WEEK FOUR RESULTS

UTAH 69, Dallas 40

Jacksonville 54, TAMPA BAY 30

Iowa 76, SAN JOSE 69

SPOKANE 61, Kansas City 34

CLEVELAND 55, Chicago 48

Tulsa 45, PITTSBURGH 22

Georgia 61, NEWORLEANS 35

ARIZONA 48, Orlando 47

MILWAUKEE 51, Philadelphia 49

Home team in ALL CAPS

BYE: NONE

 

• Dallas loses its first game of the season. The Vigilantes tied the game at seven early in the first quarter, but never led at any point during the game.
• Blaze WR Aaron Boone caught 13 passes for a team-record 226 yards and two touchdowns.
• Utah converted six-of-eleven on third down and three-of-four on fourth down.
• Blaze QB Tommy Grady accounted for eight touchdowns (six passing, two rushing). He completed 28-of-46 for 342 yards and was not intercepted. It was his third straight game with 300+ yards passing.
• Grady’s two rushing TDs were the Blaze’s only scores in the fourth quarter.
• Vigilantes QB Dan Raudbaugh misfired on four passes in the game, three of those were interceptions. He also had five TDs.
• The Blaze defense forced five turnovers, while the offense didn’t give up any.
• Utah has won its first two home games for the first time since 2007 when it won its first three home games.

• The Storm led by 15 points through the first 17 minutes of the game, but were outscored 48-9 the rest of the way.
• Jacksonville is 3-0 all-time against Tampa Bay.
• Sharks QB Aaron Garcia had as many touchdown passes (six) as he did incompletions (six) in the win.
• Three Jacksonville receivers had two TD catches in the game.
• Storm kicker Kyle Chilton nailed a 49-yard field goal, but missed on relative chip shots of 18 and 24 yards.
• Tampa Bay scored points on its first four possessions, but reached the end zone just once in its final seven drives.
• You know it is bad when the Storm sends out a press release less than five hours after the game announcing  open tryouts during the season.

• The 145 combined points is the most scored this season in the league.
• Iowa QB Brad Banks accounted for all eleven Barnstormers touchdowns (ten passing, one rushing), including the eventual game winning score, a seven-yard TD run with 50 seconds left.
• Banks finished with 383 yards on 24-of-37 passing with ten scores and no interceptions. He ran four times for 17 yards and the game winner.
• In a losing effort, San Jose QB Mark Grieb passed for 391 yards with nine touchdowns, but was picked off once.
• Iowa scored touchdowns on its first ten possessions, while the defense forced three San Jose turnovers.
• The SaberCats' 69 points are more than any other team scored this weekend (of course, other than Iowa).
• San Jose had an excellent opportunity to tie the game at 69 after Banks was sacked and lost the ball near the SaberCats goal line. Instead, San Jose turned the ball over on downs and Banks redeemed himself with the eventual game-winning points.
• Iowa has won two straight against two of the last three ArenaBowl winners after losing its opener against the expansion Pittsburgh Power.

• The defending champions prevented becoming the first reigning ArenaBowl winners to start 0-4 with an impressive 27-point win over the winless Command.
• There were 27 accepted penalties in this game.
• Spokane scored points on its first ten possessions. The lone exception was the final drive when backup QB Bill Stull's first AFL pass was picked off.
• In a losing effort, Kansas City QB J.J. Raterink tossed for 306 yards with two TDs. He also had three rushing scores.
• Kansas City head coach Danton Barto is now 2-17 as head coach in the AFL. His last win was May 18, 2007 at Utah (54-53). He's lost his last seven games as an AFL head coach (1-16 in his last 17 games).

• This is the first 3-0 start for the Gladiators/Red Dogs franchise since 2008 when the team made it to the National Conference championship game before losing to eventual ArenaBowl champion Philadelphia.
• Gladiators QB Kurt Rocco completed just 57% of his passes and was picked off twice (on the team's second and third drives). His defense bailed him out by intercepting Rush QB Russ Michna three times.
• Chicago held a 19-14 lead with three minutes left in the first half before Cleveland took advantage of a Michna interception to score two TDs in the remaining time to regain the lead, which it never relinquished.
• Gladiators Jack LB Mike Bragg had two of the team's interceptions, including one at the end of the first half that gave Cleveland an extra possession late and a TD.
• Cleveland WR Troy Bergeron caught six of Rocco's eight TD passes. Bergeron ended with ten catches for 187 yards. Overall, he also had 201 all-purpose yards.
• The Rush scored the game's final nine points thanks to a PAT return from a blocked extra point and a last-minute TD.
• Chicago converted all of its third-down attempts (2-for-2).
• Cleveland was called for 15 penalties in the win - five of those flags resulted in Rush first downs.
• Cleveland head coach Steve Thonn reached his third victory significantly faster than any of his previous six years as an AFL head coach. Last year, he reached win number three in the team's sixth game, which matched his previous fastest for #3 back in 2000 as the head man with the "Care Bears with Attitude" - the Houston Thunderbears. In Thonn's only winning regular season (first year as head coach in 1998); he didn't get to three wins until the eighth game of the season, and then won five of the last seven that year.

• The Talons avoided their first 0-3 season dating back to their ten years in the af2.
• Matt Bassuener made his first start with the Talons and completed 61% of his passes for 199 yards with three TDs and no interceptions. He also ran the ball eleven times for 53 yards and a touchdown.
• Despite not starting, Tulsa QB Bobby Reid scored the game's first points on a TD run from a yard out. Through four weeks, Reid leads the league in rushing yards (209) and rushing touchdowns (nine).
• Tulsa jumped to a 14-0 lead before Pittsburgh clawed back to tie it at 14. The Talons then scored the game's next 24 points to put the game away.
• Talons LB Jamar Ransom had two of the team's three interceptions as well as 4.5 tackles.
• After scoring on its first two drives, Tulsa fumbled the ball away twice, turned the ball over on downs once and was held to a field goal on its next four possessions. The Talons then scored TDs on their final four drives.

• Force QB Brett Elliott had as many incompletions (six) as he did touchdowns (six). Elliot's favorite target was Maurice Purify, who caught twelve of Elliott's 16 completions for 156 yards and two TDs.
• Georgia's defense had five sacks and forced six turnovers that resulted in three touchdowns.
• This game could have been much, much worse if the Force didn't sit Elliot for the team's final three drives - all of which ended in turnovers.
• Force lineman Aaron McConnell had two sacks, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and posted three solo tackles.
• In one of the strangest plays you'll see this year, VooDoo QB Danny Wimprine was picked off at the Force two-yard line by Robert Durham, who was then stripped of the ball by offensive lineman Tom Taggart and then fellow VooDoo lineman Joe Holmes jumped on the ball for a New Orleans TD.
• It's so bad in New Orleans that the biggest news this week was that the cheerleaders have a new director. Yes, the worst team in the league actually sent out a press release with a transaction notice that the VooDoo Dolls have a new director.

• Orlando jumped out to a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and led by 15 entering the fourth quarter.
• Arizona took its only lead with eight seconds left when WR/LB Jason Geathers scored on a 14-yard TD catch and the Rattlers converted the two-point conversion.
• Orlando LB Marlon Moye-Moore had two interceptions, 1.5 tackles and a rushing touchdown. He scored the Predators' first two touchdowns (one-yard rushing score and a 21-yard interception return for a score).
• Predators QB Nick Hill was picked off twice and fumbled twice that sparked the Rattlers comeback.
• Both QBs tossed for over 300 yards and both teams had two receivers with at least 110 receiving yards.
• In a losing effort, Preds WR Bobby Sippio had 12 catches for 149 yards with a TD and WR Robert Quiroga caught nine passes for 122 yards and two TDs.
• The two teams combined for 16 third-down attempts - the most in the league this season.
• Arizona WR Rod Windsor had nine receptions for 112 yards, but was held without a touchdown for the first time in his AFL career. Last year, he led the league in touchdowns scored and points scored en route to being named Rookie of the Year and setting numerous AFL receiving records.
• The Rattlers are 4-0 for the first time since 1998, a year after winning their last ArenaBowl title. In fact, the only two times that Arizona has started 4-0 were years after winning the ArenaBowl. The Rattlers have never started 5-0.

• Philadelphia scored the game's first three touchdowns and led by 24 with less than a minute to go in the first half.
• The Soul's first TD was on a net recovery on the opening kickoff. Philly's final points came on a 47-yard fumble return for a TD.
• Milwaukee QB R.J. Archer made his first start and completed 63% for 297 yards with three passing scores and two rushing TDs.
• Soul QB Justin Allgood had his worst performance of the season completing 54% with four touchdowns, two interceptions and one lost fumble.
• Philadelphia scored TDs on its first five possessions (along with the net recovery TD), but failed to reach the end zone in its final five drives.
• Milwaukee took its first lead with 3:45 left in the game and after Allgood fumbled, it looked like the Mustangs would extend it to put the game away. However, on the next play, Archer fumbled and Jerome Hayes scooped up the loose ball and sprinted 47 yards to put the Soul back up top.
• Down 49-44 with 22 seconds left, Milwaukee faced a fourth and two but a defensive holding call gave the Mustangs new life. As time expired, Archer connected with Dwayne Eley on a two-yard score to win it for the previously winless Mustangs.

Andy Lopusnak is an 11-year AFL front office veteran, spending time with the Tampa Bay Storm, San Diego Riptide and Grand Rapids Rampage. He works as a statistician for NFL and college sports for CBS Sports and is a freelance photographer. Lopusnak received two Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of South Florida and has been a fan of ArenaBall since its inception.