Total Effort Leads San Jose to Win Over LA
Tim Ball
Sunday March 28, 2004
The San Jose SaberCats and Los Angeles Avengers do not play for rivalry or grudge. There is no cliché or cheap motivation that spurs them on. For San Jose, it is the commitment to consistency that defines what a team strives for. As the goal is reached for continued excellence, success is the result.
It is a challenge between athletes of equal talent that know there can be no letup or mistakes in this brand of football, where seconds mean the length of the field, and the difference between win and lose.
Los Angeles took the field five minutes early for warm-ups, and the SaberCats heard the message loud and clear. From the reaction of the San Jose players forced to step aside in their own house and watch from the boards, there was going to be a total effort from start to finish.
When the SaberCats came out for their pre-game practice time, there was a still in the air you could feel in the lobby.
From the opening kickoff, until the Avengers’ Remy Hamilton’s superbly placed shot off the iron with two seconds left in the game, there was not one moment of letup.
These two teams are known for their offensive firepower, but this game was defined by defensive efforts on every single down that would sooner or later make the other team collapse.
San Jose suffered the first blow in the first quarter, when Los Angeles lineman Silas Demary forced SaberCats quarterback Mark Grieb (19 of 28 for 230, 6 TD’s) to fumble in the end zone and fullback/linebacker Josh Jeffries recovered the ball for a crowd-silencing Avengers touchdown.
With the Avengers now ahead 21-7 on a defensive play, the SaberCats had a lot to worry about. Although the SaberCats made no other mistakes in the first half, when Hamilton nailed a 20-yard field goal with no time left in the first half, Los Angeles had a ten point lead 31-21. Things did not look good for San Jose.
After you
San Jose won the coin toss before the game and this bit of luck played as important a part in the victory as the incredible performance by the fired up home team coming out of the locker room.
The SaberCats scored on the third play of their first possession of the second half, when Grieb found receiver Rashied Davis wide open on a 31-yard touchdown reception to bring the Avengers lead down to a three-point spread.
After pinning the Avengers down on the four-yard line on the ensuing kickoff, Avengers quarterback Tony Graziani’s first pass of the second half and first interception of the season happened on the same play. Graziani finished the game 24 of 36 for 232 yards and five touchdowns. Wide receiver/linebacker James Roe timed his jump and leaped up to snare Graziani’s short pass to the left side and bolted seven yards untouched into the end zone to take the lead away from Los Angeles.
“I was in the right place at the right time,” said Roe. “I don’t know if he saw me, but it looked like he was throwing in my direction and I made the right read on the ball.”
Undeterred, the Avengers scored on their next possession and took the lead once again at 38-35 with a one-yard pass from Graziani to receiver Kevin Ingram after driving the length of the field, but the drive took far too much time off of the clock.
Both head coaches seemed to be playing a game of time management on possessions in the second half, and each resulting drive down the field looked like a choreographed script of short plays and blocking schemes designed to utilize time to perfection.
Fourth quarter drama
It was two failings forced by the SaberCats in the fourth quarter that would undo the Avengers on this night. With the score tied at 45-45, the SaberCats defense answered the call to duty when it mattered most. Getting another break on a holding penalty against Los Angeles after Graziani hit offensive specialist Chris Jackson on a deep pass, the Avengers faced a first down and twenty. Four plays and 19 yards later, the SaberCats defense had the stop that would turn this game their way.
On the first play following the stop, Grieb found offensive specialist James Hundon wide open in the end zone for a touchdown. But, on a night that saw Hundon denied several touchdowns called back for one penalty after another, the Avengers had the SaberCats in the same exact position they had just endured a few minutes earlier. Backed up on a first and twenty, Grieb went to trustworthy receiver Barry Wagner. As “Wags” burst open and would have scored easily, he was pulled down for a resulting interference call that gave the SaberCats a first down.
Once again Hundon streaked for the endzone pursued by a Los Angeles defender on a carbon copy of the play he was denied a minute earlier. Grieb threw the ball toward Hundon but this time he found receiver Fred Coleman underneath the coverage at the five-yard line. After shaking off a diving tackler, Coleman strolled into the end zone for the go ahead touchdown.
On the next Avengers possession Graziani went to work with controlled short passes. Unfortunately for the Avengers, the most uncontrollable player on the field had other plans. After another SaberCats penalty allowed Los Angeles to get even closer to endzone, Graziani dropped back on his fourth play of the drive and was met head on by the AFL’s all-time sack leader, Sam Hernandez.
Graziani had the ball blasted out of his hands by Hernandez. After a mad chase for the ball, San Jose lineman George Williams came out of the pileup with the ball.
With less than a minute left in the game, and San Jose looking to go up by fourteen points or run out the clock, it wasn’t over yet. Los Angeles came up with a defensive stop when San Jose failed to advance the ball forward on fourth down. With 36 seconds left in the game San Jose rookie kicker Dan Frantz was called on to stretch the score to a ten-point lead with a 19-yard field goal attempt, and he did just that as the young kicker split the uprights to give the SaberCats a 55-45 lead.
“It all happens pretty fast out there,” said Frantz. “I’d be lying if I said I’m not excited to get it done for this team. They’re expecting me to make my extra-points and field goals. I know the responsibility of a kicker in this league and I’m glad I got a chance to come through when it counted the most.”
With 22 seconds left in the game, San Jose’s defense went to work, insuring that it took the rest of the time on the clock for Los Angeles to go down the field. After two plays used almost the entire time left on the clock, Graziani was forced to rush for a touchdown as San Jose defenders covered any other options to throw the ball.
Now, with two seconds on the clock, the only hope for the Avengers was a ball that would hit the iron and bounce wildly in the endzone.
And somehow it happened.
Hamilton’s desperation kickoff was perfectly placed and hit the right side upright and shot down onto the turf. Luckily for San Jose their players got to it first and the ball ended up bouncing out of the back of the end zone for a touchback. The next play saw Grieb throw the ball down field to end a game that seemed to have no end in sight.
Camaraderie
On the field is where these players decide the outcome and there was a quick resolution whenever tempers flared or frustration set in. These teams are two of the best in the league and both are expected to make the playoffs. The respect each team has for the other is evident in the all-out effort during the game.
“I would have liked to get the win, there’s no doubt about it,” said Avengers head coach Ed Hodgkiss. “But we never quit and I’m proud of the effort they put out tonight. These guys never let up. San Jose did what needed to be done and I give them the credit they deserve.”
“It took four quarters of football tonight to get the lead and keep it,” said SaberCats head coach Darren Arbet. “There’s no lack of talent or effort on either team and this win was big for us. Whenever you get a win over a quality team like LA, you know that each guy is doing his job all night long.”
“We were determined to answer every time,” said Avengers offense specialist Chris Jackson. “They got some big turnovers and the stop they needed. That was the difference in the game. We had the chance to stop them on downs in the first half and didn’t. They had their chance in the second half and got it.”
Though Rashied Davis, who leads the AFL with four returns for touchdowns on the year, was denied a kickoff touchdown in this game, which also would have set a SaberCats team record for consecutive games with a return, he knew how tough it would be against Los Angeles.
“You can’t expect an easy game against LA,” said Davis. “With the weapons they have on offense it’s mandatory to get a defensive stop or else it will always come down to the last possession. We came up big tonight in that we ended up with the ball and with the most turnovers.”
“We knew Los Angeles was going to play all out from the start,” said SaberCats fullback/linebacker Kevin Buck. “We expect LA to keep pace and our goal was to press and keep on pressing. We got the stops and turnovers in the second half when we needed. Against LA there can’t be any let up and I think we made things happen.”
Up next
As San Jose pushes their record to 6-1, their race to the playoffs is anything but over. The SaberCats have back-to-back away games, facing the Tampa Bay Storm on Sunday, April 4th and then on to Dallas to face the Desperados on April 10th.
Following two weeks on the road San Jose has to face the Chicago Rush head on, on April 16th.
Motivation to be the number one seeded team for the third consecutive year gets tougher with each passing week for the SaberCats as every team wants to measure their worth at the cost of taking down San Jose. It’s clear from the tough wins, the not so tough wins and the loss at the hands of New York, that the SaberCats are determined to prove that excellence comes from committing to consistency and that success is the outcome game after game.
Tim Ball is a writer in the Chicagoland area. Married and father of three, his opinions on Arena Football reflects the positive aspect of the game as a family event second to none in pro sports.
