Dragons Fight Back Against Soul
Dwayne Smith
Wednesday April 27, 2005
The Dragons moved the ball downfield efficiently on the opening drive, hitting OS Kevin Swayne for an apparent early touchdown. Unfortunately, the officials saw it differently and called Swayne out of bounds, forcing New York to settle for a field goal. It appeared that from that point throughout the rest of the half, the Dragons high-powered attack became out of synch, quickly falling behind 14–3 midway through the first quarter. After QB Aaron Garcia hit Swayne for a score late in the quarter, the Soul had an opportunity to keep the pressure on New York by preserving their two score advantage.
Defensive penalties committed by the Dragons gave Philadelphia a first and goal on the New York three-yard line. This would be where the Dragons would begin an extraordinary set of defensive series. Three runs by Philadelphia netted 2 yards and with a fourth and goal on the one, the Soul decided to settle for a field goal and a 17-10 advantage.
On the ensuing New York series, Garcia would continue to struggle against an aggressive Philadelphia defense. The Dragons QB described what Philadelphia’s defense did as "a good combination of … playing the defensive backs up tight, so I (have to) hold the ball a little bit longer, but then … they get penetration up the middle." The aggressive defensive play would hurt Philadelphia in this series as two defensive penalties put the Dragons on the Philadelphia three yard line, where FB/LB Josh "Zeus" White pounded the ball into the end zone, bringing the Dragons all the way back to 17-17. The score would stay that way into the third quarter as New York’s defense stepped up to stop Philadelphia on four consecutive possessions and control the effectiveness of Soul QB Tony Graziani.
Unfortunately for the Dragons, their offense was not able to capitalize on the outstanding effort, as Garcia would fumble the ball away and throw an interception that was run back for a touchdown. With the score tied at 24 at the start of the fourth quarter and their playoff lives in the balance, Head Coach Weylon Harding called the entire team in a circle around him and passionately drove his team to "live in the moment, take one play at a time and play for each other."
The words clearly had impact, as New York would click on both sides of the ball for the rest of the game. Garcia rebounded from his slow start to lead the offense into the end zone on every possession in the quarter and the defense stepped up and continued to harass Graziani, eventually forcing him into a game clinching interception. The interception by DS Billy Parker was a beautifully timed catch that shut down a potential game tying effort. The inspiration of the head coach could be heard throughout Parker’s post game description of the play. Parker explained, "First and foremost that would’ve never happened if Chin (Achebe) didn’t knock his man into the quarterback where Graziani couldn’t set his feet. That’s why the ball sailed… the secondary can’t get picks unless the front line (gets pressure) and they can’t get sacks unless we’ve got guys covered up. The thing we’re preaching is family."
At 7-5 the Dragons find themselves a half game behind the Dallas Desperados for the top spot in the division. When New York was 5-1, the division title seemed to be a foregone conclusion, but losing 4 of 5 before this week’s victory changes that as the Dragons head to Dallas for a Friday night match up. The Coach puts it in perspective, "We’re week to week. We can’t drop any games; unfortunately we put ourselves in the position where we’re going to have to scratch for everything… It’s for all the marbles in Dallas."
With no guarantees of a wildcard opportunity Coach Harding may not be overstating the importance of beating Dallas on the road, a team weakness. The Dragons are 2-4 away from home this season and will need to break that trend if they want to defend their Eastern Division championship and make the playoffs.
Dwayne Smith covers Arena Football and the NFL for different web outlets along with providing a fantasy column to FantasyGMs.com. Dwayne has also been a contributor to other online and print outlets, including the Dallas Morning News. In 2003, he covered the NFL Draft from the Headquarters of the New York Jets.
