San Jose – The San Jose SaberCats scored two touchdowns in the final 37 seconds of the second quarter Saturday night and the Colorado Crush never recovered to fall 61-56 at the HP Pavilion.
With the victory, San Jose clinched the Western Division title and earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
A win over the Arizona Rattlers at the Pepsi Center on Friday would give the Crush the top seed in the American Conference playoffs for a second consecutive year.
The Crush’s John Dutton finished 29-of-43 for 376 yards and six touchdowns, but threw two interceptions. Receiver Damian Harrell had nine receptions for 129 yards and four touchdowns.
The loss dropped the Crush to 0-5 against the SaberCats in the regular season. Colorado beat San Jose last year in playoff quarterfinals.
The Crush tried to come back with two touchdowns in the final three minutes of the game but fell short. Harrell caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Dutton with 2:50 left in the game to move within 61-49. Then with four seconds left they scored on a 48-yard pass for the final margin.
