Finally an Arena Football Game in New Jersey
Marc Viquez
Sunday June 17, 2001
The Bobcats pulled out of the gate fast and looked destined for an easy win, but fell apart in the second and had to play catch-up on their last possession of the game. This was one great game for the New Jersey faithful to finally witness after ugly games at home against Buffalo, Carolina, and Toronto. Even the teams’ only win was ugly. But this was one heck of a game. As Gladiators’ head coach Lary Kuharich said to his team afterward, they had nothing to be ashamed of.
Rickey Foggie blazed Florida to a quick 21-0 before New Jersey got the chance to obtain any momentum. It looked as if the game was going to be another blowout by an opposing team for the fourth week in a row. The Gladiators would not play dead as their defense and offense finally meshed together to put on an incredible display of guts and emotions, outscoring Florida 44-26 in the last three quarters.
“Good comeback. We’re down 21-zip and even in the course of the game to get two, which is Arenaball, you get plays off that net, but they get two touchdowns like that and I’m very sincere that the team played well”, said coach Kuharich on his teams’ comeback from two freak scores from Florida, one off the net early in the first quarter and one on a fumble recovery by John Moyer who huffed and puffed 42-yards for the only Florida TD in the third quarter.
“The team played well, nobody likes to be 1-9, but I am not going to let it get me down, and I am not going to let it get them down,” added Kuharich on New Jersey’s offense coming alive for the first time since the Detroit game.
Connell Maynor stepped in for an injured Todd Bankhead in the second quarter and played with rejuvenation as he steamrolled his team (12-20 with 159-yards and 3 TD passes). Maynor also high-stepped it in for a score and flipped a two-point conversion to George Del Ricco to tie it up in the fourth.
“Connell went out there and played his heart out. I am so happy for him, because he’s been working all year. He’s been a warrior and things haven’t been going his way this year, but he still keeps his head up and working”, said Bankhead after going down in the first half with the knee injury.
George Del Ricco also played his heart out as he picked up Ironman of the Game honors. Del Ricco earned the award by snatching up a fumble, galloping for 19-yards, scooping up a 2-point conversion pass, and bulldozing his way in for 3-yard score. “He’s a warrior, he’s pure Arenaball player. The guys that are in the arena and play this thing, offense, defense, special teams make the plays… they’re worth their weight in gold,” Kuharich said.
Maynor was also satisfied with his teammates’ gusto after being down 21-0 early in the first quarter. “You got to give it to our guys, they hung in there, they kept their head up, they kept fighting and never gave up”, Maynor said after sparking a Gladiator attack that had fans cheering in their seats all the way up until the final play of the game. It was one of his best outings this whole season and gave us the kind of play that most have been missing this whole year. This was a game that had kids, grownups, and devoted fans alike glued to the edge of their seats and glistening with anticipation for the next Gladiators’ series.
The huge lead constructed by Florida fell through, the bounces off the nets, the fumble recoveries and the quick 40-yard strikes all symbolized excitement and pleasure of an Arena Football game, proving once again that no lead is safe at any time in this league.
“It was that, an Arena type game, you saw some plays off the net, you saw some fumbles, you saw some big hits and we had to play with the substitution. There was a lot of guys who went a lot of minutes because of the substitution rules and we go down to the last play of the game,” added Kuharich.
We only hope to see this same spitfire again sometime soon this season, but for one night we had an quintessential Arena Football game for the first time in New Jersey all year.
A fan of the sport since 1990 Marc has covered both the New Jersey Gladiators and Cincinnati Swarm (Af2) for Arenafan Online. Marc now resides in Indianapolis after graduating with a Masters in Sports Management from Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind. When not at a Firebirds game Marc can be found traveling the Midwest covering sports for various Internet and print publications.
