Talons Thwart Storm
Sunday April 4, 2010
Tulsa, OK – The Tampa Bay Storm (0-1, 0-0) fell to the Tulsa Talons (1-0, 0-0), 58-69, Saturday night in front of 6,688 fans at the BOK Center. The victory marked Talons Head Coach Mitch Allner’s first career victory and the franchises’ first AFL victory after spending the previous 10 seasons in the af2.
As Tampa worked to comeback from a 62-51 deficit with 1:42 remaining in the game, Brett Dietz threw an interception to Tulsa’s DB B.J. Barre. Tulsa sealed the win with WR Donovan Morgan’s fourth touchdown reception of the game.
Tyrone Timmons led all receivers with 181 yards and notched five touchdowns, recording his 15th career touchdown in his two-year career.
Tulsa struck first in the first quarter on a Carlese Franklin touchdown reception from Justin Allgood. The Storm evened the game with a Hank Edwards touchdown from Brett Dietz with 8:33 remaining in the first quarter. The team’s then traded touchdowns as receivers Hughley and Timmons each scored to end the first stanza tied 14-14.
The Talons took an early lead 21-14 lead in the second quarter after converting on fourth down with an Allgood touchdown pass to DT Jamar Ranson with 11:00 remaining in the half. The Storm would find themselves playing catching up for the remainder of the game.
Tampa gave Tulsa good field position to open the second quarter after not converting on fourth down from their own four-yard line. The Talons took advantage of the short field by scoring on a Franklin four-yard touchdown reception. The Storm would score on a Timmons touchdown narrowing the score to 37-42. Tulsa, however, struck back with another Morgan touchdown reception. With just over a minute remaining in the third quarter, Dietz found guard Thomas Kaleita open. However, Kaleita was hit hard and fumbled giving Tulsa the ball on their 20-yard line.
Tulsa capitalized on the fumble with a Morgan four-yard touchdown reception to open the fourth quarter brining the score to 37-56. Tampa however would bring the score to 51-56 after touchdowns by Timmons and Edwards. Edwards’ touchdown reception was his 40th of his career and third of the game. Tulsa would score again on a Morgan touchdown reception. Looking to make a late comeback, Dietz threw an interception to B.J. Barre. Morgan then hauled in his fourth touchdown of the evening bringing the score 51-69. Timmons would catch another touchdown, his fifth, with 30 seconds remaining in the game but a chance for a comeback came too late.
After opening up the season with a loss, Tampa will look to the bye week to make adjustments.
Notes
* Hank Edwards reached the 1,6000- career yard in Tampa’s first drive of the game. Edwards finished with 137 yards in the game bringing his career mark to 1,736-yards. Edwards also caught his 40th career touchdown reception with 5:57 remaining in the game.
* Tampa bay’s record on opening day falls to 14-9.
* Tyrone Timmons reached 15-career touchdown receptions after hauling in his second TD reception of the game from Brett Dietz with 54 seconds remaining in the first half. Timmons finished with five touchdowns.
* Timmons set career single-game highs in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns.
The Storm (0-1) fly home and enter the first bye week of the season, the team’s next game is April 16 at 7:30 against the Dallas Vigilantes at the St. Pete Times Forum (1250 AM-WHNZ). Tulsa hosts the Dallas Vigilantes in a key Southwest Division matchup. Kickoff at BOK Arena is set for 7:00 p.m. CST.
SCORE 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
TAM 14 16 7 21 58
TUL 14 21 14 20 69
PASSING
TAM – Brett Dietz 44-25-346-8-1
TUL – Justin Allgoood 36-26-274-8-0
RECEIVING
TAM – Tyrone Timmons 11-181-5
TUL – Donovan Morgan 9-120-4
RUSHING
TAM – Brett Dietz 1-4-0
TUL – Carlese Franklin 3-18-0
All-Purpose Yards
TAM – Tyrone Timmons 181 yards
TUL – Jeff Hughley 122 yards
