Firecats Roll Knights
Keith Murphy
Sunday April 16, 2006
Following a flashy 19-yard Chad Elliott hook and lateral touchdown bomb to John Harris to end the first half, Macon led, 26-21 at halftime; but due to turnovers and untimely penalties, the Firecats gained control early in the fourth period and hung on for the win as the Macon offense was only able to manage 14 second half points.
Despite falling to 0 – 2, Macon head coach Derek Stingley says that his squad is showing steady improvement on the gridiron, "We were able to move the ball better than we did last game. [Quarterback] Chad [Elliott] got into a rhythm. There were some missed timing throws; but, that’s something we’re going to work on. I see the fact that we are getting better as a team right now. It sucks that we are 0 and 2, but it’s a long season and we are going to keep fighting."
Elliott had another strong game for Macon, completing 26 of 37 passes for five touchdowns. He was intercepted twice. James Hickenbotham led Macon’s receivers with seven catches for 96 yards and three scores. Jamaal Garman also caught seven passes for 63 yards. Matt Jackson returned four kicks for 109 yards.
Roster Reconsiderations
There may be a great deal of fighting for roster spots in practice in coming weeks after Stingley looks at game film and re-evaluates the play of some of his starters. "I know there’s going to be a couple of guys who are going to sit next week. I’ve got some guys who I think that’s hungry to play and that know the game pretty well who are going to help us; so, we’ll see."
Among the units under the most scrutiny may be the defensive secondary, Florida quarterback, Chris Wallace, lit up the Knight’s defensive backs, completing 28 of 41 passes for 6 touchdowns and 344 yards including eleven passes to OS Magic Benton. Part of the breakdown can be attributed to the injury to Leo Fenceroy; but, as Stingley explains, "It’s amazing. In practice, these guys cover everything. They do a great job. It looks like we are that team to beat with the perfect defense. Then we get out here and things change. I can only them; I can’t do the plays myself. I’m not giving up on anybody. We’re still going to fight. I’m a defensive coach. My system may be complicated. I’m going to try to make things simpler and maybe we’ll just play smarter football on the defensive side."
Place kicker Yoon Byungwoo continued to struggle for the Knights, but Stingley is still standing by his international player. "The kicking game. I’m going to continue to work on that because this is just his [Byungwoo’s] second arena football game. I can’t go too far into the season with that same performance; but as of right now, he’s still my guy."
Official Interference
One notable problem in Saturday night’s game was the poor officiating. A professional league that is attempting to build credibility in the eyes of the press and their fanbase should not continue to employ officials who, year after year, make (or miss) enough calls to significantly alter the outcome of games. Unfortunately, some of the crews who officiate af2 games seem to be plagued with individuals who need to be re-trained by the league. The league should review films of this game as an example. The crew missed calls that actually endangered the health and livelihood of the players. The fact that their errors may have changed the course of the game is secondary. Even the usually polite Stingley voiced his concern about the officiating: Tonight I felt there was a bunch of calls that went against us that shouldn’t have went against us. I mean it was some obvious calls. If there is something that can be done about it, I am going to stand up and say something about it. I’m going to talk to somebody about it. It’s unfortunate when you get some officials who come out here who would rather be the stars of the game than letting the players be the stars themselves."
Trick Plays
Both coaches appeared to be opening the playbook a bit wider than usual tonight as Stingley’s Knights hit on the Hook and Lateral and the Firecats hit it big on their version of the Washington Redskin’s signature "counter trey." Stingley explained that Knights fans can expect more of "unusual" in the future: "I have a lot of ‘special plays.’ That ‘hook and lateral’ is one of them and it worked to perfection and it gave us a great boost going into halftime. I had a couple of more that I wanted to run but we never just got into that flow." As for Florida’s ‘special play’: "We were kinda looking for it and they ran it right by us for a pretty good gain."
Stingley says that with each week, the Knights come together as a team. "Even though I have a veteran mix of guys, I still have a lot of new guys who are still trying to get my system down, especially on defense. I’m thinking that the chemistry just hasn’t formed yet. Every now and then we see little spurts of it. The longer we go on in the season, the better we are going to get."
Up Next
After dropping the first two at home, one might think that it would be good to get on the road; but Stingley says that it doesn’t matter where his team plays. "Wherever we play, it’s all right with me. We’re going to continue to play hard. We’re going to continue to put on a good show for everybody. Hopefully we’ll come back from this road trip with two wins."
Up next for the Knights is a trip is Tennessee Valley on April 22. The Knights next home game is May, sixth when Macon hosts the South Georgia Wildcats. Florida returns home this weekend to host the defending champion Memphis Xplorers.
Dr. Murphy has nearly 20 years of media experience ranging from radio to the Internet. He has served as webmaster for two AF2 teams and the football team at Fort Valley State University. He is a professor at FVSU and directs www.bunniwerks.org, a non-profit rabbit rescue organization. He has been commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel. Murphy is also serving as a first party editor of af2 stories for ArenaFfan. For more information about Dr. Murphy see: www.keithmurphy.info
