Houston...We have a Problem
Dave Harwood
Wednesday July 25, 2001
The San Jose SaberCats finished the 2001 season in a convincing fashion as they routed the Houston Thunderbears 80-27 on Saturday night at the Compaq Center in San Jose. The SaberCats also later learned that the Western Division Champions had wrapped up the number three playoff spot. The star of the evening was WR/DB Jerry Reese as he scored seven touchdowns en route to his game MVP performance.
Reese set the tone for what was to come as he picked off Todd Hammel`s first pass of the game and returned it for a 14-yard touchdown. Reese would show that while playing defense is nice, offense is his game, as he would finish the evening with a San Jose club record for receiving touchdowns. Reese has played limited football this year as the carousel of receivers has been in motion for San Jose.
With the game close at the end of the first quarter at 17-7, Reese began his record setting night by catching three touchdowns in the second, giving the SaberCats a 37-14 halftime lead. Two more Reese TD`s in the third quarter put the game away for good at 64-21. The fourth quarter was basically played under the mercy rule as the SaberCats ran the ball, but not before Reese got his 6th on a pitch and pass play from Wagner.
Also setting records was Mr. Ironman himself, WR/DB Barry Wagner, who threw and ran for a score as well as returning a PAT attempt as he passed the 2,000-career mark for points. Wagner`s 2-point play came on an intercepted conversion attempt in the fourth quarter from Houston QB John Fitzgerald.
Putting the XFL in the back of their minds, as if it was just a bad nightmare, QB Mark Grieb and WR/DB James Hundon have contributed in the second half of the SaberCat season. Both had stellar performances as Grieb passed for 294 yards with eight touchdowns in his three quarters of work while Hundon caught eight balls for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Grieb finished first once again in the league passer rating with a 133.9 rating.
For the Houston Thunderbears, the team had more unsportsmanlike conduct penalties than they did touchdowns as even the Houston head coach got one of his own. Two players from the Houston team were thrown out of the game along with one of the SaberCats. It was another typical penalty-filled game for San Jose with 12, reaching double digits for the 9th time of the season.
The one notable weakness the SaberCats have are penalties, and this could be the difference between an early playoff exit or the Arena Bowl. The team finished second in penalties against with 143, only two behind the New York Dragons. The other weakness is injuries, as the SaberCats have had players in and out of the lineup all season.
The SaberCats will be off this week, earning a first round bye, and will play at home on Saturday, August 4th at noon. I`m not sure why the league doesn`t realize this, but noon on the West Coast is terrible scheduling. If that isn`t bad enough, we will also be without the services of Jill Arrington as ESPN2 will be covering the game.
The SaberCat juggernaught offense is back and in form. Lets hope the bye week doesn`t cool the jets off.
Dave Harwood was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2001 to 2003.
