White Recognizes Arizona Line is Biggest Weakness
Patrick Daly
Tuesday May 22, 2001
Arizona had the advantage for a most of the game and kept the Indiana offense in check, but some crazy bounces kept the Firebirds close until they could make their move. Indiana’s first touchdown came on a play that could only happen in the Arena Football League. After stopping the Firebirds and forcing a long field goal, the Rattlers watched kicker Nelson Garner send a field goal attempt off of the right side net just above the bottom bar. The ball then went over Hunkie Cooper’s head and fell into the waiting arms of Indiana’s Jay Jones, resulting in a Firebirds touchdown.
Despite this play, Arizona went into the locker room with a 24-24 tie at halftime and held a 31-27 lead going into the fourth quarter. However, sixteen straight points in the fourth quarter gave Indiana a lead that the Rattlers couldn’t overcome.
“We start looking for ways to get better up front,” said Rattlers Head Coach Danny White about the team’s next step. “They just beat us soundly up front. That was really the difference. We basically had to play a mistake free game to win today the way we were playing, the way we were protecting the quarterback and the way we were rushing the quarterback. We made too many mistakes in significant situations.”
“They played an excellent game,” said White about Indiana’s performance. “They did a good job of pressuring our quarterback, and the reason I put [Chad] DeGrenier in at the end was just because he’s able to move around a little bit better than Chad May. I knew we were going to need it the way they were coming after us.”
DeGrenier came into the game with the Rattlers trailing, 43-31, and only three and a half minutes on the clock in the fourth quarter. He opened the drive with a sidearm pass to receiver Randy Gatewood for 20 yards and then got the Rattlers into the end zone a few plays later with a 10-yard toss to Calvin Schexnayder. Unfortunately, the Rattlers failed to recover the ensuing onsides kick, and Indiana ran out the clock to seal their win. Looking only at the success Arizona had on DeGrenier’s lone drive he may have better helped the situation if White went to him earlier.
“I don’t know. It might have mattered,” said White when asked if he should have brought DeGrenier in sooner. “Maybe one series sooner it would have saved us the interception. Chad [May] got trapped in there and couldn’t get out, then tried to get rid of the ball and ended up throwing the interception. You can always second guess yourself on that. I’m always going to be pretty patient when it comes to changing quarterbacks.”
White also talked about the need for leaders on the line: “We need some leadership in that area; on the line. We need some guys to step up. There comes a time for five seconds when you’ve just got to be a mean, ornery, nasty human being. Then you can go back to being a nice guy. To play on the line in this league that’s the kind of attitude you’ve got to have.”
One of the few highlights of the day featured the return of offensive specialist Calvin Schexnayder. After separating his shoulder in the final preseason game, Schexnayder grabbed three passes for 47 yards and two touchdowns in his first regular season action this year.
“It was exciting,” said Schexnayder about getting back into the lineup. “I’m just happy to get back out there and try to contribute. I didn’t do as well as I wanted to do. I wanted to score four touchdowns. Eventually it’ll come back. The ego is bruised, but that comes with the territory.”
With a short week before hosting the Buffalo Destroyers, the Rattlers have to improve their play on the line if they are to bounce back from this loss. The Rattlers will host a defensive-minded Buffalo team that comes off of tight victory over Houston and Arizona won’t have time to dwell on this defeat. The Rattlers will have to regroup this week and will look to prove that this is only a temporary setback and not simply business as usual.
Patrick Daly has been an Arena Football League enthusiast since he first stumbled across the late-night ESPN broadcasts and has followed the Arizona Rattlers since their inaugural season in 1992. He graduated from Arizona State University with an engineering degree and is currently a member of a web development team for Direct Alliance in Tempe. Patrick currently resides in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler, Arizona with his beautiful wife, son and a very large football helmet collection.
