Steeldogs Late Rally Doom Knights
Keith Murphy
Saturday July 31, 2004
Macon head coach Mike Hold chalked up the collapse to line play. “We had trouble blocking and protecting the five step drop. We were struggling going downfield and you can’t protect so it’s tough. The defense doesn’t respect the screens. We just needed to pass protect a little bit better. You can’t just go three step drop all the way. They come up and take that away and you’re in a mess.”
The lack of protection was evident in the beating the Macon quarterbacks endured. Starter Tim Olmstead (12 of 18 for 121 yards and 2 touchdowns) was knocked out of the game after a particularly brutal hit just before the half. The Knights only backup was Ed Taylor (9 of 17 for 103 yards and 1 touchdown) who, according to Hold, rose to the occasion. “You bring Ed in on two days of practice; I thought he did a heck of a job for a guy who was really doing us a favor to be an emergency guy and the emergency happened a little earlier than we had hoped.”
Birmingham quarterback Jeff Aaron (11 of 21 for 190 yards and 3 touchdowns) feasted on the Macon secondary and was a beneficiary of a remarkable game from Offensive Specialist Carlos McNeary. McNeary caught 7 passes for 150 yards and three touchdowns including the go ahead score.
Despite the loss, Hold says that he is proud of his team’s performance. “They played hard. But we didn’t just do some good things through the night. I thought, defensively, we weren’t as strong as we’ve been the last five or six weeks. We gave up some balls that we normally wouldn’t. We’ve got to give Birmingham credit; those guys can fly. They can provide trouble with their speed.”
Hold was also proud of the Macon fans. “I just want to thank the fans for staying behind us and coming out. It’s been a disappointing season for everybody. But these guys have continued to come out and support us and I can only appreciate that and say, ‘thank you.’”
With the loss, the Knights fall to a franchise worst 3 and 13. With the win, the Steeldogs end their regular season 10 and 6 and will head to the af2 playoffs.
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
