Avengers Lose another Quarterback and another Game
Steve Jacobson
Tuesday July 17, 2001
Quarterback Harry Leons, who was making his first Arena Football League start, looked comfortable at the helm in the first quarter. He had completed four of his first seven pass attempts and had a pass dropped in the end zone. All of a sudden, in one play, the second-year Avenger player separated his shoulder and was replaced by Wally Richardson.
If the quarterback position is a barometer of the team`s success, then the fact the Avengers used their sixth quarterback of the year in the game should point to their 5-8 record.
Richardson, who was activated during the week prior to the Carolina game to replace injured quarterbacks Todd Marinovich and Tony Graziani, struggled in his first outing with Los Angeles. Although he did throw three touchdown passes and was 13-for-24 passing with 129 yards, he also threw three interceptions and fumbled away a quarterback-center exchange.
To make matters worse, former Avenger Corey Johnson returned two kickoffs and one interception back for touchdowns. In three kickoff returns, Johnson totaled 103 yards on three returns.
For the second week in a row, the Los Angeles offense struggled in the middle of the game. With the score tied 7-7 with just under 14 minutes to play in the second quarter, the Cobras reeled off 35 consecutive points on six scoring possessions to boost the lead to 42-7. Two of the touchdowns were kickoff returns by Johnson, including a 56 yarder to open the second half.
Los Angeles never recovered from the Carolina explosion.
The combination of quarterback Fred McNair and offensive specialist Aaron Bailey built on the lead over the final 20 minutes with two touchdown hookups. McNair complete 10 of 14 passes for 144 yards and four touchdowns against no interceptions. Bailey caught six passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns.
Offensive specialist Travis Hannah led the Avengers with eight catches for 73 yards and one touchdown. Receivers Shannon Culver (33 yards) and Anthony Rice (16 yards) also grabbed touchdown passes.
Fullback Malcolm Hamilton, playing in his first game for Los Angeles, had two carries for 12 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown run.
The Avengers defense played solid, despite the offense and special teams problems, allowing 192 yards of total offense and 168 yards passing. Los Angeles came into the game with the league`s best defense allowing 248.3 yards of total offense and 229.8 passing yards per game.
As if the score didn`t seem bad enough in the second half, the Avengers lost the services of defensive specialist Mark Ricks. Ricks, who leads the team with eight interceptions, rolled his right ankle in the third quarter and injured his right leg. It is unknown how much time he will miss.
Should Leons not be able to play Sunday in the season finale against the Oklahoma Wranglers, the team will most likely go with Richardson as the starter and Jim Druckenmiller as his backup. Druckenmiller was on the sideline for the Carolina game, but was inactive.
Sunday`s game at Oklahoma will be shown at noon Pacific time as TNN`s AFL Game of the Week.
Steve Jacobson was a writer for ArenaFan Online during the 2001 season.
