San Jose Wins with Wrangler Quarterback Ron Lopez`s Help
Mick Cornett
Monday August 7, 2000
To their credit, the Wranglers hung tough. At one point in the third quarter they trailed by just two points—33 to 31—but they never led. Injuries to key players weren’t helping Lopez’s chances of bringing the Wranglers from behind. Two weeks ago, star wide receiver Carlos Johnson was lost to a knee injury. And Friday night, Johnson’s backup, offensive specialist Wes Caswell, left the game with leg cramps. Wrangler head coach Bob Cortese was able to plug in a couple of quality players (Kusanti Abdul-Salaam and Brian Greene) but neither had much experience at the OS position and that proved costly. San Jose’s receiving corps is as deep as any team in the league and the injury-riddled Wranglers could not match-up effectively.
 Wranglers` QB Ron Lopez three interceptions helped push San Jose forward. Image courtesy of Jeff Marshall |
The Wranglers’ troubles in the red-zone also re-surfaced. Alcorn was forced to try two very short field goals—and he missed one of them. San Jose had no trouble scoring once they got close. Five of their touchdowns came on plays from inside the six-yard line. The Wranglers out-gained the SaberCats 283-236 but were outscored 40-63.
San Jose was simply more opportunistic and that moves them on to the semi-finals.
Oklahoma ends the season with eight wins and eight losses. The team was seven and seven a year ago.
Mick Cornett was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2001.
