Written by Adrian Beecher
T.T. Toliver captured history Friday night in Tampa with his 1,000th career reception, but history was not enough as the Storm suffered their second loss of the season. Erik Meyers completed 17 of 32 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns to lead San Jose to a 36-27 win over Tampa Bay.
The first quarter got off to a slow start as the game was still scoreless with 5 minutes left to play in the 1st quarter. San Jose fullback Odie Armstong finally broke the deadlock on a 1-yard rushing touchdown to make it 7-0 SaberCats with 2:48 left to play in the 1st. That would be the only score of the 1st quarter.
Erik Meyer built off San Jose’s late first quarter score getting another touchdown on their next possession on a 16-yard touchdown pass to DJ Stephens. This gave the SaberCats a 14-0 lead with 12:48 left to play in the half. Jason Boltus and the Storm fought back and got their first score on a 19 yard touchdown pass from Boltus to Kendrick Ings making it 14-7 with 11:44 left to play in the half.
T.T. Toliver grabbed his 1,000th career reception with 4:21 left to play in the second quarter, making him only the 4th player in AFL history to do so and the 17th player in professional football to accomplish this feat.
Most of the rest of the second half was a nightmare for Tampa. The SaberCats extended their lead back to 14 as Erik Meyer took it in himself from 1 yard out. This made it 21-7 San Jose with 6:41 left in the half. As the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard it looked like Tampa had stopped the SaberCats at the goal line, but a defensive pass interference call gave San Jose another chance to score. Nich Pertuit slit the uprights on a field goal for San Jose with 2 seconds left in the half. Then after a touchback gave the Storm the ball with a chance at one play from their own 5-yard line, but as Boltus took the snap he fumbled the ball and it went out of the endzone giving San Jose a 2-point safety as time expired. This sent the SaberCats into the locker room at the half leading 26-7.
The Second half was another slow start as well with San Jose scoring the first points of the half on a 17-yard field goal to make it 29-7 SaberCats with 4:10 left in the 3rd. Then it went from bad to worse for the Storm as their quarterback Jason Boltus went down with an injury with just 1:03 left in the 3rd after another fumble. Boltus was however able to return for the Storm on their next possession.
The Sabercats continued to put a beating on the Storm in the fourth quarter on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Meyer to D.J. Stevens made it 36-7 with 12:30 left to play in the 4th. This looked to be the nail in the coffin, but a quick Storm touchdown made it 36-13 with 8:24 left to play. A turnover by San Jose inside the 5-yard line game Tampa the slimmest of hope with 5:44 left to play. But then a 4th fumble of the night by the Storm gave the SaberCats the ball back with just 4:55 left to play in the game.
Despite the 26 point lead in the 4th quarter the Storm would not give up and crawled back into the game with 2 touchdown receptions by Ings and a 27-yard touchdown reception from T.T. Toliver to make it 36-27 with 41 seconds left to play. The Storm would be able to recover the next onside kick and that brought us to the end of the game.
Toliver finished the game with 6 receptions for 84 yards and 1 touchdown on the night for Tampa. Storm quarterback Jason Boltus completed 21 of 39 passes for 260 yards and 4 touchdowns.
The Storm looks to regroup and build off their strong second half finish next week as the New Orleans Voodoo come to town next Friday on Storm Dawgs Birthday. Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm ET.
The first quarter got off to a slow start as the game was still scoreless with 5 minutes left to play in the 1st quarter. San Jose fullback Odie Armstong finally broke the deadlock on a 1-yard rushing touchdown to make it 7-0 SaberCats with 2:48 left to play in the 1st. That would be the only score of the 1st quarter.
Erik Meyer built off San Jose’s late first quarter score getting another touchdown on their next possession on a 16-yard touchdown pass to DJ Stephens. This gave the SaberCats a 14-0 lead with 12:48 left to play in the half. Jason Boltus and the Storm fought back and got their first score on a 19 yard touchdown pass from Boltus to Kendrick Ings making it 14-7 with 11:44 left to play in the half.
T.T. Toliver grabbed his 1,000th career reception with 4:21 left to play in the second quarter, making him only the 4th player in AFL history to do so and the 17th player in professional football to accomplish this feat.
Most of the rest of the second half was a nightmare for Tampa. The SaberCats extended their lead back to 14 as Erik Meyer took it in himself from 1 yard out. This made it 21-7 San Jose with 6:41 left in the half. As the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard it looked like Tampa had stopped the SaberCats at the goal line, but a defensive pass interference call gave San Jose another chance to score. Nich Pertuit slit the uprights on a field goal for San Jose with 2 seconds left in the half. Then after a touchback gave the Storm the ball with a chance at one play from their own 5-yard line, but as Boltus took the snap he fumbled the ball and it went out of the endzone giving San Jose a 2-point safety as time expired. This sent the SaberCats into the locker room at the half leading 26-7.
The Second half was another slow start as well with San Jose scoring the first points of the half on a 17-yard field goal to make it 29-7 SaberCats with 4:10 left in the 3rd. Then it went from bad to worse for the Storm as their quarterback Jason Boltus went down with an injury with just 1:03 left in the 3rd after another fumble. Boltus was however able to return for the Storm on their next possession.
The Sabercats continued to put a beating on the Storm in the fourth quarter on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Meyer to D.J. Stevens made it 36-7 with 12:30 left to play in the 4th. This looked to be the nail in the coffin, but a quick Storm touchdown made it 36-13 with 8:24 left to play. A turnover by San Jose inside the 5-yard line game Tampa the slimmest of hope with 5:44 left to play. But then a 4th fumble of the night by the Storm gave the SaberCats the ball back with just 4:55 left to play in the game.
Despite the 26 point lead in the 4th quarter the Storm would not give up and crawled back into the game with 2 touchdown receptions by Ings and a 27-yard touchdown reception from T.T. Toliver to make it 36-27 with 41 seconds left to play. The Storm would be able to recover the next onside kick and that brought us to the end of the game.
Toliver finished the game with 6 receptions for 84 yards and 1 touchdown on the night for Tampa. Storm quarterback Jason Boltus completed 21 of 39 passes for 260 yards and 4 touchdowns.
The Storm looks to regroup and build off their strong second half finish next week as the New Orleans Voodoo come to town next Friday on Storm Dawgs Birthday. Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm ET.