Pirates Spank WarDogs
Steve Robinson
Sunday April 20, 2003
Columbus’ backup quarterback, Shayne Shrader, on his team’s first possession of the night looked to be an adequate substitute for injured starter Mike Gluski; scoring Columbus’ first points on a quarterback keeper with 12:48 left in the first quarter which put the WarDogs up 6-0. Peoria’s defensive line put a wall between WarDogs’ kicker Todd Dondelinger’s point-after try and the goalposts, giving Columbus what would become a brief lead.
Peoria offensive specialist Versie Gaddis caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Pirates’ quarterback Charlie Peterson with 9:49 remaining in the first quarter. The point-after by kicker Paul Savich gave the Pirates a 7-6 lead. Columbus’ last bite on the lead came from a 46 yard field goal with 7:33 left in the first quarter, giving coach John Fourcade’s team a 9-7 advantage.
From there, it was all Peoria, beginning with a Peterson 3-yard scramble into the end zone with 11:54 left in the second quarter for the go-ahead score for Peoria [1-2]. Peoria missed the extra point, but had a 13-9 lead and, for the rest of the night, seemingly, the game, as Peoria defenders dogged Shrader, sacking him four times.
Peterson’s assessment of the league champs’ first win: “Offensively, we’ve produced throughout the season and tonight our defense put it all together and our special teams put it together and we had all three facets of the game and we won handily.” Peterson’s night ended with 157 yards, courtesy of 12 of 19 passes and five touchdowns.
“Charlie’s good,” Cowdrey said. “Charlie may be the best in af2, and he surely is one of the best in af2. He’s got a fine receiving corps around him and our offensive line knows that. They take great pride in trying to protect him.”
Backup quarterback Matt Pike saw action in the fourth quarter, going 6-for-13 for 43 yards and throwing a touchdown pass himself.
Hightower Highlight: Davaren Hightower, Peoria defensive back, increased Columbus’ frustrations to the delight of Pirates’ faithful when he intercepted a Shrader pass five yards deep in the Peoria end zone, with 12 seconds remaining until halftime, and scrambled 54-yards on a zig-zag route across the field, ending in a last ditch dive across the goal line with one Columbus defender on top of him and the cheering crowd surrounding him from the stands.
In addition to the scoring interception, the Arizona State product had six catches for 89 yards and two scores. Hightower’s highlight, followed by the point-after by Savich, gave Peoria a 33-9 halftime lead. “Hightower is Hightower. I mean, he’s thick, he’s strong, he’s muscular, he’s athletic. He made a lot of plays tonight,” Peterson said. “We look for big production out him every game just like we do from all our receivers.” .
Valuable Lesson: Columbus’ frustration spilled over with 12:51 left in the fourth quarter. Schrader had a pass picked off by Pirates’ defensive specialist Sidney Lewis. Lewis took a few steps, stumbled and ended the play when he fell to his knees, with officials blowing the play dead, rewarding the ball to Peoria.
But Lewis did not get up immediately and, while still on his knees, Columbus defensive back James Dickerson put a late hit on Lewis while he was getting up. Officials called unsportsmanlike conduct for the play, but did not charge Dickerson with the foul, instead flagging Columbus defensive specialist Desmond Washington, while still not mentioning Dickerson. It was a call that angered the crowd. Cowdrey said there would be nothing to be gaining in retaliating for the episode or stooping to using similar tactics against Columbus. “We learned a real valuable lesson tonight,” the third-season af2 coach said. “Don’t play down to the antics of our opponent.”
Steve Robinson, a freelance writer since 1984, has written about the Peoria Pirates since the Pirates were members of Indoor Football League, beginning in 1999. He covers the Pirates currently for the Bloomington IL Pantagraph.
