Inside the Numbers: Rochester vs. Pioneers
Michael Balakier
Thursday April 24, 2003
A pair of Northeast division foes collide Saturday night at the First Union Arena, with each team looking to stay out of the divisional basement and notch its first victory of the season. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers (0-3) are coming off a loss to, arguably, their toughest opponent of the season, the Quad City Steamwheelers. The Pioneers were outscored by the Steamwheelers 40-12 in the first half last week and were never able to recover. The Brigade (0-3) are coming off a 32-27 defeat at the hands of the Norfolk Nighthawks where Rochester’s fourth quarter comeback fell just short.
Positional Match-Ups
Quarterback
The skinny: Despite putting up solid numbers in each of his three outings, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton quarterback Chris Boden still can’t find a way to lead the Pioneers to victory. Last week against the Steamwheelers, Boden went 20-44 for 216 yards and 4 touchdowns. On the year, Boden is averaging just over 212 yards per game while completing 53.8% of his passes. Rochester’s Jason Visconti turned in a solid performance against Norfolk, going 19-34 for 200 yards and 2 TDs. Visconti has thrown seven touchdowns on the year and is averaging 182.7 yards per game.
Hidden stat: By far, the Pioneers play their best football in the fourth quarter, scoring nearly half of their total points (48 out of 97) in the final quarter of the game.
Advantage: Both quarterbacks should be able to put up a solid effort this weekend. The one who will emerge as the victor, however, may undoubtedly be the one who has more weapons at his disposal. Rochester has the dynamic-duo of Derek Baker and Martino Theus, while the status of the Pioneers top receiver, Cosmo DeMatteo, is still uncertain for this week’s game. With that in mind, the edge has to go to the Brigade.
Fullback
The skinny: If you had to choose the one bright spot of the Pioneers’ fickle offense it would arguably be the running game. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s ground attack, which ranks fourth in the league, relied heavily on Elly Salamo. Against Quad City, Salamo rushed the ball eight times for a total of 30 yards and one touchdown. Salamo, the Pioneers’ leading rusher, has racked up 64 total yards on the year and one touchdown. He is averaging 21.3 yards a game and 4.6 yards per carry. Former Pioneer, LaMontie Coleman, is the anchor of Rochester’s running game. Coleman scored two touchdowns last week against the Nighthawks while rushing for 14 yards on four attempts. On the year, Coleman has 46 yards and 3 TDs on 10 attempts.
Hidden stat: Both Salamo, who ranks second in the league in rushing, and Coleman, who ranks sixth, are averaging 4.6 yards per carry.
Advantage: If both teams are presented with chances to score from the close to goal line, the edge goes to Salamo.
Wide Receivers
The skinny: The Pioneers have been plagued by injuries at the wide out position this season, most notably to Opio Gary and Cosmo DeMatteo. In their absence last week, Pioneers’ quarterback Chris Boden relied heavily on Terrell Johnson, who scored two touchdowns on eight receptions for 125 yards. Johnson is now the Pioneers leading receiver in receptions (15) and yards (198). Also contributing to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s aerial attack is QB/WR Kelvin Robinson. Robinson had three receptions last week against the Steamwheelers, and could be a deciding factor in this week’s game if DeMatteo isn’t ready to play yet. Derek Baker and Martino Theus lead Rochester’s passing game, however, it was Ty Stillman who led the way for the Brigade last week, hauling in a team high six reception for 53 yards. On the year, Baker leads the Brigade in every receiving category.
Hidden stat: A third (16) of Rochester’s 48 first downs this season have been earned on opponent penalties.
Advantage: DeMatteo is the deciding factor for this category. If he is available to play, then the Pioneers and Brigade are evenly matched. However, if DeMatteo’s injury holds him out of the lineup for another week, then Rochester holds a distinct advantage.
Kick Returns
The skinny: The Pioneers relied on Kelvin Robinson and the recently released Murle Sango to handle returns against Quad City. On Robinson’s three returns, he gained 25 yards with a long return of 14 yards. Robinson is averaging 13 yards per return on the year. Rochester’s return duties are held by the dangerous Derek Baker. Baker had only two returns last week, but had a long for 32 yards. So far this season, Baker is averaging over 20 yards per return.
Hidden stat: The Pioneers return game ranks 24th in the league, averaging 13.9 yards a return while yielding 16.7 yards a return to their opponents.
Advantage: Although he doesn’t have a return for a touchdown yet this season, Rochester’s Derek Baker has the potential to score on every kickoff. If both teams match each other offensively, the return game could decide the outcome of this contest.
Kicker
The skinny: The Pioneers’ Jimmy Kibble may be happy to be back in the Wyoming Valley. The fan-favorite kicker went 0-4 on field goal attempts, which ranged from 50 to 63 yards in distance, while having one of them blocked. Kibble also had one of his PAT attempts blocked, and finished 2-3 on extra points. On the year, Kibble is 1-7 on field goal attempts and 7-8 on PATs. Rochester’s Charles Egor missed all three of his field goal attempts last week, which ranged from 36-55 yards. Egor went 3-4 on PATs, with his one miss being blocked by Norfolk. On the year, Egor is 0-7 on field goals and 3-7 on PATs.
Hidden stat: Rochester is one of six teams in the af2 who have yet to connect on a field goal this season.
Advantage: Ironically, the advantage has to go to Egor. While Kibble is the more talented of the two, Egor will likely love kicking in the ‘spacious’ First Union Arena as opposed to the warehouse-like Blue Cross Arena.
What to Expect
One thing is for certain: either the Brigade or the Pioneers will be leaving with a victory Saturday night. The question that remains is: Which team will win? The Pioneers will have to bring their ‘A-game’ defense in order to stop Visconti and the Brigade’s passing attack. Although Rochester has struggled this year at putting points on the board, the Brigade are very capable of exploding offensively, especially with the quantity of talented receivers they have. On the flip side, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has been marred by inconsistent play this season (surprise, surprise), something that eerily resembles the problem that plagued last year’s squad. However, last week against Quad City, the Pioneers showed some signs of consistency; albeit scoring one touchdown a quarter isn’t going to cut it in arena football. With that in mind, the Pioneers will need to come out of the gates blazing and put some points on the board quickly and early. Should Wilkes-Barre/Scranton start the game on an upbeat note, they could have Rochester head coach Mark Saunders, who led the Brigade to a 7-9 record and playoff berth last season, wondering about his job security. However, if the Pioneers stumble out of the gate, the Brigade may very well put Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in sole possession of the basement in the Northeast Division.
Prediction: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s defense leads the way; Pioneers win 45-27.
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.
