Wranglers Doomed by Special Teams Mistakes
David Delfeld
Saturday February 12, 2005
At the end of the first half, momentum was in full swing toward Austin. Wranglers quarterback John Fitzgerald was on fire with 199 yards while completing 16 of 23 pass attempts, rookie receiver David Hill had 104 yards receiving, and poor Kaleo wasn’t as hot with only 107 yards on only 6 completions in 13 attempts. The Erwin Center was in pandemonium with the score Austin 24, LA 23.
Five minutes into the third quarter, none of that mattered. Forget the pandemonium; it was more like a silent algebra classroom.
The Avengers struck quickly to start the second half as Kaleo fired to Kevin Ingram to take a quick six-point 30-24 lead. Austin, was unable to match the Avengers score when Charlie Davidson fumbled the ball on the ensuing kickoff and Avengers kicker Remy Hamilton recovered the ball. LA kicked a 28-yard field goal, making the score 33-24 on the following possession.
Hamilton, who was named Ironman of the game, produced another gigantic play on the next kickoff. The ball came off the rebound net and hit the ground. LA’s Bernard Riley recovered the ball and walked in for an easy touchdown, making the score 40-24.
40-24. These numbers drained all the life out of Austin’s defense and their fans, thanks to the unfocused special teams. "Special teams just ate us alive," said a frustrated coach Skip Foster. When asked if there was any way to improve on their off-the-net problem, Foster said, "We’re unable to practice with nets outdoors in practice."
Austin scored on the rest of their drives; unfortunately so did LA. The score at the final whistle was 64-51.
Fitzgerald showed great improvement for his first start, throwing for 366 yards and five touchdowns. He spread the ball well to David Hill with 135 yards, Ira Gooch with 108 yards, and Kevin Nickerson with 67 yards. "Fitzgerald did a nice job getting to receivers. Nickerson also had another great game," said coach Foster.
Another critical improvement for Austin was the ability to convert on third and fourth downs, going 6 of 12 on third downs and 1 of 2 on fourth downs. Additionally, Coach Foster was encouraged with the Wranglers’ consistency near the end zone, stating, "We executed a lot better in the red zone going 3 of 4."
Some Wranglers thought they had a little bad luck in their loss. "I think we played good football. [If] we get the ball to bounce our way, we might win," said OL/DL All-Rookie Aaron Humphrey.
Austin is now in a deep hole at 0-3 and in almost a must-win situation for next week to stay in the playoff hunt. Coach Foster differs, "We’re not focusing on playoffs, we’re just focusing on games and winning."
Austin heads north to Michigan to battle with the winless Grand Rapids Rampage next Saturday at 6:30 CST. The game can be seen on AFL Net.
David Delfeld was a writer for ArenaFan Online during the 2005 season.
