CLEVELAND — The Utah Blaze beat the Eastern Division-leading Cleveland Gladiators, 76-69, in their final game of the season to finish the season with a franchise-high nine wins.
"We were able to play a solid game on the road and pull off another last second victory," said Blaze head coach Ron James. "Finishing strong was one of our goals and this is definitely something we can build upon during the offseason."
Utah (9-9) won when recently signed quarterback Todd Hammel found Justin Ore in the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter.
The Blaze got off to a rough start, with Cleveland's Levy Brown picking off Hammel's pass on the first drive of the quarter. On the following possession, Cleveland (10-8) notched the first score of the night with a 15-yard pass to Thryon Lewis. Hammel connected with Alvance Robinson on a 6-yard strike. After another Cleveland touchdown, Utah's special teams prevailed by returning a blocked kick to pick up a defensive PAT, cutting the Cleveland lead to 13-9.
The Blaze began the second quarter with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Hammel to Ore that was followed up by a successful two-point conversion by Kyle Brotzman. Each of the teams scored three touchdowns in the second quarter. Utah tied it up with a 34-yard field goal by Brotzman just before halftime.
The teams each exchanged a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter as the Blaze finished on a high-note with Chris Bocage returning the kickoff 56-yards for a touchdown.
The Blaze's momentum continued in the fourth with Ben Stallings racking up two rushing touchdowns. The Gladiators tied it up with 21 seconds remaining on 35-yard pass to Dominick Goodman. Utah matched the 8-8 2007 team for the franchise's best winning percentage.
Hammel finished the night completing 31-of-44 passes for 355 yards and seven touchdowns.
Robinson led the receiving corps with nine receptions for 117 yards and four touchdowns.
Jeramie Richardson led the defense in his Blaze debut with 5.5 total tackles and two pass breakups.