Knights Hit Stride in Second Half
Keith Murphy
Sunday April 25, 2004
Despite some error-plagued play in the first half, the Knights took a 25 – 20 lead into halftime. As the second half evolved, Hold says that the team started to play up to their capabilities, “We were a little bit antsy and tense there in the first quarter. You know they just came out in the latter part of the second quarter and played so well that I just told them to carry it into the second half and they did. Even when it was back and forth there in the beginning of the third quarter we just kept fighting and when we had the opportunity we stuck it to them.”
The Knights were led, on offense, by Slover who completed 26 of 37 passes for 260 yards and six touchdowns against two interceptions. Slover also tacked on a five yard run for a seventh score. “Caleb had a good game,” Hold said, “He did a good job taking what they gave us.” Slover chalked up his improved play this week to timing, “I think it comes down to timing. The guys did a great job of getting open. The guys just stepped up and made it easy for me. All I had to do was throw it up and they did a great job of going up to get ‘em.”
Brandon Pedraza was named the Iron Man of the game. He racked up 78 yards receiving on 7 catches and scored two touchdowns. He sealed the win with an acrobatic interception of a Chris Sanders’ pass which he returned 17 yards for his third score of the night. Pedraza also proved a bit prescient, predicting the Knights’ victory, “I could tell all week. The intensity in practice was stepped up and we were tired of that sour feeling of losing. We just wanted to get a win and try to get some success rolling. We’ve got a great team here and I think we all know it. We just wanted to eliminate the mistakes we were making in the first couple of games and just try to put it together.”
The most obvious difference between this week’s performance and the previous two losses was that the Knights won the turnover battle, forcing 3 Manchester interceptions, two fumbles and returning a botched extra point attempt for a two point score. The Knights only turned the ball over three times, two interceptions and a fumble. Hold was pleased with the improved play of the Macon defense, “Defensively I thought we played a great game, especially in the second half. I think we wore them down a little bit and we stepped up and continued to play hard. I’m proud of the guys for fighting hard.”
With the win, the Knights go to 1 and 2 on the season. They host Florida next week in their first divisional showdown of the season. With the loss, Manchester falls to 1 and 3.
Dr. Murphy has nearly 20 years of media experience ranging from radio to the Internet. He has served as webmaster for two AF2 teams and the football team at Fort Valley State University. He is a professor at FVSU and directs www.bunniwerks.org, a non-profit rabbit rescue organization. He has been commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel. Murphy is also serving as a first party editor of af2 stories for ArenaFfan. For more information about Dr. Murphy see: www.keithmurphy.info
