Where Were the Wranglers Last Sunday Afternoon?
Christopher M. Duchene
Thursday March 18, 2004
The Wranglers lost a game that started to get ugly late in the second quarter, and by the time it was over, the Firebirds had won their first game of the season, 64-41, under the direction of head coach Mike Wilpolt in his debut as head coach in Indiana. Despite the fact that the people in Austin are trying to get that sour taste in their mouth, Wrangler head coach Skip Foster said he isn’t too quick to start looking ahead after a loss like this.
“I’m not going to run from a loss like this and just forget about what happened and why we lost. I’m going to analyze what we did wrong and hope that we do not make the same mistakes again next game,” said Foster.
Early in the second quarter, Austin had jumped out to an early 19-7 lead over the Firebirds and were looking good on balanced drives behind quarterback John Kaleo. Then something happened; the Wranglers looked as if they had just eaten too much in the early parts of the game and just got too full to keep on. The Firebirds scored 41 unanswered points in a 41-0 run extending all the way into the third quarter until Wrangler Tacoma Fontaine caught a 39-yard pass to cut the score to 48-26.
It was just one of those nights for the Wranglers, though; nobody could believe what they were seeing. Up until this point in the season, Austin fans were really starting to believe that the Wranglers couldn’t get beat decisively with the talent they had shown this early in the season. Well, the Firebirds showed Austin that there are things that will be needed to be corrected with this team. The 0-5 record that the Firebirds had brought into this game did not represent the kind of talent they have in Indiana. Many believe that the Wranglers beat themselves, though, as penalty after penalty hurt Austin when they needed a big play, not to mention some turnovers and special team mistakes.
However, the point is that Austin got their tails handed to them. What happens next is even more important. With talented veterans and a coach that expects great things, I know this team will respond. How long will it take them? I don’t know the answer to that question, but for Austin’s sake maybe the answer is Thursday night on the road against Detroit. What better than to come off a loss and have a chance to go out and beat the Fury in their own arena? A victory on Thursday would shift a lot of momentum back Austin’s way and momentum is what Austin needs after a loss like that last Sunday.
The people in Austin are starting to get to know their team now, and Austin fans have faith that their Wranglers will be smiling at season’s end, but the next couple of games for Austin could determine just how big that smile will be.
Christopher Duchene is from El Paso, Tx. He currently lives in Austin, Tx and is a Freshman at Austin Community College majoring in Sports Management. After college he hopes to attend law school where he will study sports law hoping one day to become a successful sports agent.
