Las Vegas – This time confetti descended from the roof and was not fired from cannons in the end zones. There was nothing premature about it.
This time, on time, it covered the Colorado Crush, winner of ArenaBowl XIX. Clay Rush’s 20-yard field goal as time expired made the Crush – 2-14 two seasons ago – a champion.
Last week, the Crush was at home in a playoff game when confetti was released too soon, when celebrating began before it was over. That game against Chicago required overtime. Sunday’s game against the Georgia Force took every second for an outcome but finished in four quarters, 51-48, a scuffle of daring calls and big plays – and gripping resolve.
Who says arena football has no value, no meaning?
You should have seen the young Georgia players well afterward, some red-eyed, others still with moist eyes.
You should have seen the Crush celebrate winning this championship, earning a trophy so big that it takes two to carry, players running around the field like kids at recess when Rush’s field goal glided through the narrow posts and bounced off the net as the horn blew.
For the Crush, the timing, the game, the experience, the victory, was enchanting.
“Denver won the first Arena- Bowl in 1987,” AFL commissioner David Baker said. “As we prepare to enter our third decade, what better way than Denver to present it with another championship in only its third year back in the league?”
This league, known for its offense and particularly its passing offense, presented a championship game that started off odd. There were no passing touchdowns in a first half as Colorado took a 24-20 lead.
This was not going to fly.
This indoor game is quarterback-driven even more than outdoor football. One of the quarterbacks – Matt Nagy for Georgia or John Dutton for Colorado – was going to make enough plays against bold defenses that surprised.
One was going to win the championship by making just enough twists.
That was Dutton.
He won an AFL championship in 2002 with San Jose, and he kept cool in this game where he was being knocked around and frustrated early. Dutton played college football at Nevada, so, he knows this state, this high-rolling place.
He has had AFL games with bigger numbers and games with more prolific individual achievement, but when he needed to be good at the Thomas & Mack Center, he was very good.
The last of it, the best of it, came with 18 seconds left in the game and the score tied 48-48. Dutton passed for 37 yards to Kevin McKenzie, and the play wound up at the Georgia 3-yard line because of a Force penalty. That made Rush’s winning kick much shorter and so sweet.
“Nevada has been very good to me, these people here,” Dutton said. “Both defenses really put on a show and made the day frustrating for offense. But I’ve been with our team now for three years. It’s my team. We’ve built this thing from the ground up. We’ve gone through the tough times and worked for this moment. That’s what makes it so special.”
His coach, Mike Dailey, said Dutton presented rigid focus and confidence before the game, tremendous faith, and then used those traits to lead his team to the championship. Dailey said Dutton “is one of the really good people in the world.” Baker called Dutton “the kind of young man you’d be proud of as a dad, and one I’m proud of as commissioner.”
Dutton finished with 347 passing yards and three touchdowns.
He proved on Sunday to be a player of impact.
This 19th AFL season stood still midway when Al Lucas, a Los Angeles lineman, died on the field from a routine hit that crushed vertebrae. Every player in the league afterward wore Lucas’ number (76) on the back of his helmet. The Georgia and Colorado players wore them in this game. Many AFL officials wore No. 76 pins on their lapels.
This was a season that featured the league’s first championship game at a neutral site – Vegas, bright lights, exhilarating plays, whirlwind football.
There were plenty of milestone moments in 2005 in the AFL, but the final and pre-eminent one belongs to the Crush. These guys earned it.
Staff writer Thomas George can be reached at 303-820-1994 or tgeorge@denverpost.com.
