Avengers Must Guard Against Letdown after Upset Victory
Steven Herbert
Sunday February 16, 2003
“Within 10 minutes after the game, my first thought was, ‘This is the big setup for a letdown game,’” Hodgkiss said. “Being an expansion team, being 0-2 at this point, you couldn’t write a better movie about this being a letdown game.”
One week ago, the Los Angeles Avengers stunned the San Jose SaberCats in a squeaker, 73-72.
To guard against a letdown, Hodgkiss said he planned for his team to practice as long and as hard as it did for San Jose, the defending Arena Football League champion and winner of 17 of its last 18 games before facing Los Angeles.
Unfortunately for the Avengers, Mother Nature put a crimp in those plans. Rain forced them into two days of practice inside a one-time airplane hanger on a cement surface. The team went at about three-quarters speed for those practices, Hodgkiss said.
Hodgkiss said the Crush has all the makings of a quality team, despite its 0-2 record.
"They`ve got some good players," said Hodgkiss, first citing offensive specialist Damian Harrell, who caught 190 passes for 2,617 yards for 39 touchdowns over the past two seasons for the now-defunct Toronto Phantoms.
“He`s arguably one of the best [offensive specialists] in the league,” Hodgkiss said. “He does a great job for them."
Harrell has caught 14 passes for 210 yards and eight touchdowns this season.
Wide receiver/defensive back Charlie Davidson is “an impact player on both sides of the ball,” said Hodgkiss, who coached Davidson in 1997 with the Albany Firebirds.
Colorado quarterback John Dutton was selected as the most valuable player in last season’s ArenaBowl.
“Being such a passing league, if you’ve got a great receiver and great quarterback, you always have a chance to win,” Hodgkiss said.
The Crush has lost its two games by a combined six points. Colorado lost its opener to the Georgia Force, 44-40, Feb. 2, as Dutton fumbled the ball away twice and threw an interception.
Crush kicker Chris Heppner, a former Avenger, was wide right with a 55-yard field goal attempt as time expired in a 57-55 loss to the Grand Rapids Rampage Feb. 7.
"Are we bad? No, we`re not bad. We`re not even close to being bad," Colorado coach Bob Beers said after the loss to Georgia. "In fact, we`re pretty close to being a damn good football team. Pretty soon, if we get it all together, we`re in the hunt."
To Hodgkiss, the keys to Sunday’s game are doing a better job avoiding turnovers than his team did against San Jose when quarterback Tony Graziani threw a team-record four interceptions, get takeaways, execute offensively and have the defense play physically and aggressively.
Los Angeles will be without starting fullback/linebacker Lonnie Ford, who was placed on injured reserve after sustaining a high left ankle sprain in the first half of the SaberCats game.
Ford’s absence will hurt “a lot,” Hodgkiss said.
“He’s been really impressive. The thing he was lacking was game experience. Every rep he’s been taking, he’s really improving.”
Under AFL rules, Ford must miss at least two games before being reactivated.
Kevin Clemens would replace Ford in the starting lineup Sunday if the Avengers begin the game on defense, while Mathias Vavao would start if the Avengers begin the game on offense, Hodgkiss said. Fullback/linebacker Ron Puggi is expected to dress after being inactive for the first two games, a team spokesman said.
Steven Herbert began covering Arena Football in 1988, the league’s second season. He has covered the sport for The Associated Press, Arizona Republic, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Providence Journal-Bulletin, Palm Beach Post, Daily Oklahoman and other publications. Herbert has also written on college and NFL football for The Washington Post and spent five years as a Los Angeles Times staff writer.
