Utah Blaze: What a Blaze-ing finish

The Chicago Rush came into EnergySolutions Arena on Saturday night as, arguably, the best team in the Arena Football League.

The Utah Blaze came into the game with the worst record in the league.

So, naturally, the Blaze came away with a 51-48 victory.

It certainly wasn't easy for Utah, though. Kicker Steve Videtich nailed an 18-yard field goal on the final play of the game in front of a crowd of 15,295 to complete the upset win.

"It was a real tribute to our guys that we hung in there and did what we had to do to win the game," said Blaze coach Danny White. "Sixty minutes, man. It was sixty minutes."

Utah improved to 3-10 with the victory, while the Rush, who have already clinched the AFL's Central Division title, a playoff first-round bye and homefield advantage in the postseason, fell to 9-3.

"That was a huge, huge win for us," said Blaze quarterback Joe Germaine.

The Blaze got out to a quick start, scoring 21 straight points almost before Chicago knew what hit them. But the Rush continued to chip away at the lead until they were able to knot the score, twice, in the the fourth quarter.

But Utah ran the final 43 seconds off the clock on three straight rushing plays to set up Videtich's chip-shot game-winner. It was in stark contrast to a field goal Videtich missed on the final play during the Blaze's season-opening game against Arizona. That miss cost Utah a victory and started a slide that saw Utah lose its first nine games of the year.

"This is a much better feeling than last time I was here (doing postgame interveiws)," said Videtich, who lost his job after that season-opening miss, but returned to the lineup three games ago.

Utah has now won three of its last four games and is still in the thick of the American Conference playoff race with three games remaining.

Germaine had an emotional week, as his infant son had heart surgery on Wednesday and still remains in an Arizona hospital.

"Obviously, he's on my mind all the time," said Germaine of his son, Crew. "We all have the hope that he will be fine. But we all have a job to do and this is my job. You just try to come out and be as professional as you can and do what you are supposed to do."