Destroyers’ Subs Anything but Sub-Par against T-Bears
Tom Ando
Sunday May 20, 2001
The Destroyers lost three fumbles in the first half and then lost several key players. Already playing without OS Bobby Olive and WR/DB Willie Latta, the Destroyers lost OL/DL Jerry Crafts, WR/LB Kevin Mason and OS Reggie Allen, but when the team needed them, Crafts and Mason came in injured.
“It was amazing that we lost them like we did, but we had some unbelievable efforts from guys that were injured and still played,” said Destroyers coach Ray Bentley. “Jerry Crafts came out there and played on one leg. What a testament to his courage and his character. Then Kevin Mason, his ankle is sprained severely, but we needed him to hold for kicks, so he hobbled out there and still fulfilled that duty for us. Eddie Brown played the entire fourth quarter. It was just amazing the efforts that we got out some of these guys, and when you get those kind of things, you end up pulling ball games out, and we did.”
The Destroyers overcame the adversity with the help of some usually reliable players such as QB Jim Kubiak and WR/DB Carlos James. James, the game’s Ironman, had six catches for 33 yards and two touchdowns and adding his fourth interception of the season. At the same time, MVP Kubiak was 22 of 38 for 209 yards and six touchdowns. After the game a stoked Kubiak gave credit to the T-Bears for the game.
“It was sloppy, but it`s a win,” said Kubiak. “This is a good football team here, and I thought they did a nice job against us in the secondary. They took things away. We`ve got a lot of injuries though, so it`s a good win, and I`m excited.”
Players like James and Kubiak are guys that Houston knew they would have to stop, but they weren’t prepared for the big games from WR/LB Darrick Branch and WR/DB Hassan Probherbs.
 Derrick Branch steps in for Latta and makes the grade against the roving TBears. Image courtesy of Tom Ando |
“Darrick did a great job, just like I knew he would,” said Bentley. “That`s a luxury that we`ve had around here is the depth of our football team. People get hurt, and we`ve got people capable of coming in and filling those shoes, and not just fill the shoes, but get it done. It was Darrick`s turn and he came out and had a great game.”
Probherbs, who is usually a defensive stand out for the Destroyers, got a lot of playing time on offense when Allen went down with a touchdown reception of four yards, and a touchdown run of three. In his first big chance at offense in the Arena Football League, Probherbs didn’t let his coach down.
“Hassan Probherbs stepped up and played well in the role that we had him in, which was a more expanded role because we lost Reggie Allen right off the bat this week,” said Bentley. “Hassan was going to play pretty much defense and some offense, but now we didn`t have that luxury because Darrick was being used up at Offensive Specialist, so Hassan and Carlos James had to split the game evenly, and Hassan did a great job in that role.”
Though the Destroyers were excited about their come-from-behind win, the T-Bears were upset at their second half let-down.
“Actually, it was a pretty good game, but we just came up a little short,” said Houston WR/LB Terence Davis. “A lot of injuries kind of set us back. We had a lot of guys playing a lot of minutes, but that`s no excuse. I felt like we should have won the game and we gave it away.”
“It was a pretty tough game,” added T-Bears WR/DB Sedrick Robinson. “There were two good teams. Buffalo is at the top of their division and we see why. We`ve got a good team. We`ve just got to start making plays in the second half like we do in the first half.”
Robinson not only had to battle Buffalo’s explosive offense, but the fans in the end zone of the HSBC Arena as well. The entire fourth quarter, fans chanted his name, but as a professional, Robinson just played along. “No (they didn`t get to me), I`m just playing with them,” said Robinson. “It`s all in good fun, and we`ve got fans like that wherever we go and you`ve just got to expect it.”
Next week the Destroyers will seek revenge on the Arizona Rattlers, who knocked them out of the playoffs last season. The Rattlers are currently 3-1 and take on the Indian Firebirds Sunday.
The ThunderBears, who play all of their home games at neutral sites, will take on the Nashville Kats in Bismarck next week as they look to get back on the winning track.
“We`ve got a long week, but we get a chance to rest some bodies of the guys that are injured,” said Davis. “We`ve just got to get back at it and practice hard. We already know that we`re on the road so we`ve just got to go for it, get back up and try to go for this third win.”
"Touchdown" Tom Ando is a free lance writer from South Buffalo, NY and has been covering the Arena Football League in one capacity or another since the 2000 season, when he was 17 years old. Tom Currently writes for Sports & Leisure Magazine in Buffalo covering the NLL's Buffalo Bandits and NCAA Division I football. In 2001, Tom was the only writer in the country to cover the Houston "Travelin' " Thunderbears, where he befriended his mentor John F. "Hondo" Hahn.
