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SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah Blaze held off the defending ArenaBowl XXIII Champion Spokane Shock, 69-62, in a game that came down to the final play, in front of 7,649 fans at EnergySolutions Arena.
"The guys made some big plays for us tonight," said Head Coach Ron James after the victory. "I felt our execution was great tonight, and that's the hallmark of a good team. Now we have to use that going forward, and continue to execute in practice as we prepare for our next game at Arizona."
The Blaze opened up the scoring for the night with an eight-yard touchdown pass from QB Tommy Grady (6-7, 245, Utah) to veteran WR Aaron Boone (6-3, 215, Kentucky). The Shock answered back with a touchdown of their own on a seven-yard pass from QB Kyle Rowley (6-1, 205, Brown) to WR Shaun Kauleinamoku (5-10,185, Western Oregon). Blaze FB Ben Stallings (5-11, 263, Delta State) tallied another score on three-yard rushing touchdown, extending the Blaze's lead 13-7 to end the quarter.
On the opening drive of the second quarter, Blaze LB Michael Lewis (6-3, 250, Adrian College) recovered a fumble, setting the stage for the Blaze to deepen the gap. On the ensuing drive, Grady hit Boone for a 14-yard reception, breaking the all-time Blaze record for receiving yards, surpassing former Blaze WR Siaha Burley. Grady struck again with a 10-yard touchdown pass to WR Aaron Lesue (5-10, 195, Utah State). After a successful PAT, the fans rewarded Boone with a standing ovation for his new record. At the end of the half, the Blaze held a 34-21 lead.
Each of the teams exchanged a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter, entering the final quarter of play with the Blaze leading, 45-38.
The Blaze recovered a failed onside kick from the Shock resulting in a seven-yard return for a touchdown by WR Ernie Pierce (6-3, 215, Kansas), giving the Blaze a 13- point lead in the final quarter of play. With the final Blaze touchdown of the game, Boone tied the Blaze all-time career record in touchdowns with 93. With less than one minute remaining, the Blaze had possession of the ball and a seven point -lead, but Spokane stopped them on downs, giving them the ball with three seconds to go. Rowley threw a desperation pass with no time remaining, but it fell incomplete and the Blaze held on for the win, 69-62.
Grady finished the night completing 26-of-33 passes for 245 yards and six touchdowns. Boone led the receiving core with 10 catches for 100 yards and three touchdowns, breaking the Blaze all-time career record for receiving yards as well as tying Burley in Blaze in all-time career touchdowns.
