KISS can’t get offense moving in loss to San Jose
SAN JOSE – The first offensive possession revealed everything that went wrong in the LA KISS’ 54-28 loss to the San Jose Sabercats in an Arena Football League game Saturday.
After the Sabercats took the early lead, Marcus Trice returned the ensuing kickoff 51 yards to San Jose’s 7, giving the KISS an opportunity to tie the game and gain some momentum.
Quarterback Adrian McPherson rushed for 2 yards on the first play, and that was the highlight. Three penalties and two sacks later, the KISS turned the ball over on its own 19-yard line.
That’s the way things went for Los Angeles (0-2), which has lost four times to the Sabercats in four meetings.
The KISS hopes to turn things around next Saturday when it hosts the Las Vegas Outlaws in a home opener at 7 p.m. at Honda Center.
McPherson threw for 155 yards and two touchdowns, but also had his lone interception returned for a touchdown.
The KISS was shut out in the first period, and it had only itself to blame. The KISS held onto the ball for 9:44 but was hit for 31 penalty yards and mustered 2 total offensive yards.
Things didn’t get much better until the KISS rallied to make it 34-14 at halftime. Another scoreless quarter did them no favors.
McPherson, who completed 12 of 25 passes, threw scoring tosses of 33 yards to Donovan Morgan and 9 yards to Tom Gilson. He was also sacked four times.
Brian Zbydniewski threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Morgan early in the fourth quarter, moments after throwing his own pick six.
Morgan, who caught five passes for 148 yards, was on the receiving end of Zbydniewski’s second touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Gilson had six catches for 48 yards.
Morgan, a former AFL Rookie of the Year, became the second KISS receiver to record a 100-yard receiving game, joining Thyron Lewis, who had 103 yards in last week’s loss to the Portland Thunder.
Zbydniewski was 4 of 9 for 73 yards in his relief effort.
San Jose’s Erik Meyer was 20 of 31 passing for 222 yards. He threw for five scores. De’audra Dix, who recorded a team best eight tackles, six solo, picked him off once.
The Sabercats scored the first three times they had the football and the KISS was never able to close the gap the rest of the way. Darryl Cato-Bishop had the lone quarterback sack.
A pass interference call and a personal foul on the KISS helped San Jose score its first touchdown.
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