First Quarter of Season Positive for Avengers
Steven Herbert
Sunday March 2, 2003
Now they are seeking another winning record and to improve their defense in the second quarter, which begins Sunday as they play host to the Georgia Force at Staples Center.
The Avengers (3-1) were the league`s second-highest scoring team in the season`s first quarter, averaging 61.2 points, 1.3 behind league-leading San Jose. Six times Los Angeles needed just one play to reach the end zone and scored four other times on two-play drives in its four games.
However, the Avengers defense, which coach Ed Hodgkiss jokingly said has "been giving me a heart attack at times," because of its failures to execute, has allowed 56.8 points per game, the AFL’s third-highest total.
“We can play better defensively,” said wide receiver/linebacker Greg Hopkins. “When we clean those things up and iron out those wrinkles, we’ll be able to reduce the points against us.”
(The offense`s success has contributed to the defense`s statistical shortcomings as Los Angeles’ quick-strike offense also gives its opponents plenty of chances to score.)
Defensive improvement was an off-season priority for the Avengers, with the signing of free agent offensive lineman/defensive lineman Mike Ulufale, rookie defensive specialists Wasswa Serwanga and Damen Wheeler, who both have NFL experience, and Doug Kay’s hiring as defensive coordinator.
“Our pass rush is definitely improved,” Hopkins said. “Mike Ulufale definitely came in to play and done some great things for us in the pass rush. Our coverage has improved. We’re kind of young in that position, but we’ve got a lot of talent.”
Quarterback Tony Graziani said the reasons for the team’s success are that “we all believe in each other and we don’t give up and we’re able to win the close games.”
After opening the season with an 60-48 victory over Las Vegas that was still in doubt with less than two minutes to play, Los Angeles defeated defending AFL champion San Jose, 73-72, overcoming a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit with a touchdown and two-point conversion with one second left, and won 59-53 in overtime at Colorado.
The Avengers enter Sunday`s game on a down note, having lost for the first time in 2003 in a game they could have won had they capitalized better on two third-quarter takeaways and Graziani avoided a late interception in a 54-53 setback at Chicago last Sunday.
"If you had told me before the season we`d be 3-1 after the first four, I`d be real happy, but I`m upset about the way we played last weekend," Graziani said. “We didn’t come ready to play and they took it to us.”
Graziani said “it seemed we were kind of flat,” an assessment Hodgkiss said he disagreed with.
"We came out and played hard defensively," Hodgkiss said. "Offensively, we gave up more pressures than I like, so maybe offensively we weren`t ready to handle their pass rush."
Los Angeles was held to three points after making an interception and recovering a fumble in the third quarter. Chicago (1-3) took the lead on Billy Dicken’s four-yard pass to Antonio Chatman with five minutes, 23 seconds to play. The Avengers drove to the Rush’s four-yard line when Dameon Porter intercepted a Graziani pass in the end zone.
“Tony made a bad throw there, something he usually doesn’t do,” Hodgkiss said.
Hodgkiss said Georgia (2-2) is similar to Chicago in that they has some good pass rushers, with Hodgkiss calling Georgia’s offensive lineman/defensive lineman Jermaine Smith “one of the best new kids to come to the Arena League I’ve seen in a long time.”
Offensively, the Force “does a good job running the ball and throwing screens,” while wide receiver/linebacker Darryl Hammond, “is a Hall of Famer who makes crucial plays at critical times,” Hodgkiss 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.
