2007 Columbus Destroyers season

The 2007 Columbus Destroyers season is the 9th season for the franchise and the 4th in Columbus. They finished with a 7-9 record and qualified for the playoffs. The Destroyers defeated the Tampa Bay Storm 56-55 in the first round. The Destroyers advanced to the National Conference Championship by beating Dallas 66-59 in Dallas the following week. Columbus swept the table with the top three National Conference teams by defeating the Georgia Force 66-56 to win the National Conference Championship Game and their first conference title in team history and will go to New Orleans to participate in their first ever ArenaBowl XXI.

2007 Columbus Destroyers season
Owner(s)	{{{owner}}}
Head Coach	Doug Kay
Home Field	Nationwide Arena
Results
Record	7-9
Place	3rd
Playoff Finish	Qualified
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
2006	2008

Coaching

Doug Kay started his second season as head coach of the Destroyers.

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
1	March 1	Nashville Kats	Away	W 58-56
2	March 9	New Orleans VooDoo	Away	L 52-45
3		Bye Week
4	March 24	Chicago Rush	Home	L 55-47
5	March 30	Georgia Force	Home	W 62-61
6	April 5	Dallas Desperados	Away	L 53-51
7	April 14	Austin Wranglers	Home	W 72-49
8	April 23	Philadelphia Soul	Home	W 44-21
9	April 29	Tampa Bay Storm	Away	L 34-32
10	May 4	New York Dragons	Home	W 51-42
11	May 11	Grand Rapids Rampage	Home	W 59-56
12	May 18	Colorado Crush	Away	L 58-40
13	May 26	Dallas Desperados	Home	L 56-47
14	June 2	Georgia Force	Away	L 54-33
15	June 8	Kansas City Brigade	Home	L 47-34
16	June 16	Philadelphia Soul	Away	L 56-53
17	June 23	New York Dragons	Away	W 74-43

Playoff Schedule

Round	Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
1st	June 30	(3) Tampa Bay Storm	Away	W 56-55
2nd	July 7	(1) Dallas Desperados	Away	W 66-59
3rd	July 14	(2) Georgia Force	Away	W 66-56
ArenaBowl XXI	July 29	(1) San Jose Sabercats	Neutral	L 33-55

2007 Roster

Columbus Destroyers roster
Quarterbacks  1 Matt Nagy  5 Josh Harris Running Backs Wide Receivers Offensive Linemen Defensive Linemen				Linebackers Defensive Backs Special Teams Injured players		Practice Squad Refused to Report Exempt List

Stats

Offense

Quarterback

Player	Comp.	Att.	Comp%	Yards	TD's	INT's	Long	Rating
Matt Nagy	341	545	62.6	3557	75	15	44	104.4
Scott Dreisbach	30	45	66.7	269	5	2	37	91.8

Running Backs

Player	Car.	Yards	Avg.	TD's	Long
Harold Wells	73	197	2.7	13	13
Damien Groce	16	80	5	3	14
B.J. Barre	8	34	4.3	2	16
Matt Nagy	16	22	1.4	6	6
Josh Bush	4	19	4.8	2	9
Brad Greetis	6	4	.8	2	4
Darcy Levy	1	5	5	0	5
Freddie Solomon	1	5	5	0	5

Wide Receivers

Player	Rec.	Yards	Avg.	TD's	Long
Damien Groce	118	1342	11.4	26	44
David Saunders	68	550	8.1	18	25
Marcus Knight	44	496	11.3	9	24
Josh Bush	48	461	9.6	6	33
B.J. Barre	22	291	13.2	7	45
Jason Shelley	25	264	10.6	1	23
Freddie Solomon	24	226	9.4	3	21
Darcy Levy	7	105	15	2	28
Harold Wells	11	90	8.2	4	20
Matthew Thomas	7	68	9.7	2	16
Cole Magner	4	44	11	2	29
Howard Duncan	6	38	6.3	1	12
Jason Hilliard	2	14	7	0	9
Brad Greetis	1	10	10	0	10
Peter Martinez	1	5	5	0	5

Touchdowns

Player	TD's	Rush	Rec	Ret	Pts
Damien Groce	31	3	26	2	188
David Saunders	18	0	18	0	112
Harold Wells	17	13	4	0	102
Marcus Knight	9	0	9	0	62
Josh Bush	10	2	6	2	60
B.J. Barre	9	2	7	0	56
Matt Nagy	6	6	0	0	36
Freddie Solomon	3	0	3	0	18
Brad Greetis	2	2	0	0	12
Darcy Levy	2	0	2	0	12
Cole Magner	2	0	2	0	12
Matthew Thomas	2	0	2	0	12
Howard Duncan	1	0	1	0	6
Jason Shelley	1	0	1	0	6

Defense

Player	Tackles	Solo	Assisted	Sack	Solo	Assisted	INT	Yards	TD's	Long
Brandon Hefflin	105	88	34	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Jerald Brown	65.5	57	17	0	0	0	5	38	0	22
Rober' Freeman	58	52	12	0	0	0	2	6	0	6
B.J. Barre	51	44	14	0	0	0	1	9	0	9
Ken Jones	28.5	21	15	9.5	9	1	0	0	0	0
Jason Shelley	22.5	18	9	0	0	0	2	8	0	8
Josh Bush	20	17	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bernard Riley	20	15	10	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Harold Wells	19.5	17	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kelvin Kinney	17.5	15	5	3	3	0	0	0	0	0
Leroy Thompson	17.5	14	7	.5	0	1	0	0	0	0
Scott Dreisbach	11	10	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
David Saunders	11	10	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Peter Martinez	6.5	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Marcus Knight	5	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Damien Groce	3.5	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ken Kocher	3	2	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Brad Greetis	3	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Josh Harris	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jason Hilliard	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Freddie Solomon	2.5	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Eddie Freeman	1.5	0	3	.5	0	1	0	0	0	0
Howard Duncan	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Matt Nagy	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Will Rabatin	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0

Special Teams

Kick Return

Player	Ret	Yards	TD's	Long	Avg	Ret	Yards	TD's	Long	Avg
Damien Groce	40	825	2	56	20.6	1	6	0	6	6
Josh Bush	39	758	2	58	19.4	0	0	0	0	0
B.J. Barre	5	59	0	31	11.8	2	20	0	17	20
Matthew Thomas	3	47	0	24	15.7	0	0	0	0	0
Jason Shelley	3	24	0	21	8	0	0	0	0	0
Josh Harris	1	4	0	4	4	0	0	0	0	0
Brandon Hefflin	1	4	0	4	4	0	0	0	0	0
Marcus Knight	1	4	0	4	4	0	0	0	0	0
David Saunders	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0

Kicking

Player	Extra pt.	Extra pt. Att.	FG	FGA	Long	Pct.	Pts
Peter Martinez	80	97	10	20	45	0.500	110
Matt Nagy	0	1	0	0	0	0.000	0

Playoff Stats

Offense

Quarterback

Player	Comp.	Att.	Comp%	Yards	TD's	INT's
Matt Nagy	19	26	73	262	5	0

Running Backs

Player	Car.	Yards	Avg.	TD's	Long
Harold Wells	6	15	2.5	0	6
Damien Groce	1	6	6	0	6
B.J. Barre	1	2	2	1	2
Matt Nagy	4	-1	-.3	1	1

Wide Receivers

Player	Rec.	Yards	Avg.	TD's	Long
Damien Groce	7	98	14	2	30
Marcus Knight	6	82	13.7	1	23
David Saunders	3	37	12.3	1	25
Josh Bush	2	34	17	0	24
Harold Wells	1	11	11	1	11

Special Teams

Kick Return

Player	Ret	Yards	Avg	Long
Josh Bush	5	103	20.6	29
B.J. Barre	1	6	6	6

Kicking

Player	Extra pt.	Extra pt. Att.	FG	FGA	Long	Pts
Peter Martinez	8	8	0	1	--	8

Regular season

Week 1: at Nashville Kats

	1	2	3	4	OT
CLB	7	24	13	14	58
NAS	13	16	0	27	56

Scoring Summary:

1st Quarter:

2nd Quarter:

3rd Quarter:

4th Quarter:

Week 2: at New Orleans VooDoo

	1	2	3	4	OT
CLB	10	9	19	7	45
NO	7	17	14	14	52

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2nd Quarter:

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Week 4: vs Chicago Rush

	1	2	3	4	OT
CHI	14	24	7	10	55
CLB	14	14	6	13	47

Scoring Summary:

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Week 5: vs Georgia Force

	1	2	3	4	OT
GEO	6	21	14	20	61
CLB	10	31	7	14	62

Scoring Summary:

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Week 6: at Dallas Desperados

	1	2	3	4	OT
CLB	14	23	0	14	51
DAL	7	7	14	25	53

Scoring Summary:

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2nd Quarter:

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Week 7: vs Austin Wranglers

	1	2	3	4	OT
AUS	21	7	7	14	49
CLB	14	17	21	20	72

Scoring Summary:

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Week 8: vs Philadelphia Soul

	1	2	3	4	OT
PHI	0	10	3	8	21
CLB	0	20	3	21	44

Scoring Summary:

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Week 9: at Tampa Bay Storm

	1	2	3	4	OT
CLB	7	6	13	6	32
TB	7	3	14	10	34

Scoring Summary:

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2nd Quarter:

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Week 10: vs New York Dragons

	1	2	3	4	OT
NYD	14	7	14	7	42
CLB	14	17	13	7	51

Scoring Summary:

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Week 11: vs Grand Rapids Rampage

	1	2	3	4	OT
GR	13	9	20	14	56
CLB	27	7	20	5	59

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Week 12: at Colorado Crush

	1	2	3	4	OT
CLB	6	14	0	20	40
COL	14	21	6	17	58

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Week 13: vs Dallas Desperados

	1	2	3	4	OT
DAL	14	21	7	14	56
CLB	7	14	14	12	47

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Week 14: at Georgia Force

	1	2	3	4	OT
CLB	7	6	0	20	33
GEO	6	13	13	22	54

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Week 15: vs Kansas City Brigade

	1	2	3	4	OT
KC	27	0	7	13	47
CLB	13	0	0	21	34

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Week 16: at Philadelphia Soul

	1	2	3	4	OT
CLB	14	13	20	6	53
PHI	14	13	14	15	56

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Week 17: at New York Dragons

	1	2	3	4	OT
CLB	21	23	16	14	74
NYD	14	9	14	6	43

Scoring Summary:

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Playoffs

Week 1: at Tampa Bay Storm

	1	2	3	4	OT
(6) CLB	14	21	7	14	56
(3) TAM	14	21	7	13	55

at the St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida

The Destroyers entered the playoffs for the first time since their move to Columbus. In a game that was back-and-forth scoring, the key play was a missed extra point by Storm kicker Seth Marler with 1:06 left in the game. Following a delay-of-game penalty, Marler missed an extra point attempt that, had he made it, would have given the Storm a 56-49 lead. After Columbus got the ball on the ensuing kickoff, they drove down to the Storm 1-yard line with 10 seconds left. Columbus QB Matt Nagy called his own number and sneaked into the Storm endzone with 7.9 left in the game, and, after the extra point attempt, the Destroyers had a 56-55 lead and looked to pull off the upset. With 3 seconds left and at their own 10-yard line, Marler tried to make amends by attempting a field goal that, if good, would give the Storm a 58-56 win and a game against division rival Georgia. Marler's kick looked good to begin with, but curved off to the left and missed, giving Columbus the upset win and a matchup against the 15-1 Dallas Desperados.

Scoring Summary:

1st Quarter:

• 1:41 TB- Terrill Shaw 9 Yard Pass From Brett Dietz (Seth Marler Kick) - 7-0 TB
• 4:10 CLB- Damien Groce 29 Yard Pass From Matt Nagy (Peter Martinez Kick) - 7-7
• 9:14 TB- Terrill Shaw 9 Yard Pass From Brett Dietz (Seth Marler Kick) - 14-7 TB
• 10:52 CLB- Harold Wells 11 Yard Pass From Matt Nagy (Peter Martinez Kick) - 14-14

2nd Quarter:

• 1:40 CLB- B.J. Barre 50 Yard Interception Return (Peter Martinez Kick) - 21-14 CLB
• 6:11 TB- Brett Dietz 2 Yard Run (Seth Marler Kick) - 21-21
• 10:53 CLB- Marcus Knight 23 Yard Pass From Matt Nagy (Peter Martinez Kick) 28-21 CLB
• 12:43 TB- Lawrence Samuels 18 Yard Pass From Brett Dietz (Seth Marler Kick) - 28-28
• 14:34 CLB- B.J. Barre 2 Yard Run (Peter Martinez Kick) - 35-28 CLB
• 14:41 TB- Terrill Shaw 2 Yard Pass From Brett Dietz (Seth Marler Kick) 35-35

3rd Quarter:

• 11:15 TB- Torrance Marshall 1 Yard Run (Seth Marler Kick) - 42-35 TB
• 13:04 CLB- Damien Groce 30 Yard Pass From Matt Nagy (Peter Martinez Kick) - 42-42

4th Quarter:

• 3:42 TB- Terrill Shaw 8 Yard Pass From Brett Dietz (Seth Marler Kick) - 49-42 TB
• 7:47 CLB- David Saunders 3 Yard Pass From Matt Nagy (Peter Martinez Kick) - 49-49
• 13:09 TB- Hank Edwards 17 Yard Pass From Brett Dietz (Pat Failed) - 55-49 TB
• 14:53 CLB- Matt Nagy 1 Yard Run (Peter Martinez Kick) - 56-55 CLB

Attendance: 10,221

• Offensive player of the game: Terrill Shaw (TB)
• Defensive player of the game: B.J. Barre (CLB)
• Ironman of the game: Lawrence Samuels (TB)

Team	1st Down.	Rush. Yds	Pass. Yds	Fumbles/lost	Fumble yds	Penal./yds	TOP	3rd Down.	4th Down.
CLB	20	22	260	0/0	0	12/63	19:27	4/6	1/2
TB	29	14	315	0/0	0	11/63	40:33	3/5	1/1

Week 2: at Dallas Desperados

	1	2	3	4	OT
(6) CLB	21	7	17	21	66
(1) DAL	21	17	0	21	59

at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas

The Destroyers blew a 30-point lead and lost to the Desperados earlier this season 53-51 and they lost the 2nd game in Columbus 56-47. This time, it looked as if Dallas, after a shaky start ,would continue their dominance over the Destroyers. Leading 38-28 at the half, the tide turned on back-to-back kickoffs by Columbus kicker Peter Martinez. Dallas, who had deferred, got the opening kickoff. However, the ball bounced off the goalpost and into the hands of Columbus' Josh Bush, who rolled into the endzone to make it 38-35. On the very next kickoff, a nearly identical play occurred when the ball again bounced off the goalpost and Columbus recovered at the 4-yard line. On the next play, Damien Groce ran the ball in to give Columbus a sudden 42-38 lead 58 seconds into the second half. After a Clint Dolezel interception set up a field goal for Columbus, Jason Shelley put the game away with a 28-yard reception with 12:55 left in the game to give Columbus a 2-touchdown lead that they held onto to pull off the upset against the Desperados.

Scoring Summary:

1st Quarter:

2nd Quarter:

3rd Quarter:

4th Quarter:

Attendance:

Team	1st Down.	Rush. Yds	Pass. Yds	Fumbles/lost	Fumble yds	Penal./yds	TOP	3rd Down.	4th Down.
CLB	0	0	0	0/0	0	0/0	00:00	0/0	0/0
DAL	0	0	0	0/0	0	0/0	00:00	0/0	0/0

Week 3 (Conference Championship): at Georgia Force

at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia

	1	2	3	4	Total
(6) CLB	7	28	13	18	66
(2) GA	7	14	21	14	56

The Destroyers Pull off the Upset and they are going to ArenaBowl XXI In New Orleans to play the San Jose SaberCats.

Scoring Summary:

1st Quarter:

2nd Quarter:

3rd Quarter:

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Attendance:

ArenaBowl XXI vs. San Jose SaberCats

at New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana