Knights Romp Over War Dogs
Keith Murphy
Sunday July 6, 2003
Macon Head Coach, Kevin Porter, said he was proud of his team’s effort, “They played hard. It’s tough to play when you’ve got a big lead and you’re trying to stay motivated to play. For the most part I thought they played very hard. I thought we executed well. We did a good job of taking care of the football and we did a good job with our possessions and that’s what it is all about. Our defense played “big play” ball tonight and when you get that out of your defense you’re going to give your offense more opportunities. We did a good job tonight. The biggest thing we did today was that we got the possession advantage and we made them play catch up.”
“Obviously we had players who didn’t get on the bus in Columbus wanting to come here and play and it showed tonight,” said an obviously frustrated Wardog head coach John Fourcade. “Even with three games left in the season, I’ll make some changes. I don’t care, we’re 3 and 10, and I’ll make some changes to let these guys know if you want to mope and pout, bitch and complain; go do it somewhere else.”
Fourcade was quick to take his hat off to the Knights, “Let’s give credit to Macon. They came out and did a fantastic job. They saw what are weaknesses were and they hit them. We can’t do things on offense to not help our defense. What I mean by that is that we can’t turn the ball over at the ten or the five or fumble in the end zone. Those are the kinds of things that leave our defense with their backs against the wall. But, then again, our defense has to step up and make a stop here and there to get us the football.”
One bright spot for the War Dogs was the play of Sherard Poteete who, despite spending much of the game fleeing the Macon defense, was 16 of 34 for 124 yards. “He’s a tough ballplayer and the thing about him is that he wants to keep fighting and stay in there.” Fourcade said. “But, I wasn’t going to let him get the hell beat out of him at the end so we pulled him out.”
Knights’ Line Coach Webbie Burnett says that tonight’s defensive performance raised the spectre of last season’s team, “Yeah, it was sort of scary. That was the defense I remember from last year. But, we have to play with some pride, at least. Not to take anything away form Columbus, they’re still a good team but there are teams out there we need to beat and those are the better teams that are still out there.”
FB/LB Mario Evans, who picked up a pair of sacks and a rushing touchdown on the evening, was named the Ironman of the game and he credits his performance to a new team attitude, “My performance is based upon my teammates. We went out there with a goal in mind: to have fun. We hadn’t had fun in a couple of weeks and here, with a home crowd, making a push to get into the second season and that’s what we did. We went out there and had fun.” The other game superlatives went to Denario Smalls whose 2 interceptions and a 50 yard kickoff return netted him Defesive player of the game. The MVP award went to Jacques Rumph who had 6 receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
For the sixth time in three seasons, the War Dogs failed to beat Macon and WR/LB Anthony Snead thinks he knows the secret behind the Knights’ mastery: “We scrimmaged them before the season and I guess that helps you out. And then there were some fights in the scrimmage. Folks got into it a little bit so the sparks were there. Then I guess we felt like we had to play harder and pay them back a bit.”
Knights’ QB Jermaine Alfred was 14 of 17 on the evening for 150 yards and three scores; he also rushed for two additional touchdowns. “We needed this lift,” Alfred said, “to swing intensity for the next three games to try to keep going uphill for the playoffs.”
Kevin Porter is optimistic about his team’s chances as they continue their push for a playoff spot. “Everybody has a role and I think that’s the biggest thing that’s going for us right now is coming down the stretch, everybody is really starting to understand and embrace what their role is on the team. When you’ve got a bunch of guys who can go out and play unselfishly and accept their role then you’re going to have a pretty good football team. I think we’ve got a pretty good team.”
Macon takes their 8-5 record on the road next weekend as they travel to Norfolk. Columbus has a home game next week as they host the Birmingham Steeldogs.
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
