TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Getting to the Arena Football League playoffs has been the goal of the expansion Utah Blaze the entire season.
That goal seems to be slipping away, however.
The latest blow to the Blaze's postseason hopes came Saturday night at the St. Pete Times Forum, as the Tampa Bay Storm pounded Utah 56-41.
"We flat-out got pushed around tonight by a bigger, stronger team than us," said Blaze coach Danny White.
The Blaze fell to 3-7 with their third straight loss, while the Storm improved to 6-4. Utah will need to be nearly perfect during the final six games of the year to earn that coveted playoff spot — not to mention to avoid a losing season. White still believes his team could do just that, however, especially since all but one team in the AFL's Western Division is currently below .500.
"We still have a legitimate shot at going to the playoffs if we can get on a little run," said White. "Two teams will go to the playoffs from our division, so we still have a shot."
Jason Gesser, the rookie Blaze quarterback, started his third straight game in place of veteran Joe Germaine, who is out with a broken middle finger on his throwing (right) hand. Gesser, for a second week in a row, had a decent game, throwing for 315 yards and five touchdowns with one interception.
He was outplayed, however, by Shane Stafford of the Storm. The Tampa Bay quarterback entered the game as the league leader in total offense, and he showed why. He completed 20 of 35 passes for 215 yards and eight touchdowns.
"The guys up front did a good job giving me time and the other guys got open," explained Stafford.
White agreed with Stafford.
"It was pretty simple, really," said White. "They did a better job up front than we did on both sides of the ball. Jason was on his back just about every time we tried to do anything more than a three-step drop. . . . And we we're unable to get to Stafford and he had all kinds of time to find his receivers."
Stafford's favorite receivers were Lawrence Samuels and Freddie Solomon. Samuels finished with eight catches for 75 yards and three touchdowns, while Solomon had six grabs for 83 yards and a pair of scores.
The Blaze scored on the final play of the third quarter on a bomb from Gesser to Siaha Burley to pull within a touchdown. But Tampa Bay scored back-to-back fourth quarter touchdowns to put the game away.
Utah was held scoreless in the fourth quarter until the final play of the game when Justin Skaggs took a short pass from backup QB Tali Ena for a score. It was the first TD pass of Ena's AFL career.
Pace, Skaggs and Burley all put up good offensive numbers in the losing cause for the Blaze, scoring a pair of touchdowns each. Burley, the AFL's leading receiver in terms of yardage this season, had six catches for 122 yards. Orshawante Bryant hauled in eight catches for 97 yards.
The Storm took the opening kickoff and scored a touchdown on a two-play drive to take a 7-0 lead. Tampa Bay has now scored on their first drive in all 10 games this season.
But the Blaze were hot early in the game as well. Both teams scored each time they touched the ball in the first quarter. Gesser hit Pace on a touchdown pass midway through the secod quarter to knot the game 21-21.
That's when the Storm took a lead they would never relinquish. Solomon scored on a Stafford pass with under three minutes to play to put Tampa Bay back up by a touchdown. The Blaze turned the ball over on downs with 43 seconds left, and Stafford made them pay when he hit Samuels in the end zone with four seconds left in the opening half. The PAT gave the Storm a 35-21 lead at intermission.
Twice in the second half the Blaze were able to cut the gap to a touchdown, but they could never able catch the Storm.
The game pitted the two coaches with the most victories in the history of the AFL. Tampa Bay's Tim Marcum now has 180 career wins, while White remains stuck with 144.
The Blaze will return home to face White's former team, the Arizona Rattlers, on Friday night in the Delta Center. The Rattlers, after a rough start to the season, are now leading the AFL's Western Division.