Tuskers hand Locos second straight loss

It was a much closer game this time around, but the result was still the same: a loss.

Two weeks after the Locomotives lost to the Florida Tuskers 29-15 at Sam Boyd Stadium, the Las Vegas-based United Football League team was driving for a tying field-goal attempt when a sack with 20 seconds left took them out of range, and they suffered a 27-24 loss at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Friday.

The Locos, coming off a bye week, fell to 1-2 in the league's inaugural six-game season. At 4-0, the Tuskers clinched a berth in the UFL title game Nov. 27 at Sam Boyd Stadium.

"It was a back-and-forth game all the way," Las Vegas coach Jim Fassel said. "I told the team afterward that we didn't play like losers, but we lost. It was a hard-fought battle, one that we could've won, but we just got the short end of the stick."

Tuskers defender Claude Wroten sacked Locos quarterback J.P. Losman for a 6-yard loss back to the Florida 41-yard line, ending an eight-play, 37-yard drive as time was winding down. Two final Losman passes in the closing seconds fell incomplete.

"We made some mistakes. We left some points on the field," Fassel said. "But no game's perfect."

Losman threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns, including a 60-yarder to Tab Terry. Las Vegas' Dede Dorsey ran for 139 yards and a TD on 12 carries.