Firebirds Prove they can Win the Close Ones
Matthew Pickut
Sunday July 15, 2001
“It was a big win for us,” Said Head Coach Mike Dailey, “We definitely understood going into the game how it could affect our playoff status. We are # 3 right now and we like the position that we are in. San Jose is a tough team, but our guys played hard and came out on top. ”
Philyaw completed eight of ten passes for two td in the first quarter. Dailey said the quick start keyed Philyaw’s performance. “I was a little concerned that he would be a little rusty, but he played well early and got some confidence that carried him through the game.”
In the stat book Indiana dominated. Firebirds’ QB Raymond Philyaw threw for 393 yards and seven touchdowns on the night. Five of those touchdowns went to OS Eddie Brown who collected 185 yards in receptions on the night. “We needed the win because our backs were up against the wall,” said Brown, “We put ourselves in a hole and had to dig ourselves out. I said that I would be the one to dig us out and I was able to do it.” Ironman of the game WR/LB Greg Hopkins for his part pulled in eight passes for 134 yard in another great performance on both sides of the ball.
The Firebirds started strong and built a 21-point lead late in the second quarter. Dailey warned his players at half time that San Jose would respond in the second half. “I told the team that if you just played that well against a good team you probably just pissed them off.”
San Jose WR/DB Barry Wagoner pulled his team to with in three with a 1 yard TD plunge early in the fourth quarter. The teams traded scores until Indiana K Nelson Garner missed a 42-yard field goal. Garner lobbied the referees for more favorable calls all night long after a kick that looked good failed to be validated by the officials. “I didn’t think it would work [lobbying the refs], but you just try and put a thought in their minds.”
Sabercats’ QB Mark Grieb then hit James Hudson for the team’s first lead with only two minutes left. With :44 seconds left and down four points Dailey called a time-out. He called the linemen together for a huddle. “Well they were getting after us pretty good there, they drew a couple holding penalties from us, and the were really cranking it up with their front guys. Seemed like they were really trying to take the game over that way, we were trying to regain some momentum, I told those guys that they really had to buckle down, avoid holding, do nothing stupid.”
After working the ball downfield to the one-yard line, FB/LB Umar Muhammad failed to score on a plunge up the middle. With the clock running down the ‘birds remained cool under pressure. “It was a little bit by design. We tried to leave as little time for them on the clock as possible. We had three timeouts and they had three timeouts,” said Dailey, “We forced them to burn two of theirs and then we did the same and they chose to hang on to one in case they needed it. Once we got inside the five, we knew we could take as many shots as we needed to get into the end zone. It turned out that we needed as many as possible.” The line needed help as more then one new player came into the rotation. “We had a good week of practice, and having the new guys in the lineup let me play more defense instead of filling in for Valvo,” said OL/DL Chris Snyder.
The shot that made the difference was a 12-yard pass to Brown who scored the go-ahead TD with only one second left on the clock. “He [Philyaw] said he was going to throw it at a girl in the front row, I just wanted to get there and make the catch.” Brown beat good coverage and lived up to his nickname one more time.
The crowd exploded as Brown made the catch and danced down the field. After losing a heartbreaker in their home opener against Grand Rapids, this week’s win gave the Indy crowd a taste of winning a close game.
A win next week would secure not only a home game, which the team already is guaranteed, but also a bye week. The Firebird’s face a desperate Detroit team (6-7) that needs a win to even hope to get into the playoffs.
Albany Update
Team Owner Glen Mazula told me after the game that the progress of the af2 team he will be bringing to Albany is a bit behind schedule. “We’re looking at some names, but I can’t really say anything before our people look at it.” He seemed very optimistic about getting the work done soon and committed to putting the time in.
Matthew Pickut is a pastor in northern Indiana and a long time AFL fan. He also writes for his own website: The Brown Paper Blog. He graduated from Taylor University in Upland Indiana (class of `96) with degrees in Biblical Literature and Sociology as well as a healthy respect for the medicinal properties of coffee.
