New Orleans VooDoo kicked off its 2005 season a day late and two points short.
Georgia defeated New Orleans 46-44 on Sunday in Atlanta.
The game was originally scheduled for Saturday night but was pushed back a day because of an ice storm in the area.
“Due to the unfortunate weather conditions, we were more than willing to assist the Georgia Force in their first game under new ownership,” said VooDoo Executive Director Mike Feder.
The VooDoo cut the lead to two points, 46-44, with 21 seconds remaining on a 12-yard touchdown pass from new VooDoo quarterback Andy Kelly to Aaron Bailey. But New Orleans was unable to recover the ensuing onside kick, and Georgia ran out the clock.
Kelly, a free agent acquisition this offseason, completed 33-of-51 passes for 356 yards and six touchdowns in his first game in a VooDoo uniform.
The scoring started uncharacteristically slow for an arena football game.
Kelly hit Jacques Rumph for an 11-yard touchdown pass for the only score of the first quarter and a 7-0 New Orleans lead.
Georgia tied the score at seven in the second quarter until Kelly connected with Lamont Moore for a 19-yard touchdown pass. The VooDoo missed the extra point and led 13-7.
The Force scored 12 consecutive points to take its first lead of the game. Georgia quarterback Jim Kubiak threw a touchdown, the Georgia defense recorded a safety and Force kicker Nelson Garner nailed a 34-yard field goal to cap the 12-0 run.
New Orleans kicker Brian Schmitz hit a 34-yard field as time expired to cut Georgia’s lead to 19-16 at the half.
The third quarter saw four lead changes. New Orleans scored first on a Kelly touchdown pass to Rumph for a 23-19 lead.
Georgia answered with the game’s only touchdown run, a 1-yarder courtesy of Robert Thomas.
The VooDoo again reclaimed the lead, 30-25, thanks to a 34-yard touchdown strike from Kelly to Bailey. But Kubiak and Georgia struck right back with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Troy Bergeron for a 32-20 lead.
Georgia extended its lead to nine points with the opening score of the fourth quarter and stayed two points ahead of New Orleans for most of the quarter.
Kelly hit Thabiti Davis to cut the lead to 39-37 and connected with Bailey on the VooDoo’s final play to cut the lead to 46-44.
Bergeron, who caught six passes for 116 yards and three touchdowns, was named the Offensive Player of the Game.
New Orleans’ two-game road trip to open the season concludes on Friday in Nashville, Tenn., against the Nashville Kats at 7:30 p.m.