SaberCats defeat Blaze 69-48

Saturday April 28, 2007

San Jose Climbs Into 1st In Western Division

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Apr. 28, 2007) - The San Jose SaberCats forced five Utah turnovers and registered four sacks on the evening holding the Blaze to a season-low point total in a 69-48 win in an Arena Football League game Saturday at HP Pavilion.

The win moved San Jose (5-3) into first place in the Western Division, a half game ahead of Utah (5-4).

San Jose's Trestin George took the opening kickoff 56 yards for a touchdown staking the SaberCats to a quick 7-0 lead. George Williams recovered a fumble after a Phil Glover sack and Mark Grieb hit Ben Nelson on the very next play for a 14-0 San Jose lead just 4:03 into the game.

Following a pair of Brian Johnson 2-yard scoring runs that gave San Jose a 28-7 lead early in the second quarter, Utah's Joe Germaine hit Tom Pace on a 10-yard score with 13 seconds left in the half to cap a 20-0 run pulling the Blaze within 28-27.

Germaine completed 28-of-42 passes for 356 yards and seven touchdowns, but his streak of consecutive attempts without an interception came to an end at 194 when Marquis Floyd snared a pass in the endzone during the first quarter.

The SaberCats caught a break when a pair of Utah illegal defense penalties gave them two un-timed downs at the end of the half. They cashed in on the second opportunity when Jason Geathers scampered 33 yards with a Grieb toss for a score to stake San Jose to a 35-27 halftime lead.

Grieb, who surpassed the 30,000 plateau in career passing yards, completed 25-of-34 for 250 yards and six touchdowns without an interception. Geathers, who earned game Ironman honors for a second straight week, caught seven passes for 74 yards and a touchdown while adding two solo tackles.

Glover and Ron Jones each had a pair of sacks and the defensive unit forced five Blaze fumbles recovering four. Glover added a career-high 8.0 total tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery to earn Defensive Player of the Game honors.

San Jose remained unbeaten at home winning for the fourth time this season and improved to 54-8 when scoring 60 or more points in a game.