Utah Blaze: Team roars past L.A. and into Arena Football League playoffs
They'd lost nine games in a row to open the season, had all sorts of issues with confidence and even the future of coach Danny White was in question.
Now, six weeks later, the Blaze are headed to the AFL playoffs after a 65-56 win over Los Angeles.
"It's just a tribute to this team and its resiliency," White said.
"Towards the end of the season, they refused to give up."
Remarkably, the 5-10 Blaze are in position to actually host a playoff game in a few weeks. The win over the Avengers in Monday's ESPN-telecast game gave Utah the fourth seed in the American Conference.
Utah has a bye next week and can wrap up the franchise's first home playoff game with a win at Arizona in the regular season finale.
"I think they remembered there in the fourth quarter," White said, "what it was like to be 0-9."
Utah overcame a few mistakes midway through the game and took advantage of a pair of fourth-quarter fumbles by the Avengers — the second returned 13 yards for a touchdown by Kelvin Morris with 24 seconds left to play — to pull away for the dramatic win.
Morris' touchdown was preceded by a fumble recovery in the end zone by Damon Mason on what would have been a go-ahead touchdown by the Avengers.
That play turned what might have been a crushing defeat for the Blaze into one of the biggest wins in franchise's brief three-year history.
"We feel as good as you can possibly feel," quarterback Joe Germaine, who threw for 240 yards and six touchdowns, said about being headed to the playoffs despite a 5-10 record. "To finish the way we have, it's unbelievable kind of."
After Blaze QB Joe Germaine was picked off to open the second half — Terrell Maze returned it eight yards for a touchdown, giving the Avengers a 37-28 lead — the Blaze were forced to dip into the playbook to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Aaron Boone sprinted downfield to grab a 45-yard score from Germaine to close the gap and later slapped the ball into the waiting arms of teammate Maurice Fountain when White called for an onside kick.
Fullback Rodney Filer scored his second rushing touchdown of the game from two yards out to give Utah the lead at 42-37 with 9:05 to play in the third.
But as much as Utah was playing for a spot in the playoffs, Los Angeles — which fell to 4-10 — had the same motivation.
The Avengers, also entering the game with four wins and needing a victory on Monday to secure a spot in the AFL playoffs, took advantage of their own onside kick recovery in the second quarter to erase a 21-20 Utah lead and take a 30-21 lead with less than a minute left in the half.
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