ArenaBowl '91 (or ArenaBowl V) was the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

's fifth ArenaBowl. The game featured the #2

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. Th ...

(8-2) against the #1

Detroit Drive The Massachusetts Marauders were a professional arena football team that was based in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were a member of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1994. The team was established in Detroit in 1988, as the Detroit D ...

(9-1). The Storm were in their first season in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

since moving from

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and having spent their first four seasons as the Pittsburgh Gladiators, while the Drive were trying to win an unprecedented fourth-straight ArenaBowl title.

Game summary

In the first quarter, the Storm struck first with Quarterback

Jay Gruden Jay Michael Gruden (born March 4, 1967) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is an offensive consultant for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach of the Washington ...

getting a one-yard touchdown run, yet the Drive responded with Quarterback

Art Schlichter Arthur Ernest Schlichter (, born April 25, 1960) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons with the Colts franchise. He also played one Canadian Football League (CFL) season wit ...

completing a 10-yard touchdown pass to WR/DB Gary Mullen and a 32-yard touchdown pass to OS

George LaFrance George Herbert LaFrance III (born September 24, 1965) is a former Arena Football League offensive specialist. In a playing career lasting twelve years, he played for the Detroit Drive (1988-1993), the Tampa Bay Storm (1994-1999), and the New Jer ...

. In the second quarter, Tampa Bay struck back with Gruden completing a 13-yard touchdown pass to WR/LB Stevie Thomas. Detroit responded with FB/LB Alvin Rettig, the Storm began to take control with FB/LB Lynn Bradford getting a three-yard touchdown run, while Gruden and Thomas hooked up with each other again on a 42-yard touchdown pass. In the third quarter, the Drive answered with Schlichter completing a 13-yard touchdown pass to WR/LB Will McClay, while the Storm replied with Gruden completing a 37-yard touchdown pass to WR/DB Darren Willis. While Detroit could only answer with Kicker Novo Bojovic getting a 46-yard field goal, Tampa Bay increased its lead with Gruden hooking up with Thomas again with a 17-yard touchdown pass. In the fourth quarter, the Drive tried to come back with Schlichter and Mullen hooking up again on a 23-yard touchdown pass (with a failed PAT) and FB/LB Aric Anderson getting a one-yard touchdown run (with a failed two-point conversion), the Storm wrapped the game up with Gruden and Thomas hooking up with each other once more on a 35-yard touchdown pass. With the win, not only did Tampa Bay win its first-ever ArenaBowl title, but they also prevented Detroit from winning its fourth consecutive league title.

Scoring summary

1st Quarter * TB - Gruden 1 run (Hickert kick) * DET - Mullen 10 pass from Schlichter (Bojovic kick) * DET - LaFrance 32 pass from Schlichter (Bojovic kick) 2nd Quarter * TB - Thomas 13 pass from Gruden (Hickert kick) * DET - Rettig 2 run (Bojovic kick) * TB - Bradford 3 run (Hickert kick) * TB - Thomas 42 pass from Gruden (Hickert Kick) 3rd Quarter * DET - McClay 13 pass from Schlichter (Bojovic kick failed) * TB - Willis 37 pass from Gruden (Hickert kick) * DET - FG Bojovic 46 * TB - Thomas 17 pass from Gruden (Hickert kick) 4th Quarter * DET - Mullen 23 pass from Schlichter (Bojovic kick failed) * DET - Anderson 1 run (Schlichter pass failed) * TB - Thomas 35 pass from Gruden (Hickert kick failed)

Trivia

* On the Arena Football League's 20 Greatest Highlights Countdown (which was shown on arenafootball.com during the AFL's 20th season), this game is a #5.http://www.arenafootball.com/mediaPlayer/video.dbml?DB_MENU_ID=&SPSID=38064&SPID=3172&DB_OEM_ID=3500&CLIP_ID=31190&CLIP_FILE_ID=35213&CONTENT_TYPE=ONDEMAND

References

External links

ArenaFan Box Score
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arenabowl V

005 ''005'' is a 1981 arcade game by Sega. They advertised it as the first of their RasterScan Convert-a-Game series, designed so that it could be changed into another game in minutes "at a substantial savings". It is one of the first examples of a ...

1991 Arena Football League season Tampa Bay Storm Massachusetts Marauders 1991 in sports in Michigan Sports competitions in Detroit 1991 in American television August 1991 sports events in the United States 1991 in Detroit