Full Steam Ahead for Destroyers in Playoffs
Matt Krueger
Wednesday July 26, 2000
Not making the trip to Arizona this week are WR/LB Darrick Branch and OL/DL John DeWitt. Both players were knocked out of last week’s game against the San Jose Sabercats and flew home for treatment.
DeWitt, and All-Arena Lineman candidate, tore his left bicep and will be out for the remainder of the season.
Branch, nephew of former Oakland Raiders standout WR Cliff Branch, left last week’s game with an injury to his left knee.
Branch and DeWitt are two of the few remaining players from last year’s team.
“We lost two of our best players,” said Coach Ray Bentley in a press release. “But we have other players that have to step up now and fill those roles. The coaching staff is confident that they will do just that. We know that there are holes to fill, but that just adds to the challenge of the playoffs.”
 A.C. Tellison is determined to give his best performance in the Destroyers` first-ever playoff game Image courtesy of Jeff Marshall |
“We knew A.C. could play, it was just a situation where we couldn’t get him on the field,” said Bentley in a press release. “I’m not surprised at all by his performance. He’s a good football player and he’s going to be a good football player for some time.”
QB Browning Nagle was also knocked out of last week’s game, but he stayed with the team on the West Coast.
After last week’s loss to San Jose, Bentley said, “This was the most intense football game that I’ve been around since I got here. My guys hung in there and fought hard till the end and I’m proud of them. I told the team after the game when you go into the woods, sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you. Tonight, the bear got us and that’s fine. We’re going to go into the woods again. We have no problem with that.”
The Destroyers, who played on Saturday, have a short practice week to prepare for one of the top teams in the league, and they didn’t return to Buffalo after their loss to San Jose. They flew straight to Phoenix to prime themselves for the big game against a very tough team.
“We’re going to do whatever it takes to be ready to play,” said Bentley in a press release. “We’re a group of warriors. We don’t make the schedule. Whenever the league tells us to go play, we’ll go play.”
Matt Krueger was a writer for ArenaFan Online during the 2000 season.
