SaberCats face Rampage as Playoff Picture Tightens
Tim Ball
Saturday May 3, 2003
Yet, San Jose is still looking for a complete game. Not bad for a team that controls their own destiny with three games left in regular season.
Grand Rapids comes into town with multiple clichés swirling around both teams. Every game from now on is “a must win” and “nothing is going to get any easier.” Numerically, several teams can come out on top in the hunt for the number one position.
 Darren Arbet Image courtesy of Ken LaRue |
“The first goal of a season is to get the team playing well together,” said Arbet. “Each season is different, as there is shakeup in the chemistry from one year to the next. You lose some players for one reason or another but the focus and goal remains the same, winning the next game.”
In his fifth season as head coach, Arbet has an impressive winning record of 50-19 in the regular season and 55-21 overall, highlighted by last season’s victory in ArenaBowl XVI. Arbet was the eighth coach to reach the 50-win mark and the second fastest in league history behind Tampa Bay’s Tim Marcum.
“A head coach can prepare the team, but the players have to execute and want to win,” says Arbet. “There is also the factor of health, preparation and preparedness that is key to maintaining a season in a positive direction. I give a lot of credit to the players we select and the coaching staff on this team to do the work necessary to put a team on the field that wants to compete at the highest level.”
On being a winner, Arbet maintains that it is the long race to prepare for, while keeping the focus on only one game. And, that is the next game to play. The next team for San Jose to prepare for is the last franchise to win the ArenaBowl.
Get ready for this game
The Grand Rapids Rampage is a team that can beat any team in the league and this game stands alongside others in a weekend of awesome match-ups of key importance. Ranked in the top five in five categories, Rampage quarterback Clint Dolezel gives San Jose plenty to worry about.
Dolezel has a trio of receivers, Terrill Shaw, Steve Smith and Willis Marshall, who are leading the league this season with a combined 233 receptions for 2,986 yards and 67 touchdowns.
San Jose is more than ready to play at home as only the Detroit Fury has upset the flow of victories when the SaberCats take to their own turf.
With an all-star cast led by WR/LB Barry Wagner, who passed the 100-mark in rushing touchdowns, San Jose is still the team to watch out for. Quarterback Mark Grieb is having another good year but has not gotten the attention. Having thrown more interceptions (13 in 367 passes) this season than in the last three seasons combined (12 in 950 passes), with this season’s effective running game, Grieb has not had to be Mr. Perfect. Grieb has thrown for 300-plus yards in only two games this season.
The SaberCats have scored an impressive 54 of 55 touchdowns in the red zone. That’s a 98.2% achievement rate with the only failure coming off a fumbled snap that went out of bounds in the Arizona game. While teams can bog down in the arena game, as the closer they get to the goal-line compresses the lanes of opportunity, San Jose has almost found perfection in the toughest part of the field.
Now the all-time leading rushing team in Arena Football history, surpassing the 41 set in 1996 by the St. Louis Stampede, is the San Jose SaberCats with 42. With three games left in the regular season the all-time bar could be set sky-high.
Click, click
Grieb’s passing game is still lethal, as offensive specialist James Hundon and wide receiver James Roe are the best one-two punch in the league. Roe has 27 touchdowns on the year with Hundon right behind him at 23. With a defense that has yet to reach their potential and kicker Daron Alcorn finding his rhythm, San Jose’s best games are still in front of them.
On offense, players of note on the SaberCats are difficult to list as the team concentrates on the effectiveness of the player on the field at the time and not on relying on one superstar to carry the load. The running game has obviously been sensational but several different players have performed exceptionally.
Just when one rusher takes the spotlight, another achieves some other highlight. Led (of course) by WR/LB Barry Wagner (14 TDs), a total of seven different players have scored rushing touchdowns so far this year. FB/LB Keala Keanaaina leads the league in yardage (226) and FB/LB Matt Kinsinger has been sensational as well, having just had a 20-yard rushing touchdown (the longest of his career) against Colorado.
So many effective weapons combine to be the most frightening wall of power the league has ever seen. And, as mentioned above, the red zone has been the exclusive property of the SaberCats.
On defense the SaberCats have lacked the dominance of last season but things in that department are heating up at the right time. And like opposing quarterbacks know all too well, the SaberCats employ the all-time sack leader Sam Hernandez who needs one more to equal the number 55 on his jersey. The relentless pursuit of Hernandez keeps him in the heads and on the minds of every QB who plays San Jose and keeps the SaberCats in every game they play.
“You just go out there and have some fun,” says Hernandez.
While DS Clevan Thomas has shown that he’s only human by missing two games due to turf toe, San Jose has been in contention in every game this season. Thomas returned to form with his league-leading 10th interception of the season against Colorado in last week’s game.
Defensive specialist Wendall Davis has earned his pay by leading the team in tackles with 59.5 and has three fumble recoveries. A fan favorite, Davis’ tackles can be heard from any seat in the house as his hard hits are often remembered long after the game is over.
As the season heads into its final stages, the SaberCats are emerging once again as a force to be reckoned with. While other teams sizzle as well and enjoy the spotlight, San Jose is staying their course of effective consistency that has forged their place in the league.
Facing reality
That elusive “complete game,” is still yet to materialize for San Jose. Teams across the league have shored up their playbooks and personnel with many SaberCats copies and clones. San Jose has had to battle to the end in almost every game, facing at least some version of their attack own plan.
This year there are so many good teams in the league that the ArenaBowl could still end up being played in any number of cities. But, one of them is San Jose.
Whether rocky or oil-on-mirror smoothness awaits the SaberCats in the three remaining games, the next hurdle is against a former champion. So, expect the sound of crashing glass and not the pop of a Johnson and Johnson bottle top.
The San Jose SaberCats are ready and waiting and an indication of ticket sales shows that the fans are as well. Like Sam Hernandez says, let’s “go out there and have some fun.”
Grand Rapids Rampage (8-5), the 2001 ArenaBowl Champions verses the 2002 ArenaBowl Champion San Jose SaberCats (9-4), May 3rd 2003, 7:30pm at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.
All clichés are applicable.
Tim Ball is a writer in the Chicagoland area. Married and father of three, his opinions on Arena Football reflects the positive aspect of the game as a family event second to none in pro sports.
