TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – The Tampa Bay Storm knew Pat O’Hara wouldn’t wilt under pressure of the ArenaBowl.

“It’s not my first barbecue,” the backup quarterback said Sunday night after coming off the bench to throw for two touchdowns and run for a third as the Storm beat the Arizona Rattlers 43-29 for its record fifth Arena Football League championship.

“I’ve been in the league nine years, five ArenaBowls, so that’s what I’m supposed to do. … This is why they brought me here. I just feel fortunate to have helped.”

O’Hara, who led Orlando to one AFL title and was a reserve on another championship team with the Predators, completed 7 of 13 passes for 103 yards after starter John Kaleo left with a bruised back in the third quarter.

He threw TD passes of 9 and 43 yards to Lawrence Samuels, then ran 3 yards for a score that put Tampa Bay up 43-22 and eliminated any realistic chance of an Arizona comeback. Samuels also caught a 33-yard TD pass from Kaleo.

“We didn’t panic when John went down. This isn’t semipro. Guys are paid to play these positions,” Tampa Bay coach Tim Marcum said.

“O’Hara didn’t surprise me at all. He beat us before in the ArenaBowl,” Samuels said, recalling the Storm’s loss to Orlando in the 1998 title game. “He’s an experienced quarterback, and when John went out, we had all the confidence in the world that Pat was going to come in and make the plays.”

Marcum hoisted the championship trophy for a record seventh time. It’s his third title with Tampa Bay, which also won under him in 1995 and 1996. The Storm (15-4) also won championships in 1991 and 1993.

Tampa, meanwhile, became the first city to have the Super Bowl and AFL champions in the same year.

The Buccaneers beat Oakland in January to capture the NFL title.

“It feels great because it’s the latest one. It’s the one that counts right now,” said Marcum, who won one title in Denver (1987) and three in Detroit (1988, 1989, 1992) before moving to Tampa Bay nine seasons ago.

Sherdrick Bonner completed 15 of 31 passes for 164 yards for the Rattlers, but lost three fumbles and was intercepted once.

Arizona’s season ended with a championship game loss for the second straight year. Turnovers undermined them a year ago against San Jose and Bonner’s mistakes proved too much to overcome this time.

Kelvin Kinney returned one of the Arizona quarterback’s fumbles 26 yards for a second-quarter touchdown. Omarr Smith’s third-quarter interception set up O’Hara’s first TD pass to Samuels, who had five receptions for 109 yards.

Arizona (13-7) entered the game averaging 68.3 points in the playoffs and had won nine of its previous 10 games after a 4-5 start. Bonner tossed eight touchdown passes in an upset of defending champion San Jose in the semifinals, but didn’t throw his first Sunday until late in the third quarter.

Randy Gatewood, who had 32 TD receptions during the regular season, had five catches for 69 yards but only got into the end zone once.

“This doesn’t feel any different then last year,” said Arizona coach Danny White, a two-time ArenaBowl winner.

“It’s just a shame to spend the time working so hard like we did and to turn things around like we did and then have it slip away. It is hard to put into words. The only people that know are the people that have been through this.”

The announced crowd of 20,496 was the second largest in ArenaBowl history.

In the days leading up to the game, players and coaches talked about the importance of putting on a good “show” for a national television audience likely to include millions drawn by curiosity of the league.

Attendance league-wide rose 15 percent, and AFL officials are looking to expand by as many as six teams over the next three years with an emphasis on increasing the AFL’s exposure in markets that also have NFL teams.

AP-ES-06-22-03 2214EDT