ArenaBowl XIX was the 2005 championship game of 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 ...

(AFL), and was played at the Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada. The first neutral-site title game in AFL history drew 10,822 fans to see the

Colorado Crush The Colorado Crush were an arena football team based in Denver, Colorado. They began play as a 2003 Arena Football League expansion team. The Crush played in the Central Division of the American Conference until the Arena Football League suspen ...

defeat the

Georgia Force The Georgia Force was an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States (part of suburban Atlanta) that played in the South Division of the American Conference. The team was owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn Je ...

51–48 to claim the Foster ArenaBowl Trophy. ArenaBowl XIX is widely considered one of the greatest games played.

Game summary

In a matchup of two first-time ArenaBowl participants (not counting the Force's appearances in ArenaBowls XIV and XV as the

Nashville Kats The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to A ...

, as those games are attributed to the new Kats franchise), the Crush claimed the Foster ArenaBowl Trophy in just their third year of existence. The Crush got out to a 7–0 lead on the first of four

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s by

Willis Marshall Willis Thurman Marshall III (born August 12, 1975) is a former arena football wide receiver / defensive back. He played college football at Youngstown State. In his career, Marshall has played for the Calgary Stampeders, Grand Rapids Rampage, ...

and added a Clay Rush field goal to extend the lead to 10–0 before the Force got on the scoreboard. The teams then traded touchdowns throughout the remainder of the first half, with the Crush leading 24–20 at the break. The first half was especially notable for being the first time in ArenaBowl history in which neither team threw a passing touchdown. Crush quarterback John Dutton, the MVP of ArenaBowl XVI, and Force signal-caller

Matt Nagy Matthew Nagy ( or ; born April 24, 1978) is an American football coach, and former arena football quarterback, who is the senior assistant and quarterbacks coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was the head ...

would soon change that, however, as the two combined for seven passing touchdowns in the second half. Rookie Derek Lee caught three touchdown passes in the half for Georgia, but it was not enough to offset the Colorado attack, as Dutton threw two touchdowns to Damian Harrell and another to Marshall With 18 seconds remaining, Nagy threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Chris Jackson, tying the game at 48. However, the Crush quickly moved into field goal range, and kicker Rush converted his third field goal of the day, this one from 20 yards out as time expired, giving Colorado its first ArenaBowl title with a 51-48 win. Marshall was named both Offensive Player of the Game and Ironman of the Game, with six catches for 111 yards and one touchdown in addition to three rushing touchdowns. Ahmad Hawkins earned Defensive Player of the Game honors by registering the game's lone interception. Colorado coach Mike Dailey earned his second championship ring while Georgia's first-year head coach

Doug Plank Douglas Walter Plank (born March 4, 1953) is a former American football safety and coach in the National Football League. Early life Plank attended Norwin High School in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, where he played baseball, basketball, ...

, the league's 2005 Coach of the Year, came up short in his fourth consecutive ArenaBowl, having lost the previous three as the defensive coordinator for the Arizona Rattlers.

Scoring summary

1st Quarter *COL – Marshall 1 run (Rush kick) *COL – FG Rush 20 *GA – Nagy 1 run (Garner kick) 2nd Quarter *COL – Marshall 4 run (Rush kick) *GA – Aldridge 27 run (Garner kick failed) *COL – Marshall 3 run (Rush kick) *GA – Thomas 2 run (Garner kick) 3rd Quarter *COL – Harrell 12 pass from Dutton (Rush kick) *GA – Lee 2 pass from Nagy (Garner kick) 4th Quarter *COL – FG Rush 26 *GA – Lee 34 pass from Nagy (Garner kick) *COL – Marshall 45 pass from Dutton (Rush kick) *GA – Lee 27 pass from Nagy (Garner kick) *COL – Harrell 30 pass from Dutton (Rush kick) *GA – Jackson 20 pass from Nagy (Garner kick) *COL – FG Rush 20

Trivia

* On the Arena Football League's 20 Greatest Highlights Countdown (which was shown on arenafooball.com during the AFL's 20th season) this game is tied at #1

External links

ArenaFan Online's ArenaBowl XIX box score
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arenabowl Xix ArenaBowl, 019 2005 Arena Football League season Georgia Force Colorado Crush 2005 in sports in Nevada Sports competitions in Nevada 2005 in American television June 2005 sports events in the United States 21st century in Las Vegas Arena Football League in Las Vegas Thomas & Mack Center