After a solid road win against the Milwaukee Mustangs last week, the Georgia Force looked to earn their fifth win of the year as they faced the Pittsburgh Power Saturday night at the Gwinnett Arena. And with a dominating performance in the third quarter, the Force was able to do just that, dominating Pittsburgh 58-39.
The Force was up 20-19 at the start of the third quarter and they were able to add on to their lead with a Brett Elliott 15-yard touchdown pass to Larry Shipp to lead by eight. After a turnover on downs by Pittsburgh on their opening series, the Force wasted little time to add on to their lead as Elliott threw another touchdown pass to Maurice Purify to increase their lead to 15.
Pittsburgh looked to answer on the ensuing drive, but quarterback Anthon Morelli threw an interception to Ahmad Hawkins which led to a another Elliott-to-Purify connection to increase their lead to 22 at the end of the third.
“Really, the third quarter won the game,” Force head coach Dean Cokinos said. “We played with a little more energy. We just played smarter.”
Pittsburgh was able break the scoring drought Xavier Lee scored two rushing touchdowns for the Power. But every time Pittsburgh would make a play, the Force would top that, scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter including two more touchdown passes from Elliott and a 33-yard field goal from Carlos Martinez. Elliott finished his day with 261 passing yards, eight touchdowns and one interception.
“I didn’t play very well in the second quarter,” Elliott said. “Really our defense kept us in the game. As an offense, we talked at halftime that the defense is playing their buts off; we have to step it up. So it was nice to get some points on the board and get some separation.”
The Force defense did play one of their better games of the season, notching four sacks and three turnovers. Hawkins ended his day with two interceptions and was named Defensive Player of the Game.
“He still going to get better,” Cokinos said talking about Hawkins. “He’s been playing the game 10 years. In the old AFL, he’s one of the best DB’s to ever play the game.”
Pittsburgh got off to a solid start when the game began as Morelli threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Lee to go up by seven. But the when the Force got possession, Elliott threw a 45-yard touchdown bomb to C.J. Johnson to tie the game at seven. Pittsburgh struck back with a Morelli 4-yard touchdown pass to Jason Willis to take the lead again, but that was short lived as Elliott threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Maurice Purify to tie the game at 13. Purify was named MVP and Offensive Player of the Game, finishing the night with 10 catches for 90 yards and four touchdowns.
“I’m just trying to get to the spot that [Elliott] wants,” Purify said. “It’s just really right place at the right time.”
At the start of the second quarter, Hawkins intercepted a Morelli pass which led to an Elliott 13-yard touchdown pass to Johnson, which increased their lead to seven. Later in the quarter, Pittsburgh was able to score off an Elliott interception as Joshua Rue and for a 6-yard touchdown to cut the Force lead to one going into halftime.
The Force improved their record to 5-2 and they are now half a game out of the American Conference South Division lead. Their next game will be on May 6 when the Utah Blaze come to the Gwinnett Arena for a non-conference contest.
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