The calendar may say March, but winter returned to Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday night. The Salt Lake Stallions hosted the Orlando Apollos on a snow-covered field and a predictable slog-fest ensued — but it was the warm-weather Floridians who emerged with a 20-11 victory.
“I told our guys before the game, if our Florida boys could come win one in the snow, then we’d have something to talk about,” said Orlando coach Steve Spurrier. "It was a fun one and it was a good game. Gosh, the Stallions played pretty well, They outplayed us a good portion, but we kept them out of the end zone.”
In the highly anticipated matchup between Spurrier and Stallions coach Dennis Erickson — who both built their reputations in the Sunshine State but never actually faced each other there — the weather ultimately kept the two offensive-minded coaches from opening up their playbooks. Orlando ended up with just 363 total yards, while the Stallions could muster only 265.
It wasn’t until the third quarter that the big plays started coming.
APOLLOS 20, STALLIONS 11
• Apollos coach Steve Spurrier wins in his first-ever meeting with Stallions coach Dennis Erickson.
• Salt Lake’s Branden Oliver leads all rushers with 71 yards on a snowy night at Rice-Eccles.
• The Stallions convert on only one of nine third-down attempts against Orlando.
• The Apollos’ Charles Johnson leads all receivers with 105 yards.
Orlando’s Garrett Gilbert connected with Rannell Hall for a 45-yard catch and run to the 1-yard line. The play was negated by a block in the back, moving the ball back to the Stallions 20. However, two plays later, Gilbert connected to Donteea Dye for a 20-yard touchdown reception to give the Apollos a 14-3 lead.
Just before the end of the third quarter, the Stallions’ Joel Bouaagnon — filling in for the injured Branden Oliver — ran 14 yards around the right side for Salt Lake’s only touchdown of the game. The score pulled the Stallions to within three with the two-point conversion, but those were the last points the Stallions would put on the board.
“We couldn’t get them off the field in the second half, just couldn’t get them off the field,” Erickson said. “You know, that says a lot about them, they’re a really good football team. Offensively, we moved it. We moved it up and down the field. We just couldn’t get any points.”
Not helping the Stallions — a miserable 1-for-9 outing converting third downs.
“Most of these games are so close, if you can score touchdowns in the red zone, you’ve got a chance to win,” said Spurrier.
Next week, the Stallions will look to rebound on the road against the San Diego Fleet. The Apollos, unbeaten in AAF play coming in, will try to keep their perfect record intact against Birmingham.