Command take their time, finally drop Sharks 49-48 in OT
Thomas Campbell
Saturday July 16, 2011
The Kansas City Command played 60 minutes of intense action Friday night. That only earned them a tie. They needed one more touchdown in overtime and a spirited defensive effort on the Jacksonville Sharks final extra point attempt to secure this win, 49-48. It was the first OT game for the franchise and the sparse crowd loved it.
Jacksonville entered the game with the league's number one ranked offense, producing 64.7 points per game. Future Arena Football Hall of Fame quarterback Jeff Garcia put up 6 TDs and over 400 yards but still came up one point shy of victory. The Command's "bend but not break" defense held the visitors to only one first quarter touchdown, shut them out in the third quarter and secured four turnovers for the evening.
The opening quarter set the tone of the night, as Jacksonville could produce only the one touchdown in almost ten minutes of possession time. Of course, this was six points MORE than the Command put up as quarterback Steve Wasil connected on only 2 of 7 passes for a meager 41 yards in his first two possessions. However, both teams showed up for the second quarter as each offense put up 21 points. Wasil had touchdown passes of 16 yards to Bret Smith and 45 yards to newcomer Brent Holmes. Fullback Trey Bryant rumbled in from 11 yards to take the Commands total to 21 points for the half. Jacksonville matched points with two touchdown passes (14 yards to Jeff Hughley and 7 yards to Sale' Key) and a late Kirby Griffin rushing score as the half closed with the Sharks leading 27-21.
Kansas City received the second half kick-off and Wasil quickly matriculated his troops down the field, hitting Bret Smith with a 24 yard touchdown pass at the 13:19. Kicker Brian Umstead found some iron, but no net, on his PAT attempt. This leveled the score at 27-27. The Command then took advantage of a net recovery by Bradley Chavez to take a 33-27 advantage. From that point the home team never trailed as the Command defense locked down the Sharks on their next three possessions. Garcia could get into the red zone but never found the end zone until the 9:28 mark of quarter four. He took a beating from the fierce Kansas City pass rush with two sacks, one fumble and endured numerous hard hits and hurries.
The Sharks playoff pedigree did become evident on their last fourth quarter possession. After Wasil fumbled at the Jacksonville 13 yard line the visitors had 57 seconds left to get into the end zone for a victory. Garcia went 4 of 5 on the final drive but burned all but one second in getting to the 14 yard line. Sharks head coach Les Moss had to settle for a game-tying field goal by Marco Capozzoli as the clock went to zero.
In overtime, Wasil moved the ball 45 yards on three completions, the last being a 29-yard strike to Brett Holmes, for his second TD of the night. Umstead hit at all important PAT and the pressure was on Jacksonville. Garcia needed only four snaps to finally connect on his sixth touchdown of the night (6 yards to Jeff Hughley) but coach Moss was anxious to end the suspense. His decision to go for the game winning two-point conversion was thwarted by a furious Command pass rush. Garcia was forced to put his final pass into the left side slack net and hope for a friendly rebound. 'Twas not to be as all receivers were covered like new Simonis felt on your favorite pool table. The football did touch various fingers, gloves and pads but finally came to rest on the plastic turf and the crowd could breathe again. Jacksonville ended the game at 13-4 and has already secured a playoff spot. Kansas City is now 6-11, with no chance at the post season.
In postgame comments Command head coach Danton Barto spoke of his teams heart, hard tackling and "don't quit" attitude. His pride was evident as he reminded all that " it doesn't matter what happens all season ... it matters what happens tonight."
Barto also alluded to several recent roster additions as a sign the team is already looking to next season and building a foundation for the next campaign. Tonight the most notable of these additions was wide receiver Brent Holmes with six catches for a team leading 127 yards. Holmes also exhibited some great spirit and positive body language with his new team mates. We hope he hangs around for next year.
One more game awaits, as the "Tulsa Taloooooons" (that poor radio announcer is never going to live that one down) come to town next Saturday night. This game might have play-off implications for Tulsa, or it might not; as much depends on other game results. But the Command will definitely be taking things seriously as they search for their seventh win. Ending this first season on a high note has become very important.
Tom Campbell has written about the AFL since 2006, when the local team was the Kansas City Brigade. Previous game articles appeared on www.arenapulse.com and www.sportsphan.com, and he was a voting member of the AFL Writers Association. Tom currently owns a franchise in the American Poolplayers Assoc and previously worked in commercial banking for 17 years.
