Nick Novak, who played four seasons with the San Diego Chargers, returned to his old stomping grounds Sunday for one of the most memorable kicks of his career.
Novak kicked a 43-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Birmingham Iron over the San Diego Fleet 32-29 at SDCCU Stadium in San Diego.
San Diego had tied the game at 29 when former Arizona State quarterback Mike Bercovici threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Francis Owusu with 4:36 left in the game.
Iron quarterback Luis Perez then drove Birmingham down the field to set up Novak's kick. Perez, who grew up in the San Diego area, threw for 359 yards and three touchdowns while running back Trent Richardson ran for 46 yards and two scores.
Novak was born in San Diego and kicked for the Chargers from 2011-2014. He scored 802 points over 10 seasons in the NFL.
The Iron improved to 4-2 with the win while the Fleet fell to 3-3.
In the early AAF game Sunday, the San Antonio Commanders routed the Atlanta Legends 37-6 at Georgia State Stadium in Atlanta.
Commanders quarterback Logan Woodside threw two touchdowns in staking San Antonio to a 26-6 halftime lead.
The Commandeers forced four turnovers, including three interceptions of Legends quarterback Aaron Murray.
San Antonio won its third straight game to improve to 4-2 while Atlanta fell to 2-4.
The Commanders play host to Salt Lake next week while the Legends take on the 5-1 Orlando Apollos at home.
