Fusion Lose First Home Game of the Season
Randy Snow
Sunday April 29, 2007
The Fort Wayne Fusion ran up against a very physical Albany Conquest team last night and lost their first home game of the season 35-21 in front of 4,434 fans at the Memorial Coliseum.
Fusion head coach Eddie Brown said he knew what kind of game to expect from Albany.
“I knew they were going to be physical,” said Brown after the game, “but I thought we could match their intensity and be more physical than they were. We didn’t do it. They beat us up on both sides of the ball. If you don’t protect your quarterback, then you’re not going to win the game.”
After trailing 21-14 at halftime, Fort Wayne was shut out in the third quarter. Their only score of the second half came with 1:12 remaining in the game.
Fusion QB Cody Hodges was under pressure all night from an intense pass rush by the Conquest defense. He was knocked down several times and sacked twice in the first three quarters. Hodges completed 19 of 30 passes for 131 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. The physical play of the Conquest defense took a toll on Hodges and he was replaced in the fourth quarter by recently signed backup QB Joe Micco. Micco completed only two of eight passes for 39 yards and one touchdown.
Coach Eddie Brown didn’t think the change at quarterback was the reason that several passes were dropped during the fourth quarter.
“I just think that was a lack of concentration by the receivers,” Brown said. “There’s no excuse for that. I don’t think the quarterback had anything to do with that. I just think it was a lack of focus and they just dropped passes.”
Fusion WR Tyrone Walker had six receptions for 87 yards and two touchdowns while team mate Jermaine Jackson had eight catches for 44 yards and one touchdown. .
A scary moment occurred in the first quarter when Fusion DB Nathan Williams dove to try and knock down a pass intended for Albany WR Antwun Williams. He missed and the completed pass resulted in a 22-yard touchdown for the Conquest that tied the game at 7-7. As a result of the missed pass breakup attempt, Williams ended up hitting the wall head first and remained on the turf for several minutes while being attended to by the medical staff. He was eventually taken off the field on a stretcher.
Fusion General Manager Mike McCaffrey said after the game that the injury to Williams, and the fact that he was taken off the field on a stretcher, was not as bad as it looked. “It was more precautionary than anything else,” he said. “He’s going to be fine. He had some slight, early tingling in his fingers so they just didn’t want to take any chances. The early prognosis from the doctors is that he’ll be fine.”
With the loss, the Fusion record drops to 2-3 on the season while the Conquest improved to 2-2.
Albany Connections
Fusion head coach Eddie Brown and team GM Mike McCaffrey both have a connection with the city of Albany. Brown played for the AFL Albany Firebirds from 1994-2000 and McCaffrey grew up there. He also worked for the af2 Conquest prior to taking the GM job with the Fusion.
McCaffrey said he didn’t really think much about facing his former team during the week leading up to the game. To him, it was just another game and team he had to get ready to face. But it really hit him when he was down on the field with the Albany coaches prior to the game.
“That’s when it really hit me. I was with (Conquest head coach) Pete Costanza for three plus years (back in Albany). We were on the field, but we weren’t on the same team any more. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t in the back of my mind all week. I wanted to win this one a little more than any of the other games so far. Albany is a good football team. Pete is going to score points no matter what. Unfortunately, they got after our quarterback tonight and didn’t give us much of a shot. We go to Albany (on June 2) and that game is going to be a little more emotional for me because I’ll be going back home.”
Arena/af2 Double Header
Not only did I attend an Arena game Saturday night, but I also got to watch another game on TV as well. Upon returning home after the af2 Fusion game, I was able to sit down, relax and watch the AFL Grand Rapids Rampage game live on Fox Sports Detroit. The Rampage were out west taking on the Los Angeles Avengers. The game started at 10:30 PM EST and I got home just in time to see Rampage WR Timon Marshal return a kickoff for a touchdown at the end of the first half, giving Grand Rapids a 42-24 halftime lead! Unfortunately, Los Angeles outscored Grand Rapids 51-29 in the second half and beat the Rampage 75-71. The game ended around 1:30 AM.
Happy Birthday
My fellow ArenaFan correspondent, Alex Painter, celebrated his 20th birthday by covering his third Fusion game of the season in the press box Saturday night. Happy Birthday, Alex.
Next Game
The Fusion travel to Ohio to take on another expansion team, the Cincinnati Jungle Kats, on Saturday night, May 5. Kickoff is set for 7 PM.
The next home game for Fort Wayne is on Friday, May 11 when the Louisville Fire comes to town. Kickoff for that game will be at 7:30.