Penalties, Turnovers Spoil Coaching Debut in Grand Rapids
Randy Snow
Tuesday May 4, 2004
The Rampage committed 7 penalties for a total of 35 yards and turned the ball over twice on fumbles by FB/LB Chris Avery. The Wranglers, on the other hand, had 8 penalties for 76 yards and one fumble, but maintained possession of the ball. It wasn’t so much the number of penalties or the yardage charged against the Rampage, but the timing of the penalties that hurt Grand Rapids the most.
In the first quarter, a pass interference penalty by Rampage defensive specialist Mark Ricks on a third-and-ten play kept Austin’s opening drive of the game alive. An illegal twist penalty on lineman Tim Englehardt on the same drive gave the Wranglers another first down. Jeremy Beutler ran the ball in from the one-yard line and the Wranglers took the lead, 7-6.
In the second quarter, with the team backed up deep in their own end of the field, a holding penalty on Rampage lineman Paul LaQuerre moved the team back half the distance to the goal. On the very next play, wide receiver Steve Smith was called for illegal motion. That penalty nullified a 46-yard touchdown catch by Will Sullivan just before the one-minute warning. Austin got the ball back with three seconds to go in the first half after Rampage quarterback Anthony Buich threw an incomplete pass on a fourth down play. The Wranglers used the time left on the clock to kick a 44-yard field and take a 26-20 halftime lead. Neither team scored in the third quarter.
“We stopped ourselves again,” said Buich “That’s been the theme of our team this year. We were in the game for four quarters, we just stopped ourselves. We’ve just got to stop the mental mistakes.”
Buich completed 18 of 26 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns in the game. He also ran for a touchdown.
Even with all the inopportune penalties and fumbles committed by the Rampage, they kept the score close for most of the game and were only down 33-27 with about five and a half minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as they would get to the Wranglers.
The team has shown that they can compete with some of the better teams in the league, at times, but with only four games left in the regular season, time is running out. The Rampage won only three games in their inaugural 1998 season, so they need to win at least two more games to keep this from being the worst season in franchise history.
Next Game
Grand Rapids hosts the Chicago Rush (8-4) Saturday night, May 8th at 7:30 p.m. The Rampage lost to the Rush in Chicago back in Week one, 50-30.
Game Awards
Austin quarterback John Kaleo was named Offensive Player of the Game. He completed 25 of 36 passes for 216 yards and 4 touchdowns. Grand Rapids defensive specialist Cecil Doggette was named Defensive Player of the Game.
Iron Stomach Award?
Austin WR/LB Darrin Chiaverini was named Ironman of the Game. He caught seven passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. However, midway through the fourth quarter, Chiaverini leaned forward on the field between plays and… well, he… how can I put this delicately? He blew chunks. The game was stopped for several minutes while a cleaning crew came out and cleaned the field.
Randy Snow covered the Grand Rapids Rampage of the Arena Football League for ArenaFan from 2003-2008. He also covered the Fort Wayne Fusion of arenafootball2 in 2007. From 2004-2008 and in 2010, he was a member of the Arena Football League Writer’s Association and, since 2011, has been a member of the Professional Football Researchers Association. Randy lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan but will travel just about anywhere for a football game or a great football story. He runs the web site www.theworldoffootball.com and hosts a podcast with his son, Adam, called “This Week in The World of Football.”
