Piranhas’ Suffering Continues to Grow

ANAHEIM — At the halfway point of last season, the Piranhas of the Arena Football League were honeymooning with the Southern California sports fans. They had won their first seven games. They were looking forward to a playoff berth in their initial season and were drawing nearly 13,000 fans to their home games.

A year later, the marriage is on the rocks.

Saturday night, the Piranhas dropped to 1-6 and nearly eliminated themselves from the playoffs after a 68-62 loss to expansion Nashville in front of an announced crowd of 9,862. In three home games, the Piranhas have not had a crowd of 10,000.

The Piranhas fell behind 23-0 in less than nine minutes and never recovered. They mounted an exciting comeback in the second half behind the theatrics of rookie quarterback Mark Grieb, but never got closer than 61-56.

Penalties and injuries continue to plague the Piranhas. Entering Saturday night, the Piranhas were the fifth-most penalized team in the AFL and the most injury-prone. Anaheim didn’t suffer any more major injuries--10 players missed the game--but it did break its franchise record for penalties in a game with 15 for 65 yards.

The most crushing Anaheim penalty came in the fourth quarter with the Piranhas trailing, 61-56, and trying to get the ball back. With Nashville facing a third and 10 at the Anaheim 22, Piranha defensive specialist Rodney Mazion was called for pass interference in the end zone on a pass intended for Bill Rutledge. The infraction gave Nashville an automatic first down and led to Kelly’s ninth touchdown pass, a five-yard throw to lineman James Baron.

“You can’t fault our effort,” Piranhas Coach Mike Hohensee said. “I think we made too many mental mistakes to come back after we dug a hole.”

Five of Kelly’s franchise record scoring passes went to receiver Cory Fleming, Kelly’s favorite target while the two played at the University of Tennessee. Fleming’s job was made easier by the absence of the Piranhas’ All-Arena defensive back Carlton Johnson, who is lost for the season with a knee injury. The Piranhas were forced to put 5-foot-11 Spencer Wray on Fleming, a 6-2 leaper, who had eight receptions for 131 yards.

“He made the catches,” Hohensee said. “He had a lot of height on our guys. A lot of those were ugly throws but he went up and got them.”

The Piranhas’ bright spot was Grieb, a rookie from UC Davis, who passed for 361 yards and eight touchdowns on 24 of 35 attempts. The total yards tied a franchise record and the touchdown pass mark set the record.

“I thought he did a great job,” Hohensee said. “He’s starting to come into his own. He’s going to be a great quarterback in this league.”

Ryan Murray was Grieb’s favorite target with nine catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Bryan Reeves had eight catches for 102 yards and three touchdowns.

The Piranhas’ second season doesn’t get any easier. Next week, they travel to Orlando, which has played in three of the last five ArenaBowls and lead the Southern Division with a 5-2 record.