Jacksonville tops Tampa Bay, 49-47

Sunday July 18, 2010

Jacksonville, Fla. - The Tampa Bay Storm (10-4) fell to the Jacksonville Sharks (10-4), 49-47, in front of a sold out crowd of 13,011 at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.  After Jacksonville quarterback Aaron Garcia was knocked out of the game in his second series, backup quarterback Bernard Morris entered the game and led the Sharks to victory and control of first place in the South Division.

The Storm would record a three sack first half performance but would still trail 21-14 going into halftime.A missed extra point attempt by Storm kicker Garrett Rivas with 11:38 remaining in the game would be decisive for the Storm.

After losing their second defensive back of the night and forced to put wide receiver Hank Edwards, the Storm trailed by a point and with 43.7 seconds left in the game. Jacksonville would drive down field and capitalized with a Sale Key touchdown carry, making the score 49-41.

Storm quarterback Brett Dietz would find wide receiver Lawrence Samuels in the end zone with just seconds remaining to narrow the score to 49-47.  However, Jacksonville grabbed the victory after Tampa Bay failed on a two-point conversion attempt.

After replacing Garcia, Morris completed 21-of-40 balls for 199 yards and four touchdowns while Jason Willis led Jacksonville receivers on 11 receptions for 93 yards and two touchdowns.

Dietz finished the game 22-32 for 297 yards and 110 touchdowns and Hank Edwards led Storm receivers with seven receptions for 104 yards and two touchdowns.

The Storm will host the Alabama Vipers on Saturday, July 24, 2010 on their home turf at 7:30 PM.