LOS ANGELES (TICKER) —Mark Grieb tossed seven touchdown passes to guide the San Jose SaberCats to a 66-56 triumph over the Los Angeles Avengers on Saturday.
Grieb completed 25-of-35 passes for 298 yards for the SaberCats (9-5), who have won six of their last seven games.
James Roe had 10 catches for 117 yards and three scores for San Jose.
Sonny Cumbie completed 21-of-35 passes for 262 yards and five touchdowns for the Avengers (4-9), who have lost five of their last six contests.
NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Tying a team record with their fifth consecutive win, the New Orleans VooDoo continued their fine form behind a staunch defense that has become their trademark and defeated the San Jose SaberCats 72-43. A pair of interceptions returned for touchdowns and an efficient passing attack from Danny Wimprine
Wimprine and his favorite receiver James Jordan continued to link up throughout the game as they have all season, with
Making their first trip to the New Orleans Arena since defeating
New Orleans answered right back with Wimprine lofting a perfect spiral to a wide open Javarus Dudley for a 47-yard touchdown to knot the game at 7-7 midway through the first quarter. The 47-yard bomb was the longest scoring pass in VooDoo franchise history and the second-longest overall throw.
Spears, the Arena Football League Defensive Player of the Month for March, continued his highlight-reel season on the next
The VooDoo kept
Taking advantage of another defensive stand, Wimprine and the offense stepped back onto the turf and extended the home team's advantage to double-digits when the quarterback zipped a 26-yard touchdown pass to
San Jose worked their way back down the field on their next possession with Grieb and Saintil connecting for the second time in the half, this time on a nine-yard scoring pass to make the score 21-17 in favor of the VooDoo.
The next
Linebacker Norman LeJeune got in on the act for the VooDoo defense, snaring a Grieb attempt and shedding a would-be tackler as he raced 32 yards with the interception to pay dirt and a 34-17 lead.
The defense forced another empty possession for the SaberCats with Lin-J Shell stopping Saintil just shy of the first down marker on a fourth down pass.
Wimprine and Jordan made the visitors pay, connecting on a nine-yard touchdown pass with just :09 left in the first half to push the margin to 41-17 in the home team's favor. The three scoring receptions of the first half pushed
Taking the second half kickoff and methodically marching down the field, the VooDoo extended their lead to 31 points at 48-17 as Wendall Williams capped a six-minute drive with a three-yard touchdown run.
The New Orleans defense picked up in the second half where they left off as Henry Bryant hurried Grieb into a bad throw that linebacker Umar Muhammad turned into a diving interception after the ball bounded off of a the receiver's hands.
Making the SaberCats pay the price for another turnover, Wimprine hit Tyronne Jones on an eight-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 55-17.
The SaberCats were able to finally stop the VooDoo's run of 34 unanswered points on their next possession when Grieb and Saintil connected on a three-yard touchdown toss on fourth down, making the score 55-24 at the end of three quarters.
After an unsuccessful
Grieb and the SaberCats answered with a score of their own as the quarterback fired a 10-yard strike to Jason Geathers at the back of the end zone.
Alex Romero drilled his first career field goal, knocking a 36-yard kick all the way over the netting to extend the lead to 65-31.
A Grieb six-yard touchdown pass to fullback to Frank Carter cut the lead to 65-37, as Haglund missed his first kick of the season after converting 11 field goals and 38 extra points.
VooDoo Head Coach Mike Neu put Steve Bellisari into the game late in the fourth quarter to give the southpaw some action and the former Ohio State passer launched a long ball down the field that Williams ran under for a 45-yard touchdown and a 72-37 New Orleans lead.
Geathers hauled in a four-yard scoring pass from Grieb to make the score 72-43 with :45 remaining in the game.
KANSAS CITY – Fullback Brian Johnson rushed for three touchdowns and the San Jose defense limited Kansas City to 15 second half points en route to a 44-36 Arena Football League win on Saturday night.
Johnson scored the first three touchdowns of the game for the SaberCats (3-2) all on short yardage plunges as the defending ArenaBowl champions built a 21-14 lead midway through the second quarter.
San Jose kicker A.J. Haglund drilled a 21-yard field goal as time expired in the first half giving the SaberCats a 24-21 lead. Haglund was perfect on all three field goals and five PATs in the game and hasn’t missed a kick all season.
Following a 14-yard scoring pass from John Fitzgerald to Charles Frederick that gave the Brigade (0-4) a 28-24 lead early in the second quarter, the SaberCats used a 20-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to build a 44-28 lead and held on.
Rodney Wright led all receivers with a career-high 14 receptions for 165 yards. Mark Grieb threw for 257 yards and a touchdown on 23-of-38 passing and also led
One week after allowing the second-most points in AFL history, the Brigade held
