Early Bird Special
Charliy Nash
Monday May 9, 2005
Roth was considered a longshot to make the Kats’ roster in the first place. He came into minicamp as the only player with no professional football experience, but made enough of an impression to earn a spot on the team. He spent much of this season either on injured reserve or the practice squad. Recently the coaches decided to take advantage of his agility by having him play FB/LB at practice. With Grant not available Saturday night, Roth got the call because of his defensive ability.
"I had practiced fullback/linebacker," he explained, "but I didn’t know if I’d be playing it or not until about a half an hour before the game."
Roth’s big moment came during one of the best defensive series the team has put together this season. The Grand Rapids Rampage had just recovered a Nashville fumble and were in a position to take the lead. On first down defensive player of the game Aaron McConnell picked up his second sack of the night. Rampage QB Michael Bishop next tried a screen pass, but Kats DS DeRon Jenkins was waiting for it. "They were backed up," described Jenkins, "so a lot of times when teams do that they may try to get a little screen or a quick pass to get out of their own red zone, so I felt like that’s what they would try to do. That was the right defense for that play."
That set the stage for Roth to join the sack parade. "All props to James Baron on that one," he said, "He opened it up for me and all I did was come right through."
Joe Minucci also contributed a well-timed sack, knocking Bishop down in the end zone on a fourth down for what appeared to be a safety, but instead Bishop was marked down on the one-yard line. "That’s alright," Minucci laughed, "it was a big fourth down so a stop was good enough and we were able to punch it in."
Once again Nashville’s defense proved to be the determining factor in the game. In addition to the four sacks, they had three interceptions, one by Kahlil Carter and two by Ironman of the game Jarrick Hillery. On offense QB Leon Murray threw for five touchdowns and had his fourth consecutive game without an interception.
And Ryan Roth had seven yards rushing.
A Forgone Conclusion
Coming into thins game Grand Rapids QB Michael Bishop needed only 16 rushing yards to break the league’s season rushing record. Since he is averaging 34 yards per game, the record seemed well within reach. The Kats received several calls leading up to the game asking if play would be stopped to recognize the achievement when Bishop broke the record.
Michael Bishop now needs 17 yards to break the record. In addition to being sacked for times, he was tackled for a loss by Darryl Hammond while attempting to run, and finished the game with minus one net rushing yards. I guess somebody else will have to stop their game if Bishop breaks the record.
Charliy Nash has covered both incarnations of the Nashville Kats, and now has make the 2 hour drive to Huntsville for an Arena Football fix. He also covers the Tennessee Titans as a blogger for nfl.com and still hopes this will eventually lead to a paying gig.
