Written by Adrian Beecher
Tampa, FL- Tommy Grady completed 28 of 37 passes for 308 yards and 4 TD ‘s to lead the Jacksonville Sharks to a nail biting 33-27 win over the Tampa Bay Storm on Sunday afternoon at Amalie Arena in front of a crowd of 8,438.
The Storm wasted no time getting things underway, with Mike Washington returning the opening kickoff coast to coast, to give Tampa a 7-0 lead! But it took Jacksonville just one play to get on the board themselves, as Tommy Grady connected with Joe Hill’s for a 48 yard TD strike. The pat was blocked and the Storm retained the lead at 7-6.
On Tampa’s ensuing possession, they were able to get the ball inside the 2 yard line, but unable to get into the end zone and turned the ball over on downs. The Sharks were able to capitalize on the turnover, going 49 yards in 6 plays, capping off their drive with an 8-yard TD pass from Grady to Moqut Ruffins. This gave Jacksonville a 13-7 lead.
In the 2nd quarter, Tampa’s 2nd consecutive drive stalled out, giving the Sharks ample opportunity to take control of the game. They were able to get to the 15-yard line, setting up a 4th and 3 play. The Storm defense looked like they would be able to stop the Sharks, but a holding penalty in the secondary gave Jacksonville a fresh set of downs and made it 1st and goal. The Storm once again forced a 4th down play, and were able to hold to force a Sharks turnover on downs.
This gave the Strom new energy and Jonathan Bane led his troops 43 yards down the field in 5 plays, capping off the drive with a 13 yard TD pass to Xavier Boyce. They were not able to put in the extra point, giving us a 13-13 tie with 2:39 left in the 1st half.
Jacksonville answered back on their next possession, this time it was Derrick Ross running it in from 1 yard out. The extra point was again missed, as Jacksonville took a 19-3 lead with just 13 seconds left in the half. This is how the 1st half would end.
Grady was leading the way for the Sharks at the half, completing 14 of 20 passes for 149 yards. Joe Hills was their leading receiver with 4 catches for 79 yards and a TD.
For the Storm, it was Jonathan Bane completing 12 of 18 passes for 160 yards and 1 TD. T.T. Toliver was Tampa’s leading receiver with 4 catches for 69 yards.
The first score of the second half came with 9:03 left in the 3rd quarter, as Grady hit Tiger Jones on a 21-yard strike that made it 26-13 Sharks. Tampa’s first possession of the second half stalled out after picking up a 1st down.
On the Shark’s second possession of the 2nd half, Grady was looking deep to the endzone when he was intercepted by Tampa’s Cameron McGlenn. This gave the Storm new life.
They wasted no time and Bane found T.T. Toliver on the second play of the drive in the endzone to make it 26-20 as the 3rd quarter came to a close.
On the Shark’s 1st possession of the 4th quarter, they would get down to the 1-yard line. But the Storm were able to force a fumble, thus taking over 1st and 10 at the Sharks 17 yard line, looking to take the lead.
2 plays later, Bane threw one on a rope to Toliver, who was able to tap his toes in bounds as he dove for the ball in the endzone. It was initially ruled incomplete, but Storm Head Coach Lawrence Samuels threw the challenge flag and it was overturned. With the TD being ruled as good, Tampa took a 27-26 lead over the Sharks with just 9:50 left to play.
The Sharks then went on a methodical 6 play, 47-yard drive, that ate nearly 6 minutes off the clock. Jacksonville finished the drive with an 8 yard TD pass to the right side of the endzone to a wide open Prechae Rodriguez, giving the Sharks the 33-27 lead over Tampa with just 4:35 left in regulation.
But the Storm were not going to quit. In fact, on their ensuing possession, they were able to get a 1st and goal with just 1 minute left to play in regulation. However, 4 straight incomplete passes by Jonathan Bane would be the demise of Tampa. They turned the ball over on downs with just 45 seconds left to play.
“It comes down to execution. You execute you win, we didn’t execute at the end. We had a guy wide open, we just didn’t get it to him.” Said Storm head coach Lawrence Samuels of the final drive for Tampa.
Tampa still had a chance with all three timeouts remaining, if they could just hold the Sharks and force a turnover. But Jacksonville was able to pick up a quick first down, forcing the Storm to call timeout, virtually ending the game.
“You’ve got to fight through adversity in Arena Football, those thing's happen.” Said Sharks head coach Les Moss of his team’s ability to overcome the toe-tap TD by T.T. Toliver, “We showed good resilience, we had to fight through that and our defense came up big with the stop there at the end. That’s Arena football.”
Tiger Jones and Joe Hills combined for 17 catches for 235 yards to lead the Sharks offense. Hill’s also grabbed his 150th TD of his career on Sunday night.
Bane completed 21 of 38 passes for 281 yards and 3 TD’s to lead the Storm. And it was T.T. Toliver leading the storm receiving core, with 9 catches for 148 yards and 2 TD’s.
Tampa will look to regroup fast as they head on the road to play the Philadelphia Soul on May 9th. For the Shark’s, they have a quick turn around as they head back on the road on Friday to face the Cleveland Gladiators on May 7th.
The Storm wasted no time getting things underway, with Mike Washington returning the opening kickoff coast to coast, to give Tampa a 7-0 lead! But it took Jacksonville just one play to get on the board themselves, as Tommy Grady connected with Joe Hill’s for a 48 yard TD strike. The pat was blocked and the Storm retained the lead at 7-6.
On Tampa’s ensuing possession, they were able to get the ball inside the 2 yard line, but unable to get into the end zone and turned the ball over on downs. The Sharks were able to capitalize on the turnover, going 49 yards in 6 plays, capping off their drive with an 8-yard TD pass from Grady to Moqut Ruffins. This gave Jacksonville a 13-7 lead.
In the 2nd quarter, Tampa’s 2nd consecutive drive stalled out, giving the Sharks ample opportunity to take control of the game. They were able to get to the 15-yard line, setting up a 4th and 3 play. The Storm defense looked like they would be able to stop the Sharks, but a holding penalty in the secondary gave Jacksonville a fresh set of downs and made it 1st and goal. The Storm once again forced a 4th down play, and were able to hold to force a Sharks turnover on downs.
This gave the Strom new energy and Jonathan Bane led his troops 43 yards down the field in 5 plays, capping off the drive with a 13 yard TD pass to Xavier Boyce. They were not able to put in the extra point, giving us a 13-13 tie with 2:39 left in the 1st half.
Jacksonville answered back on their next possession, this time it was Derrick Ross running it in from 1 yard out. The extra point was again missed, as Jacksonville took a 19-3 lead with just 13 seconds left in the half. This is how the 1st half would end.
Grady was leading the way for the Sharks at the half, completing 14 of 20 passes for 149 yards. Joe Hills was their leading receiver with 4 catches for 79 yards and a TD.
For the Storm, it was Jonathan Bane completing 12 of 18 passes for 160 yards and 1 TD. T.T. Toliver was Tampa’s leading receiver with 4 catches for 69 yards.
The first score of the second half came with 9:03 left in the 3rd quarter, as Grady hit Tiger Jones on a 21-yard strike that made it 26-13 Sharks. Tampa’s first possession of the second half stalled out after picking up a 1st down.
On the Shark’s second possession of the 2nd half, Grady was looking deep to the endzone when he was intercepted by Tampa’s Cameron McGlenn. This gave the Storm new life.
They wasted no time and Bane found T.T. Toliver on the second play of the drive in the endzone to make it 26-20 as the 3rd quarter came to a close.
On the Shark’s 1st possession of the 4th quarter, they would get down to the 1-yard line. But the Storm were able to force a fumble, thus taking over 1st and 10 at the Sharks 17 yard line, looking to take the lead.
2 plays later, Bane threw one on a rope to Toliver, who was able to tap his toes in bounds as he dove for the ball in the endzone. It was initially ruled incomplete, but Storm Head Coach Lawrence Samuels threw the challenge flag and it was overturned. With the TD being ruled as good, Tampa took a 27-26 lead over the Sharks with just 9:50 left to play.
The Sharks then went on a methodical 6 play, 47-yard drive, that ate nearly 6 minutes off the clock. Jacksonville finished the drive with an 8 yard TD pass to the right side of the endzone to a wide open Prechae Rodriguez, giving the Sharks the 33-27 lead over Tampa with just 4:35 left in regulation.
But the Storm were not going to quit. In fact, on their ensuing possession, they were able to get a 1st and goal with just 1 minute left to play in regulation. However, 4 straight incomplete passes by Jonathan Bane would be the demise of Tampa. They turned the ball over on downs with just 45 seconds left to play.
“It comes down to execution. You execute you win, we didn’t execute at the end. We had a guy wide open, we just didn’t get it to him.” Said Storm head coach Lawrence Samuels of the final drive for Tampa.
Tampa still had a chance with all three timeouts remaining, if they could just hold the Sharks and force a turnover. But Jacksonville was able to pick up a quick first down, forcing the Storm to call timeout, virtually ending the game.
“You’ve got to fight through adversity in Arena Football, those thing's happen.” Said Sharks head coach Les Moss of his team’s ability to overcome the toe-tap TD by T.T. Toliver, “We showed good resilience, we had to fight through that and our defense came up big with the stop there at the end. That’s Arena football.”
Tiger Jones and Joe Hills combined for 17 catches for 235 yards to lead the Sharks offense. Hill’s also grabbed his 150th TD of his career on Sunday night.
Bane completed 21 of 38 passes for 281 yards and 3 TD’s to lead the Storm. And it was T.T. Toliver leading the storm receiving core, with 9 catches for 148 yards and 2 TD’s.
Tampa will look to regroup fast as they head on the road to play the Philadelphia Soul on May 9th. For the Shark’s, they have a quick turn around as they head back on the road on Friday to face the Cleveland Gladiators on May 7th.