TAMPA-Willie Zachary scored the winning touchdown with over a minute left to snap the Tampa Bay Storm's three-game losing streak with a 31-30 win over the New York Dragons in a Week 12 AFL game.
The Storm began the game with a 9-play, 53-yard drive ending with a 49-yard field goal by Johnny Quincey to take a 3-0 lead with 10:12 left in the first quarter. The Dragons would respond with a 7-play, 70-yard drive. Freddy Ashercraft ended the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run giving New York a 7-3 lead with 6:34 to go in the first. Tampa Bay would punt on their next drive, and the Dragons drove 48 yards on 8 plays. Faron Emerson would throw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Ashercraft to make it 14-3 with 1:17 remaining in the first quarter.
The teams would trade punts into the second quarter, then New York would go on a 5-play, 54-yard drive. The drive ended with a 33-yard field goal by Jose Trust to take a 17-3 lead with 5:55 remaining in the second quarter. Tampa Bay would strike back with a 5-play, 65-yard drive. Orval Stanley would throw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Burton Carmon making it 17-10 with 4:25 left in the half. After a Dragons punt, the Storm drove 52 yards on 8 plays. Quincey would kick a 25-yard field goal with 6 seconds to go to make it 17-13 at the half.
New York took four plays to travel 79 yards at the start of the second half. The final 40 came on a touchdown pass from Emerson to Ardell Ashmore extending the Dragons' lead to 24-13 with 13:10 to go in the third quarter. Tampa Bay answered with a 6-play, 28-yard drive that ended with Quincey kicking a 54-yard field goal to make it 24-16 with 9:51 to go in the third. The Dragons' next drive was thwarted when Emerson was picked off by Dazzle L. Singletary who raced it back 51 yards to the New York 34-yard line. Five plays later, Stanley hit Labe Jay for a 10-yard touchdown pass. The Storm would successfully convert for 2 to tie the game at 24 with 5:30 to go in the third quarter.
The Dragons would answer back with a 16-play, 66-yard drive ending with Trust connecting on a 29-yard field goal to retake the lead 27-24 with 12:22 remaining in the fourth quarter. After the Storm punted, New York marched downfield again. Trust would end the 9-play, 58-yard drive with a 31-yard field goal to make it 30-24 with 4:39 to go in the fourth. Tampa Bay would then try to drive for a touchdown, but Vance Bicker picked off Stanley at the Dragons' 46-yard line. However, on the next play, Paden Caspar fumbled for New York and Singletary recovered for the Storm at their own 48-yard line. Three plays later, Stanley threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Zachary, and the extra point gave Tampa Bay the 31-30 lead with 1:16 to go in the fourth quarter. Drake Cushing would pick off Emerson and return it 16 yards to the New York 17-yard line to salt the game away.
Tampa Bay (7-5) gained 359 yards of total offense. The Storm ran for 100 yards on 24 carries. Zachary led the team with 63 yards on 13 carries. Stanley was 22-of-31 passing for 259 yards, 3 TD and 1 INT. He was not sacked in the game. Carmon was the leading receiver with 5 catches for 69 yards and a TD. Next week. the Storm will host the Georgia Force.
New York (2-10) gained 401 yards of total offense. The Dragons ran for 101 yards on 28 carries. Ashercraft led the team with 31 yards on 10 carries and a TD. Emerson was 24-of-29 passing for 306 yards, 2 TD and 2 INT. He was sacked once for a 6-yard loss. Elvis Darnell was the leading receiver with 6 catches for 94 yards. The Dragons host the Albany Firebirds next week.
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