Look in the Mirror! Boo!
Keith Murphy
Wednesday July 31, 2002
Macon Knights head coach, Kevin Porter, expects this match-up to be like the preceding four: tough, hard-fought, and close. Porter expects his troops to be ready heading into this game, “We had a lackluster effort a couple of weeks ago and I think it really refocused us. Last week’s win refocused us in practice and the guys got back to basics and I think that is the attitude they approached it with this week. Hopefully, we’ll carry that attitude from practice into the game.”
Knights’ offensive coordinator Tres Sullivan agrees that the Knights will be ready to play Saturday, “They understand that if you lose one game, you go home. That’s a lot of motivation itself.” Sullivan says that practices, so far, have reflected the urgency of the situation, “Their focus, their mindset . . . there seemed to be a noticeable difference. I think there was a greater sense of urgency. We just seemed to have a new focus.”
Not much separates the Knights and Stallions. They have identical records and two of the best quarterbacks in the league in Glen Gauntt and John Rayborn. Both offenses rank in the top five. Both have strong receiving corps and both will be throwing into tough secondaries. This game should be so close that, according to Porter, it will come down to the fundamentals. “I think it will be a game of execution. Which team executes the best in every phase of the game and the team that makes the fewest amount of mistakes will probably win the game.”
Augusta’s head coach, Mike Hold, says that the pressure will be on his defensive unit this week. “We’ve got to slow them down. Every film I see they score about every possession, so we’ve just got to figure out a way to stop them. . . . We’ve got a new DS since we last played them who’s a better cover guy. That will help. Watching the films we just seemed like we kept sitting back and sitting back. Giving them a lot of underneath stuff. We got them in third down situations quite a bit and then we would play off and they would dink it for the first down and then hit us for a touch. We’ve just got to be more aggressive defensively, by far. ”
Porter has nothing but respect for his cross state rival, Mike Hold. “They’ve won thirteen games. They’ve won those thirteen games by doing what they do which is playing solid football, not turning the ball over, and rallying around their quarterback. We pretty much know what they’re going to do now it’s just a function of going out there and playing hard. They know what we’re going to do. It’s just one of those games with two teams who are very familiar with each other. It’s going to come down to execution.”
The battle to watch will be in the trenches, according to Sullivan, as the team that can dominate the line will control the game. “On both sides of the ball if we do the things we do best and we obviously have to put some pressure on Glenn [Gauntt]. If we dominate up front then its going to help our secondary out and, in turn, it’s going to put some pressure on Gauntt; forcing him to make better throws and reads. I think that’s the key is to put pressure on him and not let him sit back there and throw the ball and pick us apart.”
Hold says that while the Stallions’ offense isn’t intended to feature any one player, “we’re just asking everybody to do their job.” Everyone includes Augusta quarterback Glen Gauntt who has thrown for 82 touchdowns this season. “I’m asking Glen to be smart. He’s played really well all season long and there are quite a few throws that, I guarantee you he’d take back, that shouldn’t have been made. We just want him to play as perfect a game as possible. To take what they give us and not try to force balls in and not throw interceptions.”
Sullivan argues that, in arena football, playing a team multiple times has less effect than in the outdoor game, “This is unique, being arena football, when you play somebody more than twice it doesn’t have the same effect just because there are only so many things you can do in the indoor game. I think we have a familiarity with each other but I don’t think we’ll do anything different and I don’t think they’ll do anything different than they’ve done in the past. I think that’s where it’s a little bit different as compared to the outdoor game. I think both teams will continue to do what they’ve been successful with.”
Winning, according to Sullivan, is a matter of consistency. “Our biggest thing is that we need to be consistent. When we are consistent with what we do with the football we tend to be successful and that has been our track record throughout the year. I think if we continue to do what we do best and go into the game with that approach we’ll be okay. But they’re good up front and they’ve got a talented secondary. They’ve got LaVar Rainey who has eleven interceptions and he’s had seven or eight straight at one point. But we’ll approach it like we have the last couple of weeks and that’s to go out and be consistent with the football and hopefully we’ll be able to move the ball down the field.”
LaVar Rainey should be a familiar name to both Macon and Augusta fans as he played a starring role in the Georgia Southern Eagles’ defense as they won back-to-back NCAA 1-AA national titles in 1999 and 2000. For the Stallions, Rainey has played a key role in their defensive strength, but Hold says that Rainey is still just learning, “He’s done a great job but he’s still learning the game. His potential is still untapped in this league. He’s played one year of arena football and it takes a while to learn the angles of this game, he’ll continue to get better and better. He’s one of the guys who is going to have to play one of his better games this week.”
Hold says that being on the road makes his team’s task more daunting. “Home field is such a big advantage in arena football. Sure, we’d have liked to have played it here, but we can’t. Obviously they have an advantage playing in front of their home crowd. I’m sure they’re going to get people in the building for this one. Yes it’s an advantage, but it’s not impossible to win on the road. If you can take the crowd out of it they won’t affect you at all. If the crowd gets crazy, it can be a deterrent.”
Porter hopes that the Macon fans will choose to play a significant role in the game. “I hope that we get six thousand people in our building and for that to be the ninth man and for that ninth man to pull us through. That’s what we need. But, we’ll play hard whether sixty or six thousand people show up.”
Kickoff is set for Saturday at 7:30 pm at the Macon Coliseum. The winner of this game will host the winner of the Florida v. Tallahassee match up next weekend (August 10).
Dr. Murphy has nearly 20 years of media experience ranging from radio to the Internet. He has served as webmaster for two AF2 teams and the football team at Fort Valley State University. He is a professor at FVSU and directs www.bunniwerks.org, a non-profit rabbit rescue organization. He has been commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel. Murphy is also serving as a first party editor of af2 stories for ArenaFfan. For more information about Dr. Murphy see: www.keithmurphy.info
