Early Momentum a Must for Pioneers' Victory
Michael Balakier
Wednesday April 9, 2003
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Head Coach, Dean Cokinos, knows that a repeat performance of last week, in which the Pioneers turned the ball over four times, won’t help his team achieve their first victory of the season. Cokinos also believes that a fast start for the Pioneers is extremely important. “It’s always good to get off fast and first in anything,” said Cokino, “especially in the beginning of the year when you’re trying to find your way, you gotta score first. So it’s important to score first, or score the first few times.”
Quarterback Chris Boden believes the key to this week’s game is to hang onto the football, something the Pioneers failed to do on three occasions last week. “We were a little bit careless with the fumbles,” said Boden. “Other than that I thought we played really well on offense. We just stopped ourselves more than anything else.”
Boden also said momentum is another big key to the game. “We had a lot of momentum at the end of the last game [and] we’d like to build off that to the first quarter of this game.”
Offensive specialist/kick returner, Opio Gary, agrees with Boden that momentum will be key, especially since this week’s game is the Pioneers’ home opener. “(Momentum) is definitely a must,” said Gary. “A lot of af2 teams haven’t seen a packed arena like we [have] sometimes and they’re just bewildered on everything that’s going on.”
Coach Cokinos agrees with his top quarterback and reciever: “You’re at home and you want the fans behind you,” Cokinos said. “If you can get the fans involved early, anytime you’re at home it’s to your advantage.”
Déjà Vu
In the Pioneers’ home (and franchise) opener last year, the team scored on their first offensive play, sending the capacity crowd at the First Union Arena into a pandemonium. Although that task may be difficult to top for this year’s opener, OS/KR Opio Gary knows exactly what could top last year’s opening score. “Run it back for a touchdown,” said Gary, referring to the opening kickoff. “I think that’s gonna set the tone right there.” FB/LB Elly Salamo said that he thinks the team will score on the opening kickoff. However, Salamo’s first words about topping last year’s score were “a rushing touchdown.”
Inside the Numbers: Pioneers vs. Wolves
What’s at stake?
The Mohegan Wolves come to town Friday night for the home opener of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers. The Pioneers are coming off a disappointing 46-25 loss to the Greensboro Prowlers, in which the Pioneers committed four turnovers, three of which were off fumbles. Mohegan used a 25-point first quarter to rout the Rochester Brigade, 57-20. The Wolves outscored the Brigade 40-12 in first half, and held them to a measly 8 points in the second half. The Pioneers will be trying to capture their first win of the season, which would also put them at the .500 mark for the first time in franchise history. Meanwhile, Mohegan will be trying to avenge last season’s sweep at the hands of the Pioneers.
Positional Match-Ups
Quarterback
The skinny: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Chris Boden is coming off a respectable performance against Greensboro, despite only throwing for one touchdown. Boden went 19-35 for 218 yards against the Prowlers, but also threw one interception and fumbled the ball twice, one of which was lost. Mohegan relied primarily on Rob Harding, who went 9-13 for 121 yards and three touchdowns, against the Brigade. He also threw one interception. The Wolves also used Ryan Tracey at quarterback, who completed all five of his passes for 60 yards.
Hidden stat: The Pioneers’ Boden threw for more yards (218) than both Mohegan’s Harding (121) and Tracey (60) combined.
Advantage: The Pioneers have arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the af2 on their roster. Boden’s biggest challenge this week should be holding onto the ball, since he fumbled twice last weekend. Another factor that could pose some problems for Boden and the Pioneers’ offensive line are the three sacks that the Wolves had against Rochester last week. Mohegan also intercepted Rochester four times, two of which were returned for touchdowns.
Fullback
The skinny: The Pioneers rushed the ball 16 times against the Prowlers for a total of 52 yards gained. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton split half the carries between Elly Salamo and Harold Jackson, with each getting four rushes. Salamo rushed for 29 yards while Jackson added 18. Mohegan relied on LaJohn Jones, who rushed for 18 yards on seven attempts, against the Brigade. The Wolves rushed the ball 12 times for a total of 9 yards.
Hidden stat: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s rushing offense ranks third in the league, averaging 52 yards per game. Mohegan’s rush defense ranks first in the league, allowing minus one yard per game.
Advantage: The rushing game is something Pioneers’ Head Coach Dean Cokinos would like to establish in every game and establishing it against the Wolves shouldn’t be too difficult for Salamo and Jackson, who could be one of the best fullback duos in the af2 come season’s end.
Wide Receivers
The skinny: Opio Gary and Terrel Johnson were Chris Boden’s main targets against Greensboro, hauling in seven and five receptions, respectively. Gary, whose 75 receiving yards led the Pioneers, caught Boden’s only touchdown pass. Mohegan relied on three receivers to dismantle the Brigade. Mel Long had four receptions for 54 yards and one touchdown. Anthony Comer also added four receptions for 20 yards, while Kazmell Minott led the team with 56 yards on three receptions and two touchdowns.
Hidden stat: The Pioneers and Wolves gain just about the same amount of yards per reception, averaging 11.5 and 11.3 yards, respectively.
Advantage: The big question that will be determined Friday night is if the Wolves’ defense can have a repeat performance against the Pioneers as they did against Rochester. If so, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s receivers could be in for a long night.
Kick Returns
The skinny: Opio Gary handled all return duties for the Pioneers last week, piling up 75 yards on seven returns. Gary, whose longest return against the Prowlers was 39 yards, is averaging 10.7 yards per return. Mohegan used Anthony Comer and Lance Small on kickoffs, with Comer doing the best job. Comer handled two returns totaling 40 yards.
Hidden stat: Last season, Comer played for the now defunct New Haven Ninjas, averaging over 18 yards a return while scoring 24 touchdowns, 18 on receptions and 6 on the ground.
Advantage: Kick returns can often lead to big changes of momentum in a game, and usually the players with the greatest ‘big-play’ ability are the ones who return kickoffs for touchdowns. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Opio Gary has shown that he has that ‘big-play’ potential, as evident from his field goal return last season and his performance in training camp this year. Last season, the Pioneers’ first offensive play of the game went for a touchdown. Gary has the potential to score before the offense even takes the field.
Kickers
The skinny: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton kicker Stefan Schroffner’s professional football debut is certainly one he would like to forget. Schroffner only made 1 of 4 field goal attempts, connecting from 40 yards. Schroffner also missed his only PAT. Mohegan kicker Geoff Heyl went 1-2 on field goals, hitting from 16 yards. Heyl went 4-8 on PATs.
Hidden stat: After hitting only one of his first five PATs, Hyle connected on his last three to take him to fifty percent in the game.
Advantage: Both kickers would probably like to forget each other’s performance last week. However, as bleak as their game was last week, a repeat performance is possible thanks to the wonderful configuration of the First Union Arena. In all likelihood, more footballs may wind up hitting the arena’s scoreboard than sailing through the goalposts.
What to Expect
The Pioneers showed some life midway through the fourth quarter against Greensboro, scoring 19 of their 25 points in the final ten minutes of the game. However, Mohegan equaled all 25 of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s points in the first quarter alone. Aside from that, the Wolves held their opponent scoreless for two quarters of the game, something that the Prowlers also did to the Pioneers. If the Pioneers hope to send what is likely to be a capacity crowd home happy, they will need to play four consistent quarters of football, something that last year’s team struggled with early on. The Pioneers may hold a 3-0 all-time series lead over the Wolves, but Mohegan will likely put an end to that Friday night, which will have the Pioneers searching for their first win next week in Quad City.
Prediction: Mohegan defeats the Pioneers for the first time ever, 38-24
Michael Balakier first discovered a knack for writing during his senior year in high school while reporting for his school`s newspaper. Aside from being an Arenaball fan, Michael is an avid Syracuse University athletics follower, which poses a problem for him, as he attends the University of Pittsburgh. Michael plans on using what he has learned through his Arenafan experience to remain as impartial as he can during future Syracuse/Pitt events. Michael also serves as co-Editor of the af2 section of Arenafan Online.
