New Orleans – For the first time in a month, Colorado Crush quarterback John Dutton wore the biggest smile of anyone walking off the field.
The burden of a three-game losing streak was lifted off his shoulders Sunday. The questions about the accuracy of his right arm had subsided.
The Crush, thanks in large part to eight Dutton touchdown passes and some stout fourth-quarter defense, is in sole possession of first place in the Central Division after a 63-57 victory over the New Orleans Voodoo at New Orleans Arena before 14,205 fans.
The Crush (9-5) moved a step closer to securing a playoff berth with just two weeks remaining in the regular season.
Perhaps no one was happier than Dutton, who completed 30-of-40 passes for 296 yards and had no interceptions for the first time since March 25.
“We’ve been bleeding a lot the last three games, and we knew what kind of team we had,” Dutton said. “But we just had to work through some things. We have the momentum on our side right now, and hopefully we can carry that through.”
Just as the Crush had hoped, it got off to a quick start, scoring touchdowns on five of its six first-half possessions on the way to nine touchdowns on 10 possessions.
Dutton’s favorite targets were Damian Harrell, who pulled in 13 receptions for 130 yards and four touchdowns, and Willis Marshall, who had 12 catches for 110 yards and a score.
“I thought our quarterback was spectacular,” Crush coach Mike Dailey said. “He kept himself alive in a couple situations with his feet (and) made a play on third down when we needed to do it.”
The victory wasn’t secured until Rashad Floyd and Ahmad Hawkins knocked away a last-second, desperation heave.
The beleaguered Crush defense, which had allowed at least 56 points in the past four outings, again had some problems against the VooDoo (8-6). But the unit did manage to come up with some big stops in the fourth quarter.
With the teams matching score for score for the first three quarters, the Crush held New Orleans to a 32-yard field goal early in the fourth and left the VooDoo trailing 49-45.
VooDoo quarterback Andy Kelly was 28-of-42 passing for 272 yards and seven touchdowns without an interception. In the fourth quarter, though, he was 8-of-16 with one touchdown.
The VooDoo took a 51-49 lead when New Orleans’ Denario Smalls recovered a VooDoo kickoff, which Marshall misplayed off the net, for a touchdown.
The lead was short-lived, though, as the Crush answered with Dutton connecting with Hawkins on a 9-yard touchdown for a 56-51 lead.
Then the Crush had a crucial stop of a fourth-and-goal from the 5 with 4:03 remaining.
“I want to say we got the monkey off our back, but these last two games of the regular season are big,” Marshall said. “Nashville is playing good. New York is going to be playing for a playoff spot.
“The good thing is, we know we are a good team and we went out there and executed and saw some results that were positive. Now we are feeling pretty good, and hopefully we can get our swagger back.”
