FINAL | Amalie Motor Oil Field | Attendance 9,328
Ageless quarterback Aaron Garcia, who entered his 17 Arena Football League season in 2012, passed for six first-half touchdowns and finished with 8 as San Antonio built a 43-21 halftime lead and went on to a 71-49 victory over the Tampa Bay Storm (6-8) Saturday night on the Amalie Motor Oil Field at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. It was the 8th straight win for the Talons (11-3), leaders of the American Conference South Division.
Garcia, who will turn 42 in October, has passed for more than 50,000 yards and 1,000 TDs. He was 18 of 23 passing in the first half and finished 27 of 35 for 259 yards.
| Team |
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
Total
|
| Talons |
13
|
30
|
14
|
14
|
71
|
| Storm |
14
|
7
|
7
|
21
|
56 |
SCORING SUMMARY
| Time | Scoring Play | TBY-SAT |
| 09:38 | TBY - JACKSON, Amarri 2 yd reception from HILL, Nick (BONGARRA, Juan kick good) | 7-0 |
| 07:32 | SAT - TOLER, Burl 43 yd reception from GARCIA, Aaron (DEMOS, Stefan kick failed) | 7-6 |
| 03:30 | TBY - FAGG, De'Code 26 yd reception from HILL, Nick (BONGARRA, Juan kick good) | 14-6 |
| 00:50 | SAT - WILSON, Jomo 17 yd reception from GARCIA, Aaron (DEMOS, Stefan kick good) | 14-13 |
| Time | Scoring Play | TBY-SAT |
| 07:21 | SAT - WILLIS, Jason 3 yd reception from GARCIA, Aaron (DEMOS, Stefan kick good) | 14-20 |
| 05:30 | SAT - Team safety | 14-22 |
| 02:33 | SAT - WILSON, Jomo 18 yd pass from GARCIA, Aaron (DEMOS, Stefan kick good) | 14-29 |
| 01:24 | SAT - WILSON, Jomo 8 yd pass from GARCIA, Aaron (DEMOS, Stefan kick good) | 14-36 |
| 00:41 | TBY - JACKSON, Amarri 3 yd reception from HILL, Nick (BONGARRA, Juan kick good) | 21-36 |
| 00:30 | SAT - WILLIS, Jason 3 yd reception from GARCIA, Aaron (DEMOS, Stefan kick good) | 21-43 |
| Time | Scoring Play | TBY-SAT |
| 10:33 | SAT - WILLIS, Jason 10 yd reception from GARCIA, Aaron (DEMOS, Stefan kick good) | 21-50 |
| 05:17 | TBY - RODRIGUEZ, Prechae 8 yd reception from HILL, Nick (BONGARRA, Juan kick good) | 28-50 |
| 01:53 | TBY - JACKSON, Amarri 28 yd reception from HILL, Nick (BONGARRA, Juan kick good) | 35-50 |
| 00:43 | SAT - WILSON, Jomo 10 yd reception from GARCIA, Aaron (DEMOS, Stefan kick good) | 35-57 |
| Time | Scoring Play | TBY-SAT |
| 14:31 | SAT - RANSOM, Jamar 1 yd carry (DEMOS, Stefan kick good) | 35-64 |
| 08:37 | TBY - KALEITA, Tom 1 yd carry (BONGARRA, Juan kick good) | 42-64 |
| 07:27 | SAT - LEE, Derrick 15 yd fumble return (DEMOS, Stefan kick good) | 42-71 |
| 05:08 | TBY - HILL, Nick 14 yd carry (BONGARRA, Juan kick good) | 49-71 |
| 00:07 | TBY - HILL, Nick 13 yd carry (BONGARRA, Juan kick good) | 56-71 |
STATS: TEAM COMPARISON
|
Talons
|
|
Storm
|
|
21
|
First Downs
|
28
|
|
2
|
Rushing
|
4
|
|
17
|
Passing
|
17
|
|
2
|
Penalties
|
7
|
|
12
|
Net Yards Rushing
|
36
|
|
2
|
Attempts
|
6
|
|
12
|
Yards Gained
|
37
|
|
0
|
Yards Lost
|
1
|
|
259
|
Net Yards Passing
|
353
|
|
39
|
Attempted
|
42
|
|
28
|
Completed
|
28
|
|
1
|
Intercepted
|
1
|
|
42
|
Total Offensive Plays
|
48
|
|
271
|
Total Net Yards
|
289
|
|
6.5
|
Average Gain Per Play
|
8.1
|
|
2-0
|
Fumbles: No./ Lost
|
2-2
|
|
11-67
|
Penalties: Number/Lost
|
17-123
|
|
0-0
|
MFG Returns No. /Yards
|
0-0
|
|
6-101
|
Kickoff Returns No. / Yards
|
8-159
|
|
1-2
|
Interceptions: No./Yards
|
1-0
|
|
0-0
|
Fumble Returns: No./Yards
|
0-0
|
|
35
|
Miscellaneous Yards
|
0
|
|
29:30
|
Possession Time
|
30:30
|
|
2-4
|
3rd Down Conversions
|
6-7
|
|
0-1
|
4th Down Conversions
|
1-1
|
|
1-8
|
Sacks By: No. /Yards
|
0-0
|
STATS: TEAM LEADERS
| Talons | Storm | |||||||||
| Passing | CP/AT | Yds | TD | INT | Passing | CP/AT | Yds | TD | INT | |
| Aaron Garcia | 27/35 | 259 | 8 | 0 | Nick Hill | 28/42 | 353 | 5 | 1 | |
| Rushing | ATT | Yds | TD | LG | Rushing | ATT | Yds | TD | LG | |
| Chad Cook | 1 | 11 | 0 | 11 | Nick Hill | 5 | 35 | 2 | 14 | |
| Jamar Ransom | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Tom Kaleita | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Receiving | REC | Yds | TD | LG | Receiving | REC | Yds | TD | LG | |
| Jomo Wilson | 10 | 108 | 4 | 19 | De'Cody Fagg | 10 | 127 | 1 | 26 | |
| Jason Willis | 9 | 81 | 3 | 20 | Amarri Jackson | 9 | 105 | 3 | 27 | |
| Burl Toler | 7 | 82 | 1 | 43 | Prechae Rodriguez | 8 | 86 | 1 | 17 | |
| Chad Cook | 1 | -2 | 0 | 0 | Jonathan Lowe | 1 | 35 | 0 | 35 | |
| Ty Nsekhe | 1 | -2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Kick Returns | No. | Avg | TD | LG | Kick Returns | No. | Avg. | TD | LG | |
| Jomo Wilson | 5 | 20.2 | 1 | 56 | Jonathon Lowe | 5 | 23.2 | 0 | 37 | |
| Anthony Bolden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Riley Swanson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
POST GAME NOTES
• The Tampa Bay Storm fell to the San Antonio Talons 77-56, the first home loss for the Storm this season, the team is now 6-1 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
• Storm QB Nick Hill completed 28-of-42 passes for 353 yards, with five touchdowns in the air and two on the ground. …His third quarter 22-yard touchdown pass to Amarri Jackson pushed him over the 10,000 yards passing mark he now has 10,086 in his career.
• This was also Hill’s third consecutive game with more than 300 yards passing. …He now has 1,049 yards in his first three games.
• Hill also rushed for a touchdown in his third consecutive game, he now has five rushing touchdowns in three games.
• Talons QB Aaron Garcia completed 77.1 percent of his passes as he went 27-of-35 for 259 yards with eight touchdowns.
• DB Riley Swanson had the lone turnover of the game for the Storm as he intercepted a pass in his second consecutive game. He now has three interceptions in the past four games. This was also the second time he corralled an interception in back-to-back games.
• LB Steve Octavien registered the only sack of the game, he now has four sacks this season, good for second on the team.
• The Talons entered the contest second in the AFL with 30 sacks in 13 games, they were held sackless for the second time this season.
• OL Tom Kaleita rushed for his third touchdown this season; it was the ninth of his career. He also has six career receiving touchdowns.
• WRs De’Cody Fagg (127 yards on 10 receptions) and Amarri Jackson (105 yards on nine receptions) each surpassed 100 yards receiving. This is the third game this season two receivers surpassed 100 yards each in a game.
• Jackson now has 428 yards receiving in the past three games on 30 receptions with eight touchdowns.
• After winning two challenges last week against Orlando, the Storm lost challenges on review.
• Rookie WR Jonathan Lowe, in his first career game, returned five kickoffs for 116 yards. …This is the seventh game this season a Storm kick returner has run kickoffs back for more than 100 yards.
• DB Erick McIntosh broke up two passes in the game, he now has 21 on the season which ranks him in the top five in the League.
• K Juna Bongarra was a perfect 8-8 on extra point attempts, this is the third game this season he did not miss an extra point.
• The Storm is now 0-12 when giving up more than 70 points
WEB FEATURES & AUDIO COVERAGE
Post-Game Audio: Nick Hill
Post-Game Audio: Cody De'Fagg
In The Eye of the Storm: Tom Kaleita
Beyond The Gridiron: Nick Hill
Keys to the Game
Pre-Game Audio: Dave Ewart
Pre-Game Audio: Riley Swanson
LAST TIME OUT
The Tampa Bay Storm (6-7) struggled in the return game mishandling five kickoffs, losing two, as the team remains winless on the road after falling to the Orlando Predators (2-11) Friday evening at the Amway Center in front of 12,441 fans. Orlando collected six turnovers in the game as the Predators scored its highest total of the season.
Despite the struggles in the return game former South Florida standout Amarri Jackson had a big night receiving as he caught 12 passes for 220 yards and four touchdowns. The receiving yards is the second highest single-game total in franchise history. Jackson finished the game with 297 all-purpose yards. Nick Hill, in his first start under center, completed 24-of-38 passes for 375 yards and five touchdowns; however he has two costly interceptions. He also added a touchdown on the ground. Newcomers De’Cody Fagg and Joe Hills each got into the action as Fagg caught his first touchdown of the season and Hills finished second on the team with five catches for 50 yards.