Knight`s Ready to Battle Limping Dogs
Keith Murphy
Wednesday July 17, 2002
The Knights come back after an unexpected luxury, the bye week afforded the team a weeklong vacation. Knights’ Offensive Coordinator Tres Sullivan says that this was something the squad needed. “After 14 straight weeks they needed some time off and the majority of them were able to get away and the guys that weren’t from around Macon were able to go back home and visit their parents and their girlfriends and wives. They could totally get away from football. I think that they enjoyed their time off and were able to reflect a bit about what we’ve been able to accomplish to this point and when they came back on Sunday they were eager to get back to work.”
Birmingham, meanwhile, probably could have used a vacation themselves. After defeating Columbus (3 – 11) on June 15, Birmingham posted losses to Macon, Arkansas, and Tennessee Valley with the only high point in the last month being a win over hapless Mobile (0 – 14). Despite being the team that started the Steeldogs on their spiral by embarrassing them at home, Sullivan thinks that Birmingham will come into this game playing for more than revenge. “They’ve hit a tough stretch of teams. I don’t think what we did down there is going to have too much effect. That was a month ago and obviously they’ve moved on. They’ve had to replace some key players who went down with injuries so now I think the new guys are starting to find their niche and roles with the team. I think they’re going to be a little different team than we saw the first time. I’m not relying too heavily on what we did the first time around.”
Macon, meanwhile, has racked up eight wins in a row. A large part of the team’s success has been their air attack. Quarterback John Rayborn, in 11 games, has thrown for 2,751 yards with 56 touchdown passes and he is currently the third ranked passer in the league with a quarterback rating of 114.3. Rayborn is only a quarter of the story as the Knights, with two regular season games left, have three wide receivers who are very close to one thousand receiving yards on the season. Jaquez Rumph (976 yards, 21 touchdowns), Martez Wesley (925 yards, 19 touchdowns), and Gabe Amey (819 yards, 18 touchdowns) lead a receiver corps that is making life very easy on Macon’s Offensive Coordinator, “There is a possibility of us having three guys with over a thousand yards receiving which I don’t think has been done in this league, or Arena One. I think you factor that in and . . . I’m not sure I have the words to explain the value those three guys bring to our team. Being able to spread the ball around like that and it’s hard for any team to defend three guys like that so it’s been invaluable to my offensive play calling and I know its been invaluable to our quarterback. They are a huge piece of our puzzle.” The puzzle becomes a conundrum for many defenses when deep threats Norman Mason and Rendell Jackson are added to the Knights’ arsenal. In 14 games, Macon’s passing attack has racked up nearly 3400 yards and 71 touchdowns.
Quarterback John Rayborn has been on a roll since joining the Knights in week four. As he has gotten more comfortable with the Macon offense, he has steadily climbed up the statistical rankings. In the last game against Birmingham, Rayborn had an incredible game, completing 25 of 29 passes for 222 yards, he threw four touchdown passes and ran for another, and was named game Most Valuable Player. Sullivan says that Rayborn expects an MVP-level performance from himself each week. “He expects that from himself. I go into each game trying to game plan it to give him the best opportunity to succeed. If I do my job and game plan it right then I hope will continue to have the same success that he had the last time. Hopefully, we’ll have a good game plan going in.”
While Birmingham knows their fate, Macon still must create their own path. If the Knights beat the Steeldogs this week and Tennessee Valley next week the road to the Arena Cup will have to go through Macon. Sullivan says that despite the importance of the next two weeks, Macon will try to keep their focus consistent and internal. “This game means quite a bit to us. As far as the other things we can accomplish if we win the game, our sole mindset all year long has been to win each game. That continues to be our focus regardless of what the game means externally as far as standings or playoffs. We just take each game individually and try to win.”
Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm at the Macon Coliseum in the Knights’ final regular season home appearance. “Camelot,” the Knights’ tailgate party, precedes the game in the parking lot (weather permitting). It’s “pack the house” night and the first thousand fans through the gate will receive replica footballs and a 2002 team poster.
Dr. Murphy has nearly 20 years of media experience ranging from radio to the Internet. He has served as webmaster for two AF2 teams and the football team at Fort Valley State University. He is a professor at FVSU and directs www.bunniwerks.org, a non-profit rabbit rescue organization. He has been commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel. Murphy is also serving as a first party editor of af2 stories for ArenaFfan. For more information about Dr. Murphy see: www.keithmurphy.info
