A Move Doesn’t End a Rivalry
Marc Viquez
Saturday July 7, 2001
"They’re a better football team than their record shows. It will be fun to go back east and renew an old rivalry. It should be a typical Arena Football League Game; tough and physical,” says Indiana head coach Mike Daily. That is a pretty bold statement coming from a man who`s team has been hobbled by injuries. It helps that his team is still tied with Grand Rapids in the central division.
Perhaps he remembers some of the fierce battles these two teams have played since New Jersey came into the league in 1997. New Jersey pulled off a shocking overtime thriller in 1997 by one-point and then knocked Albany out of the playoffs in New York the next year. There was then another one-point victory for New Jersey in 1999, followed by Albany gaining revenge with two close wins last season. Albany is 5-4 lifetime against New Jersey, including the playoffs.
Indiana had four of their players suffer injury against Milwaukee, including starting quarterback Raymond Philyaw. He went out in the second quarter with a knee injury. A shocked Daily said, "I’ve been in Arena Football for around 12 years and I have never seen this amount of injuries occur in a single ball game.” The Gladiators won’t miss Philyaw`s 55 TD passes, including a league record-tying 10 TD two weeks ago in Grand Rapids. Rookie John Rayborn will be making his first ever start against the league`s third worst pass defense. The Gladiator defense has only picked off opposing quarterbacks nine times this season (tied for fifth worst in the league.)
New Jersey, however, will do battle with the high scoring wizards of OS Eddie Brown, WR/DB Jay Jones, and WR/LB Greg Hopkins. All three men have combined for 186-receptions, 2,556-yards, and 49-touchdowns. Another aerial threat, Van Johnson, is questionable for this week`s game after sitting out last weekend with a hamstring injury.
The Gladiators will have their hands filled with this trio of touchdown-making machines. "Eddie Brown has been the big play guy so you have to look at him as the starting point,” said Kuraich. How will New Jersey prevent the number two offensive team from scoring and taking control of the game? "Naturally you’d like to slow them down and not give them as many opportunities and control the ball in minutes. For all that to happen on defense we have to firm up our protection offensively,” said Kuharich.
New Jersey held up tough against the league`s number one offense last week (New York) and it will be back to basics for some of their own to shine. Coco Blalock had a breakout performance with 9 receptions for 130 yards and 2 TD’s. He also returned seven kickoffs for 156 yards. "We need Coco Blalock as our specialist, that would be his best place. We could give him the ball more than when he plays two ways. He’s got a lot of juke to him, he’s got good hands, he’s hard to handle and he’s a good receiver. He’s a big play player,” said Kuraich.
Gladiator QB Todd Bankhead was also pretty impressive. The AFL rookie stepped in for an injured Connell Maynor. He performed nicely against New York, making accurate and crisp passes and kicking things up a notch for a slumping Gladiator offense.
“He’s an excellent passer. He went into the game wounded with his knee and at the tail end of the third quarter we started to get pressure on us. Overall his performance was excellent, he threw one bad ball that slipped out of his hand and it ended up being an interception. Other than that he appeared to make progress for his second start,” said Kuharich.
New Jersey is expecting some more help offensively as WR/DB David Saunders is expected to return after missing last week, as well as FB Dan Flores, who will help out on protection. The Firebirds have typically brought out the best in New Jersey and it will be interesting to see if we will have an old-fashion barnburner at the Meadowlands. New Jersey has nothing but pride to play for and a win against an old nemesis could satisfy the hunger for win number two. I guess we will have to wait and see what chaos will ensue this Sunday afternoon.
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.
