful, as their QB Tony Graziani was injured, forcing QB Matt Sauk into action. Sauk’s first pass was intercepted, but the Rush couldn’t capitalize, as Rush QB Matt D’Orazio returned the favor on the next drive. Sauk settled down and went 8 for 10 from that point, leading the Soul on 3 perfect drives to close out the game. The middle drive tied the game at 49 with 27 seconds left. Rush K Keith Gispert missed a 48 yard FG as regulation expired, forcing overtime. There, the Soul got the ball first and scored on a FB/LB Wes Ours 1 yard plunge. The Rush responded with a TD of their own and elected to go for 2 to win or lose the game. D’Orazio scrambled around for several seconds, but threw an interception to DS Eddie Moten to clinch the game for the Soul.
14) Week 5: Utah 68-Los Angeles 66: In a game of scoring runs by both teams, the Blaze emerged victorious in Los Angeles thanks to QB Joe Germaine hooking up with WR/DB Orshawante Bryant on the last play of the game for the winning score. With the Avengers leading by 14, the Blaze scored and then forced a K Remy Hamilton field goal, making the score 59-49 with just 5:16 to play. The Blaze didn’t give up, and scored on 3 plays, but missed the extra point leaving them trailing by 4. A successful onside kick preceded Germaine’s 7th TD pass, giving Utah the lead 62-59. WR/LB Greg Hopkins gave the Avengers the lead at 66-62 with just 17 seconds left, but the heroics of Germaine and Bryant gave the Blaze their 2nd win in franchise history.
13) Week 13: Columbus 46-Philadelphia 45: The Destroyers earned their 6th win of the season on a gutsy call by Head Coach Doug Kay. Kay elected to go for 2 with 40 seconds left following a QB John Kaleo touchdown scramble to bring the Destroyers within a point. Kaleo hooked up with WR/LB David Saunders on the 2-point conversion try, which proved to be the winning score. It didn’t come without some drama though. Having missed a 24 yard field goal that would have put the game away already, Soul K Todd France had one last chance to make amends. His 42 yard attempt drifted wide, and the Destroyers earned the season sweep of the Soul.
12) Week 12: Utah 63-Los Angeles 61: It was the 2nd game between the Avengers and Blaze on the season, but this one proved to be just as exciting as the first game. QB Andy Kelly made his Blaze debut, stopping a 4 game slide and putting the Blaze right back into the playoff picture in the American Conference. LA rolled off 21 straight points between the end of the 2nd quarter and beginning of the 3rd quarter, but the difference proved to be yet another successful onside kick by the Blaze in the 4th quarter, which led to Utah turning a 55-49 deficit into a 63-55 lead. LA QB Sonny Cumbie threw his 7th touchdown pass to put the Avengers within 2, but their 2-point conversion attempt failed. Kelly threw 8 TD passes for the Blaze in victory. There were a whopping 30 TD passes and 258 points between the two teams in the season series.
11) Week 8: San Jose 56-Georgia 55: The Georgia Force continue with their inability to win a close game courtesy of the San Jose Sabercats. The Force led 28-17 at the half, but the Sabercats took a 33-28 lead with the Force only running one offensive play in that stretch, a safety on QB Matt Nagy. DS Nate Coggins stopped WR/LB Barry Wagner on the goal-line following a Georgia score, and the Force grabbed momentum on a 48 yard hookup from Nagy to WR/LB Derek Lee. The Sabercats converted two 2-point conversions in the 4th quarter, the 2nd tying the game at 49. K Nelson Garner had a chance to win the game at the end for the Force, but he missed a 35 yard field to end regulation. The teams traded touchdowns, but whereas Georgia couldn’t stop either 2-point conversion attempt by San Jose, their 2-point conversion attempt was a weak attempt, as Nagy threw the ball into the stands, ending the game and starting a run for the Sabercats that led them to the Western Division crown.
10) Week 6: Austin 53-Georgia 52: Playing their 5th straight road game, the Austin Wranglers came up with enough energy to muster a goal-line stand on the Force giving them a tremendous victory. The game changed at the 3:37 mark of the 3rd quarter, when the Force took a field goal off of the board for the Wranglers which would have made the game 45-42 Georgia. Instead, the ensuing field goal try was deflected, but WR/DB Kevin Nickerson recovered the ball downfield and took it the rest of the way to the end zone, instead giving the Wranglers a one point lead. Facing a 1st and goal at the Force 3 and trailing by 6 points, the Wranglers were stuffed up on their first three plays from scrimmage. But Coach Skip Foster decided to go for it on 4th down, a decision that was rewarded by QB John Fitzgerald running into the end zone on a play-action bootleg. Once again, where Georgia couldn’t stop a team on the goal-line, they had a chance to answer with a goal-line score of their own, but their 4th down attempt was deflected away. The Force could have kicked a field goal to take a 2-point lead, but instead decided to go for the kill on the Wranglers, a decision that cost them the game.
9) Week 8: Dallas 87-Orlando 62: It was the worst defensive effort in Orlando Predators history, but also put QB Clint Dolezel in the record books, with a record-tying 11 TD passes, including 6 to OS Terrill Shaw. The game was much closer than the score indicated, as the Preds were within 4 points with 12 minutes left in the game when the wheels fell off and Dallas closed the game on a 21-0 run. Perhaps the most important play of the game is when Dallas K Carlos Martinez, following a QB Joe Hamilton interception, nailed a 57 yard field goal to end the half. The 3 points gave Dallas a 38-35 lead getting the ball in the 2nd half, a lead they would never give up.
8) Week 4: Orlando 67-Tampa Bay 64: What would a list like this be without mention of the War on I-4? Though the 2nd meeting between these teams wasn’t nearly as competitive, the first meeting in Tampa was one for the ages. With the Predators leading 40-14, Tampa Bay went on their charge, scoring the next 3 TDs to cut the lead to 5 points. However, the Preds, now playing without WR/LB Clif Dell and DS Kenny McEntyre, rolled off three of the next four scores, giving them a 19 point lead with just 12:17 remaining. The finish was absolutely classic. Tampa Bay cut the lead to 15 after scoring and holding Orlando to a field goal, but their next possession saw DS Jerroid Johnson force a fumble on the Predators 2 yard line, appearing to lock up the game for Orlando. The drive was fruitless though, as K Jay Taylor missed a 50 yard field goal attempt giving the Storm life with 1:50 left. Tampa Bay drove down the field and scored to cut the lead to 8, but their onside kick attempt failed. With QB Joe Hamilton now on the bench, Jake Eaton could not kill the game, as Tampa Bay successfully forced yet another missed Taylor field goal, giving them one last chance. With just 4 seconds left, legendary WR/LB Lawrence Samuels was not going to be denied, catching a 22 yard touchdown pass. QB Shane Stafford dragged a couple Predator defenders with him on the ensuing 2-point conversion try, forcing overtime. Tampa Bay got the ball first in overtime, but the Predators mustered a stop, as K Bill Gramatica missed a 39 yard field goal. Still, the Predators couldn’t crack the end zone, but Taylor amended for earlier mistakes, nailing the game winning 17 yard field goal to send the Preds home winners. Stafford had one of the best games of the season for quarterbacks, throwing for 458 yards and 8 touchdowns in the losing effort.
7) Week 5: Chicago 54-San Jose 48: Matt D’Orazio picked a great time to have his best game of the season. With the Sabercats leading by 12 points going into the 4th quarter, the Rush started a ferocious comeback that saw D’Orazio throw two of his seven touchdowns on the day along with a CJ Johnson missed field goal return for a touchdown, forcing overtime. The hero of the game was DS Jeremy Unertl, who intercepted a Mark Grieb throw in the extra frame, his 2nd pick of the game. The next play was the last of the game, as D’Orazio found WR/LB Cornelius Bonner for the game winning score.
6) Week 12: Austin 60-Tampa Bay 59: It was perhaps the most exciting game in the history of the Austin Wranglers. While the Wranglers made it a habit of winning games of the defensive end in the 2006 season, it was the offense that shined on this night. The score was tied at 38 going into the 4th quarter, but both teams failed to score on their opening possession of the period. Then the magic of the Arena Football League kicked in. The Storm and Wranglers both scored 3 touchdowns each in the last 3:59 of the game, but the deciding play was the 2-point conversion that continued the heartache for the fans in attendance. QB John Fitzgerald, who had just thrown his 6th touchdown of the game, threw an incomplete pass when Skip Foster decided to go for 2 to win instead of kicking the PAT to tie. WR/LB Lawrence Samuels was out of the box though, allowing Fitzgerald to get one more attempt. His scamper around left end would prove to be the winner in perhaps the wildest ending on the season.
5) Quarterfinals: Orlando 31-Philadelphia 27: In a playoff season that wasn’t nearly as dramatic as years past, the game between the Predators and Soul was perhaps the most physical game the league has seen in years. Philadelphia QB Tony Graziani put up the grittiest effort I’ve ever seen in this league, getting hit play after play. He walked off the field with a cut on his chin and a banged up arm… not to mention that he was limping as well. Still, Graziani had his team ahead 24-17 at the intermission. The scoring was halted after that, as the defenses of both squads stepped up. Preds OS Jimmy Fryzel caught a touchdown pass to open the scoring in the 3rd quarter, but K Todd France gave the Soul back the lead on the first play of the 4th quarter. Fryzel struck again, this time on a deep pass from QB Joe Hamilton. With the Predators up 31-27 and just over 3:00 remaining in the game, Jay Gruden put the game in his defense’s hands. Graziani led the Soul from their own 5 to the Orlando 3 yard line, but the last play of the game summed up Graziani’s struggles, as he was sacked by OL/DL Henry Taylor and the clock ran out on the Soul’s season.
4) Week 3: Tampa Bay 61-Georgia 60: It was a night for the quarterbacks in the St. Pete Times Forum, as both Matt Nagy and Shane Stafford threw for over 300 yards and at least 5 touchdowns. The best play of the game clearly came from Force OS Chris Jackson, whose electric 58 yard kick return down the sidelines gave Georgia a slim 1 point lead late in the 3rd quarter. Stafford’s 5th touchdown of the day came at the 1:58 mark of the 4th quarter, which Tampa followed with a successful 2-point conversion to make their lead 61-54. On the last play of regulation, Nagy took matters into his own hands and scrambled in for the score, but in a trend that would plague the Force the entire season, couldn’t come up with the winning play when the game was on the line. For the 2nd straight week, Georgia couldn’t convert a 2-point conversion attempt on the last play of the game, giving the Storm the victory.
3) Week 2: Colorado 61-Georgia 59: Second verse, same as the first. In a rematch of Arena Bowl XIX, the Rush proved that they weren’t just lucky, going into Georgia and knocking off the Force. The goat of the game was K Nelson Garner, who missed 3 extra points, 2 of which were in a wild 4th quarter, along with a field goal, causing Georgia to have to go for 2 after scoring their last touchdown just to tie the game. Perhaps WR/LB Derek Lee was held in the end zone on that 2-point conversion attempt, but nonetheless, the Force couldn’t avenge their Arena Bowl defeat.
2) Week 3: New York 84-Utah 81: In just the 2nd home game in Utah Blaze history, the record books were rewritten. Quarterbacks Joe Germaine for Utah and Aaron Garcia for New York combined to throw for 798 yards and 20 touchdowns without an interception. Blaze OS Siaha Burley hauled in 6 touchdowns in defeat for the Blaze. A whopping 42 points in the 2nd quarter gave the Blaze a 49-34 lead at the half, but the Dragons fought back, posting 28 points in the 4th quarter the last score which tied the game at 62 going to the 4th quarter. The lead changed 5 times in the 4th quarter. Garcia hooked up with WR/LB Mike Horacek for his 4th touchdown with just 22 seconds remaining. Utah had one last chance to tie, but K Steve Videtech’s field goal was wide, preserving the victory for New York.
1) Week 3: Chicago 56-Nashville 55: The list began at #20 with the 2nd meeting between these two teams, but without a doubt, the game in week 3 between the Rush and Kats was the game of the season. The Kats appeared to be the team to beat in the AFL having posted two impressive victories to start the season. The Rush, though, were staring 0-3 in the face if they couldn’t defeat their division rival. Kick returner CJ Johnson did his best to motivate the home team, as his 50 yard missed field goal return for a touchdown in the 2nd quarter was the #1 play of the year and one of the best kick returns I have ever seen. The Rush appeared headed to their first victory of the season on a 5 yard touchdown scramble by QB Matt D’Orazio on the opening drive of the 3rd quarter, one that saw the Rush pull ahead 42-20. The Kats wouldn’t go down quietly though. Nashville rolled off 3 of the next 4 scores to pull within 7 with 8:53 remaining. The Kats defense stood tall and gave the offense one last chance. They needed a miracle though, finding themselves 30 yards away from the Rush end zone with one play remaining. In the #2 rated play of the season and one of the most dynamic plays you will ever see in this league, QB Clint Stoerner found OS Cory Fleming, who provided the hook for WR/LB Cornelius Bonner’s ladder. Bonner raced the rest of the way to the end zone, tying the game on a miracle for the never-say-die Kats. Overtime began with a FB/LB Rupert Grant touchdown plunge for Nashville, but Chicago had one last shot to match the Kats touchdown. The man who sparked Chicago did it once again, as CJ Johnson caught his 2nd touchdown to go along with his earlier missed field goal return and throwing touchdown to bring the Rush within 1. Coach Mike Hohensee elected to go for two to win or lose, and the drama was complete with D’Orazio finding Cornelius White for the game winning score. And think about it… if D’Orazio doesn’t find White for those 2 point, Chicago goes 6-10 and doesn’t make the playoffs. Now they’re the champions. Only in the AFL…
Adam Markowitz is an accountant living in Orlando. Adam is an old school AFLer, having followed the AFL since 1991. He attended or covered well over 200 games, including 17 ArenaBowls. Adam worked for the Arena Football League for two years as a columnist and historian before retiring in 2017 when the 50-yard indoor war left the Sunshine State. Adam still muses about the AFL on ArenaFan from time to time, and you can follow him on Twitter @adammarkowitzea.
