The Tampa Bay Bandits staged a dramatic comeback to edge the Denver Gold 24-21 in a rain-soaked battle at Tampa Stadium. Tampa Bay opened the scoring with a 45-yard touchdown pass from John Reaves to Steve Carter, but Denver responded with a 19-yard touchdown strike from Bob Gagliano to Kelley Johnson to tie the game at 7-7. The Gold took control in the second quarter when Gagliano scored on a 13-yard run, giving them a 14-7 halftime lead.
Denver extended their lead to 21-7 in the third quarter after Gagliano connected with Marc Lewis on a 27-yard touchdown pass. However, the Bandits rallied in the fourth quarter. Reaves threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Jackson to pull Tampa Bay within a score. Then, with under two minutes left, Reaves delivered again, finding Larry Brodsky for a 14-yard touchdown to tie the game at 21-21.
In the final moments, Tampa Bay drove down the field and set up a game-winning 33-yard field goal by Zenon Andrusyshyn with just 19 seconds remaining. Despite leading for most of the game, Denver couldn’t overcome Tampa Bay’s late surge, as the Bandits improved to 9-2, while the Gold fell to 4-6-1.
