James Lynch scored on a three-yard run with 18 second to play to help the Orlando Predators (3-1) overcome a 15-point deficit Saturday night against the Philadelphia Soul (1-3).

The Preds won 53-46 in front of an announced crowd of 11,789 at Amway Center.

“You’ve got to win the tough close games like this in this league,” Predators coach Pat O’Hara said afterwards. “We didn’t play as well as we’re capable of but when you’re able to overcome the adversity the way we did it’s a tremendous win that our team can build on.”

Orlando struggled to keep the Soul out of the end zone for much of the night before picking off two passes in the second half. The biggest turnover came while trailing 40-39 when Paul Griffin tracked down an errant pass by Philadelphia quarterback Ryan Vena with less than seven minutes to play.

The Preds answered by taking the led for the first time on a six-yard touchdown pass from Nick Hill to Bobby Sippio with 3 minutes, 30 seconds remaining.

Hill then engineered the final drive with completions to Robert Quiroga and T.T. Toliver after the Soul reclaimed the lead with just 44 seconds remaining.

“We just wanted to come back and redeem ourselves from last week,” Toliver said, referring to a 21-point lead the Preds squandered in its one-point loss to Arizona.

Hill passed for 309 yards and six touchdowns on 28-of-40 attempts. Toliver led the team with 13 catches for 131 yards and three scores while Sippio scored four touchdowns on nine receptions for 105 yards. Quiroga caught seven passes for 84 yards.

Orlando salvaged an inconsistent first half by recording its first defensive stop of the game in the final seconds of the second quarter when Arrion Dixon blocked a field goal attempt as time ran out.

Orlando trailed at the break 27-18.

“You could see the body language of our guys when we blocked that kick,” O’Hara said. “That gave them some momentum and some realization that we’ve got a fight on our hands here.”

The Soul took a 27-12 led with nine minutes to play in the first half when Hill’s pass to Quiroga bounced off a fan along the sideline and into the hands of Tanner Varner, who took it back 36 yards for a touchdown.

The Preds answered on its next possession as Hill found Sippio in the corner of the end zone from 17 yards out.

Rayshaun Kizer finished with six tackles and Marlon Moye-Moore picked off his fourth pass of the season. Johnnie Balous and Mark Robinson were each in on sacks.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

– Women’s College Lacrosse – No. 9 Rollins 14, Edinboro 7

Two Tars tallied hat tricks to help Rollins improve to 8-3 on the season. Marissa Giannerini and Sophie Townsend each scored three goals while Erica Pagliarulo finished with two goals and an assist.

– College Softball – No. 12 Tampa 3, No. 7 Rollins 1

Rollins dropped the final game in the series to Tampa, giving the Tars its first loss of the season in Sunshine State Conference competition. Rollins saw its 32-game winning streak end as they dropped to 34-2 overall and 11-1 in the SSC. Jessica Moreland finished 2-for-3 with an RBI. Hope Bitzer pitched five innings and struck out seven batters in relief.

– College Baseball – No. 20 Southern Miss 5, No. 23 UCF 2

Following a 13-2 loss on Saturday, UCF got swept by Southern Miss after falling 5-2 in the third and final game of the series. UCF trailed 3-1 in the fourth inning but was unable to tie the game when Erik Hempe had his line drive towards left field turned into a double play by the Golden Eagles.

= SATURDAY, April 2, 2011 =

– Women’s College Track & Field – Florida Relays

Two UCF school records fell at the Florida Relays in Gainesville as Dominique Booker, Aurieyall Scott, Lynne Layne and Sheila Paul set new standards. The 4×100-meter relay time of 43.75, set just the week before, was replaced by a 43.53 effort. The 4×200-meter relay mark of 1:32.81 from three years ago was replaced by a time of 1:26.34.

– College Baseball – Rollins 15, Lynn 7

The Tars dropped the first game of the doubleheader 12-3 before returning to the field and snapping a five-game losing streak. Rollins jumped out to a 9-3 lead after scoring runs in the second, third and fourth innings. Brian Lattanzi went 3-for-5 and John Avanzino finished 2-for-4 with 5 RBI. Matt White got the win with four strikeouts over 5.2 innings to help the Tars improve to 19-14 overall and 2-7 in the Sunshine State Conference.

– Arena Football League – Arizona 48, Predators 47

Nick Hill was intercepted in the final minute of the game before the Arizona Rattlers went on to score a touchdown and two-point conversion with eight seconds left to shock the Orlando Predators. Arizona outscored the Preds 22-6 in the final quarter after Orlando jumped out to a 21-0 lead after one quarter of play. Hill threw five touchdowns but was intercepted twice while Bobby Sippio led the Preds with 12 receptions for 149 yards and a score.

– Florida Football Alliance – Rage 37, Duval 6

Former UCF and University High School quarterback Kyle Israel threw touchdown passes to Preston McGann and Jeremiah Chatman as the Orlando Rage closed out the regular season with a 10-0 mark. With the win over the Duval Panthers, the Rage wrapped up consecutive unbeaten seasons and improved to 31-1 over the past three years. Postseason play begins this weekend. The Rage will host the winner between the Jacksonville Knights and Daytona Beach Wildcats on April 16.

– United Soccer Leagues – Richmond 2, Lions 0

Richmond scored on a penalty kick near the end of the first half and tacked on another goal in the 84th minute to turn away Orlando City in its first-ever USL Pro game.

– Women’s College Tennis – No. 4 Barry 8, No. 9 Rollins 1

Rollins senior Margaret Junker, ranked No. 17 in the nation, won the lone match for the Tars as she defeated No. 33 Angie Werschel 7-5, 3-6, 10-5.

= FRIDAY, April 1, 2011 =

– College Baseball – No. 20 Southern Miss 6, No. 23 UCF 5

UCF manager Terry Rooney and pitcher Ben Lively were tossed from the game, but the Knights nearly pulled the upset after being tied at 3-all in the ninth. UCF fell to 19-7 overall and 2-2 in Conference USA. The Knights committed a season-high five errors and are now 4-3 against ranked teams.

– Men’s College Tennis – No. 9 Rollins 6, No. 26 Saint Leo 3

The Tars improved to 12-7 overall and 3-2 in the Sunshine State Conference as No. 5 Jeff Morris overcame a loss in the first set to put away Matt Nicholson-Lewis 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Morris and Arturo Baravalle were upended in doubles play by the No. 23 pairing of Nicholson-Lewis and Victor Lozier 8-5.

– Women’s College Lacrosse – No. 2 Lock Haven 12, No. 9 Rollins 7

Tied at 5-all at the halftime break, Rollins (7-3) could not keep up with unbeaten Lock Haven (9-0) while on the road. Tori Snow and Marissa Giannerini each scored two goals in the loss for Rollins.

– Women’s College Track & Field – Florida Relays

UCF freshman Aurieyall Scott set a new school record in the 200 meter with a time of 22.98 at the Florida Relays in Gainesville. Classmate Dominique Booker previously held the mark at 23.70, set last week at the UCF Invitational.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

Robert Quiroga (Photo by Rami Rotlewicz)

Earlier in the week defensive back Rayshaun Kizer and wide receiver/linebacker Robert Quiroga were named Arena Football League Players of the Week following Orlando’s 68-53 win over the Utah Blaze at the new Amway Center.

Kizer was awarded defensive player of the week after leading the Predators with 10 tackles, three interceptions, two pass breakups and a forced fumble. Kizer now has four interceptions on the season.

Quiroga was named ironman of the week after catching eight passes for 103 yards and three touchdowns while also finishing with 3.5 tackles and returning two kicks for 15 yards.

Predators quarterback Nick Hill was a nominee for the league’s offensive player of the week award.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

– Men’s College Lacrosse – Lenoir-Rhyne 13, Rollins 12

Despite a program record six goals in one game by junior Austin Ricci the Rollins Tars dropped to 2-8 overall and 0-6 in the Deep South Conference on Sunday. It’s the first-ever conference win for Lenoir-Rhyne, who broke an 11-all tie with under eight minutes to play to take the lead for good.

– College Softball – UAB 5, UCF 3

The Knights allowed five runs in the third inning and never recovered as they dropped to 12-22 overall and 3-6 in Conference USA. The Blazers (24-9, 8-1 C-USA) took two of three games after splitting with UCF on Saturday.

= SATURDAY, March 26, 2011

– Arena Football League – Predators 68, Blaze 53

Orlando Predators quarterback Nick Hill went 24-of-36 for 331 yards and eight touchdowns while Rayshaun Kizer intercepted three passes and ran one back for a score Saturday night. The Predators (2-0) downed the Utah Blaze (1-1) in its first game at the new Amway Center in front of 12,186 fans.

– Women’s College Track & Field – UCF Invitational

Freshman Dominique Booker set two new school records on Saturday during the second day of competition at the UCF Invitational. Booker set a new mark in the 200-meter run with a time of 23.70, good for fourth place and enough to surpass the previous mark set by Sonnisha Williams (23.79) just last week. Booker also joined Aurieyall Scott, Sheila Paul and Tyler Smith in the 4×400-meter relay, where the group took first place with a time of 43.73 (previous mark was 45.05).

– United Soccer Leagues – Lions 2, USF 0

The Orlando City Lions wrapped up its preseason schedule Saturday in Tampa, where they got goals from Yordany Alvarez (30th minute) and Jamie Watson (60th) on assists from Devorn Jorsling in the win. The Lions finished the preseason schdule 6-2 with wins over Philadelphia Union (1-0) and Toronto FC (1-0) of Major League Soccer as well as Rollins (3-1), UCF (5-1) and Stetson (5-3). Orlando City lost to FC Dallas (1-0) and BK Hacken (3-2). The reguler season begins this weekend on the road against Richmond.

– Men’s College Tennis – UCF 4, NO. 53 DePaul 3

Facing their seventh nationally-ranked opponent in a row, the Knights clinched the win over DePaul when freshman Mitch Thams won the final two sets of a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 match against Filip Dzanko at No. 5 singles.

= FRIDAY, March 25, 2011

– College Baseball – UCF 7, No. 23 Rice 2

Despite a school-record eight walks, freshman Ben Lively improved to 5-0 on the season while D.J. Hicks went 3-for-4 at the plate and pitched a scoreless inning in UCF’s Conference USA opener at Rice (15-10, 0-1 C-USA). Lively is the first pitcher at UCF to start the season perfect in five games since Ray Rodriguez and Darren Newlin did so in 2005. Joe Rogers picked up the save. The Knights trailed 2-0 after four innings before scoring three times in the top of the fifth. UCF turned a season-high four double plays in the win and improved to 17-5 overall and 1-0 in C-USA.

– Women’s College Track & Field – UCF Invitational

Sophomore Sonnisha Williams broke her own school record in the long jump by five-and-a-half inches to take first place in the event during the opening day of the UCF Invitational. Williams went 20-11.75/6.39m at the UCF Track and Field Complex to best the previous mark of 20-6.25/6.25m set last May at the NCAA East Regional. Competition picks back up on Saturday with Florida, Miami, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Tennessee and Rhode Island taking part.

– National Basketball Association – Magic 95, Nets 85

The Magic won its fifth game in a row after pulling away from New Jersey with just over eight minutes to play in the fouth quarter. Hedo Turkoglu went 8-for-11 from the field for 20 points, 13 assists and no turnovers in the win while Dwight Howard finished with 21 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Already playing without J.J. Redick, Orlando (47-26) lost Jameer Nelson to a knee injury in the first half.

– College Softball – Rollins 10, Lynn 0

The Tars improved to 30-1 overall and 7-0 in the Sunshine State Conference in the opening game of its series against Lynn (6-26, 1-6 SSC). Rollins scored eight runs in the second inning as Krista Rodden, Lake Mary alum Hope Bitzer, Winter Springs alum Christine Roser and Hilary Brown drove in runs. Kristen Frame, the reigning confernce player of the week, struck out six in five innings.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

Question: With the season now in full swing what are the AFL’s overall business goals for this year?

Jerry Kurz: Our business goals are the same as we had last year: to provide the fantastic, dynamic and tremendous sport of arena football to our fans with an economic model that gives us a blueprint for success as opposed to a blueprint for disaster.

Q: In what way has the current economy impacted the league?

JK: There’s no doubt that the former AFL – what I now call the DAFL (the Default Arena Football League) – business model just could not be sustained, not only because of its challenges, but the economy. The business model we have now, put into effect by our ownership for the launch of the season last year, is one that gives teams the opportunity to survive in this economy. I don’t care what kind of business it is, any kind of business has to have the ability to spend within its means and to only spend what it has a chance of bringing in.

Q: With the new Amway Center set to host its first AFL game this weekend, how do you feel having a new arena in Orlando will impact the Preds?

JK: I think tremendously so. In talking to the ownership, the players and the fans there, all the information I get is that people are excited not only to come out and see a game there, but we know some people are going to come for the first time to an Arena Football League game just to see the building. And that’s OK because we know if our fans come one time to see a game we’ve got them hooked, because our game is that exciting.

Q: Despite the cancelation of the 2009 season, what has allowed the AFL to sustain itself over the course of two-plus decades?

JK: The fact that it’s a great game. I always say that there was nothing wrong with our game. What the difficulty was, was that the economic model was broken and we needed to change that. Nothing was wrong with the game from the first time Jim Foster invented it until now. It’s still the great game that it was and is. The game is so exciting and the fans feel so much a part of it and enjoy it, while the teams continue to be such a part of the community. That’s what’s allowed us to survive so long as a sport.

Q: Troy Burgeron and Rod Windsor are two guys with AFL experience who have returned to the league after spending 2010 on NFL practice squads. How has the NFL labor situation impacted the Arena Football League thus far?

JK: Nothing directly, and we didn’t think it would. We want the NFL to come back. We’re as much of fans and supporters of the NFL as anyone. What you have to remember is when the game was created and we formed the league it was always formed as a supplement to the NFL, never in competition. Never have we ever thought of ourselves, placed ourselves, held ourselves out to be competition to the NFL. It was purposely put at a time of the year where it would supplement for people who wanted more football. You can look at our history. We’ve never held ourselves out, and continue not to hold ourselves out there like that. The fact that they are going through some labor strife is something that’s going to be resolved, but we don’t see that impacting us one way or the other. It’s great having Troy and Rod come to play for us, but you have to remember they came from us to the NFL. They got their ability to showcase their talent, to demonstrate that they had the ability to move to the next level by being in arena football just like Kurt Warner. To get them to come back to us is a very good thing, and appreciated. However, they already know the value of playing in the Arena Football League and we hope more players know that as well… not so much NFL players who are playing now but players who want to get to the NFL and may not get drafted, who may not make it as a free agent, but can hone their skills playing in the Arena Football League in order to reach their dream.

Q: In light of the United Football League’s struggles, do you think any football league will ever be able to successfully challenge the NFL in the minds of football fans?

JK: No. And I don’t know why anybody wants to. There are enough football fans out there for multiple leagues. I’ve always wondered why leagues would come and want to challenge. There was one that started with an “X” (XFL) that thought they were just going to be a direct competition. But look at how well college and professional football work together in the fall. They play on different days and there are plenty of fans at college stadiums across the country as well as the next day on Sunday filling up the NFL stadiums. I think that the attitude the NFL has always had and stated to us, from Commissioner Paul Tagliabue on down to Commissioner Roger Goodell, is that the NFL supports football at all levels from youth football to other professional leagues. They have been nothing but supportive of us and I don’t understand why someone believes that they have to be antagonistic to the NFL. There are enough football fans for us all to co-exist.

Q: One of the original AFL cities (Pittsburgh) has returned to the league after a 21-year absence. The league has also returned to five other cities for the 2011 season. What are your thoughts on league expansion moving forward and what markets could play a part?

JK: There’s a ton of markets… Southern California was a good market for us before and we’d like to have more teams in the Northwest and Northeast. About expansion, many leagues have made the mistake over the years of expanding to just expand. We won’t do that. We’re going to expand strategically where there’s good markets, good buildings, a great fan base and corporate partnership, because you need all those things to be successful. And talking about ownership, you need good local ownership because we want our teams to be year-round parts of the community. Expansion needs to be done in a consistent, logical, steady and strong growth. We have no set number to grow each year. We’ll grow as it’s appropriate.

Q: Looking ahead, where do he sees the league in five or 10 years from now?

JK: I’m asked that question all the time, ever since I’ve been involved in the league since the beginning. We’ll still be the same great, tremendous, fan-friendly sport that we’ve always been. We need to continue to crawl before we walk and before we run. At times we each think we should move faster than appropriate. I wish the UFL and other leagues well, however, I believe the reason we’ll succeed now where other leagues might face challenges is that we’re never going to forget who we are and how we need to keep our sport going.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

The Arena Football League’s Orlando Predators is hosting its first open tryout of the offseason Nov. 13, 2010. The tryout will be held at the Citrus Bowl Complex’s Thunder Field on 1610 West Church Street in Orlando.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. with the tryout beginning at 9 a.m. Cost for each participant is $65 in advance and $75 day of tryout.

In recent years at least one player from the team’s open tryouts has been signed to the training camp roster.

Players should be prepared for drills on natural grass. Pads and helmets are not needed. Kickers should bring their own tee.

More info on registration is available online at Orlando Predators or by calling 407-648-4444.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –

From there, the Arena Football League’s American Conference Championship came down to the foot of kicker Carlos Martinez, who came up short from 42 yards out in the final seconds at St. Pete Times Forum.

It proved to be a wild ending to a thrilling playoff game. The Preds fought back from a three-touchdown deficit in the second half but dropped the “War on I-4” with the Tampa Bay Storm 63-62. The Storm hit the road to face the Spokane Shock in ArenaBowl XXIII on Friday night.

With 1:33 to play T.T. Toliver caught a pass off the net in the end zone to put Orlando up 56-55 entered the game’s final 60 seconds. A series of onside kicks between both teams followed as Orlando and Tampa volleyed for the final possession of the game.

Tampa scored with 54 seconds left and converted a two-point conversion to go up by seven points, 63-56. Orlando countered with a touchdown of its own with 45 seconds left, but trailed by one when two false starts on the extra-point attempt pushed the spot of the ball back to the 20-yard line. The kick by Martinez soared too far to the right.

Then with 2.9 seconds to spare, following the clutch interception by McEntyre, Martinez missed his third kick of the night as the ball fell short to end the game.

Despite turning the ball over twice in the first quarter, it wasn’t until late in the second quarter that the game really started to get away from Orlando. The Storm went to doing most of its damage by breaking a 21-all tie with a touchdown as 1:24 remained. Tampa then recovered an onside kick and went on to score one more time before intermission while Martinez missed a field goal attempt with two seconds left on the clock.

Tampa extended its lead to 42-21 to start the third quarter and went up 49-28 with 2:11 to spare in the period.

Orlando began cutting into the deficit with 24 seconds to go in the third by scoring a touchdown and recovering an onside kick, which led to another score to make it a 49-42 game early in the fourth. With almost six minutes to play the Preds got closer, 55-49, then intercepted a pass with just over four minutes to go to set up another touchdown that gave them the lead late.

The Preds finished the season with new records set by Hill (passing yards in season, passing yards in game, completions in a game, touchdown passes in a game), Martinez (longest field goal made), and Toliver (most receptions in a game, touchdown receptions in a game).

– More on “War on I-4″ –

From Orlando Predators

From Tampa Bay Storm

From ArenaFan

From Orlando Sentinel

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

The Predators defeated the Storm 75-60 during the final game of the regular season and hold a slim 23-22 lead in the all-time series.

Last week the Predators went on the road and upset the Jacksonville Sharks 73-69 to advance past the opening round of the playoffs for the first time since 2006. The Sharks won the South Division title while Orlando backed its way into postseason play with an 8-8 record after winning three of four games to close out the regular season.

Bobby Sippio scored six touchdowns in the win, including the game winner with eight seconds to play when he caught a pass in the corner of the end zone from quarterback Nick Hill.

Sippio has seen this sort of scenario play out once before. As a member of the Chicago Rush in 2006 he was a huge part of a team that went from 5-9 with two games to play in the season to winning ArenaBowl XX against none other than the Orlando Predators.

It’s a lesson in perseverance that’s not lost on anyone in Orlando.

“All you’ve got to do is get in the tournament and anything can happen,” said head coach Pat O’Hara after the Preds wrapped up its 18th-straight trip to the postseason with a win at Amway Arena over the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgs on July 24.

Sippio knows what O’Hara speaks of all too well.

“It’s like old times,” said Sippio, a Kissimmee native. “The great thing about it is I can be in the locker room and tell these guys about the experience. And now that we’re in that position it gives us something to look forward to. We know it can be done and that’s all that we need to know.”

Such as it was while with the Rush, it’s been a season of ups and downs for the Preds. They started the season 0-3 then won three in a row before dropping five of the next eight games they played. The Preds carried a mediocre 6-8 mark into that crucial home-finale against the Yard Dawgs.

“The low times are the key,” said Sippio. “When we have the low times we take it personal. It makes us make ourselves better. When you’re a great team and you play bad games, you use that to make you better.”

So Orlando kept fighting. And they are now just one game away from putting all the memories of inconsistency behind them for good.

“We were taking a few losses there, but now it’s time to take advantage of the opportunities that they’re giving us to win a championship, and do it,” said Sippio.

The winner of Saturday’s game advances to the ArenaBowl to face either the Spokane Shock or Milwaukee Iron, who play tonight at 8 p.m.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

– Photos by Chris Schubert –

Oklahoma City (6-7) and Alabama (6-7) are the odd teams out so far while Tampa Bay (10-3), Tulsa (8-5) and Jacksonville (9-4) look pretty secure following 15 weeks of play.

But as tough as it was to pull out the win over the Vipers at home on Friday, in front of an announced crowd of 10,504 rowdy fans, hitting the highway to take on the Iron (8-5) presents a completely different challenge altogether.

“We can’t make mistakes if we’re going to take this thing any further,” said Preds Coach Pat O’Hara following Friday’s win. “It’s a critical three-game stretch here and it starts in Milwaukee.”

While the Orlando defense dominated and were clearly the stars in the win over Alabama, the Preds offense went nearly two full quarters without reaching the end zone.

Frisner Nelson recorded two sacks on the night while Mark Robinson, Arrion Dixon and Johnnie Balous each got to the quarterback once for a sack. What didn’t show up in the box score though were the countless times the Preds pressured quarterback Tim Hicks, who fumbled twice and was picked off three times.

“They say defense wins games, so that’s what we came out to do,” said Rayshaun Kizer. “We just try to come out here and get as many stops as we can.”

In the second quarter Kizer made a huge tackle at the 1-yard line on fourth down to force a turnover-on-downs after Alabama ran nearly nine minutes off the clock. With Orlando leading 31-14 in the final seconds of the first half, Kizer then intercepted a deep pass downfield before intermission.

The importance of this particular win was not lost on the second-year arena football player.

“This was huge,” said Kizer. “This still keeps us in the playoff hunt.”

Kenny McEntyre, who suffered a minor concussion with less than nine minutes to play following a big hit on a receiver over the middle, intercepted two passes in the second half before being lost for the night.

Yet Alabama would not go away. Orlando missed a field goal in the third quarter and fumbled at the goal line in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to set the Vipers up for a chance at a miracle finish.

But a sack by Nelson, a pass defense in the end zone by C.L. Grogan, and a tackle on fourth down by Josh Bush (who returned a missed field goal for a touchdown in the game) held off the threat.

“We’re going to have to play like this throughout (the rest of the season) if we’re going to win,” said McEntyre afterwards. “If we don’t play good on defense we’re likely going to lose. It has come to that. We had too many stops to only score 45 points and that’s not good.”

The Preds will need to put up some points in order to keep up with Milwaukee, the leagues most potent offense at 65.9 points per game. And to do so, it’ll have to start with quarterback Nick Hill.

Hill had his moments on Friday – both good and bad – as he finished 19-of-28 for 206 yards, five touchdowns, an interception (that went back for a score to make it a 38-27 game with 12:26 to go) and was stripped of the ball in the fourth just before crossing into the end zone.

Still, he’s confident that the chemistry on that side of the ball is coming around with enough time left to spare Orlando’s season.

“We’ve been up and down all year,” said Hill. “We know what it’s like to get beat close, we know what it’s like to win. We’ve got three games left, three weeks where we all just got to sellout for each other and get some wins.”

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

– Photos by Chris Schubert –

With six seconds remaining in regulation of Saturday night’s thriller at Amway Arena, Predators Coach Pat O’Hara opted for some extra time on the clock instead of attempting a field goal from Orlando’s own 12-yard line.

Nick Hill (Photo by Chris Schubert)

But after the Cleveland Gladiators marched downfield for the go-ahead touchdown on the opening drive of overtime, T.T. Toliver, Jerrian James and Bobby Sippio each dropped passes over the middle from quarterback Nick Hill, ending the night for the Preds with a 77-70 loss.

It proved to be a shocking conclusion to an otherwise spectacular Arena Football League game. Throughout the year it’s been Hill getting the brunt of the blame (whether that’s fair or not) for the current state of an underwhelming season by franchise standards.

“I have all the confidence in the world in them to make those catches,” said Hill of his teammates afterwards. “If the situation ever comes up again, I’ll be right back in there throwing it to them.”

Sippio led the team with nine catches for 147 yards and five touchdowns, while James caught eight balls for 96 yards and a touchdown and Toliver had four receptions for 48 yards and a score.

“We probably shouldn’t have even been in overtime anyway,” said Hill. “In football you can go back and count five or six plays that you could have done better to help your team not even be in the situation you were in. It’s not because of them dropping the ball there at the end.”

Defensively, it was a long night for the Predators. The Gladiators converted 4-of-5 attempts on third down and when they weren’t striking quickly for scores they were moving efficiently downfield to the tune of 29 first downs and 421 total yards.

Why the Preds opted to extend the game into overtime against the hot hand of Cleveland quarterback John Dutton, as opposed to attempting a field goal in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, was the big unknown to fans once time finally expired.

Jerrian James (Photo by Chris Schubert)

“It was too far, just too much of a risk,” said O’Hara of the decision. “If we miss that (field goal) then they can return it for a touchdown while we’re having all our big guys run down to try to make a tackle.”

Had a similar scenario not played out between Cleveland and Spokane during the fourth week of the season, then maybe O’Hara would have had no reservations about sending out Carlos Martinez, who has made 10 of 17 this season including a long of 55 yards.

The Gladiators won their first game of the season when Brent Holmes took a kickoff 56 yards the other way with 1.6 seconds to go in that contest. On Saturday, Holmes caught 12 passes for 199 yards and five touchdowns.

“It’s a team loss,” said O’Hara before leaving the field. “We shouldn’t have been in this situation with the turnovers we had early. We really hurt ourselves.”

The Preds trailed 21-0 after the first quarter as the Gladiators turned both a fumble and an interception by Hill into touchdowns. Boos showered down on the former arenafootball2 quarterback from a largely lethargic and scarce crowd as he trotted to the sideline with 3:30 to play in the opening frame.

“Those are two bad breaks that can make you get down,” said Hill of the turnovers. “But really, it’s a long game. This is arena football and you’re going to get a lot of possessions.”

To his credit, and those of the three receivers he targeted throughout the night, the jeering seemed to do him some good.

Bobby Sippio (Photo by Chris Schubert)

“You’ve just got to stay focused and stay positive out there as much as you can,” he said. “Don’t worry about the crowd or anything like that. They have the right to boo. I’m all right with that. They want to win just like the rest of us.”

– Turning The Thing Around –

Although Cleveland had taken the home crowd out of the game, the Predators awoke from a flat-line effort to turn the tables on the Gladiators.

Hill shook off the miscues and threw three of his seven touchdown passes of the game in the second quarter to help spark the rally for Orlando.

“He’s really mentally tough. He always has been,” said O’Hara. “Confidence isn’t one of his problems. He’s a gamer, so he was really able to come back from that and that’s what he’s supposed to do.”

Trailing 28-7 with 11:33 to go in the first half, Sippio scored twice and the Preds defense forced a turnover-on-downs – when Marlon Moye-Moore batted down a pass on fourth down – then made arguably the play of the night to knot the game at 28-all as they approached the break.

In the final minute of the second quarter James put a jarring hit on Ben Nelson, which dislodged the ball from the receiver. C.L. Grogan was there to scoop it up and take it back for a touchdown.

Nick Hill (Photo by Chris Schubert)

But Dutton, who passed for 411 yards and 10 touchdowns on 36-of-53 attempts, threw a long ball for a score with 12 seconds to spare in the half. Hill was then sacked on the final play of the second quarter and offensive lineman Julius Wilson was ejected for the night for taking a swing on an opposing player.

Much like the earlier part of the season, it seemed for every little thing that went right for the Preds there were a few things that went the opposite way for the men in the black.

Yet somehow the game was all tied up at 49-49 entering the fourth quarter. This even after James made a catch over the middle and fumbled the ball away on the first possession of the third quarter, helping Cleveland extend its advantage to 42-28.

Two more Sippio touchdowns followed and an interception by Johnnie Balous, who grabbed the ball out of the air from a bobbling Victor Williams, set up the tying 8-yard touchdown run by Hill.

– Finale Full Of Fireworks –

Kenny McEntyre (Photo by Chris Schubert)

The fourth quarter proved to be just as festive for arena football fans as the postgame fireworks outside the arena were.

The Preds took the lead for the first time on the night when Kenny McEntyre jumped a Dutton pass towards the sideline and took it back 23 yards, putting the home team ahead 63-56 with 7:22 to go in regulation. Dutton quickly answered though with yet another touchdown toss to again tie the game.

With nothing but time to lose the rest of the way, the Preds went to draining the clock, so much so that they barely got the snap off on 4th-and-1. When they did, Hill launched a 28-yard touchdown strike to James down the middle of the field with just 36 seconds to play.

Five plays later Cleveland was in the end zone again, leaving Orlando just six seconds to spare. An incomplete pass from Hill followed. He was then sacked on the final play of the fourth quarter, sending the game into overtime.

At 5-7 on the season, the Predators are seemingly in a three-team battle for the fourth and final playoff spot in the American Conference. This week’s game against Alabama (6-6) will go a long way in deciding the postseason picture. The rest of the schedule has the Preds on the road against a non-conference opponent in Milwaukee (8-5), at home against American Conference playoff contender Oklahoma City (5-7) and back on the road against division rival Tampa Bay (9-3).

Along with the Storm, Jacksonville (8-4) and Southwest Division leader Tulsa (7-5) are the teams currently leading the American Conference.

“We can still salvage this season,” said Hill. “We’ve got four games left. If we win all four then we’re in the playoffs and once you’re in, anyone can go on a run. We’ve just got to start closing out games.”

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –