Lights out on Slaughter in end

This took "Friday night lights" to a whole new meaning.

With Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" pumping through the sound system, highlights from the Chicago Slaughter's inaugural season lit up the scoreboard to the delight of the opening-night crowd at the Sears Centre.

One by one, led by wide receiver Robert Height and his round-off and back flip, the 2008 Slaughter ran onto the field for spotlight introductions.

And when the game started, the show continued as Slaughter quarterback Ronnie Gordon and wide receiver Dontrell Jackson lit up the scoreboard with 2 touchdowns in the first quarter and another in the third as the Slaughter held a seemingly insurmountable at 33-14 lead.

But then the lights went out as Kalamazoo scored 22 fourth-quarter points and Xplosion quarterback Randy Hutchinson threw his fifth touchdown -- a 19-yarder to Brian Dolph -- and Dominick Brown recovered a Slaughter fumble in overtime in a 46-39 Kalamazoo victory.

"We had a really good first half … we've just got to keep the pace up at that point," said Gordon, who completed 11 of 15 for 102 yards as the Slaughter led 27-7 at halftime.

After the 34-yarder to Jackson (8 receptions for 114 yards) in the third quarter, Brad Selent nailed a 41-yard field goal as Kalamazoo got within 33-17 with 33 seconds left in the quarter.

But Gordon was intercepted on the ensuing possession, and Hutchinson drove the Xplosion to within 33-23 as he found Dan Musielewicz in the back of the end zone with an 11-yard scoring strike.

"We came into that second half just looking to chip away," said Hutchinson, who completed 11 of 17 in the second half after going 3 of 9 in the opening 30 minutes. "We were forgetting about the score -- just go out and try to be the offense we know we can be."

The Slaughter was called for a roughing-the-kicker penalty with 3:17 remaining, and Hutchinson found L.J. Parker on a 7-yard score as Kalamazoo inched within 33-29. The extra point was bobbled, but Hutchinson found lineman Andy Storey for the 2-point conversion with one minute left.

The Slaughter grabbed the onside kick attempt, and J.R. Taylor (36 yards on 12 carries) scored his third touchdown. But a missed extra point left breathing room for Hutchinson, who hit Dolph for a touchdown with 11 seconds left.

Eric Gardner took the snap on the conversion, and while being brought to the turf, handed it off to Parker to tie it at 39-39.

"Tonight was one of those games where the second half we just weren't emotionally into the game," said Slaughter defensive coordinator Keith Hac.