How Raymond got his Groove Back
Matthew Pickut
Friday February 7, 2003
“Raymond has been diligent with his rehab, not doing more than his doctors have allowed him to do,” said Coach Dailey, “I’m not sure that he’s 100% yet, and hopefully he’ll just get better.”
FB/LB Leroy Thompson attributes the good start to more than just Philyaw. “Well I attribute it to two things,” revealed Thompson. “First, the team has shown great chemistry in camp and early on in practice which makes for a special team. And second, we brought new guys into camp this season that are hungry and have worked well with the veterans.”
Still anyone watching the game had to be impressed with Philyaw’s performance. After struggling at times last year, the Firebirds’ QB tossed 4 TDs and ran for another score. Most importantly, he failed to throw an interception and passed efficiently (62%).
Philyaw spread out his 18 competitions to four receivers including 10 to OS Eddie Brown. “Eddie made a spectacular catch in the first quarter,” said Coach Dailey, “and he worked through some injuries last year, it was great to see him make that kind of spectacular catch. It gives the team and the coaches confidence, especially it being the first drive of the season.”
Rookie Terence Blackwell contributed 90 all-purpose yards and a touchdown in his AFL debut. Of those yards, 53 came on a kick-off return -- his only return of the night.
“Terrence has a lot of growth potential, he’s got a lot of speed, and hopefully as he understands and learns the arena game he’ll only get better,” said Dailey.
One area that needs improvement has been the kick coverage.
“It was one area we felt like we didn’t play well,” said Dailey of his team that gave up 294 return yards to DS/KR Ron Carpenter. “This week we play Steve Papin, who is a dangerous return-man. Hopefully we worked on it enough this week.”
The Dragons lost last week despite an eight-touchdown performance from QB Aaron Garcia. That kind of explosiveness will test the Firebirds’ defensive backfield anchored by DS Evan Hlavacek. “The Dragons have a very explosive offense led by one of the premier quarterbacks in the Arena Football League in Aaron Garcia.” Remarked Dailey, “We are on the road for the second straight week and I think this game is going to be a real challenge for us. I am expecting a heck of a football game.”
Matthew Pickut is a pastor in northern Indiana and a long time AFL fan. He also writes for his own website: The Brown Paper Blog. He graduated from Taylor University in Upland Indiana (class of `96) with degrees in Biblical Literature and Sociology as well as a healthy respect for the medicinal properties of coffee.
