SaberCats Drop Fourth In a Row

By Barbara Mason 5/28/11 Bay Area Sports Drive

Coming off three losses in a row the San Jose SaberCats now see their season on the line.  Saturday night San Jose (5-5) took on the Georgia Force (5-5) hoping to get back on track.  The team has not won since April 22 when they beat the Philadelphia Soul 68-61 and if they are at all playoff minded a turnaround needed to begin with Saturday nights’ contest.  The SaberCat defense needs to step up to the plate and contribute, with performances that have thus far been spotty at best.

Going on fourth and goal in their first series of the opening quarter, San Jose was unable to find the end zone, not the way the team wanted to start this game.  The Force turned their first possession into a score 2 plays later for a 7-0 lead.   Despite heavy coverage, San Jose’s Ben Nelson caught a Mark Grieb pass in the end zone to tie up the game mid-way through the first quarter.  The Force was forced to kick on fourth down of their next series, a mini hold for the San Jose defense, the score now 10-7.  The SaberCats were now looking at an opportunity to take the lead from Georgia for the first time in the game. 

The second quarter opened with San Jose’s second touchdown of the game, a running play courtesy of Chad Cook for their first lead of the game 14-10.  Their lead was short-lived as Georgia came right back to score with a Brett Elliott pass to a wide open Larry Shipp in the end zone taking back the lead 17-14.  The first play of the next San Jose series quarterback Mark Grieb aired a long pass to Mervin Brookins for the quick score and a 21-17 lead.   The San Jose offense was holding up their end of the deal and the defense would be called upon to match them. 

Plunging into the end zone with 2:49 left in the half, the Force took back the lead 21-24 in this see-saw game.  San Jose needed to end the half with the ball and the lead since Georgia would take the second half kickoff.  The SaberCats drive was halted when Mark Grieb threw an interception in the end zone giving the Force 23 seconds to add to their lead.  Leaving Georgia receivers wide open the San Jose defense was allowing them to march downfield at will.  Two SaberCat penalties later, the Georgia Force was in command of the game 31-21 when quarterback Brett Elliott ran the ball into the end zone.

The final three seconds of the half was exactly what San Jose was looking for when Mervin Brookins caught a Grieb pass and zigzagged his way into the end zone to end the half trailing 31-28.    The late quarter interception by Mark Grieb could very well turn out to be a game changer for San Jose.

The Force extended their lead to 38-28 in the early goings of the third quarter.

Missed tackles and poor coverage continued to ail the San Jose defense.   The SaberCats answered with a score of their own to pull back within three points 38-35.  That San Jose drive gave quarterback Mark Grieb 40,000 career passing yards. 

At 5:50 the SaberCat defense scored their first sack of the game for an 11 yard loss and the Force were looking at a fourth down and a long field goal attempt from their own 18 yard line.  The kick was up and good giving Georgia a six point advantage 41-35.  San Jose marched downfield culminating with another Chad Cook touchdown.  The ensuing kick by Juan Gamboa was blocked by Georgia  and recovered, and then fumbled by the Force leading to a San Jose recovery in the end zone.  San Jose now led by two points 43-41 and this game had taken some crazy bounces as the fourth quarter got underway.

A quick fourth quarter score put the Force back in the lead 47-43 with Georgia kicker Carl Martinez missing the extra point.  Facing a fourth and one Mark Grieb put the ball squarely into the hands of Ben Nelson in the end zone for the score taking back the lead 49-47.   San Jose kicker Gamboa missed the extra point.  The next San Jose defensive series was the best one played all night.   With a fourth down Georgia went for the field goal and missed.  The SaberCats were now in control of this game with less than four minutes left.  Unable to find the end zone San Jose was forced to attempt a field goal.  The kick missed and just as quickly as the SaberCats had taken charge it all but vanished as the clock ran to under two minutes in this nail biter.  The Georgia Force was now running the show with the ball and 33 seconds left on the clock.  Georgia took back the lead with 29 ticks on the clock, 55-49.   With four seconds left on the clock Mark Grieb threw an apparent touchdown pass into the end zone that was negated by a penalty in this heart breaker.

It was a tough loss for San Jose, their fourth loss in a row dropping their record to 5-6.  They will now head out on the road for a very tough 3 game stretch before they return to HP on July 1^st to take on the Jacksonville Sharks.

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