It couldn't have gone much better for the Utah Blaze on Saturday night. A crowd of 16,705 fans — some 3,500 more than an "sellout" — showed up for the Arena Football League franchise's home-opener in the Delta Center. The pregame fireworks went off without a hitch, the dancers were in sync and the mascot, "Chief," a Dalmatian, was busy entertaining kids.
And even the game was as high-scoring and close as advertised.
But then Clint Dolezel and Terrill Shaw had to go and make it so it wasn't a complete success for the home team. The star quarterback and receiver for Dallas led the Desperadoes to a 56-53 victory.
"That's a tough loss," said Blaze lineman Hans Olsen. "We wanted to (win) for the crowd, and to not get it done leaves a horrible feeling."
The game was almost even in the first half, but Dallas started to pull away a bit in the third quarter — going ahead by as many as 16 points. Utah rallied with two straight touchdowns to pull within two points with just less than 11 minutes to play, but could get no closer.
"Dallas is tough," said Blaze QB Joe Germaine. "Their quarterback is one of the best out there. But we battled and battled and that's what we will do all year."
Shaw's fourth touchdown reception of the game — and fifth TD of the night — proved to be the game winner, as it put the Desperadoes up 56-47 with 6:28 to play.
Utah scored one last time — on the third Germaine-to-Siaha-Burley touchdown of the night with 1:35 remaining that cut the gap to three. Dallas was able to run the clock out, however, to improve to 2-0 on the year. The Blaze fell to 1-1.
Dolezel, an 11-year AFL veteran who is third on the all-time TD passing list, threw for 343 yards and seven scores. Shaw finished with 11 catches for 208 yards and four TDs with a 3-yard rushing score to boot.
While disappointed in the loss, Blaze players and coaches couldn't help but be impressed with the crowd. The arena will usually be set up for a maximum of 13,200 fans because the rest of the seats offer obstructed views for the arena football field. But the demand was so high that they sold more than 3,500 extras to the opener.
"We were thrilled with the crowd," said Blaze coach Danny White. "The fans were into it and it was a great environment. I'm glad that the fans on opening night got to see a pretty typical arena football game that came down to the last drive of the night . . . I hope everybody goes away thinking it was a great time even though we didn't win the game."
Germaine finished the night 26 of 41 for 350 yards and five scores.
Bryant, who led the AFL in scoring last season when he was with the Arizona Rattlers, caught 13 passes for 145 yards and three scores. He now has six TDs in two games this year.
Burley "is a great player and I have a lot of respect for him," said Dallas defensive specialist Jermaine Jones.
While it seemed like the San Jose SaberCats may have taken the expansion Blaze lightly a week ago, the Desperadoes did not.
"With the coach they have and the players he's brought in, we did not approach this game as if we were playing an expansion team," said Shaw. "They went to San Jose and didn't play like an expansion team."
The two clubs traded touchdowns through most of the first half — with the Blaze chasing a missed extra point after their first score. Dallas led 14-13 late in the opening quarter, when the Blaze had a golden opportunity to take their first lead. Ex-Utah State linebacker Jermaine Younger recovered a fumble deep in Dallas territory. The Desperadoes held, however, and Blaze kicker Steve Videtich, the AFL's all-time leading kicker, missed a go-ahead field goal.
The Blaze defense held San Jose scoreless in the second quarter a week ago, but it didn't take long for that streak to end. Dallas scored on a 34-yard pass from Dolezel to Will Pettis on the first play of the second quarter to give it a 21-13 lead.
The teams continued to trade touchdowns until late in the opening half.
Burley's second touchdown catch — a 4-yarder — cut the gap to 28-27 with 56 seconds to play in the second quarter. But the Blaze failed to convert an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff and the Desperadoes made them pay with a 3-yard Shaw TD run to give Dallas a 35-27 advantage with 11 seconds remaining in the half.
The opening-half scoring wasn't done, however. Videtich nailed a 44-yard field goal on the final play of the half to cut the gap to 35-30 at intermission.
Utah had the ball first in the third quarter with a chance to take the lead, but managed only a field goal. Two straight touchdowns by Dallas gave it a 16-point lead before Utah's not-quite-good-enough rally.
"We've just got to get better on the lines," said Olsen. "We've got to pick it up on pass protection."
The Blaze will have a second chance to get their first home win next Saturday when they host New York.
FIRE STARTERS: Two Utah players went out with injuries early. Defensive specialist Kelvin Hunter left with a right knee sprain and Sale Key, a WR/LB, left the game with an ankle injury. Neither one returned . . . Kevin Clemens, a FB/LB for the Blaze, scored the team's first-ever rushing touchdown on a 1-yard blast up the middle with 9:46 remaining in the second quarter . . . Germaine threw his first interception of the season in the third quarter . . . Only 20 of the 24 players can dress for the game. Among the four players held out on Saturday by the Blaze were former Ute lineman Garrett Smith and ex-BYU lineman Jason Andersen.
E-mail: lojo@desnews.com