L.A. Defense Faces Next Big Test: The Rampage
Steven Herbert
Sunday March 23, 2003
This Sunday, the Avengers (5-2) will have the opportunity to remove any possible taint to that accomplishment when they play host to the Grand Rapids Rampage, the Arena Football League’s second-highest scoring team, averaging 57.1 points per game.
Against Indiana (3-4), the Avengers faced a quarterback making his first AFL start, Jose Davis, and receivers who dropped several passes they should have caught.
Against Grand Rapids (5-2), Los Angeles will be facing quarterback Clint Dolezel, who Avengers head coach Ed Hodgkiss called, “arguably the premier quarterback in the league.”
“We improved drastically last week,” Hodgkiss said. “Hopefully we`ll improve again this week, but it`s a different cat also. It`s going to be a tough test on us.”
Los Angeles’ pass rush expects to be bolstered with the return of OL/DL Tony Plantin, who missed the last two games because of a back injury.
When asked if the Rampage’s offense was similar to New York’s, which scored touchdowns nine of the 10 times it had the ball in Los Angeles’ 65-61 victory March 9, Hodgkiss said, “I’d put them a little bit above New York. They’re that good.”
Grand Rapids offense proved to be pretty good when it faced the Avengers last season, with Dolezel throwing nine touchdowns passes, but Los Angeles winning 68-61.
The Rampage’s offensive strength increases the importance of the Avengers offense avoiding turnovers, Hodgkiss said.
“I don’t think Grand Rapids is going to beat itself,” Hodgkiss said. “I don’t know they’ve ever been out of a game since Dolezel’s been there. He’s a great quarterback. If you have one of those, it always allows you to be in the game, so we can’t make any mistakes, got to hang onto the ball, and we’ve got to cause some turnovers because they’re efficient enough on offense to go down and score every time.”
The Rampage has “some very good players defensively,” Hodgkiss said, singling out DS Cecil Doggette.
Another area Grand Rapids excels in is kickoff returns, leading the league with a 26.9-yard average per return.
If Los Angeles wins, they would move four games above .500 for the first time in its four-season history and be assured of at least a tie with San Jose for the Western Division lead at the season’s halfway point.
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.
