Pioneers Experience Déjà Vu Against Norfolk
Michael Balakier
Saturday May 17, 2003
The game looked like a déjà vu experience for the Pioneers, as they trailed and rallied in the same manner of last week’s game against the Nighthawks in Norfolk, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach Dean Cokinos concurs. “It was a repeat performance,” said Cokinos. “It was almost scripted. Every time we do something right it turns into a negative. We got ourselves a chance to win the game in the second half, and again we could find a way to get over the hump. It is what it is; we’re a 1-6 team, that’s what we are.”
The night did start off on a high note for the Pioneers, as the team scored on its first possession of the game for the first time since playing Mohegan in week three. “We did come out hard, and we did come out positive, but a couple things happened to make it a negative,” Cokinos said.
Norfolk’s offense and the Pioneers’ defense were just a few of those negatives. Norfolk, led by quarterback Aaron Sparrow, who went 20-31 for 263 yards and six touchdowns, quickly dissolved any chance the Pioneers’ had of controlling the game by scoring 34 unanswered points, taking an early 34-7 lead.
“We had the game pretty well in hand most of the game,” said Nighthawk head coach Rick Frazier. “Our guys outfought them. Our guys rose up to the mark. I thought across the board the defense did what they needed to do, and the offense scored when they had to.”
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton offensive specialist Cosmo DeMatteo said he was baffled after the game at the team’s inconsistency to play a full game of football. “It seems like every game we come out and we have a slow start and then we pick it up the second half and it’s been a little too late,” said DeMatteo, who finished the game with 7 receptions for 62 yards. “It’s just frustrating. It’s like we’re jinxed. The ball bounces the wrong way the last two games. We’re creating turnovers and it’s bouncing right in their hands.”
The ball literally did bounce right in Norfolk’s hands. Midway through the second quarter, Norfolk quarterback Aaron Sparrow connected with OS Travis Burns on a 30-yard pass to the Pioneers’ 15-yard line. After catching the ball, Burns was derailed by a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defenseman and preceded to fumble the football. However, the ball bounced off the turf and right back into Burns’ hands. Burns then scampered into the endzone to complete the score and put Norfolk up 34-7.
Despite the dejecting loss, Cokinos did commend his players after the game. “Our guys got a lot of heart,” said Cokinos. “A lot of teams will quit at halftime; they don’t quit. “One of these days we’ll go out and play four quarters, and I think if we play with that desire to win like that for four quarters, I can see us playing with every team in this league. I really believe that. These guys are going to start thinking I’m crazy after a while. We’ve got a team here that can compete, they just put themselves in the whole and that’s too bad. They deserve to win; they really do.”
Nighthawk head coach Rick Frazier agrees with Cokinos. “If they keep working, Wilkes-Barre is going to get some wins down the road,” Frazier said. “[The Pioneers] can be a formidable opponent for anybody if they fight like they did tonight and if they can get that going for four quarters instead of the third and fourth (quarters) like they’ve done on me the last two weeks.”
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Cosmo DeMatteo shared his own view on the team’s inconstancy. “I really don’t think it’s a lack of athletic ability, it’s just that luck is just not with us,” DeMatteo said. “ My dad told me ‘I’d rather be lucky than good’, and right now it seems like we’re not very lucky.”
The Pioneers try to get luck on their side next Friday night at home against the Greensboro Prowlers.
Game Notes
Just kick it: Right before the end of the first half, with the score 34-14 in favor of the Nighthawks, Norfolk had the ball on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 3-yard line with :04 left in the half. Instead of opting for a field goal, Nighthawks head coach Rick Frazier choose to try to score a touchdown, which was unsuccessful. After the game, Frazier said that was probably the worst call he’s made all year. Frazier explains: “ [We] should have taken the field goal to try to take crowd out of it, try to put another nail into their coffin,” said Frazier, “but I let my heart get the best of my head. We went for it and wound up with nothing.”
Foe familiarity: After playing the Pioneers on back-to-back weekends, the Norfolk Nighthawks now play two of their next three opponents in the same fashion. The Nighthawks face the Mohegan Wolves and the Albany Conquest, both in home-and-home series, beginning next weekend in Uncasville, CT. After playing Mohegan for two weeks, the Nighthawks then travel to Charleston to face the Swamp Foxes before traveling to Albany to play the Conquest in back-to-back weekends. Norfolk head coach Rick Frazier said that this is the first time in his coaching career he’s ever played a back-to-back game, much less three in one season. “27 years of coaching, 9 years in the arena league, it’s the first time I’ve ever played back-to-back games against anybody,” said Frazier. “I’m not sure I like it, but I know now we can get it done. A win’s a win in the arena football league.”
Speaking out: Although the inconsistent play is beginning to be the forte of Pioneers football, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach Dean Cokinos gave an explanation after the game as to why his squad is having consistency issues. “When you’re a young team and you’re loosing, and something goes bad early, it’s a shock to them,” Cokinos said. “And before they wake up, you realize it’s two or three scores. And the only way you can get through that is keep playing and experience. We’ve got a lot of young guys and when things go bad, they freeze up. And when they settle down, they start playing and it’s usually too late.”
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.
