LA Kiss Win Again, Keep Playoff Hopes Alive
Last night, the Las Vegas Outlaws (5-10) traveled down to stormy SoCal to face off against the LA Kiss (4-11).
From the looks of these teams record, this game should have little meaning in this year’s AFL season.
As a matter of fact, it was the exact opposite.
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The AFL playoffs are right around the corner, and despite the Outlaws and Kiss records, they both have a chance at making the playoffs.
The LA Kiss would get the scoring started early in the 1st quarter when fullback Miles Mason plowed his way into the end zone from three yards out to make it 7-0. The game was going back and forth throughout the 1st half.
The Outlaws would score with 44 seconds in the half to tie the game at 14.
Since an AFL field is only 50 yards long, 44 seconds was enough time for Kiss quarterback Danny Southwick to try and give his team the lead.
The last 44 seconds would turn all the momentum in the Kiss favor. Southwick would find DeMarco Sampson on a 20 yard touchdown pass to give them the lead 21-14.
On the ensuing drive, the Kiss defense stepped up and sacked Outlaws backup quarterback Dennis Havrilla in the endzone to result in a saftey, making the score 23-14 at half.
With a nine point lead at half, the LA Kiss needed to finish the game strong and get within one game of the AFL Playoffs.
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The Outlaws scored on a Havrilla 7 yard touchdown run to bring them within two points, 23-21.
How would the LA Kiss respond with the playoffs on the line?
DeMarco Sampson would receive the following kickoff, switch fields about 5 times and eventually score a 53 yard kickoff return for a touchdown and bring the life back to all the fans at Honda Center.
Entering the 4th quarter, the Kiss led 30-21.
The Kiss couldn’t put the nail in the coffin against the resilient Outlaws who would score again to make it 30-27 after the Outlaws extra point actually got stuck in the upright.
With just over six minutes left, after connecting on a key 4th down, Southwick would find Kiss star wideout Donovan “Captain” Morgan for a 18 yard touchdown.
After Morgan scoring his touchdown, he ran to midfield and did his ritual celebration of the Captain Morgan pose.
He, his teammates, and the fans could all feel the playoffs getting closer.
The L.A. Kiss would clamp down after that score and defeat the Las Vegas Outlaws 37-27 to pull within one game from the AFL Playoffs.
In the AFL Playoff format, the top 8 teams in the league make the postseason.
With this win, the Kiss trail the Outlaws and Spokane Shock by one game for that 8th spot.
The playoffs would be a huge step for the Kiss. This year has been a roller coaster as they started the season 0-9.
But since then, the Kiss have won four out of six games and have their eyes set on the playoffs.
This has already been a year of records for the Kiss with winning a franchise record 4th win and let’s hope they can finish this season with their first playoff appearance.
The Kiss road to the playoffs won’t come easy.
The last three weeks of the season have them facing two of the three best teams in the AFL, Arizona Rattlers (12-3) and the San Jose Sabercats (15-1).
We shall see what the Kiss are made of in the next three weeks, and hopefully L.A. will have another playoff team to root for.