A battle between two of the AFL’s best lived up the hype Friday night, with the Tampa Bay Storm outslugging the Rush 68-60 at the St. Pete Times Forum.The loss prevented the Rush (9-4) from becoming the first AFL team to clinch a playoff spot this season,they will now have to wait until next week to try to qualify for the playoffs for the ninth-consecutive year when the Rush hosts Arizona Saturday, July 10 at Allstate Arena.
“Tampa Bay has been playing really well, especially at home,” said Rush head coach Mike Hohensee. “I thought we also played well tonight, but we made a few mistakes – and those mistakes turned out to be the difference in the ballgame.”
It was an evenly matched game throughout, with the teams trading touchdowns the entire evening. But in the end, the difference proved to be two Rush missed extra points and a Rush fourth quarter fumble that was returned by the Storm (9-3) for a touchdown.Trailing by eight early in the fourth quarter, Rush QB Russ Michna led the team on a 10-play drive, culminating with a two-yard touchdown run from Clifton Smith to pull the Rush to within two-points, 55-53. With Rush kicker Chris Gould already having missed two PAT attempts in the game, the Rush tried for the two-point conversion to tie the game. However, the conversion attempt failed and the Rush remained down by two.On the following possession, Tampa Bay QB Brett Dietz connected with Tyrone Timmons for a touchdown and a 62-53 Storm lead with just 2:42 left in the game.On the following possession, Rush wide receiver Syvelle Newton fumbled trying to gain extra yards after a catch. The ball popped into the hands of Storm defensive back Erick McIntosh, who returned it 28 yards for a TD to put Tampa Bay up 68-53 with 46 seconds left in the game.A late TD pass from Michna to Alan Turner with 1.6 seconds remaining made the final score 68-60.The first half was a see-saw battle that saw seven lead changes and both teams score touchdowns on all five of their possessions.The Rush got off to a quick start as quarterback Michna (26-38, 334 yards, 7 TDs) connected with Alan Turner for a 42-yard touchdown on the very first play of the game.After a Tampa Bay score tied it up, the Rush regained the lead on the next possession when Michna and Turner connected for a second time on a 10-yard score. A missed Chris Gould extra point made it 13-7. The miss put an end to Gould’s team record 35-consecutive made extra point attempts.The missed extra point would prove costly and, on the next Tampa Bay possession, the Storm took its first lead of the game as Dietz connected with Hank Edwards for the second time on an 8-yard score.After the two teams traded scores the following two possessions, Timmons’ 23-yard reception from quarterback Brett Dietz gave the Storm a 28-27 lead. However the Rush quickly responded as Clifton Smith rumbled in from three yards out to put the Rush on top 34-28.A one-yard touchdown on the next Storm possession gave Tampa Bay a 35-34 lead going into the half.