Inside the numbers: Pioneers vs. Brigade
Michael Balakier
Friday May 10, 2002
The winless Pioneers have lost their last five games, most recently a 44-26 defeat by the Roanoke Steam. The Pioneers are hoping to register their first victory of the season against the 2-3 Brigade. Rochester is coming off a 28-46 loss to the New Haven Ninjas. All of the Brigade’s games thus far have been against divisional opponents while the Pioneers have played only one divisional game, which was a loss to Albany.
Positional matchups
Quarterback
The skinny: Pioneers quarterback Tyler Tomich is coming off a decent performance against the Roanoke Steam. Despite fumbling the ball once and throwing two interceptions, Tomich went 14-24 for 147 yards and 2TDs. In addition to being pressured by the Steam defense, the Pioneers’ offense was limited to only 15 second half plays. Rochester quarterback Matt D’Orazio is coming off a respectable performance against the Ninjas. D’Orazio went 18-40 for 227 yards while throwing 3TDs and 2INTs.
Hidden stat: Both quarterbacks have almost identical stats in QB rating and pass percentage. Tomich’s QB rating is 78.57 and his pass percentage is 53.2. D’Orazio’s QB rating is 80.67 while his pass percentage is 53.9.
Advantage: Both quarterbacks are practically identical. D’Orazio has more completions and touchdowns solely because Rochester has scored more points than the Pioneers. Though both quarterbacks will likely have impressive games, in the end it comes down to who catches the ball, and Tomich just has more targets to throw to than the Brigade.
Fullback
The skinny: The Pioneers turned to LaMonte Coleman early in their game against Roanoke last week, but two early fumbles helped Coleman find his spot on the bench for much of the remainder of the game. Aman Abye led Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with one rush for 8 yards while Elly Salamo scored once on the ground for the Pioneers. Against the Ninjas, Rochester’s ground performance was practically non-existent. The Brigade rushed the ball a total of four times for a net gain of zero yards. However, Aaron Fix did add a score on the ground for the Brigade.
Hidden stat: Rochester is limiting their opponents to an average of 11.6 yards per game rushing, which ranks fourth in the af2, yet the Brigade defense has given up 9 rushing touchdowns.
Advantage: It is extremely doubtful that the Pioneers’ LaMonte ‘Coco’ Coleman will have a repeat of last week’s performance against the Brigade. Although the Brigade have not given up many yards on the ground this year, the Pioneers have been itchy to get their rushing game into full swing. Coleman’s early struggles last week against the Steam set a dire tone for the remainder of that game, and this week, ‘Coco’ will be out for some revenge.
Wide receivers
The skinny: Ky O’Day was the top dog for the Pioneers last week against the Steam. However, O’Day, who pulled in five receptions for 40 yards, was cut earlier this week by head coach Terry Karg for his lack of being consistent. The Pioneers’ Matt Jackson and Terrell Johnson pulled in the only two touchdown catches of the night against the Steam last week Rochester has relied almost single handily on Martino Theus. Theus has caught 49 passes for 612 yards and 9TDs. He is averaging over 12 yards a catch and over 122 yards a game.
Hidden stat: Rochester’s Martino Theus has caught over half of the Brigade’s passes and has 9 of their 15 touchdown receptions.
Advantage: The Brigade may have the one of the best receivers in the af2 on their roster, but if the Pioneers pass defense, which has been doing pretty well so far this season, can contain Theus then it may be a long night for D’Orazio who just may have to start searching for other targets to throw the ball to. Tomich, on the other hand, has numerous targets at his disposal.
Kick returns
The skinny: One of the brighter sides of the Pioneers dismal defeat to the Steam was that their special teams finally began to click. The Pioneers’ Terrence Tillman provided some excitement in an otherwise lackluster performance last week by returning a 56-yard kickoff for a touchdown. However, Tillman was cut earlier this week for being inconsistent, just as WR Ky O’Day was cut. The Pioneers will likely turn to Aman Abye or Opio Gary to field the returns. Rochester has relied on Aaron Fix to handle returns this year for the Brigade. Fix has returned 12 kickoffs for 263 yards and is averaging just under 22 yards a return.
Hidden stat: Last week against the Ninjas, the Brigade did not allow a single return. Of the five kickoffs that Brigade kicker Todd Freelove kicked, four resulted in New Haven receiving the ball at their own 20-yard line while the fifth kickoff resulted in a touchback.
Advantage: Last week the Pioneers special teams showed a spurt of life. If given the chance to return the ball this week and if the Pioneers can keep their turnovers to a minimum, then that spurt can flourish into something even bigger.
Kickers
The skinny: Pioneers kicker Jimmie Kibble is beginning to adjust to the arena game. He said that he is beginning to become more comfortable and confident on his kickoffs and field goal attempts. On the year, Kibble is 3-12 and ranks 10 in the league in field goals. The Brigade recently cut kicker Todd Freelove, who was 2-10 on the year.
Hidden stat: Rochester is 8-24 on PATs.
Advantage: Rochester and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton have one thing in common: they both have unfriendly arenas for kickers. Kibble is starting to get into the groove of things, but will most likely struggle in Rochester, as most visiting kickers do. We’ll call this one a bust.
Some additional info: The Pioneers rank dead last in turnover margin with a –2.60…The Brigade rank last in the league in red zone defense, allowing the opposing team to score on each of the 20 times the opponent has entered the red zone…The Pioneers rank 32 in the league in scoring offense, averaging 28.6 points a game…Rochester ranks 33 in penalties, averaging 81.8 penalty yards a game.
What to expect
The Pioneers main struggle this season has been lacking four consistent quarters of play. Last week against the Steam, they came out playing the first half, but lack everything imaginable in the second half. Now that they’re 0-5 and have all divisional games remaining on their schedule, this should be the week that the Pioneers start to turn their ever so sinking season around. In order to do so, however, the Pioneers must come out and play all four quarters and keep the turnover to a minimum. The Pioneers have a turnover margin of minus 13 and average minus 2.6 turnovers a game. If the Pioneers can limit their turnovers and come out and play four solid quarters of football, then it may turn into a long night for the Brigade.
Prediction: Pioneers start their road trip on the right foot and register the team’s first ever and long awaited victory over divisional foe Rochester, 44-32.
Michael Balakier first discovered a knack for writing during his senior year in high school while reporting for his school`s newspaper. Aside from being an Arenaball fan, Michael is an avid Syracuse University athletics follower, which poses a problem for him, as he attends the University of Pittsburgh. Michael plans on using what he has learned through his Arenafan experience to remain as impartial as he can during future Syracuse/Pitt events. Michael also serves as co-Editor of the af2 section of Arenafan Online.
