SaberCats Ready to Dive in with the Sharks
Leanne Cozart
Friday May 17, 2013
The San Jose SaberCats (5-2) head to Jacksonville on Saturday to take on the Sharks who are coming off of a two game losing streak after starting the first six weeks undefeated.
‘Cats Offensive Take
The SaberCats will be going into week nine’s match up having three consecutive wins behind them. This recent success is due to some big help from quarterback Russ Michna who joined the team in week six.
Wide Receiver Fred Williams talks a little bit about Michna’s impact on the team as they go into week nine, “He always keeps his composure. Like during a game when a bad play happens, he never shows any type of anger, he’s always ready to move onto the next play. He’ll do corrections on himself before he tries to evaluate us, which I think is great and he’s willing to learn. He’s willing to adjust to us and we’re willing to adjust to him, so I think the chemistry is getting a lot better.”
Michna and his offense will have to keep up this productive style of play if they’re going to get a win against the explosive Sharks defense that has managed to hold opposing offenses to under 35-points in three of their last five games. The Sharks defense also leads the league in sacks with 25 for the season and they’ve got four players in the league’s top ten sack leaders. This group of physical defensive players will be going up against a strong SaberCats offensive line that has only allowed nine sacks for the season.
Williams shares a little insight on what his mindset is going up against this tough Sharks defense, “(They’re) very physical, so we have to go out there and make sure that we don’t let them hit us and we deliver the first blow. And make sure that we just continue to take advantage of the opportunities that they give us, we see opportunity, we just got to continue to execute and capitalize on it.”
‘Cats Defensive Take
The Jacksonville Sharks are heading into this week as the number one rated rushing offense.The SaberCats defense will be looking to bring the very mobile Sharks quarterback Bernard Morris's production rate down. “We know he can step up in the pocket and take off, so we have to be really sound in our rush lanes and make sure to play really sound football,” said linebacker Francis Maka.
The SaberCats defensive unit has been experiencing a rhythm these past few weeks as they've been consistently forcing turnovers and applying pressure on opposing quarterbacks from all over the field. In the last three games, the ‘Cats defense has held opposing offenses to under 40-points and will be looking to continue this streak. “We pride ourselves on being a defense that swarms to the ball and that is always touching the quarterback,” said Maka.
Maka talks about his take on the defenses recent success, “It’s like what Coach Arbet always told us in the beginning of the year, we have to make sure we don’t ride the highs and lows of the season. This is something that we expect out of our defense. So as long as we maintain our composure and do what we’re coached up to do and play how we’ve been preparing all week than it should be the outcome every week.”
