Tampa Bay Storm 55, Orlando Predators 31
TAMPA, Fla. -- To win games in Arena Football, you need to be able to score. That's why Orlando is 1-7.
Continuing to sputter on offense, the Predators were blown out in the second half Saturday night during a 55-31 defeat to Tampa Bay at Tampa Bay Times Forum.
Trailing 21-10 at halftime, Orlando switched quarterbacks, going from Justin Roper (10-of-19, 113 yards, two interceptions) to Chris Leak. It had no effect as Leak couldn't get his team on the board until the Storm (5-3) rattled off two quick touchdowns for a 25-point lead.
Leak did toss garbage-time touchdown passes to Bobby Sippio, Jarvis Williams and T.T. Toliver, but it made no difference in the outcome. Leak finished 9-of-17 for 78 yards, while Toliver managed eight catches for 97 yards.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay's offense purred along behind quarterback Stephen Wasil, who completed 16-of-25 attempts for 217 yards and six touchdowns. Prechae Rodriguez caught three scoring strikes -- his only receptions of the night -- while Chandler Williams bagged two touchdown catches and Amarri Jackson had one. Jackson had 11 receptions for 135 yards.
The Storm's defense tacked on a score of their own when Frisner Nelson recovered a fumble in the end zone for a fourth-quarter touchdown that made the score 48-17. The Predators managed just 14 first downs and 204 yards.
Tampa Bay retained possession of first place in the South Division, while Orlando slid further into the cellar, four games behind the Storm.
After a week off, the Predators return to action May 18 in New Orleans.
