Late Downpour In Fayetteville Sinks Speed
David Chappell
Monday June 9, 2003
Inside the Crown Coliseum, the Speed endured a downpour of Cape Fear points in the second half much to the delight of the 4,926 in attendance. Costly fumbles by Richmond proved to be the impetus of a run by Cape Fear that stretched a narrow 19-13 halftime lead to 48-13 by early in the fourth quarter.
After stopping the Wildcats on the first possession of the second half, Richmond got good field position on a Damon “Redd” Thompson return after Cape Fear attempted a long field goal from its own endzone. Rather than moving in for a go ahead score, Richmond was hit with an immediate penalty and things quickly unraveled for the Speed.
Speed coach Richard Davis said the turning point of the game was Richmond’s inability to score after the big stop on defense to start the second half.
“We got a stop to start the second half but then we turned around and gave it right back, and that was the game,” Davis said.
Then came the turnovers, and the down pouring of points came rapidly thereafter as the floodgates opened against the Speed. Speed FB/LB Cory Middlebrooks commented, “Turnovers killed us and they capitalized off of our mistakes. That really hurt us.”
The contest was a highly competitive defensive struggle early on. The Wildcats broke on top 7-0 on a three yard run by FB Wilmont Perry with 8:39 remaining in the first quarter. Richmond answered immediately on a dazzling 45 yard kickoff return by Jeff Townsley to the Cape Fear one yard line. Speed quarterback Roy Johnson took it over from the one to cut the margin to 7-6 after one quarter.
Richmond pulled even at 13-13 with 5:10 remaining in the half on another one yard TD run by Johnson.
However, Richmond did not score again until 6:39 remained in the game, on a 23 yard scoring pass from Johnson to Thompson, with the Speed behind 48-13 at that point. Before that the Wildcats had scored five unanswered touchdowns on two more TD runs by Perry, a touchdown run by FB Russ Lindgren and two TD passes from QB Brian Snyder to OS Matt Burstein.
Despite being ahead by 28 points with just over two minutes remaining in the game, Cape Fear coach Chris Siegfried continued to have Snyder throw deep against the Richmond defense. Burstein caught a 40 yard bomb from Snyder to inflate Cape Fear’s lead to 55-20 with only 2:09 remaining in the contest. Burstein could be seen jawing at the Speed’s bench after the play.
Davis indicated that he expected such antics from the Wildcats. Davis said, “They tried to run it up on us at the end. I wish I could tell you I was surprised, but I’m not. Children in charge [in Cape Fear]; what do you expect? That’s why 16 year olds shouldn’t drive, because you get wrecks. Chris [Siegfried] was driving that car and trying to run us over, and that’s fine. Integrity showed tonight, or lack thereof.”
Richmond scored the game’s final points on an 18 yard pass from Johnson to WR George Williams with 1:33 remaining. Davis said he was pleased that the Speed continued to fight until the end. “We had some guys who continued to play hard,” Davis maintained.
For Richmond, Johnson was 15-28 for 189 yards and two TDs. Johnson was not intercepted, despite being under heavy pressure most of the night. Thompson caught six passes for 89 yards and Williams chipped in with four catches for 37 yards for the Speed.
Snyder was 16-26 for 208 yards and three touchdowns for Cape Fear. Burstein caught five passes for 100 yards and was named game MVP. Perry rushed five times for 40 yards for the Wildcats.
It is now back to the drawing board for the 4-5 Speed. However, Richmond will not have to wait long to get another shot at the Wildcats. Cape Fear visits the Richmond Coliseum on June 21.
Speed kicker Peter Martinez said, “It’s always tough to lose. We just have to come back. Tonight wasn’t our night, and obviously it showed on the field. We welcome the rematch. We feel we didn’t give them our best shot tonight. I feel like we will next time.”
Middlebrooks is also looking forward to seeing the Wildcats again soon. “We know the things we did wrong tonight,” Middlebrooks said. “It will be a good game next time when they come to Richmond. I’m looking forward to that.”
Davis stressed that despite the loss to the 7-2 Wildcats, the Speed still have a lot to play for this year.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Davis said. “But we’re absolutely not out of the playoff picture. But we’re going to have to hold on and fight like crazy now.”
David Chappell is a native of Richmond, Virginia. He has closely followed local sports in Richmond and vicinity for over thirty years, and Arena Football 2 since its inception. David currently writes extensively for a website that he co-founded which documents professional wrestling in Virginia and surrounding areas from 1974-1986. A former elected prosecutor, David is currently a practicing attorney in a large downtown Richmond law firm.
