Firecats Torch Knights
Keith Murphy
Monday June 16, 2003
“We’ve been fortunate in that we have had some pretty good team efforts against a very good football team in Macon.” Firecats’ head coach Ben Bennett attributed the win to team play and big plays on defense. “We think we’ve got a pretty good secondary. We gave up a few more big plays than we normally do. But, our defense is designed to make plays at big times and we just happened to do that tonight: a fourth down interception on the goal line, the interception to seal the game and the interception that went the distance early on. Those are big difference makers; especially in an offensive shootout.”
Bennet said that the biggest weapon for Florida proved to be quarterback Ken Mastrole who was 23 of 31 and threw 8 touchdown passes. “I told Kenny, as we talked during the week, that he really hadn’t had a breakout game. But I thought he was capable of it. We talke about how hard he presses to make plays on every snap and sometimes it’s just not there and you’ve got to take what they give you and we’ll come back and fight another day. What they gave us tonight he really took advantage of.”
“I think we did a lot in the first half to contribute to them making plays and it kind of steamrolled from there,” said Knights’ head coach Kevin Porter. “I thought we played well offensively but we just couldn’t get a stop. Give Florida a lot of credit. They had this team prepared and they played very well.”
The two teams played evenly until Firecat WR/DB Chris Davis picked off a Jermaine Alfred pass and returned it for a touchdown with 3:35 to go in the first quarter. That gave Florida the opportunity they needed to get two scores up on the Knights. “That’s the big play in the game. For them to get an interception and then to have the possession coming out of halftime since this is a possession football game; they took care of business on their possessions and we didn’t.”
Knights’ FB/LB Byron Douzart chalked the loss up to desire, “At some spots it seemed that they wanted it more than we did. We still have to get into practice next week and work hard again and come back out against Charleston and give it all we got.”
Despite the loss, Knights’ WR/DB Anthony Snead was named game MVP. Snead caught 9 passes for 109 yards and one touchdown. The award, though, was bittersweet, “I feel like I could have made that last catch,” Snead said. “That’s what really hurt.”
Snead is a rookie from Fort Valley State University and he says that he’s becoming more and more comfortable as a pro, “I’m learning a lot. It’s definitely a different game than regular football. I’m practicing a lot and taking a lot of grief from the coaches when I mess up. But that grief will build me up.”
Despite three interceptions, Macon quarterback Jermaine Alfred had a big night completing 27 of 42 passes for 326 yards and four touchdowns. Alfred also ran in three scores. Alfred was on one end or the other of all 7 Macon scores.
With the win the Firecats record returns to .500 and Bennett hopes that this win is a sign that his plan is coming together, “I certainly hope so. It’s nice that we’re finally getting a little bit healthier. Early in the season we were so decimated by injuries that it was tough to get any continuity either on offense or defense. But, tonight, barring the few big plays that we gave up, I thought really both sides of the football for us played very well against what is probably one of the better offensive teams in the league.” The Firecats travel to Greensboro next week.
With the loss, the Knights fall to 6-4. They are on the road at Charleston Saturday night. The next Knights’ home game is July 5th when the Knights host the Columbus Wardogs.
Dr. Murphy has nearly 20 years of media experience ranging from radio to the Internet. He has served as webmaster for two AF2 teams and the football team at Fort Valley State University. He is a professor at FVSU and directs www.bunniwerks.org, a non-profit rabbit rescue organization. He has been commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel. Murphy is also serving as a first party editor of af2 stories for ArenaFfan. For more information about Dr. Murphy see: www.keithmurphy.info
