Blackjacks are all aces at home versus Destroyers
Cliffy D. Pine
Sunday May 5, 2019
Football fans in America's Playground finally got to see what the hype was all about. After losing their inaugural game to the Philadelphia Soul, the Blackjacks hosted their first ever home game at the famed Boardwalk Hall this past Saturday.
Atlantic City sent those fans home happy, defeating the Columbus Destroyers by a 42-35 score. The Blackjacks secure their first franchise win while the Destroyers fall to 0-2. It's still early in the season, but Columbus head coach Matt Sauk has to be wondering how he can get his charges to finally close the deal.
Last week, the Destroyers ran into a stout Albany defense. This week Grant Russell made his first pro start and looked very good, going 21 for 26 with 211 passing yards and five touchdowns. He found Fabian Guerra for a trio of touchdowns as well as tossing TDs to Paul Revis & Jenson Stoshak.
However, Russell did throw a costly interception into the hands of Blackjacks defender Lynden Trail, who took it back 12 yards for the touchdown that would ensure Columbus stayed in the loss column. Russell also had Blackjacks defender Monte Lewis in his kitchen, who planted the rookie pivot twice into the ground for major losses.
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For the Blackjacks, it was all about the ground game. QB Randy Hippeard was 17 for 22 with 143 passing yards and throwing touchdowns to Wesley Mauia and Lamark Brown. But three of the Blackjacks’ six TDs were of the rushing sort, as Brown, Antwane Grant and even Hippeard himself scampered in for majors.
This game was a see-saw affair until the fourth quarter when Monte Lewis forced a turnover that led to Atlantic City scoring touchdowns on both offense and defense. During the post-game presser, Lewis was quick to give credit to Blackjacks defensive line coach Caesar Rayford, whom he actually played with just a few seasons ago. Rayford got his troops fired up and they gave the Destroyers plenty of fits Saturday afternoon.
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For Atlantic City head coach Ron James, the win was especially sweet as he made his return to the Arena League this year after spending last season in the Canadian Football League. In speaking with him after the game, James truly believes that this Blackjacks team can be something special this season. He and his staff have been making the rounds in the city to help promote the Blackjacks in hopes of turning this tourist destination into a football town.
The game experience at Boardwalk Hall was certainly an interesting one, as it is not your typical sports arena. Many landmark events and concerts have been held in this century-old building. The hope is that now that this first game is in the books, word will spread about this particular brand of football and more folks will tune in.
The listed attendance for this first-ever game in Atlantic City was 6139 and for the most part, the fans were into the whole experience. This building can hold 10000 fans and while it may not have looked all that great on film, I think the fans that came will certainly tell their friends and come back again.
If I had one complaint to make, it would be of the feeble attempts by the PA announcer to get the crowd to make noise on defense. Sounding more like he was reading the newspaper over the loudspeakers, it seemed like fans were making noise in spite of him rather than because of him. Hopefully it was just working out the kinks for that first-ever football game.
The rest of the game featured the usual contests/giveaways along with t-shirt tossings to reward fans for their support of the team. But I did note one thing during the post-game meet and greet that really stood out for me as a great initiative.
It is league-mandated for players to return to the field after the game to do a meet and greet for fans to get autographs/pictures with their favorite players. But I noticed that Blackjacks staff members were handing out full-size foam footballs to the kids, complete with team logo.
Perfect for collecting autographs or having an impromptu game of catch with the fam jam. A simple gesture that possibly cost the team a few bucks but the return on that investment will easily be greater as families come back to Boardwalk Hall in the future to see more Arena Football games.
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The Blackjacks go back on the road next week to face the winless Washington Valor in the nation’s capital. Meanwhile, the Destroyers will hope that a trip to Baltimore to face the Brigade will be the key to finally getting their first win of 2019. And as we learned this past Friday, you fans can catch all the action of the Arena League on ESPN3. But if you have the chance to go out to see a game live, you won’t be disappointed.
Many thanks to ArenaFan for once again allowing me the opportunity to experience this brand of football first-hand and to share it with you good readers. Be sure to check out ArenaFan.com for all your news, stats, info and so much more on the Arena Football League.
