The Undefeated Cobras Open Up At Home Versus the Winless Arizona Rattlers
Chuck DiLullo
Saturday February 21, 2004
“We are very pleased with our start and it was very enjoyable watching our players go out and win those ballgames,” said head coach Eddie Khayat, “we had to fight all night for the second one and win it on the last play of the game.”
The Cobras are fresh off an impressive 16-point comeback last week versus the Colum- bus Destroyers. Their comeback was capped by a six-yard touchdown pass from Matt Nagy to Damien Groce as time expired. The Rattlers struggled for the second straight week at home with a 48-31 loss to the Detroit Fury and seem to be plagued by head coach Danny White’s decision not to play in a pre-season scrimmage.
The Cobras recognize, though, that Shedrick Bonner will not continue to struggle and have to be prepared to play a desperate, veteran team that can ill-afford to fall to 0-3 in a division that is populated by the San Jose Sabrecats and Los Angeles Avengers.
“The Rattlers are a tough outfit. They still have the core offensive group together that led them to the Arena Bowl each of the last two seasons,” said Khayat, “they are well coached and used to winning championships. They know how to win and know how to get it done and we know what we are in for.”
“We are preparing for a guy (Bonner) that at any given point can break out of a slump,” said defensive coordinator Ron Selesky, “going into week one and week two we didn’t really know much about the quarterbacks we were playing but we know what we are going to be up against with Bonner and cannot give him a chance to gain early momen- tum or get into a rhythm.”
Matt Nagy has posted impressive numbers in his first two starts with the Cobras, passing for 578 yards and 11 touchdowns without throwing an interception while leading last week’s comeback on the final drive of the game. Todd Doxzon has proven his worth hauling in 10 catches in each of the first two games for a total of 225 yards and five touchdowns. Defensively the Cobras have held the Desperados and Destroyers to a total of three fourth quarter points in the first two games and will need to keep up that level of play versus the Rattlers.
“It’s all about intensity and effort. As long as you execute what you are supposed to first and foremost a lot of the other things will take care of themselves,” said Selesky, “we possess and attitude that we will play the best defense that we possibly can.”
Two local products, DeAngelo Lloyd from Independence High and Troy Pelshak from Garinger High, make their Cobra home debuts in front of friends and family this Satur- day. The Cobras look to maintain their lead in the Eastern Division and look to garner their first three game winning streak since the 2002 season. Game time will be 7:30 PM on February 21st at the Charlotte Coliseum.
Chuck DiLullo works for a manufacturer of process control instrumentation as a sales engineer. He has been a fan of professional, college and high school football since he could walk. Chuck is originally from Philadelphia and he became a huge Arena Football League fan while living in Buffalo. Chuck has lived in Charlotte since 2000 with his wife & three children.
