SaberChampions!
Adam Markowitz
Sunday July 29, 2007
The offense for the SaberCats scored touchdowns on eight of their nine possessions with the only blunder coming at the end of the first half when FB Brian Johnson, who was slotted into the lineup at the last second in place of Matt Kinsinger, fumbled at the 2-yard line. But it was the San Jose defense, which was embarrassed in the first week of the playoffs by giving up 67 points to the Colorado Crush which stole the thunder on this day.
Destroyers QB Matt Nagy was efficient in the first quarter, completing 6 of his first 8 passes for 60 yards. At that point, Columbus was on par with San Jose, only trailing 14-7. From then, Nagy only completed 18 of his 35 passes for 143 yards and threw two costly interceptions that were impossible to overcome.
San Jose’s pass rush was relentless all day, batting down several passes, disrupting the passing lanes, and sacking Nagy twice. DL Ron Jones, who was born in Perkinston, MS, had a tremendous homecoming game in victory, sacking Nagy at the end of the 2nd quarter, which helped to force the Destroyers into attempting a long field goal attempt before the half.
Kudos have to go out to defensive coordinator, Kevin Guy, who devised a perfect scheme for disrupting a Destroyers offense which had scored 66 points against both Georgia and Dallas in their two previous playoff outings. In several instances, Nagy tried throwing bubble screens that were sniffed out by the SaberCats press defense, one of which resulted in DB Clevan Thomas’ interception in the first half, his 3rd of the 2007 postseason. ArenaBowl XVI Ironman of the Game, Omarr Smith recorded his 2nd career ArenaBowl interception and was awarded with ADT Defensive Player of the Game honors.
Trestin George, a rookie in the AFL, played a huge role in the first half success of the SaberCats, recording a 56 yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the 2nd quarter to put the Cats up 20-14, a lead San Jose would never relinquish. It was the third longest return in ArenaBowl history. Whereas the Destroyers caught their breaks against the Dallas Desperados, recovering two kickoffs off of the cruel posts, the SaberCats dealt with some potentially disastrous situations well on kick returns.
SaberCats Head Coach Darren Arbet immediately spoke highly of his assistants in his postgame press conference. “I have some great coaches like Kevin Guy and Jeff Jarnigan [who] did a great job with the defense.” He continued, “Jeff Jarnigan was also my special teams coordinator… He got a big return today for a touchdown and covered those kicks really well.”
Phil Glover, who recorded three tackles and a rushing touchdown, was awarded Ironman of the Game honors.
For the SaberCats, this was their third title in six seasons. Though by normal football standards, San Jose would now be considered a dynasty, the humble SaberCats wanted very little to do with the term. “I leave that to other people. I’ve said it already, but this is the time I enjoy the accomplishment with this group,” said Grieb.
Coach Arbet added, “You know what they say. We’re just going to continue to play. We have great ownership. They give us everything we need to be successful and if they’ll have us back, we’re going to try and go at it again next year.”
Unfortunately, this ArenaBowl may be marred by the fact that the SaberCats were disrespected for going through a rather weak schedule to roll to their championship. DB Marquis Floyd, who registered seven tackles and two pass breakups on the day said, “My team and I thought we weren’t respected throughout the whole year or respected through the playoffs. I hope this accomplishment at this championship end any doubt.”
Facing 6th seeded Colorado, then the Chicago Rush with a hobbled quarterback, and a 7-9 Columbus team may not be the most difficult route to the Foster Trophy ever, but one can’t forget that the Cats finished the season on a 13-game winning streak. Their last loss was way back on April 13th (ironically, also Friday the 13th) in this same arena at the hands of the New Orleans VooDoo. Looking at this 13-game winning streak though, San Jose outscored their opponents by an average of 19.7 points per game. They only allowed two of the 13 opponents to reach 50 points, and only scored under 50 points in one of those games.
Regardless of whether the San Jose SaberCats have or have not earned respect, there is one thing for certain. The Foster Trophy is headed back to San Jose for the third time in six years, and the SaberCats can once again be considered SaberChampions.
Adam Markowitz is an accountant living in Orlando. Adam is an old school AFLer, having followed the AFL since 1991. He attended or covered well over 200 games, including 17 ArenaBowls. Adam worked for the Arena Football League for two years as a columnist and historian before retiring in 2017 when the 50-yard indoor war left the Sunshine State. Adam still muses about the AFL on ArenaFan from time to time, and you can follow him on Twitter @adammarkowitzea.
