Perseverance, Insistence, and Luck Pay Off for Peoria In Round One
Steve Robinson
Monday August 5, 2002
With one second left in the fourth quarter, and Peoria leading 37-36, Wichita was about to close out a seven-play drive they had started at their own 5-yard line with a 19-yard field goal by Stealth kicker Phil Aguliar.
Peoria (12-5) tried rattling Aguliar by using all three of their timeouts in succession. During one of those timeouts, Pirates linebacker Derric Coakley was trying to convince Johnson to put him on the field. Johnson wanted Coakley on the bench during the last play of the night.
Aguliar’s kick sailed wide left, but it may have had a hand in doing so – literally
-- from Coakley, allowing Peoria to keep their lead and advance into the arenafootball2 semifinals, with a 37-36 win.
“I just knew I could get to the ball,” Coakley said. “I was telling (Johnson) I had been close to tackling their quarterback all night, but I knew I could do it.”
Coakley said Johnson listened and relented, putting the 6 foot-1, 240 pounder in the game.
There was a positive outcome, but it didn’t look possible during the first half Wichita (6-11) jumped to their first lead on a 8-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ron Lopez to receiver Will Sullivan, with 1:22 on the clock. Aguliar’s extra point put Wichita up, 7-0.
Wichita struck twice more in the second quarter, as Lopez connected twice to receiver Corey McCoy on receptions of 13 and 23 yards. Aguliar was 1-for-2 in extra points, thanks to a blocked extra point, during that spurt, but the Stealth held a 20-0 lead with 9:12 left in the second quarter.
Lincoln Dupree struck first for Peoria, at 8:30 in the second half, running a kickoff back 53 yards for the Pirates’ first score. It was Dupree’s ninth runback touchdown of the season, and his first in the playoffs. Kicker Kraig Baker’s extra point reduced Wichita’s lead to 20-7.
Peoria backup quarterback Matt Pike would connect with receiver Cornell Craig for a 36 yard scoring strike with 4:12 left in the second stanza, but Baker would miss the extra point, keeping Wichita in front, 20-13.
With 18 seconds left in the half, Baker kicked a 24-yard field goal, cutting further into the Stealth’s margin, 20-16. Aguliar would hit a 27-yard field goal himself with one second left, giving Wichita a 23-16 halftime lead.
Each team would score twice more before the 4,481 fans assembled in Carver Arena would see Peoria take the lead for good on a 2-yard run by fullback Robert Meyer, with 2:40 left in the game. Baker’s extra point gave Peoria their only lead of the night -- but that was all it took.
Pirates head coach Bruce Cowdrey explained his team’s situation this way: “We were lucky to win this football game. I’ll tell you that right now. The only reason we did is because we had some kids who showed some perseverance and guts and we got lucky, too.”
The win will give the Pirates a chance at home to get even with the expansion San Diego Riptide in the semi-finals. San Diego (7-9), defeated Bakersfield, 40-27, in Saturday’s first round action to advance to the semis. The Riptide beat Peoria, 28-21, in California in June.
Orlando Wins Round 1: The Orlando Predators, Arena Football League parent club to the Pirates, won their opening round game in the AFL playoffs on Saturday, as well, edging out the New Jersey Gladiators, 49-46, to advance to the semi-finals. The Chicago Rush face the Dallas Desperados in the Allstate Center in Rosemont Monday night.
Steve Robinson, a freelance writer since 1984, has written about the Peoria Pirates since the Pirates were members of Indoor Football League, beginning in 1999. He covers the Pirates currently for the Bloomington IL Pantagraph.
