Peoria Ready For Rematch With Stealth
Steve Robinson
Friday May 3, 2002
Following his team’s 45-36 downfall to the Bossier City Battle Wings last Saturday, the list of players needing mending during the 17-hour bus ride home from Louisiana seemed lengthy enough.
That game’s casualties: Lead quarterback Walter Church had wind knocked out of him. Backup quarterback Ronnie Gordon was also struggling physically by game’s end. Fullback Robert Meyer injured his right knee having been tackled. Former Central Catholic High and Illinois State kicker Todd Kurz separated a shoulder while adding to his tackle quotient following a kickoff. Wide receiver Jermaine Sheffield twisted his ankle.
“Everybody’s fine now,” Cowdrey pronounced Tuesday. “Nobody’s going to sit out.”
That’s good news since the 2-2 Pirates have a rematch with the 1-3 Wichita Stealth Friday at 7p.m. at Carver Arena. The Stealth’s first victory came at home last week, as they outpaced the expansion Hawaiian Islanders, 31-27.
Peoria only had 82 yards of offense against Bossier City. Cowdrey knows why and hopes his team will correct that in time for Friday’s game. “We dropped too many passes,” he explained. “We made too many mistakes.
“We were awfully flat last week,” the second-season af2 coach said. “We need to play with some consistency. Our wide receivers were dropping way too many passes.”
How many is too many? “Five to six (per man),” Cowdrey said. “In this league, that’s too many.”
Corralling Wichita: On April 4, the Pirates and Stealth worked around a scheduled appearance by opera notable Luciano Pavarotti to play their first game in Wichita’s Kansas Coliseum – a game Peoria won, 30-21.
With the Pirates’ promotion for Friday being “Country And Western Night,” Peoria hopes to corral Wichita a second time. To do so, Peoria defenders will have to either bat down or pick off passes from Stealth quarterback Matt Hicks. Against Hawaii last week, Hicks completed 30 of 45 passes for 279 yards.
Stealth wide receiver/defensive back Cory McCoy and his teammate, defensive specialist Will Sullivan, will be the biggest headaches for Peoria passers Church and Gordon. Last week against Hawaii, McCoy had 50 yards in receptions and an interception. Sullivan had two key defensive plays and one interception.
“You don’t take anybody for granted in this league,” Cowdrey said. “We have our work cut out for us.”
Steve Robinson, a freelance writer since 1984, has written about the Peoria Pirates since the Pirates were members of Indoor Football League, beginning in 1999. He covers the Pirates currently for the Bloomington IL Pantagraph.
