Carolina Looks to End Season on Winning Streak
Chuck DiLullo
Friday May 28, 2004
“The Force have always played solid defense, even in the face of the problems they have had this season,” said Selesky. “Defensive coordinator Robert Davis and (Bob) Kronenberg both understand the defensive side of the ball and they are a lot like us in that they have tried to keep everybody on the same page in the face of some trying times, and for us this is a very big challenge this week.”
The Cobras and Force will meet in the season finale this Saturday at the Gwinnett Center outside of Atlanta, Georgia. The game pits two teams that have long been out of the playoff chase, but that does not draw from the importance of this battle. The Cobras are looking for their first three-game win streak since 2002 and only the second such streak in team history. The seven wins would tie the franchise mark for most wins in a season. The win would give Selesky a 4-2 mark as head coach and make a very strong case for the team to remove the interim tag from in front of his title. This week, the Force announced the sale of the team to Atlanta Falcons’ owner Arthur Blank, a move that will take hold in August of 2004. This is an exciting time for the Force and the rest of the AFL with another NFL owner joining the league’s ranks.
“I think Blank’s purchase of the team is good for the league and definitely good for the Force,” said Selesky. “Everything points to this being a positive move and will increase the credibility of the league as a whole.”
“I think it is great for the league,” said defensive coordinator Mo Blanding. “To have another NFL owner come in will hopefully carry over in a positive direction in other cities that have teams and are looking to land teams.”
The Force offense has awoken since offensive coordinator Donnie Davis took over the reigns three weeks ago, averaging over 54 points during that period. Markeith Cooper has flourished in this offense, setting team marks for receiving yards and touchdowns in a season.
“I think the energy of the coaching change had a tremendous impact, but what I see is they are making better use of their talent,” said Blanding. “They have a good, young quarterback who is making all the right reads and can scramble effectively. They have a lot of speedy weapons and have been playing very solid offense.”
The Force are coming off of a stout defensive effort against the Austin Wranglers, holding them to 34 points and stopping them five times on fourth down conversions. Ron Selesky recognizes the challenge the Force’s defense will provide for the Cobras’ offense.
“They’ve got good depth up front, going five or six deep in pure pass rushers and they have managed to stay relatively healthy, which is huge in this league,” said Selesky.
The Cobras pass defense has improved immeasurably since Fred Vinson and Henry Baker took over as starting defensive specialists. The Cobras understand they will be facing a speedy group of receivers that have grown in confidence over the past three games and will offer many challenges for the defense to contend with.
“In a game like this you go in with a plan to try and prevent players like Cooper from killing you,” said Blanding. “You know they are going to make plays and get their catches, but you have to try and keep them to a minimum and keep them from making the big plays. Our defensive line has to generate pressure and keep quarterback (Leon) Murray moving and uncomfortable to help the DS’s take away their receivers.”
“I have a great deal of confidence in the defense since Vinson and Baker have taken over,” said Selesky. “When we made the switch with those guys in the Philly game, we opened the game with an onside kick, which the Soul recovered on their nine-yard line and we held them to a field goal, and that stand right out of the gate went a long way in instilling confidence not only with us as coaches but with the team as a whole.
“Our defensive plan hasn’t changed since Baker and Vinson took over. We have always run zone coverages to avoid the big plays, but our previous DB’s weren’t running the zones correctly. Now we have a group of guys that understand more about the coverages which has allowed us to get a little more aggressive in our play calling.”
The Cobras’ season ends this Saturday. It has been a disappointment from the extent that the goal of this team to reach the playoffs will not be realized, but the silver lining to that dark cloud is that they now appear to have a core group of guys who believe in themselves and their coaches, and have directed that energy into a positive direction to close the season on a winning note when it would have been so easy to give up and play out the string. That is a credit to the leaders on this team, but also to Selesky and Blanding, who had the courage to make difficult changes and the conviction to stay with them to move this team in a positive direction.
The Cobras and Force will meet at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 29th at the The Arena at Gwinnett Center.
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.
