First Half Patience Funnels Second Half Explosion for Conquest
Michael Balakier
Sunday May 4, 2003
After playing cautiously for much of the first half, the Conquest (3-1), led by quarterback Ryan Vena, exploded in the second half for 40 points. According to Conquest head coach Pete Costanza, the second half eruption wasn’t a surprise. “Going into the game, we were pretty sure what they were going to do,” said Costanza. “We had a great scouting report and the scouting report held true. So, when we came into the start of the game, we just wanted to check it out and see exactly what they were going to do and how they were going to play us; and they played us exactly like we thought and that’s when we just unleashed our plays to go down the field a little more and exploit their defense and it worked out well.”
Vena, who finished 28-32 for 285 yards and 8 touchdowns, connected with WR/LB Adriel Linyear for three touchdown passes, all in the second half. The 68 points scored by the Conquest snaps a three game streak in which Albany scored only 45 points. For Costanza, the scoring frenzy, in which the Conquest scored on 10 of their 11 possessions, didn’t come out of the blue. “We felt all along throughout the season that we were a better than 45 points a game,” Costanza said. “The one thing that we just wanted to do tonight is just get into a rhythm and not make a lot of mistakes and just throw the ball and catch the ball. But, if we would have scored 46 [points] and held them to 44 [points] that would have been good too.”
Also, heading into Saturday night’s game, the Conquest ranked last in the af2 in passing offense. However, Costanza said that. to him, the statistics don’t mean anything. “You look at the stats and to us as a team and as coaches we don’t care how many yards we throw for as long as we get a ‘W’.”
Aiding in the Conquest’s victory was its defense, which ranks second in the league. Constanza said that although his team’s defense played well against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (1-4), he felt that they should have easily held them to fewer points than what the Pioneers scored. “We had three breakdowns, all of which were touchdowns,” explained Costanza. “Our defense played well, we just need to finish and not have lapses. If we don’t have lapses we can hold people to 25 points, and we know that.”
Meanwhile, defense was one aspect of the Pioneers game that failed against the Conquest, specifically in the second half. “We did the things we wanted to do upfront, we didn’t compete coverage wise,” said Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach Dean Cokinos. “The first drive in the second half we had a chance to intercept the ball and our guy gets knocked down and he doesn’t make the play; they score. Second time (Albany) comes down, we have them third and twelve from their own end zone and our other [defensive back] is in the wrong zone. That’s the game; two touchdowns and the game’s over. You gotta make plays. We were playing well offensively in the first half and two plays come out in the second half and it changes the game. We’re not good enough to overcome that.”
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton quarterback Chris Boden, who finished 17-31 for 251 yards and 5 TDs, agreed with Cokinos, saying that the team didn’t make the plays in the start of the third quarter. “We came out in the second half and we didn’t make plays,” said Boden. “We had a chance to make some plays on defense, but they made the plays, they scored the touchdowns, and that was the little 14-point swing. There’s swings like that in every arena game and you just kind of got to weather it and you got to get back at it.”
Pioneers’ offensive specialist Cosmo DeMatteo believes that the team needs to tighten everything up as they prepare for next week’s game against Norfolk. “It was just kind of like a hit or miss situation and it seems like we missed more than we hit,” said DeMatteo, who finished the game with a team high six receptions for 102 yards and 1 TD. “It was just kind of a little here a little there, it’s not really one particular thing. We just got to tighten things up and play a little better.”
Arguably, the worst aspect of the Pioneers’ game this week was its secondary, mainly because Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was playing without defensive specialist Kyle Grove, who signed a contract with the Scottish Claymores of the NFL Europe earlier this week. However, Cokinos, who believes that Grove was one of the best defensive players in the af2, used the loss of his DS as no excuse for the Pioneers poor performance. “It’s one guy, but that’s one big guy,” said Cokinos. “It’s tough to replace Kyle (Grove) and it’s not fair to put these guys who are playing to compare them to Kyle. You miss him…but play with the guys you have.”
Cokinos also added that although each game provides a learning experience, the learning process is starting to end. “We got to start making these plays,” said Cokinos. “We’re five games in and our guys have got to start making some of these plays.”
Not helping the Pioneers’ cause was the way Albany quarterback Ryan Vena exploited Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s defense by scrambling with the football. “When the quarterback scrambles, it changes whole course of the game,” said Cokinos. “He leaves the pocket, now you’re responsible for a zone and you’re instinctive and maybe you go somewhere you’re not supposed to go.” Cokinos, however, was quick to give credit to Vena and the Conquest for their performance. “He’s (Vena) a winner,” added Cokinos. “He’ll find ways to win and he did.”
Game Notes
Highlight reel: Saturday night’s game featured a pair of spectacular plays from each team. First for the Conquest, with under a minute remaining in the second quarter, quarterback Ryan Vena dropped back to pass from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 6-yard line before being pressured by the Pioneers’ front line. After rolling out to his right, Vena threw the ball towards the right corner of the end zone, and from that point, Albany OS Cory Hill took over. Hill dove forward and caught the ball with one hand while diving into the dasher boards. That score put Albany ahead for good.
For Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, trailing 55-28 midway through the fourth quarter, Chris Boden heaved a 30-yard pass toward the right corner of the end zone where WR/LB Harry Brunson was standing. However, Boden’s pass was about two yards short and Albany WR/DB Phil Taylor jumped up to intercept the pass. However, as Taylor fell to the ground, the ball was jarred out of his hands and fell right into the hands of Brunson. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
Shovelware: The Pioneers mastered the art of the shovel pass Saturday night. On Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s first possession of the third quarter, Boden shoveled the ball to FB/LB Kevin Nagle who ran the ball 37-yards to the Conquest 1-yard line. Nagle finished the job on the next play by scoring on a one-yard touchdown run.
Dump it: On the Pioneers’ last possession of the first half, it appeared that Wilkes-Barre/Scranton WR/LB Harry Brunson was in the right place at the right time. With the ball on the Albany 2-yard line, Pioneers’ quarterback Chris Boden began to run a bootleg to the left side towards the end zone before running into three Albany defenders. At the last possible moment, instead of getting pancaked, Boden threw a little dump pass over the heads of the Conquest defenders and into the hands of Brunson. After the game, Boden said that the play was planned all along. “It was a little option,” said Boden. “If his guy comes up to tackle me, I just throw a little basketball pitch to him. It was good and it worked out well.
Staying sharp: On the ensuing kickoff, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Jimmy Kibble kicked the ball into the stands resulting in an illegal procedure penalty. The fun began after that though, as the spectator in the first row who caught the ball proceeded to pull a Sharpie out of his pocket and autograph the football before throwing it into a crowd of spectators a few rows up from the team benches. Questionable behavior indeed, but give the spectator credit for his very quick thinking.
Kicker’s corner: Pioneers’ kicker Jimmy Kibble took part of the blame for the team’s loss, citing his inability to hit the net on kickoffs. At first, it appeared as though Kibble was intentionally putting a high arch on his first few kickoffs in an effort to allow Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s special team coverage more time to defend Albany’s Cory Hill.
However, Kibble said he believes he was thinking more about his calf, which he injured last week against Rochester, than he was kicking the ball. “I just got under the ball,” said Kibble. “I was making good contact; I wasn’t driving the ball. It hurts when you don’t hit the net. I really hurt the team on defense cause I was giving (Albany) a lot of yards.” On a lighter note, Saturday’s game marked the first time that neither team’s kicker hit any obstructions in the First Union Arena. It also featured two left-footed kickers in Kibble and Albany’s Chris Drennan, a Nebraska product.
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.
