STORM 40, SOUL 37: Lawrence Samuels' play on both sides of the ball helps end a two-game skid.
By FRANK PASTOR
Published March 1, 2004
TAMPA - Lawrence Samuels already had Philadelphia defensive specialist Travis Seaton on his back, so it was no trouble picking up his teammates, too.
Befitting his reputation as one of the top two-way players in the Arena Football League, Samuels carried the Storm to a 40-37 victory over the first-year Soul before 16,844 Sunday at the St. Pete Times Forum.
With Seaton riding his back like a mechanical bull, the 11th-year receiver/linebacker caught nine passes for a career-high 149 yards and a touchdown.
And who should pounce on the ball after Philadelphia quarterback Nick Browder fumbled on fourth down from the Tampa Bay 12 with 20 seconds left and the Soul trailing by three?
Why Samuels, of course.
"Coach (Tim) Marcum and the staff always stress making big plays, and any time we have a situation to make big plays, we have to capitalize on it," said Samuels, who also intercepted a pass. "That's the name of the ballgame is capitalizing on their turnovers. If we get three stops in a ballgame, we expect to win."
The Storm (2-2) made six stops but nearly blew a 16-point fourth-quarter lead because of an offense that continued to struggle in the red zone and a kicking game that seems to hibernate at crunch time.
Tampa Bay failed to score on three of its seven trips inside the Philadelphia 10, and Mike Black missed one extra point, a second was blocked and he was wide left on a 22-yard field goal in the final minute.
"We're very disappointed in our offensive effort," Marcum said. "We just didn't do it again. They turned us back a couple of times in the goal-line situation. We've just got to get somebody open down there, and we've got to get the ball to them."
Quarterback Shane Stafford struggled, completing 18 of 35 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns. Stafford bruised his forearm early in the second half but said it wasn't a factor.
"We did everything offensively to lose that game, especially me," Stafford said. "It's just one of those things. Hopefully, now everybody's got it out of their system, that one bad game. We can go ahead and move forward and get a winning streak going here."
The Storm ended a two-game losing streak thanks to a playmaking defense that created three turnovers, including Samuels' fumble recovery in the closing seconds.
Besides Samuels, Ernest Certain recovered a fumble and Nyle Wiren, Darion Conner and Shawn King had sacks. Jonathan Ordway, Tramain Jones and Shea Showers manned a secondary that started the game without Del Lee (inactive) and lost T.T. Toliver to a concussion.
Freddie Solomon added to his league-leading touchdown total (13) with three scores, including two on the ground. His 4-yard run with 12:02 left gave the Storm a 40-24 lead, its biggest of the game.
Special-teams miscues let Philadelphia (1-3) back into the game.
Black missed the extra point after Solomon's final touchdown, keeping Philadelphia within 16. After Sean Scott caught a 41-yard touchdown, the Soul held, and Tampa Bay set up for a 61-yard field goal. Instead, Black pooched the ball, and Tyronne Jones returned it 41 yards for a touchdown. Ken Hinsley's extra point made it 40-37 with 5:47 left. The Storm came right back as Samuels shook off Seaton to haul in a 32-yard pass to the Soul 6. A pass interference penalty on DeAuntae Brown moved the ball to the 3. Seaton jumped on Samuels' back one more time, but no penalty was called. Tampa Bay was forced to attempt a 22-yard field goal, which Black missed with one minute left.
