Pioneers comeback stopped short
Michael Balakier
Sunday June 27, 2004
Yet despite falling behind 19-0, the Pioneers fought back throughout the game, pulling the score to within one point on two separate occasions, but the Wildcats’ offense, led by quarterback and former Pioneer Mike Gluski and OS Matt Burstein, proved to be too much for the Pioneers to overcome.
“We put ourselves in a hole and fought like heck to come back,” said Pioneers’ head coach Les Moss. “We really fought like heck to come back and had a chance but we just couldn’t make the plays.”
And although his team came out of the gates playing sloppy, Moss said it wasn’t because his team wasn’t ready to play.
“We were ready to play,” said Moss. “It’s just that we had some unfortunate things happen to us. (Kevin) Nagle fumbled and he usually doesn’t fumble. We get a fumbled snap.”
After committing the early turnovers, the Pioneers went on to score on all of their remaining possessions except their last one.
“Defensively we weren’t able to stop them,” said Moss. “They’re good, heck; they’re a good offensive team. We had a chance to win the thing, but it just didn’t happen for us tonight. We get another shot at them.
For Cape Fear head coach Chris Siegfried, seeing the Pioneers turn the ball over was helpful and also surprising to him.
“We’ve been turning the ball over a lot,” said Siegfried, “and to see Wilkes-Barre mess up, and that’s what Wilkes-Barre doesn’t normally do. It’s just a great victory. I just hope that we take care of business and they take of business that way we can have a division championship game in about four weeks down in Fayetteville.”
The Pioneers now head into their bye week and face Manchester on July 10 at home.
However, for the Wildcats, Saturday night’s game was the first in a four-game road trip. And although he’s not thrilled playing on the road four consecutive weeks, Siegfried said he’s happy to get a win early in the trip.
“In my opinion, this was the biggest game of the year because if we lose this game there’s really no chance of us winning the division and now at least we have a chance,” said Siegfried. “It definitely helps to get the big one early.
But on the bright side for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Siegfried said the Pioneers are still worthy of the #1 ranking in the af2 coaches’ poll.
“I’ll probably still vote them #1 this week, like I always do.”
Game notes
Payback: Though you may not quite call it revenge, Cape Fear quarterback Mike Gluski had to leave a sour taste in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s mouth, seeing that Gluski was back up to Pioneers’ quarterback Tim Hick before being traded to Cape Fear. Wildcats head coach Chris Siegfried spoke about the addition that Gluski has made to his team: “Mike’s helped us tremendously just because he knows how to mange the game. He’s extremely smart and he’s like having a coach out there.”
Breaking out: Over the last three weeks, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton FB/LB Kevin Nagle has become an intricate part of the Pioneers’ passing game. In his past two games prior to Saturday night’s game, Nagle had two receptions for 46 yards against Quad City and two receptions for 36 yards against Albany. Against the Wildcats, Nagle had one reception for 35 yards, but this time, he went the distance and scored a touchdown.
Play of the game: With under a minute remaining in the first half, and the Wildcats on the Pioneers’ 2-yard line, Wildcat quarterback Mike Gluski pitched the ball to WR Mitch Galloway, who then proceeded to look to pass the ball back to Gluski, then opted to begin to scramble towards the endzone before deciding to throw the ball offensive lineman Lawrence Lewis, who pulled down the ball for a touchdown.
Turning point: The biggest and final turning point in ending any hopes for a Pioneers’ comeback came after the Pioneers had cut Cape Fear’s lead to one point, 50-49. After Pioneers’ kicker David Davis kicked the ball, Wildcat Chris McKinney struggled to pick up the ball in the endzone but still began to return the kickoff, but just as he got near the goal line, he stopped and changed direction before being tackled by a group of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defenders. The linesman’s and head official’s initial call was a safety, yet after conferring with all the officials, the call was changed to a touchback. On the very next play, Gluski threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to WR Torey Morris. It was the last score of the game for either team.
Michael Balakier first discovered a knack for writing during his senior year in high school while reporting for his school`s newspaper. Aside from being an Arenaball fan, Michael is an avid Syracuse University athletics follower, which poses a problem for him, as he attends the University of Pittsburgh. Michael plans on using what he has learned through his Arenafan experience to remain as impartial as he can during future Syracuse/Pitt events. Michael also serves as co-Editor of the af2 section of Arenafan Online.
