TAMPA BAY 63, L.A. 55: Stafford and Solomon hook up for four TDs and defense comes up big to keep playoff hopes alive.
By FRANK PASTOR
Published May 10, 2004
[Times photo: Joseph Garnett Jr.]
David Saunders, left, celebrates his 8-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter with teammate Freddie Solomon.
TAMPA - It's a simple play, really. Two options: post or corner. The receiver makes the read based on the coverage. The quarterback tries to anticipate the receiver's intent.
But when the game hangs in the balance, the season on a thread, there is no time to think.
Only time to react.
The rush came quickly, and Shane Stafford delivered a bullet down the middle. Freddie Solomon hardly had time to turn around before he saw the ball buzzing past his ear. Instinctively, he reached up, caught it and leaned into the end zone.
In a season of must wins, Solomon's fourth-down catch with 12 minutes left in the Storm's 63-55 victory Sunday over Los Angeles at the St. Pete Times Forum was a must have.
"It came so quick, I just had to react," Solomon said. "I didn't expect it that quick, but it's a good thing because it doesn't give the defensive backs time to react."
For the fourth consecutive week, the Storm stayed one step ahead of the opposition, increasing its chances of extending its league-record 13-season playoff streak.
Tampa Bay (7-7) moved ahead of Dallas (6-7) and into a tie for 10th in the Arena Football League standings, 11/2 games behind Los Angeles (7-6) and Indiana (7-6) for the final playoff spot.
Recognizing that the defensive specialist in the middle of the field was playing off of Solomon and the front-side corner was pressing another receiver at the line, Storm coach Tim Marcum repeatedly turned to one of his favorite plays, "poco," or post or corner.
More often than not, it worked.
Stafford matched a career high with eight touchdown passes, including four to Solomon, who had a season-high 10 catches for a career-high 182 yards.
"We had a little something going with Freddie and that was pretty special, so we kind of stayed with it," said Marcum, whose team is .500 for the first time since Week 4. "I think I called that play probably 15 times."
The Storm defense was pretty special itself.
Los Angeles entered with a league-low five turnovers (no other team had fewer than 10), and quarterback Tony Graziani had been intercepted only twice.
But Tampa Bay forced three turnovers, all in the second half. Tramain Jones had two interceptions, and T.T. Toliver forced a fumble that Kelvin Kinney recovered.
Toliver ended the Avengers' chances when he tackled Kevin Ingram 1 yard short of a first down at the Storm 9 with one second left.
Los Angeles scored on its first two offensive plays and four of seven, but the Storm kept pace and took a 35-34 lead into halftime thanks to a Remy Hamilton missed extra point.
The Avengers got a break when a Hamilton kickoff bounced off the net away from Toliver and Josh Jeffries recovered at the Storm 5 midway through the third quarter. But Jones intercepted a pass for Chris Jackson in the corner of the end zone.
After Los Angeles closed to 56-55 with 8:58 left, Ingram recovered an onside kick. However, Jones got his second interception and the Storm restored its eight-point lead on David Saunders' 8-yard score with 4:35 left.
