Arena Football Scoreboard: Recap

Recap | Today's Scoreboard

Tampa Bay 43, Arizona 29

Posted: Monday June 23, 2003 01:22 AM

TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- With three touchdowns and a fumble recovery, Lawrence Samuels became the first player to be selected as both the Game MVP and Ironman in a championship game, and lead the Tampa Bay Storm to a 43-29 victory over the Arizona Rattlers in ArenaBowl XVII.

Despite losing starting quarterback John Kaleo to a back injury in the third quarter, Tampa Bay took the lead on a first-quarter, one-yard plunge by Basil Proctor and never looked back, holding on to win its league-best fifth ArenaBowl title and first since 1996.

Samuels, who finished with five receptions for 109 yards, opened the scoring midway through the first quarter, catching a short pass and scrambling 33 yards for the TD.

In the third quarter, the three-time ArenaBowl Champion caught a nine-yard score from back-up quarterback Pat O'Hara and followed with a diving touchdown catch on a 43-yard bomb just six seconds into the fourth, giving the Storm a 37-22 lead.

On the ensuing Arizona drive, Samuels recovered a fumble on the six-yard line to set up a three-yard touchdown run by O'Hara to insure the victory.

Kaleo completed 8-of-12 passes for 136 yards and a score in the first half, but left the game with a back injury after a one-yard run on the opening drive of the third quarter.

O'Hara completed 7-of-13 passes for 103 yards, including the pair of touchdown passes to Samuels, and added the aforementioned rushing touchdown in the fourth.

On the defensive side of the ball, Corey Sawyer led Tampa Bay with five solo tackles and defensive specialist Omarr Smith forced a fumble, intercepted a pass to set up a third-quarter score and finished with five total tackles, including two solo hits.

For Arizona, Sherdrick Bonner, who completed 15-of-31 passes for 162 yards, rushed for a first-quarter touchdown and threw a pair of touchdown passes, but was credited with three of the five Rattler fumbles and threw a costly interception late in the contest.

Bo Kelly rushed for 31 yards, including an eight-yard score in the second quarter, and Orshawante Bryant and Randy Gatewood both caught second-half touchdown pass for Arizona, which failed in its attempt to clinch its fourth ArenaBowl title in front of 20,496 fans, the second largest crowd in ArenaBowl history.