Germaine Comes Up Big in Second Half for Blaze
Josh Fisher
Monday March 12, 2007
This was his former team. It is also the team that defeated Utah three times in 2006, including knocking them out of the playoffs. These two teams became rivals as soon as Utah hired ex-Rattler coach Danny White to coach the Blaze. There was no team that Blaze fan’s wanted to beat more than Arizona.
After the win White was quoted as saying, "This wasn't getting just a monkey off our backs, it was more like the size of a gorilla."
That makes a 21-for-21 performance even more unbelievable. Add that to the struggles Germaine was having in the first half. Sure there were 157 yards and four touchdowns, but there was definitely no rhythm. It wasn’t until late in the half before he even completed two consecutive passes. Mix in a 1-for-6 stretch that included an interception and things weren’t looking good for Germaine and the Blaze.
The half finished with a 6-of-7 span with two touchdowns, including five straight at one point. A little momentum heading into the half, but he was still just 13-of-27. We’re talking about a guy that completed 68% of his attempts in 2006.
The second half was a completely different story. Germaine was poised and continued to complete pass after pass. It was 21 straight completions to seven different receivers. There was the 9-for-9 and 130 yards plus three touchdowns in the third quarter. The fourth was even better, 12-for-12 and 146 yards. Add three more fourth quarter touchdowns, with two in the final minute.
Germaine finished with 22 straight completions and tied his own team record with 10 touchdowns. He found Ryan Dennard 16 times, seven of which were touchdowns. The Blaze scored on all seven second half possessions and the final eight after two straight with no points in the first half.
Germaine was named the Offensive Player of the Game in maybe the biggest win of his career. It was the second straight week he led the team to a final minute comeback win. It was also the third final minute comeback win he has led in 11 starts with the Blaze. The 433 yards were just 11 behind the team record 444 he had against New York last season.
More impressively is that this was all done without the team’s top two receivers. Siaha Burley, who led the Arena Football League with 1,934 yards n 2006, second most in AFL history, didn’t even play. Neither did Aaron Boone who recorded 748 yards in just nine games with Kansas City in 2006.
Everyone said all week that this was just another game and Arizona was just as important an opponent as Los Angeles or Las Vegas, but after that second half it looks like it might mean just a little more.
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.
