Georgia Force (7-1) Hand Dallas Desperados (7-1) First Loss
Sunday April 22, 2007
ATLANTA, GA – The Georgia Force (7-1) won in convincing fashion as they shocked the previously undefeated Dallas Desperadoes (7-1), 78-63, as the two premiere teams battled for league supremacy at Philips Arena. Georgia was led by no other than the league’s top passer Chris Greisen, as he also duplicated last week’s record performance of 10 touchdowns, and completing 25 of his 37 attempts for 357 yards. The Force offense greeted the fans with a spectacle by setting a new Georgia Force record of total points scored in a game with 78, beating the previous record of 77 points in May of 2003 at Indiana. Georgia WR Chris Jackson led the receiving trio in receiving yards with 147 on eight catches, as he leads the league in that respective category. The defense was led by DB Willie Gary with nine total tackles, followed by teammate DB James Whitley with two passes defensed. Georgia travels to New Orleans for a match-up with the VooDoo on Friday, May 4.
At the end of the first quarter the Georgia Force led the Dallas Desperados 14-7. Greisen completed 7 of 11 passes for 129 yards with two touchdowns in the opening quarter. The Force opened the game with a seven-play drive that covered 49 yards and consumed 4:30 minutes. WR Derek Lee hauled in a four-yard pass from Greisen in the back of the endzone on third down to open the scoring in the contest. Dallas responded when QB Clint Dolezel connected with WR Marcus Nash for a 24-yard touchdown. It didn’t take long for Georgia to respond as Greisen threw a 46-yard strike to Jackson to re-gain the lead. Georgia’s defense created the first defensive stop of the game with a goal line stand to end the first quarter.
The Force scored 30 points in the second quarter and led the Desperados 44-28 at halftime. Dolezel connected with Nash for a 40-yard touchdown early in the quarter, but from there the breaks were in favor of Georgia. Greisen threw a 12-yard strike to Lee for Georgia’s second score of the quarter and followed that with a seven-yard laser to Jackson. On the ensuing kickoff, Dallas WR Will Pettis left the endzone and ran back into the endzone where he was tackled by several Force players for a safety. The 44 points scored in the half tied the team record set in 2004 against the Columbus Destroyers (5/7).
The opening of the third quarter started with both teams scoring on their first possession, which kept the gap to 16 for Dallas to climb with 10:13 remaining. On the Desperadoes next possession, it took four plays for Dolezel to find WR Willis Marshall on a four-yard pass. However, Georgia did not let down from their two touchdown lead and countered back with a quick score when Greisen also led a four play drive that was capped off by Jackson on a 22-yard pass. At the end of the quarter, the Desperadoes found themselves in the same position as they started the period down two scores, as Georgia led 57-42.
The Georgia offense never stopped as they kept their unyielding attack on the Dallas defense to score 21 points in the final quarter. Greisen added three scores in the final quarter as he connected with WR Troy Bergeron for two and Jackson for the other. Georgia’s defense was able to force a four-and-out on Dallas’ first possession of the quarter and the Desperados were never able to rebound as Georgia held on for a 78-63 win.
PASSING
GA – Chris Greisen 37-25-357-10-1
DAL – Clint Dolezel 40-28-338-8-0
RECEIVING
GA – Troy Bergeron 9-109-3
DAL – Marcus Nash 8-143-3
RUSHING
GA – Chris Greisen 1-12-0
DAL – Josh White 4-5-0
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: QB Chris Greisen, GA
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: DB James Whitley, GA
IRONMAN OF THE GAME: WR Chris Jackson, GA