Cobras Winless at Home No More
Chuck DiLullo
Wednesday March 24, 2004
“It feels wonderful. It took a long time coming. I kept thinking when were going to break this jinx,” said OL/DL Robert Stewart, who was part of the 0-16 team last season. “What could be greater than to beat the reigning world champions to break the home losing streak and to get us back in the playoff hunt. It’s a great feeling to get that monkey off our back.”
“It’s the same feeling we had when we beat Dallas and ended the 17-game losing streak,” said Senior Ad- visor Billy McGehee. “(Head) coach (John) Gregory and his crew did a good job this week and the team played very well.”
The Cobras also ended a four-game skid and improved their record to 3-4, keeping their playoff hopes alive while the Storm fell to 2-5 and are quickly falling out of the playoff hunt.
“We told ourselves we were going to act like the season is starting now and treat the first six games like they were preseason games,” said WR/DB Jarrick Hillery. “We have a new direction and a new coach and we treated this like it was the first game of the season.”
“We wanted to treat this game like the season was starting all over again,” said OL/DL Otis Moore.
The Cobras trailed at halftime 29-21 but came out in the second half with a huge stop spearheaded by Moore’s deflection and interception of a Pat O’Hara pass that led to a 24-0 third period advantage and the Cobras never looked back.
“The big play of the game was Otis Moore’s interception,” said Gregory. “That was the turning point because the momentum was definitely swung in their direction and that turned the game around in our favor.”
“Coach Gregory said at halftime, ‘We need to come out and get a stop,’ and the play of the game was Otis Moore’s pass deflection and interception,” said defensive coach Mo Blanding. “We had a great game plan going in, and we knew it was a must-win. And we made the plays to get the job done. And the ball bounced our way tonight and that is something that has not happened a lot this season.”
“Tonight we got back to basics and employed the defensive strategies that we like to play with and that I am accustomed to,” said defensive coordinator Ron Selesky. Wwe were able to execute first and foremost.”
“This was the best defensive game we played since I have been here,” said Gregory. “Our pass rush was re- lentless and our coverage was outstanding. I give a lot of credit to our defensive coaches.”
QB Matt Nagy was solid, completing 20-out-of-30 passes for 159 yards and four touchdowns. Seven different receivers caught passes with four different receivers catching one touchdown each, including OL/DL Sean Tremlay’s first career touchdown catch during the third quarter outburst. The unquestioned star of the game, though, was Hillery, who was named the Baby Ruth Real Deal Offensive Player of the Game and the U.S. Army Ironman of the Game after amassing 137 yards and two return touchdowns on special teams, three receptions for 39 yards and one touchdown on offense and four tackles and an interception on defense.
“I thought our pass protection was very good tonight,” said Gregory. “Their defense was very good and we did a good job giving Matt the time he needed to complete passes. Jarrick Hillery had just an unbelievable night. He’s a great football player.”
“I totally credit my teammates for my success on special teams tonight. The blocking was incredible, espe- cially on the first one,” said Hillery. “The hole was just wide open and I hit it. I didn’t do anything special; I just happened to be on the return at the time of great blocking. We had the perfect blocking scheme going tonight. I thought the second return put a dagger in them and allowed us to close the game.”
The team played a remarkable football game coming off an emotion-filled week with the dismissal of head coach Eddie Khayat. I, for one, did not agree with Khayat’s firing and questioned whether Gregory was the answer for this team. Well, based on the performance of this club in the game against the Storm, I was proven wrong and I am very glad about it. I owe Coach Gregory an apology in doubting his ability to harness the emotions of this team and channel them in a positive direction aimed at winning football. I should have never doubted his championship pedigree.
“There was a lot of emotion this week. He (Khayat) is a great guy and we have a lot of respect for him but this is a business but we wanted to dedicate this win and this game ball to him,” said Stewart. “We also wanted to win this game for Coach Gregory and the guys came together during the week and just relaxed. Coach Gregory is more laid back than Coach Khayat and the guys responded well to that this week.”
“You hate to see what happened to Coach Khayat at someone else’s expense but for me it hurt because he was the one that brought me here,” said Selesky. “But this week, starting with John, we just told the guys to go out and be as loose as you can and realize that everything bad that was going to happen to us has happened in the first six weeks and the guys responded by playing with a lot more intensity instead of playing tense. I think this win gives affirmation to the fact that if we pull together and stick together and don’t let adversity affect us mentally. We can do what we set our minds to. I think it confirms that, yes, we can do it.”
The game ball was signed by the players and is on its way to Eddie Khayat. This is now John Gregory’s football team and he went a long way in putting his stamp on the identity of this club with the performance against the Storm. He looks to keep the team’s energy focused as they prepare for a road battle with the league’s biggest surprise, the expansion New Orleans VooDoo, who own the best record in the league at
6-1. Kickoff will be Saturday evening, March 27th, at 8:00 PM.
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.
