TAMPA BAY -- The Talons (11-3) built a twenty-one point halftime lead and continued the momentum through the rest of the game, to defeat the Tampa Bay Storm (6-8) by a 77-56 score in the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Saturday night.
San Antonio’s victory marks their eighth consecutive win. They also became first team to defeat the Storm in their arena and put an end to Tampa’s undefeated home record.
San Antonio’s offense, led by Aaron Garcia, broke their personal season record for the most points scored in a game. Garcia, who threw for eight touchdowns and 259 yards, continued to utilize his group of talented receivers by spreading touchdown passes around. Jomo Wilson ended the night with four touchdowns, Jason Willis had three touchdowns, Burl Toler, Derek Lee and Jamar Ransom each had one touchdown.
The Talons created an early lead with an interception and a recovered fumble by Dwight Mclean. Both defensive turnovers were directly followed by Talons’ touchdowns to create a 50-21 lead going into halftime.
Tampa attempted a comeback at the beginning of the third quarter by scoring two touchdowns to bring the score to 50-35. Nick Hill finished the game with five touchdowns and 353 yards. However, the Talons answered back each time to close the game with a final touchdown run on kickoff return by Wilson. The Talons passed on the field goal attempt and let the clock expire to end the game.
The San Antonio Talons head home to San Antonio to take on the Kansas City Command on Saturday, June 30 in the Alamodome. Kick off is at 8 p.m.
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TAMPA BAY -- Ageless quarterback Aaron Garcia, who entered his 17 Arena Football League season in 2012, passed for six first-half touchdowns and finished with 8 as San Antonio built a 43-21 halftime lead and went on to a 71-49 victory over the Tampa Bay Storm (6-8) Saturday night on the Amalie Motor Oil Field at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. It was the 8th straight win for the Talons (11-3), leaders of the American Conference South Division.
Garcia, who will turn 42 in October, has passed for more than 50,000 yards and 1,000 TDs. He was 18 of 23 passing in the first half and finished 27 of 35 for 259 yards.
Storm quarterback Nick Hill, 27, reached the 10,000 yard milestone Saturday, collecting 353 yards on 28-of-42 passing and 5 TDs. He did this in only 2 seasons and was in his 3rd game with the Storm this season.
The former Southern Illinois standout, who began his AFL career with the Orlando Predators, missed much of this season with the Storm when he signed a contract with the Green Bay Packers and was released following an extensive rookie camp earlier this year.
Former Florida State player De’Cody Fagg led all receivers, collecting a season-high 10 catches, 127 yards and one touchdown for the Storm and teammate Amarri Jackson had 109 yards and a team-leading three TDs.
Tampa Bay’s Jonathan Lowe had an outstanding night with a 23.2 yard average on five kickoff returns.
The Talons, 2nd in the league in quarterback sacks with 30, failed to get a hand on Hill, as the Tampa Bay offensive line held off any pressure by the San Antonio defensive line. Steve Octavien sacked Garcia once for the Storm.
The Tampa Bay Storm will play host to the Philadelphia Soul, Friday, June 29 on the Amalie Motor Oil Field of the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Game time is 7:30 p.m. The first 2,000 fans will receive a t-shirt compliments of Amalie Motor Oil.
