QB change not enough as Iron fall to Apollos

The Birmingham Iron (3-2) suffered their second straight loss on Saturday, March 9, against the undefeated Orlando Apollos (5-0) by a score of 31-14 at home in front of a national television audience on TNT.

The Iron continued to struggle on offense and even the Alliance’s top-rated defense struggled against the league’s top offense.

Orlando sliced right through Birmingham’s defense on their first drive going 75 yards in just six plays to take a 6-0 lead on a 21-yard touchdown pass from former Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert to tight end Scott Orndorff with 12:26 left in the opening quarter. The two-point try failed.

Birmingham went three-and-out on its first drive but defensive back Jamar Summers recovered an Apollo fumble on the punt return that put the Iron in business deep in Orlando territory.

The Iron again went three-and-out and field goal kicker Nick Novak whiffed on a 41-yard field goal attempt.

Birmingham’s defense forced a punt on Orlando’s next two drives but again the Iron offense was stagnant and unable to move the ball. Then, quarterback Luis Perez threw his fourth interception of the season, which was returned for a 40-yard touchdown to put Orlando ahead 12-0. Gilbert then converted the two-point try with a pass to Charles Johnson to give the Apollos a 14-0 lead with 44 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Apollos added to their lead with a 21-yard field with 3:29 left in the first half.

Following the Perez interception, the Iron switched to backup quarterback Keith Price, a former All-Pac 12 quarterback at Washington, and he started to get the Iron offense moving.

Birmingham went on a 7-play, 75-yard drive late in the half that was capped off by a 3-yard touchdown run from Trent Richardson with 1:32 left in the period. Price then converted the two-point try with a past o Quinton Patton to cut Orlando’s lead to 17-8.

The touchdown was Richardson’s eighth rushing touchdown, which leads the Alliance.

Orlando knocked down another field goal as time expired in the half to give the Apollos a 20-8 lead at halftime.

Birmingham cut the lead to a one score game when Price threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Ross with 4:27 left in the third quarter. The two-point try failed and the Iron trailed 20-14. That was Birmingham’s first and only passing touchdown of the season.

Orlando hit a third field goal with 10 seconds left in the third quarter to extend the lead to 23-14 and then Gilbert threw his second touchdown of the game with 8:33 left in the fourth quarter. Johnson caught the pass and then Gilbert also converted the two point-try and gave the Apollos the 31-14 lead.

While the Iron were overwhelmed in all three phases of the game, Price at least provided a spark for a struggling offense completing 18-of-29 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown.

Price’s scrambling ability helped the struggling Birmingham offensive line as he was able to avoid pass rushers and make passes on the run that Perez simply couldn’t. Price also rushed for 15 yards on eight carries.

Richardson rushed for 21 yards and a touchdown on just eight carries and also caught four passes for 37 yards.

Patton caught five passes for 36 yards.

Defensively, Benniquez Brown led the Iron with 10 tackles, while former Alabama standout Bradley Sylve added six tackles.