Knights Go Back to Basics
Keith Murphy
Wednesday April 30, 2003
Cat Scratch Fever
During last week’s game against Cape Fear, the Knights jumped out to a 14–7 lead and, according to Knights’ Offensive Coordinator Tres Sullivan, “we had our chance, up 14–7 we got a turnover and were going down to score. Then we run a busted play on fourth down and I think that was the turning point. If we had been able to go up 21-7 I think it would have been a different ballgame. That and the fact that we turned the ball over in the second half on our first drive and they go up by 17, so, instead of us being down 3, we’re down by 17.”
Following the loss, Sullivan says that this week’s practices have been a bit more intense. “A little bit. We’ve had pretty good tempo at practice. Which is good.”
Tornado Warning
Saturday’s opponent is one of the original af2 franchises, however, in their four-year history, they’ve never played Macon. Sullivan says that the Twisters are a veteran squad, “I think the entire roster has played at the af2 level for, at least, a couple of years. They have a lot of good athletes in the secondary and some pretty good pass rushers up front. They’re a good athletic team with a lot of experience. That’s the two things that stick out the most.”
The Twisters are led by quarterback Ricky Hebert, who has a passing rating of 96 and has already racked up 19 touchdown passes on the season. He has shown a tendency to try to force plays and that has led to six interceptions in his first four games.
The Knights’ secondary will be tested in this game as well, as the Twisters boast a receiving corps featuring Ted Alford, Lennie Johnson, and Kevin Williams. The trio is averaging over 200 yards per game and have 14 TD receptions on the season.
The Twisters come into Saturday’s game with a 2–2 record and ranked in the bottom half of the league for both scoring offense and scoring defense. Sullivan, however, is quick to remind fans that those stats are unreliable this early in the season. “I think it’s a big misconception the first four or five games of the year. A lot of teams don’t get to practice in their arena; so the first couple of games there isn’t a whole lot of scoring. I think those scoring averages are kind of blown out of proportion the first four or five weeks of the season. Later in the year, when things become more established, those stats mean a lot more.”
Sullivan says that this week’s practices have focused on “Fundamental stuff. We had quite a few breakdowns last week. Again, not so much what they did; but us fundamentally and technique-wise. We didn’t carry practiced technique over into the game the other night. So, that’s the biggest focus; making sure we’re doing what we’re coached during practice and carrying that over into the game.”
Heavy Lies the Head
The quarterback position is still not performing up to the expectations of the coaching staff. Sullivan says that Sean Peterson will get the start again this week; but, “I’m going to try to get Renotto [Solomon] a little more work this week. Sean didn’t play too bad, except he could have had a night where he was 33 or 34 of 44 but he missed some throws he shouldn’t have missed and made a costly mistake which turned into an interception. But he’s not playing anywhere where he needs to play for us to be successful.”
Peterson has a quarterback rating of 95.6 and he has thrown for 12 touchdowns. Numbers, and a 3–1 record, similar to those Mike Gluski rolled up last season before he was shipped off to Cape Fear in favor of John Rayborn. The Knights have a history of bringing in veteran quarterbacks during the season and Solomon says this year might be no different, “We are always looking. If someone like John Rayborn becomes available…we’re always looking.”
Kickoff is set for 7:30pm at the Macon Coliseum. Camelot, weather permitting, starts at 4:30. Good tickets are still available through Ticketmaster or by calling the Macon Knights box office at (478) 314-3000.
Dr. Murphy has nearly 20 years of media experience ranging from radio to the Internet. He has served as webmaster for two AF2 teams and the football team at Fort Valley State University. He is a professor at FVSU and directs www.bunniwerks.org, a non-profit rabbit rescue organization. He has been commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel. Murphy is also serving as a first party editor of af2 stories for ArenaFfan. For more information about Dr. Murphy see: www.keithmurphy.info
