Destroyers’ Outstanding Individual Efforts Make For A Team Win Against Dragons
Tom Ando
Sunday June 10, 2001
It was a close game that came down to the last play, giving Buffalo fans an idea of what kind of accomplishments their Destroyers can achieve by combining outstanding individual performances and great teamwork. Buffalo Head Coach Ray Bentley was quick to point out the peek performers on his team.
“We`ve got a guy to catch them this week,” joked Bentley comparing OL/DL Kerwin Hairston’s two touchdown receptions to OL/DL Ramon Luster`s two dropped touchdown passes last week. “They were easier passes, they were a little bit shorter on the passes, and Kerwin`s done a great job. We thought we had a player in him early on and for whatever reason we had some other guys in there, and now he`s come in the last two games and he`s had four sacks and two touchdowns, and he is something special. He`s really turned it up a notch and we`re really proud about the way Kerwin goes about his business.”
Destroyers quarterback Jim Kubiak was the game’s MVP by throwing for 301 yards and six touchdowns. He now has 45 touchdown passes on the season, further extending his recent record for best all time in Buffalo history. Bentley compared Kubiak’s performance to a former teammate of his with the Bills.
“He kind of reminds me of Jim Kelly the way he approaches the game,” said Bentley. “Kelly used to come out in a big game like this early on and overthrow the ball, and make some mistakes, just because he got himself so jacked up, and he`s just got that little bit of a linebacker`s mentality. Which is not a bad thing once you get into a groove -- once you get settled down -- and now your mental toughness is more of a steady flow instead of a spiked emotion. So once Jim got into that flow, he really did a nice job.”
Buffalo’s scoring machine Willie Latta, who was represented by his fan club known as “The Popcorn Posse,” had a very solid game catching nine passes for 133 yards and a touchdown, he added another one on the ground as well.
“Willie had a pretty good game,” said Bentley. “But Willie has had better games and will have better games. I was disappointed he dropped a couple of return balls off of the nets, and I thought we had great set ups for some long returns but we couldn`t hang on to the ball, but those were the only ones he dropped. He caught a lot of passes and did a nice job in that regard.”
Buffalo’s biggest star however might have been DS Prentice Taylor, who dropped an interception in the third quarter, but made up for it by picking off Aaron Garcia with no time remaining.
“Like they say, it`s better to get one in the end when it matters,” said Taylor. “I totally took my eye off of the ball (on the dropped pick), and it just wiped out of my hand.”
“Prentice is a special kind of guy,” said Bentley. “He`s playing the most difficult spot in all of football, all over the world, any game you can name, that`s the most difficult spot to sit there and have to cover a guy on a field like that and gets a full running head start at you, that`s almost impossible. What you need to have is some guts. You`ve got to have some courage, and you`ve got to be able to take your lumps and rebound from that, and that`s what Prentice does the best. He`s got real short memories when it comes to his mistakes out there and he keeps fighting you, and he`ll fight you to the bloody death. That`s what I love about him most.”
 Carlos James enjoyed the opportunity to defeat his former teammates Image courtesy of Tom Ando |
“They came in here talking stuff to us,” said Motton. “Saying not to take it personal when they beat up on us. We told them. Don`t take it personal when they`re going home on that airplane.”
Teammates and coaches alike felt good for the duo on the win.
“It`s a camaraderie for them,” said Taylor. “They`ve been with that team for about six or seven years. That`s motivation for us because they`re really hyped on it, and I think they rose up to the occasion and showed them that they lost good players.”
“They were both pretty excited about that one, and any time you go against your former (team), that adds a little something special,” added Bentley. “And then to pull it out like that for Carlos to make those plays. For Motton to play like he did, that meant a hell of a lot.”
This could be the win that gives the Destroyers the proper momentum needed to make their big playoff run and win the division.
“I think I can sum it up best by stealing some words from Gene Zinni, who`s our line coach. He came to us early in the week, he said `boys, this is a game that will put the Buffalo Destroyers on the football map.` So we are now on the map. We want to end up being in the center of the universe for Arena Football, but we`re definatly on the map now.”
“Oh baby, this put us over the top right here,” said Motton. “This game was the mood we needed where we all play together. Special teams, offense, defense. Hey, we`re on a roll.”
Next Sunday Buffalo will host Carolina on national television, which will be another battle for first place in the division, but Buffalo won’t take the Cobras lightly.
“Carolina is a good football team,” said Bentley. So we`re going to have to be ready to play when they come in here on father`s day.”
"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.
