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Tampa Bay falls 52-34 to Iowa and denies coach Tim Marcum his 100th regular-season victory.
By STEVE DRUMWRIGHT
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 26, 2000
DES MOINES, Iowa -- In the lightning-quick world of the Arena Football League, you can't blink. If you do, the next thing you see will be the other team pulling away.
The Storm had trouble not blinking in the second quarter Thursday against the Barnstormers. Iowa had 21 unanswered points in the second quarter en route to a 52-34 victory over the Storm.
The struggling Storm (2-5) was unable to put together back-to-back wins for the first time this season, while the Barnstormers (4-3) won their third straight.
Iowa quarterback Aaron Garcia threw seven touchdowns, including six to Mike Horacek. Garcia has thrown 25 touchdowns in the past three games.
The Storm's Tim Marcum, who already owns virtually every coaching record, missed out on his first chance at his 100th career regular-season victory. His next shot comes June 3, when the Storm hosts the Florida Bobcats at the Ice Palace.
The game was billed as a matchup between a stingy defense (the Storm has allowed the fewest yards, 220.8 per game, in the league) and a high-octane offense (Iowa has averaged the second-most points, 56.8, including scoring 148 in the past two games).
Early on, both offenses were clicking. The Storm used the quick-strike method, while Iowa used more of a West Coast, ball-control offense.
The Storm were the first to blink. After each team scored on their first three possessions, the Storm stalled when quarterback John Kaleo stumbled and was sacked on first down. After an incompletion on second down, Kaleo had problems finding an open receiver and was sacked by Vernon Broughton.
That forced a 52-yard field-goal attempt by Justin Skinner, who had the right aim, but not enough distance. Iowa needed just three plays to grab a 28-20 lead on Garcia's 9-yard scoring pass to Horacek.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Storm's James Bowden and Charles Wilson had problems getting a handle on Clay Rush's kick into the net. Iowa's Chris Spencer recovered the ball at the 3.
Garcia and Horacek connected on the next play to give Iowa a 35-20 lead.
During a halftime ceremony, the Barnstormers retired the jersey of Iowa native and former Barnstormers quarterback Kurt Warner, the NFL and Super Bowl MVP last season with the Rams.
Storm fullback-linebacker Nyle Wiren sustained an injury to his right leg in the second quarter as he was tackled after catching a swing pass from Kaleo. Wiren was helped off the field and his status for next week's game was unknown.
There was a bright spot for Tampa Bay: Kaleo hit two milestones. His third touchdown pass, a 10-yard strike to James Bowden, moved him past former Storm quarterback Peter Tom Willis and into 12th place in Arena history with 177 touchdown passes. His 19-yard pass to Samuels on the first play of the fourth quarter put Kaleo over the 13,000-yard mark. Kaleo is the eighth player in the AFL to pass for 13,000 yards.