Former Ohio State quarterback Justin Zwick took his first snap of his Arena Football career as the Columbus Destroyers lost 63-60 to Grand Rapids Saturday.
Zwick only had the one snap during the game, but made it count as he threw a 47-yard touchdown to give the Destroyers the lead by three.
It was a great way to start," Zwick said. "I wanted to go deep. I figured they would probably play me up think I would go short on my first attempt and C.J. Johnson did a good job going out and getting the ball for a touchdown."
Starting quarterback Matt Nagy believes that Zwick can have a promising career in the AFL.
"It's going to be very bright," Nagy said. "He's grown so much. He's willing to learn. He was here from day one, when he got here from camp and then he's here now with one week to go."
That touchdown play was the only time that he played in the game.
"I thought I was going to play a lot more, but they wanted to go a certain direction," Zwick said. "Coaches get to make those decisions."
The relationship between the two quarterbacks has helped Zwick be a better quarterback.
"If I was in his situation, I would want the guy to teach me and help me out with everything that he has learned and I'm doing that," Nagy said. "Justin and I have a great relationship, we have been working well together and a lot of people probably think, as a quarterback, that we compete with each other, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I probably was one of the happiest guys in the arena other then Justin after he threw that touchdown pass."
Zwick has realized the importance of being a back-up to a great quarterback.
"Matt's been great, sharing little things that he has picked up over the years and helping me with reads and what I need to be doing on the field," Zwick said. "So, there's nobody in the league I would have been under as a back-up to Matt Nagy."
Before halftime, Grand Rapids Rampage (5-10) threw an interception with no time on the clock and the referee said that defensive back Matt Thomas stepped out of bounds. However, coach Doug Kay and the players truly did not believe that.
"That was a weird situation," defensive back Nate Coggins said. "I know for a fact that he definitely did not step out of bounds because when it bounced off the iron, it bounced back to him and he took a great path to avoid stepping out of bounds, but they stopped the play."
Kay thought the referees did a poor job on that call and the call on the play before.
"The play on the goal line, they said Matt (Thomas) had stepped out and Matt had not stepped out according to the TV people," Kay said. "The second thing is the play before that was not a catch made. They gave them a catch at the two-yard line and the ball was tipped and there was not a catch made. The ball hit the ground."
With a minute left and the Destroyers (3-12) down by three, the defense got a huge turnover to give the offense a chance to win the ball game. But on a fourth and six, the Destroyers decided to go for it and Nagy threw an incomplete pass to wide receiver Derek Lee.
"I felt that our players wanted the opportunity to win the game at that point," Kay said. "Arena football games are never written in the same script. To have the opportunity to win the game late is what you want to do.
Nagy was glad to see the coach's decision to go for it.
"We got a chance to win the ball game and I loved the call for coach to go for it rather then to kick for the field goal, go for the win at home," Nagy said. "I really wish we would have gotten the play. As a quarterback, that's the stuff you kick yourself at."
The Destroyers last game of the season is on the road against Cleveland on Saturday at 7:00 pm.
"With our record, we don't give up," Nagy said on facing the Gladiators. "We need to keep playing hard and try to find a way to win."
Will Toman can be reached at toman.7@osu.edu.
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