San Jose’s Back-to-Back Bid Busted
Adam Markowitz
Sunday July 27, 2008
Through 15 minutes of play, the two teams were on level terms. The teams shared four touchdowns, but the general feeling was always one of pending doom for the SaberCats. After Rodney Wright recovered his own fumble on the final kickoff of the first quarter, Trestin George nearly coughed up the next kickoff.
Aside from several near disasters, the SaberCats still found themselves in a 20-20 deadlock with 5:31 to go in the 2nd quarter. It was at this point that the wheels fell off of the San Jose train.
The Philadelphia defensive front line started getting a ton of pressure on quarterback Mark Grieb. After three shaky passes, Grieb faced the Cats first 4th down play of the game. Gabe Nyenhuis got pressure on the San Jose quarterback and tipped the pass, resulting in the first stop of the game.
The next play, Matt D’Orazio hooked up with Larry Brackins for a 20-yard touchdown pass to make the score 27-20. The SaberCats would never lead again.
On the ensuing possession, Grieb threw an interception to Eddie Moten. It was the first INT in three ArenaBowls for the storied signal caller. The Soul capitalized yet again, as D’Orazio scrambled into the end zone from eight yards out to give Philadelphia a two touchdown lead.
Jason Geathers had a chance to give the SaberCats the last possession of the half, but instead of falling down at the 1-yard line or so to preserve the ball, he walked into the end zone and gave the ball back to Philadelphia. After receiving a tight end screen, Phil Bogle fumbled the football. The mad scramble could’ve been recovered by a member of the SaberCats, but the Soul came up with the pigskin. The first challenge in ArenaBowl history was by San Jose Head Coach Darren Arbet. Upon review, the call on the field was upheld.
The Soul tacked on a 20-yard field goal as time expired to make the score 37-27 at the half.
In a first half where he completed 17 of 26 passes for 199 yards and four touchdowns, Grieb moved into second place in AFL playoff history, moving past Jay Gruden’s 4,778 yards.
The second half began with a hint of optimism for San Jose. The SaberCats held D’Orazio and the Soul on downs, but the next possession was fruitless, as Grieb was ruled to have fumbled on a very controversial call. On replay, it appeared as though he was in a “tuck rule” situation, but instead, referee Bill LeMonnier ruled that Grieb had an empty hand when his arm came forward, giving the ball back to the Soul. They would score one play later and take a 44-27 lead.
On the controversial ruling, Grieb said, “I thought I had already brought my arm forward, but apparently on replay they said it wasn’t. Obviously that play was a big one.”
For the fourth time in five possessions, the SaberCats offense was held without scoring. This time, Grieb was sacked by Raheem Orr for a safety, which dug the hole to 19 points.
While many assumed that Arbet would elect to onside kick, he put the onus back on his defense which allowed only 53 points per game in the playoffs going into the ArenaBowl. Ron Jones and the defense responded with a vengeance.
Jones sacked D’Orazio and forced a fumble, which Geathers recovered to give the SaberCats life. Geathers scored on the final play of the 3rd quarter to bring the SaberCats back within 12.
For the second straight drive, Jones recorded a sack and the defense appeared set to hold the Soul scoreless. Connor Hughes entered the game to try a field goal, but the hold was aborted by Tony Graziani, who aimlessly threw a duck in the air which was picked off by Wright.
But even when all the momentum had appeared to swing towards the green and gold, another controversial decision by LeMonnier spoiled the mood. Wright was stripped by Clifton Smith when it appeared he had touched the ground first. Philadelphia recovered the fumble, and LeMonnier upheld the ruling on the field. Once again, the Soul capitalized and the SaberCats were in a three possession hole.
Arbet was well aware of the fact that his team could’ve given up. “I told them I was proud of them. They could’ve thrown in the towel a couple times today and didn’t.”
After throwing a touchdown pass to fullback Brian Johnson, the Soul scored with 0:39 to go. Everyone assumed the game was over. The championship hats and t-shirts had already been given out on the Philadelphia sidelines.
The SaberCats were far from finished, though.
Wright scored his second touchdown of the night to cut the lead to 11, and kicker AJ Haglund executed a perfect onside kick. Grieb marched the team back down the field in a hurry, hitting Geathers from 14 yards out for the score that brought San Jose within three, which was closer than they had been since the 2nd quarter.
Unfortunately, the magic had run out. Philadelphia recovered Haglund’s second onside kick of the game and ran out the clock.
Give it up for the SaberCats, though. In a game where they had three very close challenges go against them, they never gave up. The San Jose dynasty is certainly one to not overlook.
Grieb added to his illustrious playoff and ArenaBowl marks today. He tied his own ArenaBowl record with eight touchdown passes in the game, and now holds the ArenaBowl record with 20 passing touchdowns, surpassing Jay Gruden’s 17. He’s now second in playoff history with 5,037 passing yards. He also moved into third in ArenaBowl history with 845 passing yards in his three championship game appearances and is only three completions behind Shredrick Bonner for the top spot in the history of the game.
Even though the game was a disappointment for the SaberCats, the team set various ArenaBowl records.
Rodney Wright paced San Jose with 13 receptions for 144 yards and two touchdowns. The 13 receptions is the best in ArenaBowl history, while his 219 all-purpose yards is the second best total in ArenaBowl history.
Ron Jones joined a host of other players for the second most sacks in an ArenaBowl with his two, and is now tied for the most sacks in ArenaBowl history for a career with three.
The SaberCats became the first team in ArenaBowl history to not attempt a rush, but are not the team with the fewest rushing yards in League history. The Arizona Rattlers had -2 rushing yards against the Orlando Predators in ArenaBowl VIII.
Four championship appearances and a 3-1 record over the past seven seasons still remains impressive. Rest assured that the green and gold will be back in a contending position yet again, and won’t rest until the Foster Trophy returns to San Jose.
Adam Markowitz is an accountant living in Orlando. Adam is an old school AFLer, having followed the AFL since 1991. He attended or covered well over 200 games, including 17 ArenaBowls. Adam worked for the Arena Football League for two years as a columnist and historian before retiring in 2017 when the 50-yard indoor war left the Sunshine State. Adam still muses about the AFL on ArenaFan from time to time, and you can follow him on Twitter @adammarkowitzea.
