Arena Football Opener in San Diego
Keith Antigiovanni
Sunday April 7, 2002
"Right now I`m disappointed because we worked real hard and came up on the losing end of this thing. We got to learn how to finish. You can’t turn the ball over in overtime and expect to win. We just didn’t get it done," Riptide Head Coach Cree Morris said.
Despite the loss, the Riptide managed to whip the almost 10,000 attendance into a frenzy as the game went back-and-forth in the second half and overtime. The game itself was a tale of two halves. The first half was Riptide domination on offense and defense as San Diego scored on four of its first five possessions and held Bakersfield out of the end zone on its four drives to take a commanding 27-3 lead. Just when it seemed as if the Riptide would knock out the Blitz, Bakersfield responded with a touchdown run under a minute to play in the half. The touchdown seemed to help shift the momentum as Bakersfield responded with five touchdowns in the second half to take a 43-36 lead with five minutes to play in regulation. The Riptide managed to tie the game thanks to an outstanding kickoff return by Marty Graham.
Controversy reared its ugly head on the last play of regulation as Bakersfield attempted the game-winning field goal that was snapped over the kicker`s head, which the Riptide apparently recovered with 1.8 seconds remaining. After a long discussion the officials ruled that time had ran off the clock.
San Diego had two possessions to win in overtime but both times came up short. On their second overtime possession Riptide quarterback`s tipped pass resulted in an interception. Four plays later the Blitz scored the game-ending touchdown from Chad Elliot to Steve Wofford.
Turnovers and injuries hurt the Riptide as San Diego gave up three interceptions and a fumble. On the injury front starting center Jason Henry left the game due to injury in the second quarter and starting defensive specialist Kevin Burton was also gone for the second half. Burton`s injury forced San Diego to move WR/DB Ryan Smith to DS. Bakersfield took advantage of the injury as Elliot was able to get his passing game going. On the positive side the Riptide may have a superstar in the making with offensive specialist Marty Graham. He scored four touchdowns and made a number of exciting kickoff returns. The Riptide`s pass rush also played well producing three sacks.
The San Diego defense appeared strong until the Burton injury. "Some of the problems could have been from fatigue and the fact we lost two starters in the first half. The defense was on the field a lot in the second half and it starts to show late in the game," Defensive Coordinator Derek Dahlen said.
"What a show it was tonight. Of course it would have been nice to win the game but its only the first one, we`ve got a lot more football to play this year. It was just a great atmosphere in the arena the fans really came out and supported us. Give Bakersfield credit they stuck with it and didn’t give up," Riptide Managing Operator Gil Saidy said.
Next week the Riptide hit the road against another expansion Western Division rival, the Fresno Frenzy.
Keith Antigiovanni is a free-lance writer in San Diego, California. He has worked for several local newspapers covering sports, government and business. Keith started writing in 1995 after graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Mass Media Communications from the University of San Diego. Aside from working as a sportswriter he has a side business of providing marketing assistance/research for small businesses and also directs,produces and hosts a regular public access television show on Time-Warner Cable named "San Diego Yesterday". Antigiovanni is also a member of the San Diego Sportswriter Association.
