`Dogs Looking to End Losing Streak vs. Macon
Keith Murphy
Thursday July 3, 2003
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that these ‘Dogs are just another “dog” on the schedule. They boast the third best defense in the league and, with the addition of Sherard Poteete at quarterback this is a dangerous ‘Dog. As Macon Offensive Coordinator Tres Sullivan explains, “They’re pretty dangerous. They should have won last week (a one point loss to Rochester). They went down to the wire against Tennessee Valley three or four weeks ago. They’ve got a pretty good team. They’re going to be pretty dangerous. We’re certainly not going to take them lightly. They are not going to sneak up on us.”
The Knights, meanwhile, have another reason to play hard Saturday. They find themselves clinging to the sixth and final playoff spot in the American Conference. Such
a dangerous position will keep player eyes on the scoreboard as well as on the field. “It’s real important,” Said Sullivan. We hold our destiny in our hands. Obviously, the more games we win the better chance we have to get into the playoffs. This is huge. We’ve got to get some confidence back. Try to find that swagger that we had last year and the best way to do that is to win. So this is a huge game for us.”
Sullivan says that, with a few minor exceptions, this Columbus team should look familiar to the Macon faithful. “They pretty much have the same team they had the first time we played them. Same guys in the secondary. They do have a new defensive specialist, a guy who played for me at UTEP so I know a little about him. But this is basically the same team we played first time around. Sherard Poteete has done a good job for them. He’s helped them put some points on the board and solidified their offense. Columbus and Macon have a little bit of a rivalry so it will be a tough game for us.”
As the Knights begin their playoff run, Sullivan says that the team has made some changes to their practice sessions. “We’ve cut our practices back a bit. We don’t practice quite as long. We don’t need to as its become more mental practices than physical practices. So they’ve been shorter, sharper, crisper. They’ve been good.”
Last week, the Knights lost to the Florida Firecats 50-48 in a battle for playoff positioning. Sullivan says that the loss was simply caused by the inability to get defensive stop. “That’s a typical arena football game. We happened to catch Florida, who as of today have been stopped [on offense] twice in the past three games. They think they’re pretty good and that’s hard to overcome when you come across a team that has a lot of confidence. It was just a typical arena game. They stopped us one time and we didn’t stop them. Unfortunately, that was the outcome of the ballgame. But, we will get our stops. We’ll find our way to get one or two stops because at this point I think that’s all we need. Offensively we’re looking pretty good. Stops are all we need and we’ll find ‘em”
Kickoff is set for 7:30pm at the Macon Coliseum. Weather permitting, Camelot tailgating activities will get underway at 4:30.
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
