Smacked Cat Fever In Tampa Bay
Adam J Locascio
Thursday February 3, 2005
Rewind to April 4, 2004. The Tampa Bay Storm led the San Jose SaberCats 38-21 going into halftime. Seventeen points. A fairly comfortable position, even by Arena football standards.
But then, reality set in.
SaberCats quarterback Mark Grieb led a furious second-half comeback in which the Storm’s lead was erased. The Cats went on to win 62-55.
This brings us to Sunday, where the Storm, again, held a commanding 35-14 lead over the SaberCats going into the locker room at halftime. Last year was certainly on every player’s mind.
"We got up on them and the mood in the locker room was, ‘Don’t celebrate right now,’" said Storm quarterback Shane Stafford. "We had to go out there again and fight and finish."
Lesson learned.
The Storm humbled the defending champions with a 63-33 drubbing, avenging their early playoff exit from the 2004 post-season. Stafford enjoyed a career day where he completed 28 of 35 passes for 273 yards, eight touchdowns and, most importantly, no interceptions.
The game was decided in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Stafford showed what he can do when he has time to read a defense. He did not need much as it seemed that Stafford was able to find open receivers rather easily.
"Since I’ve been here, that was the best I’ve ever been protected. I give all the credit to Coach [Dave] Ewart and those guys protecting me up front," said Stafford.
Unfortunately, Grieb could not enjoy the same luxury.
Grieb was harassed all day by a revitalized Storm defensive line that enjoyed the return of a healthy Kelvin Kinney. Newcomer Mike Lawson chipped in with a sack and Ernest Certain batted down a pass at the line. Storm veteran Nyle Wiren picked up where he left off last year and added a safety. Even the immortal Lawrence Samuels even chipped in from his linebacker spot with two interceptions, one of which was a beautiful fingertip grab, just centimeters above the turf.
"’Physicality,’ that second semester word," said Storm coach Tim Marcum. "That’s the team that wins in this match-up. They took it to us [last year] because we let go of the rope. A couple of times late in the game we let them up. Tonight, we didn’t."
The "not letting up" theme needs to follow the Storm into their Week 2 game against the Austin Wranglers, who were badly beaten by the Philadelphia Soul 66-35. With the Orlando Predators looming in Week 3, the Storm cannot afford to look past an Austin team desperate to get a division win.
Adam J. Locascio is a financial advisor in the Tampa Bay area and a Board Member of the Tampa Bay Storm Surge Fan Club. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Phoenix and is a six-year season ticket holder for the Tampa Bay Storm.
