Box Score

The San Diego Strike Force lost their season opener 38-33 in heartbreaking and pulsating fashion to the Bay Area Panthers. In a game in which they led for all but about five minutes of game time, San Diego found themselves on the losing side when all was said and done. They were literal inches away from winning this one, but were stopped just short on the final play of the game in what turned out to be one of the most exciting and disputable finishes to a football game you'll ever see. 

You can watch the full replay of this game here.

San Diego got off to a great start, forcing the Panthers into a 4 and out deep in their own territory. They then used the formidable rushing duo of Davonte Sapp-Lynch and Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks to go 12 yards on three straight carries, capping the drive off with a two-yard touchdown run from Hanks to score first less than four minutes into the game. After another defensive stop and a Bay Area missed field goal, a 26-yard pass completion from Cris Solano to Troy Evans set San Diego up inside the one-yard line. The Panthers scratched and clawed to keep the Strike Force out of the end zone and were able to do so, coming through with a big goal-line stand to turn the tide back in their favor. They would use that momentum to march down the field and score their first touchdown in franchise history, a one-yard quarterback sneak from Cory Murphy. The two teams would head into the second quarter tied at 6.

  Following that touchdown, the tale of the tape until late in the first half was riddled with mistakes, miscues, and missed opportunities for both teams offensively until about the five minute mark in the second quarter. After that, the two teams would catch fire, scoring a combined 23 points to finish out the second quarter.
 
The Strike Force would finish the first half with three rushing touchdowns from Hanks, Lynch, and Solano. Solano would show off his speed on a 13-yard touchdown run to give San Diego the lead with 3:30 to play in the half, and Lynch would punch one in from 12 yards out with less than a minute to go after two costly penalties committed by the Bay Area defense put San Diego in Panthers' territory. That score would give the Strike Force a 20-16 lead heading into halftime. 
 
San Diego would strike 55 seconds into the second half on a 30 yard catch-and-run from Cris Solano to Amechi Walker. The Panthers would respond by taking advantage of great field position, capping off a solid drive with a one-yard touchdown run from quarterback Joe Newman. The teams would continue to go back and forth, scoring on four straight combined possessions before the Panthers were able to come up with a stop to close out the third quarter. Bay Area would head into the fourth trailing 33-29, but with the ball and momentum on their side. 
 
The Panthers would drive inside San Diego territory to set up a short field goal, which would cut the deficit to one at 33-32. The Strike Force would then make a costly mistake, giving the ball back to the Panthers on a Cris Solano interception that was picked off by Bay Area defensive back Marcellus Pippins. San Diego's defense would come up huge, forcing a field goal attempt from 23 yards that Bay Area kicker Stevie Artigue would miss, keeping the Strike Force in front by one.
 

The biggest miscue of the game arguably came with a minute and half to go in the fourth quarter, when quarterback Cris Solano overthrew wide receiver Amechi Walker. Walker was all by himself downfield and would have walked into the end zone to put the game on ice. Instead, the Strike Force worked themselves into a fourth-and-four and were unable to convert, with Solano being denied just short of the first down on a scramble play. That led to what would be the Panthers' game winning touchdown with 21 seconds left in the game when quarterback Cory Murphy punched it in from one yard out, finishing the game in the same way that he started it.

 
Despite all the mishaps, San Diego would have one last chance to drive down the field and score a touchdown in order to walk out of the SAP Center with a win. Another long completion from Solano to Walker would set the Strike Force up inside the five-yard line with just six seconds remaining. San Diego would put the ball in the hands of Davonte Sapp-Lynch once again, who had found the end zone two times already. This time, despite a heroic effort to push the pile, Lynch would be stopped just shy of the end zone. What ensued was an ending so controversial that if it were an NFL game, it would be talked about for the rest of the season. San Diego tried to call its final timeout to stop the clock, but officials ruled that time expired before the play ended, meaning the game was over. A replay review showed that that there was a second left on the clock when the play ended, but officials came to the conclusion that San Diego never visibly signaled for a timeout. Ball game over. Panthers win.

The Strike Force were lucky enough to walk away from a number of defensive breakdowns unscathed thanks to a number of errant throws and inexcusable drops on behalf of the Panthers' offense. The Panthers did however take advantage of a number of missed tackles and defensive penalties to keep the offense moving. Both teams left points on the board due to a number of missed field goal and PAT attempts.

As is usually the case even in defeat, there were some bright spots for San Diego in this one. Davonte Sapp-Lynch put on quite the homecoming performance, rushing for two touchdowns and delivering a plethora of earth-shaking and pin-knocking runs. The man lived up to the hype that has been surrounding him since he joined the team as a late addition a little over two weeks ago, showing that he will likely be a staple in this offense for the entire season. Quarterback Cris Solano finished with two touchdowns as well (one rushing, one passing) and was able to complete a couple of deep throws in some key spots.  Despite being on the end of a number of missed opportunities, wide receiver Amechi Walker was the recipient of most of those deep throws and had the team's only receiving touchdown of the game. He also led all San Diego receivers in yards and catches. The offensive line looked strong as well, providing Solano with plenty of time and a clean pocket to throw from more often than not.

Spotty tackling aside, San Diego's defense made sure their presence was felt. They played with a lot of heart and made big stops throughout to help keep the Strike Force in front. Defensive back David Haney was exceptionally impressive, breaking up a number of long pass attempts and sticking to receivers like glue. His counterpart Daquawn "Cheetah" Brown was also flying all over the field, making plays in the secondary and in the backfield. Defensive lineman Ben Moa set the tone and led the charge up front. Defensive captain Ricky Wyatt also jumped in the mix with a couple of momentum shifting tackles-for-loss.

We'll remember the controversial ending, but the Strike Force had plenty of chances to secure a win long before the clock hit triple zeroes. Penalties and missed tackles were definitely an Achilles' heel for them in this one. Even so, they led for the majority of the game, including the entire second half other than the final 21 seconds. The most costly issue, however, was missed opportunities on offense. They had a number of chances to make big plays that should have been made, plays that likely would have put the nail in the coffin and sealed the deal. Too many of those plays were not made, and it proved to be costly.

Some of these issues can likely be credited to first game jitters, but regardless of what caused them, The Strike Force are going to have to clean it up if they want to compete with the perennial powerhouse Arizona Rattlers next week, who had an impressive showing against the Duke City Gladiators in a 50-29 win at home. This loss is going to leave a bad taste in San Diego's mouth, but there's still 15 more games to be played, and the outcome of this season is still far from being decided.

The Strike Force will look to grab their first win of the season in their home opener at the Pechanga Sports Arena. Kick off is scheduled for 7:05 P.M. on Monday, March 28th. Get your tickets now!