The Defense Never Rests in Toronto
Jim Parcels
Monday June 24, 2002
Once again the Phantoms defense sealed the deal in Friday night’s 47-34 “upset” of the Orlando Predators in Florida. Canada’s entry into the Arena Football League evened their season record at 5—5 with four games left.
With the offense struggling for over a month, the Phantoms defense once again made a statement in stepping up on Friday night.
“It was a really big win for us,” said Phantoms defensive coordinator Rick Frazier. “We shut them down when we had to and our line played well against one of the league’s best pass rushes.”
Leading 33-27 with just over four minutes to play, the Predators had the ball inside their own five-yard line when Toronto WR/LB Ty Law recovered QB Jay Gruden’s fumble.
Law laid on the ball for a second and then realized that no Predator bothered to touch him. The former Rice Owl then got up and ran the short jaunt into the end-zone to give Toronto a 40-27 lead.
"The first thing I thought about was to dive onto the ball," Law said. "Then, once I picked it up, I noticed that nobody came after me and touched me. So I just go up and ran it in."
Law, a former Predator, was one of three Phantoms with Florida connections to make an impact on the game. WR/LB Kerry Brown of nearby Boynton Beach scored two fourth-quarter TD’s, one on a big six-yard interception return late in the game that sealed the victory.
At QB for the Phantoms was veteran Pat O’Hara, another former Predator, who took the helm of the Toronto offense for the first time since June 23. The former USC Trojan has the reigns of the Phantoms offense for what appears to be the remainder of the season after incumbent Chad Salisbury went down with an arm injury aganist Buffalo last week.
O’Hara was less than impressive but didn’t cost his team the game in completing just 15 of 31 passes for a “safe” 204 yards.
“Going in, I knew that I was going to be pressured the entire game because these guys have the best pass rush in the league,” said O’Hara. “So my plan was to the throw the ball away whenever I got in trouble. That’s why I threw the ball in the stands and everywhere else to avoid us losing the field position game."
The biggest difference for the Phantoms was not throwing an interception. The Phantoms have given up 16 picks this year, only two more than the woeful Detroit Fury (1-9).
This Thursday the much-improved Los Angeles Avengers (6-4) come to Toronto for the first time as they take on the Phantoms at the ACC. Game time is 7:00 pm.
Tales from the Crypt:
Former Argo QB Rickey Foggie was signed by the Phantoms last week to take up the roster spot of injured Chad Salisbury. Foggie, who was released in May by the struggling Detroit Fury, once led the New Jersey Red Dogs to a 92-point outing back in 1997… The Phantoms defense has allowed the opposition less than 40-points six times this season. Technically the defense has allowed less than 40 points in eight games this season as Indiana and Buffalo scored points off turnovers several times in wins over Toronto… DS Anthony Derricks continues to heal a dislocated finger, missing his second straight game. WR/DB Charlie Davidson and WR/DB Kahlil Carter continue to fill the void successfully although both look uncomfortable with the DS role… OL/DL Steve Konopka appears to be done for the season with a knee injury. However newly signed Craig Moore has been solid in his first two games since signing as a free agent… Coinciding with Konopka’s injury, former Phantoms OL/DL Jeff Cummins – who led the Toronto defense down the stretch last year – was signed by the Arizona Rattlers. It makes you wonder why he wasn’t re-signed in a time of need by the club?… K Matt George had two big tackles in Orlando – one that may have saved a touchdown in the third quarter.
Jim Parcels was a writer for ArenaFan Online during the 2002 season.
