Anchorage Daily News

For maybe the first time in Alaska Wild history, the drama on the field exceeded the drama off it.

The Wild staged a remarkable second-half rally and took defending Intense Football League champion and undefeated Louisiana down to the wire and beyond, losing on a lateral during an interception return long after the clock read zeroes.

The Swashbucklers survived for a 55-49 win at Sullivan Arena, but it's the stirring comeback of the Wild under less than ideal circumstances that will linger in the hearts and minds of the 1,000-or-so faithful who stayed through the amazing finish.

"It showed what kind of tight-knit family we've got, regardless of whatever is going on outside," receiver/returner Andre Velazquez said. "Inside, it's a whole different atmosphere."

Though no one still associated with the Wild will use it as an excuse, the events of the last 10 days -- which saw head coach Hans Deemer fired and rehired and an ownership change -- had to have an impact on their preparation for a Louisiana team that leads the IFL in almost every statistical category.

And early on, it looked that way. The Alaska offense struggled mightily and the Swashbucklers built a 31-7 halftime lead, thanks to a 50-yard missed field goal return with 45 seconds left and a field goal as time expired.

"I thought in the first half, we dropped too many footballs," Deemer said.

Defensively the Wild were strong and continued to be so throughout the second half as the offense found its stride. Louisiana's 55 points was a season low for the Swashbucklers but a season high allowed by Alaska.

"Great group of guys," said Keith Smith of the defense. "There's really nothing you can say about those guys."

In the second half, Smith began the rally when he hauled in a beautiful, finger-tip grab on a 24-yard pass from E.J. Nemeth.

Smith started the game at quarterback but was relieved by Nemeth after ineffective play. But at some point in the third quarter, Nemeth hurt his throwing hand or wrist and spent the rest of the game on the bench with an ice pack.

Smith returned under center and threw three touchdown passes, all to Velazquez, as the Wild crept closer.

"I take my hat off to the coaches," Smith said. "They got in the locker room, they got on our butts real good telling us what we needed to do. Then we came out and executed."

Velazquez's first touchdown catch was a how-the-heck-did-that-happen job. Smith heaved the ball down the middle of the field, but at first glance the only player in position to make the grab was a Louisiana defender.

But Velazquez flashed across the field and leaped up to steal away an interception for a Wild touchdown instead.

"In the first half I got yelled at for one I didn't come back for," he said. "I was down on myself. When I saw the ball, I knew I had to get it."

In the fourth, Velazquez got loose behind the defense and snared a 45-yard bomb to make it 37-28 with 8:53 left.

The Swashbucklers got one back when Sammy Knight scored his fifth touchdown with 3:58 to go, but Velazquez turned in another sleight-of-hand act to re-energize the team and the crowd, which was about 2,500-strong at its peak.

Smith underthrew Vela-zquez, and the Louisiana cornerback had a bead on an interception. But the safety came over, jumped up to knock the ball down and instead tipped it into Velazquez's hands. He was off to the promised land for another 45-yard score.

"I saw the safety coming, it just popped straight up," he said. "We started off a little bit slow, but they are the No. 1 team."

That got the Wild to within eight at 43-35 with 2:10 to go.

Then things went from wonderfully entertaining to flat-out insanity.

The final 38 seconds of regulation saw 26 points scored.

First, Thomas Ford Jr. scored on a 2-yard run. The potential tying two-point conversion failed, and the Wild tried an onside kick.

Louisiana recovered, and a Wild personal foul put the ball at the 2. Three plays later the Swashbucklers scored, but the extra point that would have made it a nine-point game was wide left, and Alaska still had life.

Velazquez fielded a line-drive kickoff at the 8 with 27.7 seconds left and sprinted virtually untouched to the end zone. Ford ran it in, using a great second effort, to tie the score at 49-49.

"I was feeling hot today," Velazquez said. "When I saw that hole, I took it. It was all blocking."

On the ensuing possession, Louisiana quarterback Alvin Bartie threw in interception to Demarcus James with 4.9 seconds to go, setting up a finish that evoked Cal-Stanford's "The Play" in 1982.

Smith dropped back to pass, but got hit as he threw. The wobbly, errant pass came to rest in the arms of Louisiana's Brandon Thomas at the 15 as time expired.

Thomas returned the ball 29 yards to the Wild 6, but just as he was getting hit turned around and flipped the ball back to Travis Moses, who finished the return for a touchdown and the winning score.

A heartbreaking finish, but a heartening performance.

"I can't stress enough about my teammates," Smith said. "We got down big, then we fought back, we fought back, we fought back. Hats off to Louisiana. They were ready, we were ready. We just didn't make enough plays."

Said Deemer: "(For) the guys to come out and show that kind of heart, all they've been through, what else can you ask of them? I'm kind of speechless."

The performance overall and the finish in particular had the Wild players eager for a rematch.

"Oh my God. It's like I wish we could fly down tomorrow and play them," Smith said.

And with the off-field drama hopefully behind them, Deemer is upbeat about his team's future.

"I'm really excited about the rest of the season," he said. "We obviously know what kind of talent we really do have right now.

"We're looking more and more like we could be a monster by the end of the season. That's exciting to us."

Notes

Alaska's 49 points was a season high for a Swashbuckler opponent.

Complete records weren't readily available Sunday night, but for a moment it looked as if the IFL was about to get its second overtime game ever. Coincidentally, Louisiana was part of the first OT effort, losing 52-46 to Corpus Christi in 2006.

The loss snapped a six-game home winning streak dating back to last season for the Wild. It also dropped Alaska from third to fourth in the standings, a half-game behind CenTex. The top six teams make the IFL playoffs. The top two get first-round byes while the third- and fourth-place teams host Nos. 5 and 6.

Alaska now heads to Texas for two games, at Odessa on Saturday and at CenTex on May 24. The next home game is May 29 against Corpus Christi.

The Wild-Louisiana rematch is June 21 in Lake Charles, La.

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Find Andrew Hinkelman online at adn.com/contact/ahinkelman or call 257-4335.

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Louisiana 7 24 6 18 -- 55

Wild 0 7 14 28 -- 49

First Quarter

Louisiana -- Knight 6 pass from Bartie (Zahir kick), 8:13.

Second Quarter

Louisiana -- Knight 33 pass from Bartie (Zahir kick), 12:36.

Louisiana -- Wilridge 5 pass from Bartie (Zahir kick), 7:13.

Wild -- Smith 34 pass from Nemeth (Pennington kick), 6:42.

Louisiana -- Knight 50 missed FG return (Zahir kick), :45.1.

Louisiana -- Zahir 30 FG, :00.

Third Quarter

Wild -- Smith 24 pass from Nemeth (Pennington kick), 12:48.

Wild -- Velazquez 27 pass from Smith (Pennington kick), 1:48.

Louisiana -- Knight 46 pass from Barite (kick failed), :00.

Fourth Quarter

Wild -- Velazquez 45 pass from Smith (Pennington kick), 8:53.

Louisiana -- Knight 6 pass from Bartie (kick blocked), 3:58.

Wild -- Velazquez 45 pass from Smith (Pennington kick), 2:10.

Wild -- Ford 2 run (run failed), :38.1.

Louisiana -- Bartie 1 run (kick failed), :27.7.

Wild -- Velazquez 42 kickoff return (Ford run), :18.9.

Louisiana -- Moses 35 interception return, :00.

Louisiana Alaska

First downs 10 11

Rushes-yards 9-14 8(-3)

Passes 18-39-3 18-39-3

Passing yards 214 231

Fumbles-lost 3-3 1-0

Return yards 169 168

Penalties-yards 8-76 9-37

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Louisiana: Duhon 3-10, Wilridge 1-2, Johnson 2-2, Bartie 3-0. Wild: Nemeth 2-1, Lolesio 1-(-1), Ford 3-(-1), Smith 2-(-2).

PASSING -- Louisiana: Bartie 18-39-3--222. Wild: Smith 8-17-3--155, Nemeth 10-22-0--112.

RECEIVING -- Louisiana: Knight 7-100, Wilridge 4-41, Piper 3-25, Duhon 2-55. Wild: Ford 5-43, Velazquez 4-125, Taylor 4-21, Smith 3-69, Morrow 1-6, Harris 1-3.

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