Rattlers Face Explosive Dragons without Schexnayder
Patrick Daly
Saturday July 14, 2001
After their disappointing loss to San Jose last week, the Rattlers are still fighting for playoff position and for a chance to host a first round playoff game. The front line remains the focus, especially with injuries affecting many areas of the team.
“We’re getting to a point a little later in the season where some guys are injured and they’re not practicing during the week, so it’s hard to get in a good rhythm, especially from the secondary standpoint,” said Rattlers coach Scot Maynard. “Cecil [Doggette] has been nagged with a foot injury and he basically just has been playing game day, and it’s hard for him to get a feel of the certain routes so we mix guys around.”
“Up front, it’s the same thing,” continued Maynard. “Stacy Evans has been hurt. So that’s a big part of it. Not being able to practice the type of stuff you really want to practice and stuff you’re going to use in the game. The other teams, I give credit to them. They’ve made plays.”
The Dragons come off of a record-setting 99-68 victory over Carolina, in which the team set a host of scoring records, including a new record for points (99). Additionally, quarterback Aaron Garcia broke the record for touchdown passes in a game (11). Garcia is also poised to break his own record for touchdown passes in a season (92) as he enters the game with 89 touchdowns so far.
“They’re explosive,” stated Rattlers lineman Kelvin Ingram. “They’ve got a nice offense. You can’t just predict their offense. You don’t know if Garcia is going to roll or he might throw a three-step [drop]. Most of time, you can look at film and you can predict [an opponent’s] offense, but their offense is kind of unpredictable.”
“They are a vertical team,” added Maynard. “I’ve always wondered in this league, when I’ve broken down film for many years, why teams just don’t run all go [routes]. Just drop back and throw it deep. But it’s too easy to have an intermediate guy and a sit-down guy where your quarterback can get the ball to him real quick. If you’re facing a team that has a great pass rush you don’t have time to throw that deep ball. You’ve got to get rid of it quick. That’s why this game is so fast. Their line has given them protection enough and that’s their philosophy.”
With the advantage of the previous game against New York, the Rattlers should be better prepared to handle the high-flying Dragons.
“We can’t turn the ball over. Number one,” said Maynard. “We need to change up some of our coverages in the red zone. I got geared in on certain things and I knew what type of routes they were running. Basically, I was leaving it up to the players to perform and make plays. I’m going to hopefully put them in a situation where they’ll better themselves.”
While the defense bears the responsibility of trying to stop the Dragons, the team will be without offensive specialist Calvin Schexnayder for the rest of the year due to torn ligaments that he suffered in his right knee late in the first half of the San Jose game. The SaberCats challenged the Arizona receivers once Schexnayder left the game, but the Rattlers will have talented Maurice Bryant ready to fill the offensive specialist position this week. Bryant will provide the deep threat that Arizona lacked when Schexnayder went down against San Jose.
“I’ve been in that position… last year when he wasn’t here,” said Bryant about starting in place of Schexnayder. “Last year was my first year, but this year I’ve gained more experience as far as knowing what to expect in Arena Football. I think that’s helped me out a lot as far as reading coverages. I feel much more comfortable out there. I think I’m ready.”
“I think we’ve had a good couple days of real hard practice getting ready for New York,” continued Bryant. “We’ve just got to win. We’ll be ready.”
As a veteran team, the Rattlers know what it takes to win in this league, but it will all come down to execution on Saturday night.
“Our core of lineman are veterans,” commented Ingram. “If we were rookies we’d probably panic. We aren’t going to panic right now. We know that if we don’t play good we aren’t going to win the game.”
“We need to go back to doing the simple things,” continued Ingram. “Finishing your blocks. Hustling downfield, helping a receiver out. It’s just the little things that we aren’t doing right now. Once we start doing that we’ll be much better offensively.”
The Rattlers players also know that their recent play has not only let themselves down, but it’s been a let down for the fans as well. Once San Jose started to pull away in the fourth quarter last week many fans started heading for the exits at America West Arena.
“You notice that kind of stuff and it bothers you as a player,” remarked Ingram. “Those are the folks that pay your bills. We’re going to try to turn it around on Saturday. We’re going to try to get it done.”
Playoff Picture
With two games remaining in the regular season, the Rattlers would clinch a playoff spot with one win and would assure themselves of a home playoff game with wins in both games. Ironically, if the playoffs started this weekend, the Rattlers would host New York in the first round. However, Arizona’s opponent probably won’t be decided until the final week of the season.
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.
