The Best Laid Plans
Charliy Nash
Thursday February 23, 2006
So Crush quarterback John Dutton put the pressure on the youngest, least experienced, smallest defender on the field – but 5’ 9" Rober’ Freeman wasn’t surprised, "They know I’m a young player so they figured they could get it in on me, but it ain’t going like that."
Dutton’s first pass attempt to Damien Harrell was broken up by Freeman. A second pass to Harrell also went incomplete due to Freeman’s tight coverage. Running out of time, Dutton aimed his next pass for the corner of the end zone, where Monty Montgomery picked it off and returned it to midfield. "We knew everything they were going to do," Freeman explained "we just had to execute and stop it."
"Our two young guys, Rober’ and Jermaine [Lewis], played outstanding," Kats’ head coach Pat Sperduto said, "I give those guys a lot of credit. Good things to come there."
Yes, the infamous Kats’ defense is once again asserting itself. What other team could take on the league leading offense and wind up lowering their points allowed per game?
Some people thought that the loss to Chicago exposed weaknesses in the defense, but actually it was special teams’ problems that led to the Kats’ defeat. Two Chicago touchdowns came from special teams’ errors, and the Rush had far better field position to start each drive. In the week leading up to the game with the Colorado Crush, fixing those problems was a priority. "Not only can we get it done," Cornelius Bonner told me, "we will get it done."
They did get it done. Against the Colorado Crush the Kats’ special teams became an asset. T.T. Toliver scored a touchdown after the Crush was unable to field a kickoff. The coverage team did not allow any long returns, and Khalil Carter gave them good field position to start nearly every drive. "They stepped up this week," said special teams coach Rick Butler, "I tell you what, I’m proud because it’s been a hard week."
The game ended much like the first half. The Crush worked their way down the field into the red zone. Dutton Threw a pass into the end zone, and it was intercepted by Cornelius Bonner who returned it 57 yards for a touchdown. "When I caught that pick, normally you would down the ball in a situation like that," Bonner admitted, "but the green was just there, I had to show them a little bit of those burners I’ve been blessed with." Running the ball back had one other advantage. "Eat the clock, win the game. Hey, it’s a wonderful ending!"
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.
