Knights Hope to End Florida Jinx
Keith Murphy
Wednesday July 30, 2003
Knights’ Offensive Coordinator, Tres Sullivan, says that despite the drought against the ‘Cats, that the Knights don’t necessarily feel jinxed. “No, not really. It’s just the nature of the beast. To tell you the truth I haven’t really thought too much about what we’ve done in the past against them. I don’t think we can. We’ve got to disregard what has happened in the past and get ready for another week.”
The Knights’ win, last weekend, over the top-seeded Tennessee Valley Vipers (14-2), earned Macon a home game for the first round of the playoffs. The Knights were 7 and 1 at home and Sullivan says that staying home for the first round is, “Big. Our last two road trips were ten-hour trips and they weren’t a whole lot of fun. For us to struggle like we did during the year; at one point we were looking at not making the playoffs then all of the sudden we are in the playoffs and we get a home game. It’s huge. We hope to relish the opportunity.”
The Macon offense has quietly climbed the af2 statistical rankings the last few weeks and the climb was capped by a 51 point, 251 yard performance against Tennessee Valley. “I think we’ve played good over the last month,” Sullivan said. “We’ve been more consistent with the football. We made a few mistakes last week but they were our own mistakes; it wasn’t anything Tennessee Valley did. If we can continue to limit our own mistakes and continue to take care of the football then I think we will be okay.”
The Knights will be facing a Firecats’ team that is second in scoring defense and second in turnover margin. “Same ol’ Florida,” Sullivan said. “The one thing they don’t do is they don’t give up long touchdowns. They make you go down the field. They’ve got one of the best turnover ratios in the league and that’s what they thrive on. They continually make you move the ball, dropping underneath, and they don’t give up any big plays. That’s the way they are on offense. They don’t turn the ball over and they play pitch and catch and maximize their opportunities. I think it’s going to be one of those typical arena football games where whoever can slow each other down and possibly whoever has the ball last wins.”
Line play will be a critical factor if the Knights are to overcome Florida. “I think in any game the line can dictate what you can do with the football,” Sullivan said. If you’re not getting a lot of time to throw it then they are going to put you in some bad situations when they put you in second or third and long. The same thing on defense. If you get after their quarterback then you put them in some bad situations where they’re not accustomed to dropping back and throwing the ball down the field. Then you are pretty much dictating what you want to do. With every game that we’ve played this year, I think it’s come down to the guys up front.”
Sullivan says that this week’s preparation has been good. “We’re healthy and there’s a little bit more pep in people’s steps because everybody realizes it’s the playoffs and if we lose we go home. It’s been a good week so far and hopefully it will continue.”
Kickoff is set for 7:30 at the Macon Coliseum. Camelot tail-gate activities will begin at 4:30, weather permitting. For ticket information call (478) 314-3000.
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
