LOS ANGELES — For the second year in a row, the Utah Blaze saved one of their worst for last.
Just like last season's first-round playoff loss, the Blaze made far too many mistakes on Monday night. The result was a 64-42 loss to the Los Angeles Avengers in a game that wasn't even as close as the final score indicates.
"That," said Blaze lineman Hans Olsen, "is a tough one to swallow."
The Blaze had won all four games in their history against the Avengers going into Monday night's wild card playoff game — including a win just last week on the same field that clinched a playoff spot for Utah. The Avengers, meanwhile, had never won a playoff game in four tries entering Monday's contest.
But now both Avengers losing streaks are over — with a vengeance.
The Avengers used dominating second and third quarters to cruise to victory in the Staples Center.
"This was just a complete reversal of last week," said Blaze coach Danny White. "We made all the mistakes and they didn't."
Los Angeles advanced to play at Chicago next Monday night, while the Blaze's roller-coaster season is over.
One week after the Blaze intercepted six passes to beat the Avengers in L.A., the tables were turned. Utah turned the ball over five times and paid dearly for it on Monday night.
"The turnovers are what got us," said Blaze quarterback Joe Germaine, who threw three interceptions. "I forced a couple of passes early in the game. It's just a tough way to go out."
The teams traded scores in the first quarter, but L.A. took charge in the second quarter against the mistake-prone Blaze. Utah had two interceptions in the end zone, a fumble and lost the ball on downs in their four offensive possessions in the second quarter. Los Angeles, meanwhile, scored three touchdowns and a field goal.
Game. Set. Match.
They played the second half, but the outcome had already been decided after the Avengers had staked a 23-point halftime lead. Los Angeles scored the first two touchdowns of the second half as well.
By the time the dust had settled, the Avengers had scored 37 unanswered points and led 58-14.
"We just had too many turnovers and they had a good game plan and played well on offense," said Blaze defensive back Orshawante Bryant."
Los Angeles quarterback Sonny Cumbie, who struggled last week against the Blaze, was on fire Monday. He finished with 306 yards passing and seven touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Avengers defense did a nice job holding down Blaze star Siaha Burley. The AFL's all-time, single-season leader for yards in a season was held to just five catches for 71 yards and no touchdowns. He was Utah's third leading receiver on the game, as Tom Pace finished with 138 yards and three scores and Aaron Boone had 97 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.
The game was tied 14-14 at the end of the first quarter when the Blaze seemingly got a huge break. L.A.'s Kevin Ingram fumbled a kickoff on the first play of the second quarter and the ball was recovered by Boone.
So Utah had the ball at the five-yard line with the chance to take its first lead of the game. Instead, a Germaine pass was tipped in the end zone by Utah's Kautai Olevao and intercepted off the back net by Josh Jeffries. The Avengers then marched down the field and scored on a Sonny Cumbie to Ingram pass to give them a 21-14 lead.
"That first interception was a killer," said White. "We had a chance to get a little bit of separation there and we didn't do it."
Things continued to go wrong for the Blaze on their next offensive possession. Germaine hit Boone on a 22-yard pass, but he fumbled trying to pick up a couple extra yards and the Avengers recovered. L.A. again made the Blaze pay with a two-yard TD pass to Robert Quiroga on fourth-and-goal, giving the Avengers a 28-14 lead.
Utah's third straight turnover in the second quarter was yet another interception off the back net, this one by the Avengers' Quiroga. L.A. turned that turnover into another score — a run by Jeffries. Despite the extra point being missed, the Avengers held a 34-14 lead with 24 seconds left in the half.
Still it wasn't over. After turning the ball over on downs, the Avengers still had 11 seconds remaining in the first half — and they made the most of it. Remy Hamilton kicked a field goal on the final play of the half, giving L.A. a 37-14 lead at intermission.
In all, the Avengers beat the Blaze 23-0 in the second quarter.
The third quarter started the same way. After the Blaze took the opening kickoff and drove the length of the field, Pace fumbled the ball at the one and it was recovered in the end zone by L.A.'s Terrance Joseph, who started the season with the Blaze. Cumbie then drove the Avengers down the field for a 44-14 lead.
After Utah lost the ball on downs, the Avengers continued the onslaught with a 11-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter, giving the Avengers a 51-14 lead.
Utah finally stopped the bleeding with a 17-yard Germaine to Pace touchdown pass with two minutes to play in the third quarter. Steve Videtich's extra point cut the gap to 51-21.
The Blaze then went on to score 21 points in the final quarter — including two TD passes from Germaine to Boone — but it was way too little, too late.
BLAZE BRIEFS: Utah would have scored a season-low points if they hadn't recovered a kickoff and returned it for a touchdown with 16 seconds left ... Before the game was played on the field, it was played in a simulated fashion by the league on the EA Sports AFL video game, as reported on the league's web site. That one didn't go well for the Blaze, either. In the simulated game, Utah trailed 31-6 at halftime and ended up losing 52-38. ... Announced attendance at the game was 13,066.
E-mail: lojo@desnews.com