Destroyers` Soul Despairs
K.E. Schlosser
Wednesday March 17, 2004
Clearly embarrassed three weeks ago in a 34-56 defeat in Philadelphia, the Destroyers came ready to play on the opening kick. For the first time in what seemed like forever, the big plays were going the Destroyers’ way. During the opening series of the game, a Wilke-Brazile sack led to a Titcus-Pettigrew fumble recovery that John Vena and the offense quickly turned into a touchdown. While the Destroyers’ defense was able to make several stops, big-play penalties, again, enabled their opponent to sustain drives and their defense to stop them.
Unfortunately for Columbus and their fans, the offense was not able to move the ball consistently enough to put up any points on the board in the first half until a Vena to White touchdown on their last drive of the second quarter. If not for an interception by Titcus Pettigrew returned for a touchdown midway through the second quarter, the Destroyers would have been staring down another halftime deficit.
To the Destroyers’ credit, several questionable penalties went the other way and allowed the Soul offense to keep drives alive throughout the game. And the Soul was able to convert Destroyer mistakes into points. While it may be easier to blame the men in stripes for this loss, the Destroyers are responsible for putting the game in the refs’ hands and individually accepted full blame
Proving that old habits are hard to break, the Destroyers came out of the locker room at the half and promptly failed to score on three third-quarter possessions. At the same time, the Soul wasn’t able to do much, but they did put up the quarter’s lone score to retake the lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Destroyers offense finally opened up and started firing on all cylinders in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late. The two teams traded scores twice in the fourth quarter before Columbus went up 41-37 on quarterback John Vena’s second rushing touchdown of the game. Just when it seemed that the Destroyers were finally ready to get the elusive first victory at home, Philadelphia came roaring back behind the arm of quarterback Nick Browder and a favorable call to score the game-winning and game-breaking touchdown with 18 seconds left in the game.
When Soul kicker Ken Hinsley missed his second extra point of the game, he left the window open for a Destroyer comeback as Philadelphia held a 43-41 lead in the closing seconds. The window was slammed shut, along with any hope of victory, when CoCo Blaylock mishandled and fumbled the ensuing kickoff.
Where to point the finger for the Destroyers’ fifth consecutive loss, penalties and a turnover…
One of the most pivotal plays or penalties of the game came at the end of the second quarter when a frustrated Cornelius White was ejected for throwing a retaliatory punch at a Soul player. White may have or may not have made the difference in the second half, but we will never know. What is not debatable is the fact that without him in the third quarter, the Destroyer offense was offensively inept.
Other mistakes or penalties proved to be just as costly. Twice, Columbus had interceptions nullified because of penalties where the Soul was able to score. Twice, the Destroyers had the Soul stopped on downs or limited to a field goal when a penalty gave them new life. In many cases, a team can get accused of getting the home calls, but something doesn’t seem right when the home team has 13 penalties for over 110 yards while the visiting Soul only had three penalties for the entire game.
Not as Bad as They Look
In a game that was theirs for the taking, Columbus gave another one away. Entering the seventh week of the season with a five-game losing streak is not where anyone projected this team to be. The Destroyers are not as bad as the wins and losses may reflect. In spite of several blowout losses, this team is as close to being 3-3 as they are to the 1-5 record they currently possess.
The Destroyers enter Saturday night’s game against the New York Dragons in survival mode, living life on the edge with the season on the brink. As a team, they have not given up on their mission or each other. Each player believes they are responsible for themselves, while at the same time they are all accountable to the team, above all else.
While the lofty goals they set for themselves at the onset of the season may appear to be unobtainable now, it does not mean they can not be reached by the end of the season if they continue to take the game as it comes: one play at a time, one game at a time.
