SaberCats rolling
Tony Mercado
Monday May 8, 2006
There's a saying that goes: To be the man, you gotta beat the man.
The Colorado Crush, having won the Arena Football League championship last year and carrying one of the best win-loss records this season, was "the man" heading into Saturday's contest with the surging SaberCats.
What better way to measure how far your team has come than to go up against the best? Well, what we saw was a squad on a mission, and I'm not talking about the Crush.
The SaberCats are Western Division champions today for the sixth time, the first since 2003, after taking care of business with Colorado. They've posted six straight wins and is there a hotter squad in the AFL right now?
"Bottom line, we're a scrappy team," head coach Darren Arbet said.
That 1-4 record San Jose once had sure seems like eons ago, doesn't it?
So let's bury that now. No more talk of where San Jose used to be. Why dwell on that when the path ahead is much more enticing now that the SaberCats are 9-6 and have a first-round playoff bye to relish. A win against Columbus and a Crush loss to Arizona this week gives San Jose the American Conference's top seed.
It's pretty difficult to beat a team carrying the kind of momentum the SaberCats have now. They're just beginning to look like a complete team that's jelling on every level.
It's matured into a running team with a great one-two punch in Brian Johnson and Phil Glover. Johnson leads the team in yardage with 115, but Glover is right in step with 114 yards. Getting into the red zone, it's nice to know San Jose has the power to grind it in if need be.
Meanwhile, its special teams and defensive unit is showing signs of being opportunistic, aggressive and stifling.
Charles Pauley broke the team's season-long drought of kickoff returns for a touchdown Saturday, peeling off a 57-yarder that gave the team a 33-28 lead in the second quarter.
The defense is playing like a squad possessed. Last week, it allowed the lowest point total of the year against Arizona. This weekend, it completed a goal line stand in the fourth quarter and pressured quarterback John Dutton into two interceptions by Marquis Floyd and Omarr Smith, the latter going for a 42-yard score.
"We're stepping our game up," said Pauley, who also had a TD reception. "It's all working out and we know what we have to do to get to where we want to go."
Making the team go is quarterback Mark Grieb, still one of the league's best. Saturday, he tossed five touchdowns with no interceptions.
Three of those scores went to Ben Nelson, who now has 1,317 yards receiving for the year, putting him within striking distance of the league rookie record of 1,372. He's locked in a battle for total league yardage with Austin's Derrick Lewis, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the kid named the AFL Rookie of the Year when it's all said and done.
The SaberCats are closing strong. And closing in on the ultimate prize.
"Hey, we still have a long way to go and we understand that," said Arbet. "Now everything's moving along, but we just want to play hard and stick together. And that's all we're going to do to finish this thing out."
Watch out, Columbus. You're getting the 'Cats at their very best.
Tony Mercado holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from San Jose State University and spent 10 years as a newspaper reporter in the Bay Area. He now works in the public relations field, but continues to enjoy writing about the local teams and the positive impact its players, coaches and dance squads have in their communities.
