SaberCats Prepared to Shut Off Power in Pittsburgh
Leanne Cozart
Friday July 12, 2013
The 11-4 San Jose SaberCats are coming off of a playoff-clinching victory against the 8-7 San Antonio Talons in Week 16 with a final score of 62-35. The win was largely due to a stellar defensive performance where the ‘Cats held the Talons to 13 points throughout the first three quarters of the game. With three interceptions and three turnovers on downs, the SaberCats defense capitalized on every opportunity which made all the difference when it came down to securing the victory.
Impact player Clevan Thomas earned Week 16 Defensive Player of the Game, Cutters Catch of the Game, and AFL Highlight of the Game honors following last week’s big game where he took two interceptions to the house. The intensity this defensive unit plays with shows that it is comfortable playing fast, physical and they know how to consistently finish plays.
With this high level defensive performance week to week added to all cylinders on the offense running well along with special teams consistently making big plays, this San Jose team will continue to stride through the regular season. It’s just a matter of fine tuning every element of the game and staying healthy for the post season.
This week the SaberCats will be going on the road to take on the 3-12 Pittsburgh Power. In Week 12 these two teams met in the ‘Cats Lair where the game was tied with less than a minute to play and the SaberCats pulled away with two quick touchdowns to seal a victory.
Week 16 Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Game and J. Lewis Small Playmaker of the Game, Fred Williams, knows from their last matchup that this Power team is going to play aggressive for four quarters.
“We don’t take any teams for granted. We’re going to go play like it’s a playoff game, we’re just going to continue to execute and play SaberCat football,” said Williams.
Head Coach Darren Arbet shares his thoughts on facing the Power this week, “We’ve got some great film for us to watch and we’ve got a great challenge in front of us. Our guys understand that. It’s a game on the road, a long way. We got to go there ready to play.”
Despite the SaberCats building a lot of momentum following the big win in Week 14 against the reigning Arena Bowl Champions, the Power isn’t a team to sleep on in their quest to make it to August 17th.
This week as well as the concluding two regular season games will be an extremely crucial time for getting every phase of the game ready for post-season action. This team has one goal in mind and that’s being Arena Bowl Champion, but it knows that in order to make it there, it comes down to taking it one game at a time.
“We need to get better as a football team, we’ve got a lot of new guys here this year. I think we only brought four guys back from last year so, we’re going to use all 18 games to get to know each other and get better every week,” said Arbet.
After moving up two spots in the AFL Power Rankings this past week, the SaberCats will look to continue riding their momentum. In this week's matchup the ‘Cats and Power are both starting different quarterbacks than when they last played each other which will make for an interesting game.
A Glimpse Ahead
While getting a playoff clinch was big for the team, it’s really all about going all the way. It’s time to bring that championship game to the front of every player's mind this time of year to get their focus zeroed in on what they need to do to accomplish the mission.
“We have one of our goals accomplished. We’re not done yet, we’re not settling. Our main focus is continue to win and get to August 17th, the Arena Bowl,” said Williams.
“It means a lot because it solidifies all the hard work we put in. That’s part of obtaining our goal and that’s attaining our goal which is the ArenaBowl , so that’s one step. Now we got to come out and just keep competing and sticking to the process,” said Thomas.