Road to ArenaBowl Begins in San Jose
Steven Herbert
Saturday May 17, 2003
A victory would give the Avengers (11-4) the No. 1 seeding and home field advantage throughout the Arena Football League playoffs.
“Our ultimate goal is to win the [ArenaBowl], and the best way to get there is to be the highest seed,” Los Angeles coach Ed Hodgkiss said.
However, a loss and a Tampa Bay victory over Georgia Sunday would drop the Avengers to the No. 4 seeding and the likelihood of road games in the semifinals and ArenaBowl.
(Los Angeles would get the No. 3 seeding if both it and Tampa Bay lose, which would also likely put it on the road for the semifinals and ArenaBowl.)
Saturday’s game is for more than just the No. 1 seeding, Hodgkiss said.
“It’s an opportunity for the team to get a banner hung up in Staples Center,” Hodgkiss said, referring to the Western Division championship that will go to the winner. “They can walk in there 10, 15 years from now and say, ‘I was part of that team,’ and nobody can ever take that away from them.”
Winning at San Jose (11-4) would be a banner feat in itself. The SaberCats are 20-1, including playoffs, in their last 21 games at HP Pavilion at San Jose. The Avengers are 0-3 at San Jose, making the HP Pavilion the only current AFL venue they have played in at least twice and never won.
For Los Angeles to win and get that banner, its defense will have to capitalize on chances for takeaways, Hodgkiss said.
“If we have an opportunity to catch an interception, we’ve got to catch it, instead of dropping it,” Hodgkiss said. “If they fumble the ball, we’ve got to be around the ball to get on top of it. San Jose is very efficient on offense and they make very few mistakes. We’ve got to capitalize when they do make mistakes.”
Pass protection will be a key for the Los Angeles offense, Hodgkiss said.
“They have a great pass rush, and they put a lot of pressure on you in their secondary by playing up in your face,” Hodgkiss said. “If we can accomplish those detailed things, I think we can have some success, but what’s got us to this point is not having too many turnovers and playing smart with penalties.”
The Avengers had an uncharacteristic amount of turnovers (three) and penalties (a season-high 10) in last Saturday’s 45-34 victory over Colorado.
After throwing 187 passes without an interception, Tony Graziani threw two in a span of seven passes during a second half where the Los Angeles offense was held scoreless.
“We struggled in the second half,” said Graziani, who completed 14 of 25 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns, but was two-for-nine for 37 yards in the second half. “We couldn`t get anything going. I`m glad it happened last week and not this week.”
The Colorado game also marked the third time in the Avengers last five games they lost a player to a season-ending injury. Wide receiver/linebacker J.J. Washington fractured the fifth cervical vertebrae in his neck making a headfirst tackle in the third quarter.
Washington was hospitalized at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood from Saturday night through Monday, but was able to attend the team`s practice Tuesday at West Los Angeles College.
Washington has been fitted with a brace and the bone is expected to heal in six-to-eight weeks. Washington is expected to be ready for the start of the 2004 season, a statement from the team said.
Jahine Arnold will replace Washington among the 20 players dressing for Saturday’s game. Arnold has caught one pass for 32 yards and made one tackle in four games.
“Jahine`s a very good receiver," Hodgkiss said. "Hopefully he`ll have an impact on the game."
Steven Herbert began covering Arena Football in 1988, the league’s second season. He has covered the sport for The Associated Press, Arizona Republic, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Providence Journal-Bulletin, Palm Beach Post, Daily Oklahoman and other publications. Herbert has also written on college and NFL football for The Washington Post and spent five years as a Los Angeles Times staff writer.
