Georgia Force improve to 4-0 with 64-62 win over San Jose

Sunday March 25, 2007

ATLANTA, GA – The Georgia Force (4-0) defeated the San Jose SaberCats (1-2) 64-62 in front of 11,828 fans at Philips Arena. The win ties a team-high for consecutive wins with four, the feat has been accomplished on two other occasions (last time: 02/12/05-03/06/05) and is the second time a Force team led by head coach Doug Plank has achieved the mark. FB/LB Matt Huebner rushed for a franchise-high 43 yards on three carries with one touchdown in the victory. WR Chris Jackson etched his name in the AFL record book with his 22-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter as he amassed over 10,000 receiving yards for his career. He became only the seventh player in AFL history to reach the plateau and is only one of two active players on the list. Jackson hauled in nine receptions for 185 yards with three touchdowns on the night. His 185 receiving yards is the second-highest total in a single-game in club history.

The Georgia Force and the San Jose SaberCats were tied at seven after the first 15 minutes of play. Greisen opened the scoring with a five-yard strike to WR Derek Lee in the back of the endzone and newly signed K Xavier Beitia connected on the PAT to make the score 7-0. San Jose answered with a eight-yard score of there own when QB Mark Grieb found WR James Roe in the corner of the endzone to tie the game. The SaberCats defense stepped up with a goal-line stand to stop the Force from scoring on their second possession.

After a low-scoring first quarter, Georgia and San Jose combined to score 46 points in second quarter. Each team scored 23 points in the quarter, which tied the most points scored by a Force team in the second quarter all-time (last time: at New York, 5/21/06) and marked the most points surrendered in the second quarter in club history. The SaberCats were leading the Force 30-27 with 0:04 remaining before halftime when Beitia drilled a 29-yard field goal as time expired to tie the game at 30 after the first half of play.

Georgia outscored San Jose 14-10 in the third quarter, and held a 44-40 lead heading into the final quarter. The Force defense produced there own goal-line stand as San Jose settled for a 19-yard field goal by K A.J. Haglund to begin the third quarter. Huebner rumbled for 19-yards and the score on Georgia’s next possession. The run gave Huebner 43 yards on the night and set a new Force single-game record for rushing yards (previous best: 40 by Donnie Davis, vs. Buffalo 7/6/02). Grieb lobbed a pass to Roe in the back of the endzone to capture the lead mid-way through the quarter. Greisen led Georgia back down the field and connected with Lee to give the Force the lead at the end of the third quarter.

The two teams continued to produce points as San Jose outscored Georgia 22-20 in the final quarter of play. With 0:58 left in the game, Greisen rushed for a one-yard touchdown after Lee recovered an on-side kick to extend Georgia’s lead to 64-56. Grieb led the SaberCats back into Force territory, where he threw to an open Roe in the endzone with 0:20 remaining. San Jose attempted a two-point conversion, but fumbled the snap and Georgia FB Umar Muhammad recovered it to seal the Force’s 64-60 victory over the SaberCats.

PASSING
GA – Chris Greisen                      34-23-313-7-0
SJ – Mark Grieb                              44-29-284-6-0

RECEIVING
GA – Chris Jackson                      9-185-3
SJ – Rodney Wright                     11-110-1

RUSHING
GA – Matt Huebner                     3-43-1
SJ – Mark Grieb                              1-8-0

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: WR Chris Jackson, GA
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: DB Willie Gary, GA
IRONMAN OF THE GAME: FB/LB Matt Huebner, GA