Riptide Hosts Intra-Squad Scrimmage for Fans
Keith Antigiovanni
Thursday April 4, 2002
"I liked what I saw out there today. The guys came in real pumped and played great," Riptide Head Coach Cree Morris said. People were allowed free parking and admission at the arena to watch an hour of practice before the 2-hour scrimmage. The Riptide were divided into two groups, the "blue" team quarterbacked by former Rochester Brigader Kane Claunch and the "black" team led by Wesley Phillips of UTEP. Both quarterbacks along with kicker Brad Bohn wore red jerseys to prevent injury. Bohn kicked for both teams.
The blue team won 32-13 as Claunch passed for five touchdowns and was named MVP. Phillips threw for a touchdown and showed good speed when he rolled out and threw a perfect pass to an open man. Both quarterbacks played well though, Phillips had to contend with a fierce pass rush up the middle from nose tackle Trevor Misipeka who forced at least three incompletions. "I thought we did a good job up front. Our pass blocking was good, we`ve got to work on our run blocking though. Fortunately the league is mostly passing." Was Misipeka`s pressure because of his talent or poor blocking," A little of both, he (Misipeka) has outstanding foot-work and a non-stop motor," Line coach Tim White said. Lineman Ryan Cuthbert also played impressively catching the game`s first touchdown from Claunch, recording a sack and made a touchdown saving tackle on a kickoff return.
Though both teams combined for only 11 yards on the ground, the line played well near the goal-line when fullback Brian Berg rumbled 3 yards on a sweep for the "black" team to score. The line blew the defense off the ball as Berg went in untouched.
Kicker Brad Bohn performed well for both sides. His kickoffs were consistently high and deep. Although he made only 3 of 7 PAT`s, the stat is deceiving because of the long-snapper`s poor snaps going high or on the ground. Bohn also showed courage when he covered up a blocked extra point to save a return.
Another impressive performance was by Riptide Managing Operator Gil Saidy who worked as the Public Address Announcer in the first and third periods. His work gave the fans a WWF-type feeling for the scrimmage.
"I try to stay even-keel about things but I was very impressed with what I saw at the scrimmage. These guys are working very hard and it shows," Morris added.
The curtain goes up Saturday night at the sports arena as the Riptide open its first season against Western Division rival and fellow expansion team Bakersfield Blitz.
Keith Antigiovanni is a free-lance writer in San Diego, California. He has worked for several local newspapers covering sports, government and business. Keith started writing in 1995 after graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Mass Media Communications from the University of San Diego. Aside from working as a sportswriter he has a side business of providing marketing assistance/research for small businesses and also directs,produces and hosts a regular public access television show on Time-Warner Cable named "San Diego Yesterday". Antigiovanni is also a member of the San Diego Sportswriter Association.
