New York 73, Colorado 65

DENVER (TICKER) —Aaron Garcia threw for 298 yards and seven touchdowns as the New York Dragons started out hot and finished strong with a 73-65 victory over the Colorado Crush on Monday night.

Garcia, who also had a rushing score, tossed four TD passes to Jason Willis and two to Kevin Swayne for the Dragons (7-6), who outscored the Crush, 21-7, in the first quarter and by eight points in the fourth.

Swayne caught two touchdown passes in the final period to snap a 52-52 tie and give New York a lead it would not relinquish. Garcia plunged in from 2 yards out to make it 73-59 with 4:05 left to effectively seal the win.

John Dutton threw for 340 yards and eight touchdowns with one interception for Colorado (4-9).

Rush 65, Crush 52

Denver – The Chicago Rush used a 28-0 run late in the second quarter and early in the third quarter to turn a seven point deficit into a 65-52 win over the Colorado Crush Friday night at Pepsi Center.

Rush QB Russ Michna ran his record as a starter to 4-0, completing 24 of 35 passes for 280 yards and six touchdowns, helping the Rush (7-2) complete a season sweep of Colorado.

With the win, Chicago now holds a 3 ½ game lead in the Central Division over both Colorado (3-5) and Grand Rapids (3-5).

“This was a big win for us,” said Rush head coach Mike Hohensee. “I thought Russ played great again at quarterback and the defense made some big stops when we needed them.”

With the Crush leading 21-14 with six minutes left in the first half, Rush linebacker DeJuan Alfonzo ruined Colorado’s surprise on-side kick attempt, recovering the ball and returning it 11-yards for a game-tying touchdown.

The Rush defense then forced Colorado into a 53-yard field goal attempt, which missed wide left, giving the ball to the Rush at its own 1-yard line with 2:21 remaining in the half.

Using the clock perfectly, the Rush moved 49 yards for the go-ahead TD, scoring on a one-yard run by Michna to take a 28-21 halftime lead.

Chicago kept up the pressure in the third quarter, scoring on its opening drive when Damian Harrell caught a four-yard TD pass.

Then, after the ensuing kickoff pinned the Crush deep in its own territory, Alfonzo intercepted a John Dutton pass and returned it back to the Crush 5-yard line. On the next play, Michna hit Donovan Morgan for a TD and a 42-21 Rush lead.

A Willie Quinne TD catch with 7:08 left in the third quarter snapped Chicago’s 28-0 run, however the PAT was no good, making the score 42-27.

A 34-yard field goal from Dan Frantz extended the Rush lead to 45-27 and set the stage for the Rush defense to force another turnover.

On Colorado’s next series DB Dennison Robinson intercepted a Dutton pass in the end zone. The interception was Robinson’s seventh of the season, matching his career high set last season. Five plays later, Harrell scored again to make the Rush lead 52-27.

Colorado cut the lead to 52-39 with 6:23 remaining, sandwiching TD catches by Brad Pyatt and Chad Owens around a Michna interception.

But the Rush responded with a 23-yard TD pass from Michna to Morgan and pushed its lead up to 59-39.

Crush 69, Gladiators 66

CLEVELAND, OH – It was not in the fourth quarter and they did not have to go 98 yards, but John Elway’s Colorado Crush did turn a seven-point first half deficit into their third win of the season, in a 69-66 nail-biter in Cleveland.

Summoning the echoes of old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland fans were once again left with the stigma of number “7” Friday night at the Quicken Loans Arena.

The Crush utilized two DB Rashad Floyd interceptions to their offensive advantage in the second half and outscored the Gladiators 38-28 in the final two quarters.

“We have been in that position before many times,” Floyd said. “We had some bounces that did not go our way in the first half, but when we needed to make plays our guys rose to the occasion.”

Dutton finished another career night 33-of-48 for 314 yards, eight touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. Those numbers were good enough to move him into seventh and eighth place all-time in career passing touchdowns and passing yards respectively in the AFL.

After exchanging touchdowns to start off the second half and the game tied 52-52, it seemed unlikely that the Crush were going to get another defensive stop. Considering the Crush defense was penalized seven times for 43 yards in the game, the chances of stopping the sixth ranked offense did seem slim.

That was, until Gladiator QB Raymond Philyaw threw two very similar interceptions on Cleveland drives, both inside the 15-yard line. Crush DB Rashad Floyd broke on both balls at the goal line and the Crush were able to convert the mistakes into 10 quick points. Philyaw finished the night 26-for-37, 316 yards and seven touchdowns.

“We have had some close games this season,” Colorado head coach Mike Dailey said. “And I was happy with the way we responded in the second half. The guys just kept coming and we were able to put some pressure on them towards the end and came out on top.”

After the momentum shift, the Crush was able to play mistake free and hold on to the three-point victory. However, Dutton did throw two interceptions of his own in the first half, but was able to keep the game within reach at half with the play of his three wide receivers.

“I threw a couple bad balls and got one unlucky bounce, but that is the way it goes sometimes,” Dutton said. “The defense really stood up in the second half and gave us a couple of chances to break the game open.”

WR Willie Quinnie added four touchdowns on nine catches for 64 yards. WR Ben Nelson led all receivers with 142 yards and two touchdowns and WR Brad Pyatt got to double digits with 10 receptions for 74 yards and two scores.

With all of the connections behind the bench and on the field, the game turned out to be a great venue to continue a little bit of the rivalry started over 20 years ago by the team’s two owners.

Two coaches and one fourth of the Gladiators active roster had been under the direction of Colorado coach Mike Dailey at some point in their careers. It seemed only natural that Dailey would take the first game in Cleveland from his former protégés.

Crush 68, Avengers 54

DENVER, CO -- QB John Dutton was 32 of 50 for 334 yards and eight touchdowns with one interception and added a rushing score, as the Colorado Crush snapped a three-game losing streak and gave head coach Mike Dailey his 100th win, as they defeated the Los Angeles Avengers, 67-54, on Friday night at the Pepsi Center. WR Ben Nelson had 13 catches for 174 yards and five touchdowns.

Avengers QB Tim Hicks finished 21 of 39 for 295 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions. WR Kevin Ingram has seven catches for 125 yards and three scores.

New Orleans win 4 straight!

DENVER, CO -- The New Orleans VooDoo overcame a four-point fourth quarter deficit with less than two and a half minutes remaining and DB Lin-J Shell recorded an interception in the end zone as time expired to pull out an exciting come-from-behind win over the Colorado Crush 54-51 in front of 10,350 fans at the Pepsi Center. New Orleans won their fourth straight to improve to 4-1 and keep a one-game lead over second-place Orlando in the Southern Division.

This is the third four-game winning streak in club history and the first since 2005. Colorado falls to 1-3.The VooDoo will look for their second five-game win streak in team annals when they host the defending ArenaBowl Champion San Jose SaberCats next Saturday at 6 p.m in the New Orleans Arena.

“This was a classic Arena Football game,” said VooDoo Head Coach Mike Neu. “We talked about it at halftime trying to eliminate some of the penalties in the second half.

Our guys kept fighting and we finally got a break at the end, where they did a nice job creating that turnover. It was a nice win all the way around for us against a good football team in what has traditionally been a tough place to play.”

QB Danny Wimprine ran in for a one-yard touchdown with 36 seconds left on a quarterback sneak to give the VooDoo the 54-51 lead.

“It’s one of those situations deciding to take a penalty or let some time run off or not, said Neu. “There are too many times where I’ve seen an incompletion or turnover in that situation. It was one of those situations where we wanted to score and have the lead.”

QB Danny Wimprine completed 26 of 44 passes for 314 yards with six touchdown passes and one TD run to take Offensive Player of the Game. James Jordan had nine receptions for 106 yards with four touchdowns to tie a career high.

Shell took Defensive Player of the Game honors with 7.5 tackles and two passes defensed to go with his pick.

The VooDoo began the game by taking the opening kickoff and starting at their own two yard-line. VooDoo QB Danny Wimprine completed five of six passes, including a five-yard fade for a touchdown to WR James Jordan to give the VooDoo a six point lead after K Alex Romero missed the extra point attempt.

Colorado was denied the end zone on three downs in the red zone and Crush K Clay Rush kicked a 29-yeard field goal as the VooDoo held a 6-3 lead.

Jones took the next kickoff out to the VooDoo 22-yard line, but the VooDoo weren’t able to take advantage of the field position as Wimprine was intercepted by DB Rashad Floyd on a key third down play.

Colorado QB John Dutton then immediately found WR Willie Quinnie for a touchdown pass.

On their next offensive drive, Wimprine drove the VooDoo down the field and found G Isaiah Ross for a screen pass for a touchdown to give the VooDoo a 13-10 lead after the extra point.

Crush KR Jason Harmon returned the kickoff to midfield and then Dutton took advantage of a couple of penalties on the VooDoo and eventually found WR Ben Nelson for a four-yard touchdown pass to give the Crush a 17-13 lead.

Wimprine and the starting VooDoo offense took over possession at their own 5 yard-line with 9:25 left in the second quarter. Wimprine drilled a 18-yard completion to WR Tyronne Jones, then after two incompletions under pressure, Colorado DB Zach Norton was called for a pass interference play to put the VooDoo at the Crush 17. Wimprine then dumped off to FB James Lynch for a four-yard screen and then found WR Javarus Dudley for a nine yard first down. Wimprine then found Jordan for a four yard touchdown for their second connection of the game to give New Orleans a three-yard lead.

The VooDoo put heavy pressure on Dutton on New Orleans’ first play, but DL Henry Bryant was called for a personal foul/illegal contact penalty. Two downs later, DB Keon Raymond was called for a pass interference call. Dutton then dumped off to TE Chris Watton for an 11-yard dump off. Eventually Dutton would find Nelson for a five-yard touchdown to take the lead back.

The Crush then attempted an onsides kick which Jordan held onto and Wimprine immediately found Jones for a 13-yard touchdown.

The Crush were unable to score on their final offensive drive of the half with 45 seconds left as the VooDoo defense forced three incompletions, including a third down pass by Dutton broken up by JLB Norman LeJeune. The VooDoo were unable to score on the half’s final drive but entered the locker room with a 27-24 lead.

The second half began with Dutton driving the Crush down the field into VooDoo territory, eventually finding WR Brad Pyatt for a 14-yard touchdown to give the Crush a 31-27 lead, but Pyatt received an unsportsmanlike conduct call that was assessed on the kickoff.

Wimprine and the VooDoo offense completed a key fourth down 32-yard bomb to Jordan to put the VooDoo back in the lead with a 34-31 lead.

The VooDoo then put the ball deep in Crush territory on a first down holding play. After allowing a seven-yard completion, DB Lin-J Shell successfully defended a deep pass and Quinnie dropped a key third down pass, forcing the Crush to go for it. Dutton completed the fourth down pass to Pyatt. Dutton then found FB Robert Thomas for a screen pass to put them at the VooDoo 12 yard line. After finding Pyatt for a four-yard out, before finding Pyatt for a an eight-yard touchdown which would give the Crush a 38-34 lead.

On the next possession, WR DeAndrew Rubin fielded a kick off the iron to midfield deftly. Wimprine took the ball down the field methodically with FB James Lynch eventually pounding the ball in from three yards out to give the VooDoo a 41-38 lead.

Colorado took the ball at the 14yard line after the kickoff that concluded play in the third quarter and Dutton drove the Crush into VooDoo territory, eventually finding Nelson for a six-yard touchdown pass to give the Crush a 45-41 lead with 10:50 left in the fourth quarter.

Rush then successfully kicked off for a touchback, putting the VooDoo in disadvantageous field position at the five-yard line, but Wimprine then found Jones for an 18-yard play on third down to keep the chains moving and then completed passes to

Jordan and Lynch to get the ball to the four-yard line. After a one-yard run by the signal caller and a batted down incompletion, he found Jordan for a three-yard touchdown. Romero missed the extra point though, so the VooDoo took a 47-45 lead.

Colorado took advantage of a long kickoff return by Harmon and then Dutton drove the Crush down the field and found Pyatt for a three yard touchdown. But the VooDoo defense stopped the crush on a two point conversion attempt, giving the Crush a 51-47 lead.

Jones was then stopped at the two-yard line on the kickoff return. Wimprine threw a first down incompletion intended for Jones facing pressure. One second down, Dudley was found at the walls for a first down. Wimprine then threw and incompletion on the ensuing first down play, before finding Jordan for a 14-yard first down along the boards.

Wimprine’s first down throw in Crush territory was incomplete before he fired a 20-yard laser to Jones at the one-yard line. Wimprine then barreled in for a touchdown and Romero banged through the extra point attempt to give New Orleans a 54-51 edge with 36 seconds left.

Harmon took the kickoff return back to the 17-yard line. Dutton then found Quinnie for a 15-yard strike on the middle of the field to the VooDoo-20-yard line. The snap was then fumbled by Dutton at the snap and recovered by Colorado’s Thomas. Dutton then found Nelson for a 13-yard completion along the boards. On a first down play at the VooDoo seven, Dutton adeptly threw the ball away, then finding Nelson for a three-yard completion to move up to the four with seven seconds left on the ticker. DB Lin-J Shell then picked the ball off in the end zone to secure the ball for the VooDoo.