Pioneers win seesaw battle with Brigade
Michael Balakier
Saturday June 21, 2003
With :05 remaining in the game and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton leading 54-47, Rochester quarterback Jason Visconti connected on a 30-yard, Hail Mary touchdown pass to Martino Theus as time expired; pulling the Brigade to within one. However, a costly excessive celebration penalty, which turned kicker Charles Eger’s extra point attempt into anything but a chip shot, upended any chance of the Brigade sending the game to overtime.
“It was a good game,” said Pioneers head coach Dean Cokinos. “It’s arenaball. It’s supposed to be exciting. It’s supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to come down to the last play.”
The second half exhibited a memorable seesaw battle that featured six lead changes and two ties at one point. Both teams scored on every offensive possession in the second half.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton also had one of its best special teams’ performances in the franchises two-year history. WR/LB Harry Brunson, who finished with 3 receptions for 23 yards and one touchdown, returned a Brigade missed field goal attempt 38 yards for a touchdown. The recently returned Aman Abye also had a productive special teams night, returning a kick off 57 yards for a touchdown.
“We had a great special teams game tonight,” said Cokinos. “We spent a lot of time working on special teams this week and it really showed. (Special teams) really made a difference in the game.”
WR/LB Terrell Johnson and QB Chris Boden led the Pioneers offensively. Johnson, who finished with 6 receptions for 76 yards and 2 TDs, said the game was definitely offense-paced. “We already knew (Rochester) was a great offensive team,” said Johnson. “It was about who’s offense was going to step up the highest.”
Boden, who finished as game MVP for going 18-28 for 176 yards and 4 TDs, said each team had nothing to lose heading into last night’s contest. It was a good team effort,” said Boden. “We came out tonight and Rochester had nothing to lose and we had nothing to lose. We just have to worry about ourselves to keep winning.”
The Pioneers (4-7), who have now won 3 of their last 4 games, look to carry momentum over to next week’s contest against the Richmond Speed. “Hopefully we get some momentum going again,” said Cokinos. “We had momentum before the break and that break really killed us. We’ve got to take this one game at a time.”
Game Notes
Down on their luck: The struggles continued for the Brigade (1-11) as they lost their seventh consecutive game. Despite the loss, Rochester put up impressive numbers offensively, as quarterback Jason Visconti went 30-42 for 389 yards and 8 TDs. Derek Baker and Martino Theus, who Cokinos thinks may be the best receiving tandem in the league, finished with 12 receptions for 175 yards and 4 TDs and 8 receptions for 149 yards and 4 TDs, respectively. Rochester’s wide receivers/special teams coach Eddie Long, who assumed head coaching duties this week due to a tragedy in head coach Mark Saunders’ family, said his team had their chances, but that the breaks just didn’t go their way. As for the 1-11 start, Long said that it’s frustrating. “I can’t even put it into words,” said Long. “You’ve got guys fighting week in and week out and we’re a close knit group. You get bad breaks like that and that vindicates the whole season. But we’re still going to continue to work hard, as a team and as a family and we’re gonna get some wins.”
Déjà vu: The game’s closing seconds looked eerily familiar to the season home opener against the Mohegan Wolves. In that contest, Mohegan scored on the games final play to escape with a victory. Pioneers’ quarterback Chris Boden said it was like experiencing déjà vu. “I leaned over the side [of the bench] to their quarterback (Jason Visconti) and said ‘we’re not good in these situations,’” Boden said. “And he’s like ‘we’re not either.’”
Name change: Come next season, the Pioneers will no longer be playing in the First Union Arena. Instead, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will play in Wachovia Arena. No, it’s not a new building, just a new name. Back in 2001, First Union merged with Wachovia Bank, which is based in Winston-Salem, N.C., and all First Union facilities will adopt the name Wachovia as part of the merger. And in case you were wondering, it’s pronounced ‘wah-KOH-vee-ya.’
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.
