Final Play Sinks Fusion

Randy Snow
Saturday May 12, 2007

As with many Arena Football games, Saturday night’s contest between the Fort Wayne Fusion and the Louisville Fire was not decided until the final play of the game. Unfortunately, it was the Fire who broke the hearts of the Fusion fans on the final play this time and escaped with a 48-42 victory over Fort Wayne. 

The Fusion offense took a while to get rolling in the game and Louisville jumped out to a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Fort Wayne finally got on the scoreboard in the second quarter when quarterback Cody Hodges scrambled for a five-yard touchdown. Fusion DB Derek Brown added to the score when he intercepted a pass from Louisville quarterback Joel Steele and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 14-14. But Louisville regained the lead when WR Tony Stallings caught a nine-yard touchdown pass with just nine seconds remaining in the quarter and the Fire took a 21-14 lead at halftime. 

In the fourth quarter, with the score tied 38-38, Fort Wayne was faced with a fourth down at their own three-yard line. Fusion head coach Eddie Brown decided to go for the first down rather than trying to kick the ball. Hodges tried to find an open receiver but was flushed out of the pocket by the Fire defense. He tried to run for the first down but was tackled at the two-yard line and Louisville took over on downs. The Fire needed just one play to regain the lead 42-38 when Stallings ran the ball in from the two, scoring his second touchdown of the night.

After the game, Coach Brown talked about why he decided to for the first down so deep in his own end of the field. “I’ve got 6 foot 3 inch receivers,” said Brown. “We can get off, go up and make a play and get a first down. The play I called was open, we just had a breakdown in protection. I thought it was a good call. You’ve got to take gambles in that situation. It just didn’t work out for us.”

The score was knotted up for the fifth time in the game when newly acquired Fusion wide receiver Mario Pratcher caught a nine-yard touchdown, making the score 42-42 with 2:54 left on the clock.  However, it all came down to the final play of the game. With the score tied, the clock running and the ball at the four-yard line, Louisville wide receiver Tony Stallings took the handoff and ran around the left side of the line for the game winning touchdown as time expired. No need to even kick the extra point, the Fire had won the game 48-42 and sent the shocked crowd of 4,423 Fusion fans heading for the exits in disbelief. 

Fort Wayne has now lost four games in a row and their record has fallen to 2-5. After an 0-2 start, Louisville has now won two straight and improved their record to 3-3. 

Coach Brown knows what area need to be addressed in time for the next game. “I’ve got to find some better receivers,” Brown said. “Our receivers are not that good so I’ve got to try and improve our receiving corps. (Tonight) they did not do a good job of making plays.”

Next Game

Fort Wayne has a bye next week and will return to action with a home game against the Tennessee Valley Vipers on Saturday night, May 26. Kickoff is set for 7:00 EST.