Pioneers defeat Wolves; remain in playoff hunt
Michael Balakier
Sunday July 14, 2002
In the end, it’s the final score that counts. No matter how ugly a win may be, a win is a win. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers provided a perfect example of that by defeating the Mohegan Wolves 56-39 Saturday night at the First Union Arena. The victory also gave the Pioneers the season sweep over the Wolves.
Despite an explosive showing in the second and early part of the third quarter, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton almost allowed the Wolves to sneak in the back door, as Mohegan cut a commanding Pioneers lead down to fourteen points late in the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t play really good over the course of the whole game,” said the visibly dissatisfied Pioneers head coach Terry Karg, “but we’ll take a win anyway we can get it. A win’s a win, but I feel that we didn’t take advantage of small opportunities and create a greater margin.”
The Pioneers went score for score with the Wolves throughout most of the first quarter before pulling away in the second. However, Karg explained that the score did not necessarily mean that the Pioneers were in control of the game.
“We had the upper hand but I don’t think we had control,” said Karg. “Control to me would have been putting points on the board, not negating touchdowns with penalties. There were parts of the game where we really played solid and there are other parts where we just looked like a debacle. We didn’t play to the best of our ability, but we got it done.”
Part of what helped put the Pioneers on top Saturday night was the costly turnovers and penalties committed by the Wolves, something all to common to Mohegan head coach Gary Porter.
“We execute in practice and concentrate on not making mistakes like that,” said Porter. “It just seems like once you get settled in and get in a rut, either good or bad, it seems to keep on piling on you. We just haven’t been able to get out of it.”
The loss officially eliminated Mohegan (3-11) from playoff contention. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (6-9) closes out their season next week at home against division champion Albany. The Pioneers, who remain in the playoff hunt, face a must win game in their season finale and need Rochester to lose it’s remaining two games. Rochester had a bye this past week and will close out its season against Mohegan and New Haven, respectively.
Game notes
Hardcore Football: Saturday’s contest between the Pioneers and the Wolves showed early indications of the First Union Arena’s Tuesday night showcase, WWE’s Smackdown. A total of 30 penalties were called, 19 of which were against the Pioneers for 144 yards, with numerous personal fouls recorded as well. Mohegan head coach Gary Porter said that it’s that time of the year when guys are tired and tempers are short. “Anytime you get two teams together that are fired up and they’re playing for something, there’s going to be some extracurricular activity,” Porter said.
All in a day’s work: Pioneers kicker Jimmie Kibble had the most unique night of any Wilkes-Barre/Scranton player. Kibble botched his first three kickoff attempts, hitting the scoreboard first, then a set of speakers, and finally a steel support beam.
“I kicked it (the football) and I thought it was going straight and then it just hits right into the scoreboard,” Kibble said of his first kickoff. “The second one I hit the speakers, now I really got to talk to Kevin Blaum about getting those [speakers] removed.” (Kevin Blaum is the First Union Arena authority chairman) “It’s frustrating. You do three in a row you and don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
What happened next changed Kibble’s night for the better. Prior to Kibble’s fourth kickoff, a brief delay took place, as officials appeared to be looking for a ball to give to Kibble to place on the tee. Finally, when a ball was found, Kibble kicked it so perfectly, that the ball got stuck between the soft netting and the lower crossbar. Kibble also shook off his early bad karma and proceeded to make his two field goals attempts on the night. So what’s Kibble’s secret?
“I often think back to a movie called The Legend of Bagger Vance, where Matt Damon sits there and he focuses and visualizes on the field and cuts everyone out,” said Kibble. “I was just trying to visualize the path of the ball and where I was going to kick it.”
Kibble also saved the day by preventing Mohegan’s Brandon Burnside from returning a kickoff for a touchdown, which would have brought the Wolves to within fourteen points of the Pioneers. Kibble stopped Burnside so effectively that Kibble ripped off Burnside’s helmet, for which Kibble was called for a facemask penalty. Kibble explains:
“I kinda anticipated that he’d do a quick juke,” Kibble said, “and when he did I just read it and realized my left hand was already up there. So once I had the facemask I said ‘just take him down’. I wanted to save the touchdown at all costs, but at the same time I didn’t want to hurt him.”
After the play, Kibble showed his sportsmanship and ran up to Burnside and apologized for the violent tackle.
Best wishes: Best of luck is wished to Pioneers assistant athletic trainer Jen Gracon, who is tying the knot next weekend. During my first semester at college, when I was a sports medicine major for a very brief time (shows how long sports medicine interested me), Jen was the senior that proved to be the most helpful. (She’s been trying to get her name mentioned for months) Congratulations, and may your future be bright and full of happiness.
Michael Balakier first discovered a knack for writing during his senior year in high school while reporting for his school`s newspaper. Aside from being an Arenaball fan, Michael is an avid Syracuse University athletics follower, which poses a problem for him, as he attends the University of Pittsburgh. Michael plans on using what he has learned through his Arenafan experience to remain as impartial as he can during future Syracuse/Pitt events. Michael also serves as co-Editor of the af2 section of Arenafan Online.
