DES MOINES – The Pittsburgh Power (14-3) defeated the Iowa Barnstormers (6-11) in walk-off fashion on Saturday night thanks to the foot of kicker Julian Rauch whose 22-yard field goal as time expired gave the Power their 11th-straight win on the 2014 season.
The Power drew first blood with fullback Tommy Taggart finishing a seven-play drive with a one-yard rushing touchdown. Iowa responded on a 27-yard strike from quarterback Carson Coffman to wideout Darius Reynolds to tie things up at seven.
Iowa got the ball back quickly when a Tommy Grady pass was tipped and intercepted by the Barnstormer defense. Coffman gave the Barnstormers the lead with a 17-yard pass to Marco Thomas, making it 13-7 Iowa after a missed extra point. Tommy Grady put Pittsburgh back up on top before the end of the first quarter with a 15-yard pass to Prechae Rodriguez. The touchdown was Grady’s 500th on his career and made the score 14-13 Pittsburgh heading to the second frame.
Grady finished the contest 24-of-41 for 310 yards and six passing touchdowns. His favorite target on the evening was Edwards, who hauled in 12 passes for 150 yards and four touchdowns.
Pittsburgh began to open up a lead in the second quarter after forcing a turnover on downs to begin the period. Grady extended the lead with a 7-yard touchdown to Edwards to make the score 21-13 and after another Barnstormers touchdown, Grady hit Rodriguez on a 43-yard bomb to give the Power a 28-19 lead. Virgil Gray put an exclamation point on the first half returning a Coffman interception 48-yards to the house as time expired in the half to give the Power a 35-19 lead.
In his first game back from injury, Gray finished with five tackles and the pick-six.
Iowa began to climb back in the third quarter. The Barnstormers outscored Pittsburgh 21-7 in the frame forcing a turnover on downs and recovering a fumble at the end of the quarter that put them within two heading to the fourth quarter.
Ten seconds into the fourth quarter, Iowa took their first lead since the first quarter on a 13-yard pass from Coffman to Reynolds that made it 47-42 Barnstormers. Grady answered with a touchdown pass to Edwards that made it 49-47 and Iowa responded with a 22-yard field goal from Ross Gornall that put Iowa on top 50-49.
The Power managed to reclaim the lead with just over three minutes to play as Grady found Edwards on fourth down for a 25-yard score that put the Power up six. The Barnstormers answered with Reynolds pulling in his franchise-record seventh touchdown pass, but Gornall’s extra point was blocked keeping things tied at 56.
The Power received the ensuing kickoff, held possession and worked the clock down. After a few shots at the end zone, Julian Rauch was called upon for a chance at his second game-winning field goal of the year. As time expired, the kick sailed through the uprights giving the Power their 11th-straight win 59-56.
The Power have already locked up the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Arena Football League playoffs but have one final regular season game before advancing. They welcome their in-state rivals, the Philadelphia Soul, to CONSOL Energy Center on Saturday, July 26 at 5:00 p.m. for their final tune-up before the playoffs begin.
POSTGAME AWARDS
RUSSELL ATHLETIC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME – Darius Reynolds, Iowa
RIDDELL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME – Ter’Ran Benton, Iowa
J. LEWIS SMALL PLAYMAKER OF THE GAME – Virgil Gray, Pittsburgh
CUTTERS CATCH OF THE GAME – Iowa’s Darius Reynolds’ 7th touchdown reception
AFL HIGHLIGHT OF THE GAME – Pittsburgh’s Virgil Gray’s 48-yard interception return for a score