Perseverance, And a Little Luck, Earn Storm a First Round Bye
Joe Kauffman
Wednesday July 25, 2001
But not all was lost as the Storm could still earn a first round bye with a victory over the New Jersey Gladiators and a little help from either Houston or Detroit. But those games came later in the weekend, and the Storm had to take care of business first.
And take care of business they did, but not in the dominating fashion of the early weeks of the season. Once again, the game came down to the wire, but the Storm pulled out a victory in the final seconds, beating the Gladiators 44-41 in front of a fired-up crowd of 19,867. The sell-out crowd, a first for the Storm since relocating across the bay after the 1996 season, was witness to some exciting plays, including the game-winning touchdown with only nine seconds left on the clock.
The Storm began the drive with a first-and-ten at their own five-yard line with 1:38 left in the fourth quarter and worked their way up the field with completions of 13-yards to Gunnard Twyner and 11-yards to Gregory Spann, followed by a pair of runs by Andre Bowden for nine and four yards, giving the Storm a first-and-goal at the New Jersey eight yard line with less than 20 seconds remaining.
Following an incomplete pass, Storm QB Shane Stafford took the snap from center on second down. But an offensive lineman stepped on his foot, and he fell to the ground.
“I saw him on the ground and I said, ‘Oh, no!’ Storm OS James Bowden recalled. “I had set my man up perfectly and he bit. I thought, ‘It can’t end like this.’”
Fortunately for the Storm, it didn’t. After hitting the turf, Stafford rolled to his side, narrowly missing the outstretched arm of a Gladiators lineman and got back to his feet. He spotted Bowden in the end zone and fired a bullet to him for the go-ahead score.
“I dropped back, my foot got stepped on and I lost my shoe and I went down,” said Stafford. “I was lucky though. The line held their blocks. They didn’t quit on the play. JB didn’t quit and I was able to get up. That’s a tribute to the protection. We were lucky enough to get away with it. You can’t quit until the play is over. [The officials] could have blown the whistle if I had just laid there and something bad could have happened. We stayed positive and we made a play out of it.”
“Luckily we didn’t get called for a sack there,” remarked injured Storm quarterback John Kaleo. “Shane did a great job stepping up and JB was wide open. Shane tripped over his own lineman; he got up and just threw it. He had great awareness on that play.”
As exciting as the play was, the fact that Kaleo made the call from the sidelines could be considered even more exciting. Kaleo took over the roll of offensive coordinator with 11:29 remaining in the game when Tim Marcum, the Storm’s head coach, was ejected from the game following a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. The Storm was trailing 32-29 at the time.
“We knew why he got tossed out”, said Kaleo. “He was arguing with the head linesman. He was saying it very aggressively toward the official. No cussing. The official just got tired of him.”
“I got a penalty because they ran their fullback in the flat,” said Marcum after the game. “They called the linebacker out of the box. When the fullback goes into the flat the linebacker can cover. They missed it. That was the first one [penalty]. The second one was not related at all. There was no profanity. It was totally unprovoked. Totally uncalled for.”
With Marcum no longer present on the Storm sideline, his players knew that they had to rally.
“It was time to play,” said Bowden. “That’s what assistant coaches are for. Kaleo is like an assistant coach too. And he knows Coach and they study film. They’re in there every day breaking down film. That’s his job, to come in there and take over Coach’s spot.”
Kaleo, who appears to have earned his coaching stripes while still a player, agreed with Bowden’s assessment. “Coach [Marcum] and I usually call the plays together when I play. I got in the groove and kept it simple for Shane. We were beating their defensive backs all night long and our linemen were protecting Shane. We had some miscues, but I thought in the fourth quarter that we fought like hell with a lot of adversity and we came back. This is a good win for us.”
And a good win it was. Following Bowden’s touchdown completion, Stafford hit Gregory Spann for a two-point conversion, giving the Storm a three-point lead. After the ensuing kickoff, Gladiators kicker Steve Videtich missed a 47-yard field goal as time expired.
Following the win, the Storm had to wait another 24-hours to learn their playoff fate. With a home game already in hand, the question was whether or not they could get a much-needed week off to heal their wounds. Houston couldn’t get it done against San Jose that night, but the next evening, Detroit upset the Indiana Firebirds, and the Storm earned the number four seed in the playoffs and the all-important first-round bye.
Sold Out Crowd
Attendance for the game was tallied at 19,867. Due to expansion of the Ice Palace’s XO Club, approximately 1,000 seats have reduced capacity of the Ice Palace. As part of the day’s festivities, the ticket included not only the game between the Storm and the Gladiators, but also the Someone Cares pre-game concert. The attendance figure of 19,867 was the largest crowd to witness an Arena Football game since ArenaBowl IX when the Storm earned their third championship by defeating the Orlando Predators 48-35 in front of 25,087 fans.
Getting the Hook
Storm coach Tim Marcum was ejected early in the fourth quarter after arguing with an official. It was the first time that Marcum had been ejected in 177 games as a head coach in the Arena Football League.
“I’ve never been thrown out of a game,” said Marcum. “It was totally uncalled for. There was no profanity involved. I simply asked him to watch for holding at the point of attack. A simple thing. That is all that was said. There was no reason at all to throw a head coach out of a game.”
End of the Line For Edwards
Storm WR/LB Bernard Edwards is done for the season after injuring his knee trying to assist on a tackle. “One of the receivers for New Jersey caught the ball and he got tackled and sideswiped my knee and it gave on me,” said Edwards, who had earned the team’s Ironman of the Year award earlier in the week.
“It’s kind of like a mercy award because I started off pretty good and then for a few ball games I haven’t been playing well. It’s disappointing to me. I’m glad we won. I hope we can go into the playoffs and just run the table.”
Most likely, Sir Mawn Wilson will be activated from Injured Reserve to assume Edwards’ roster spot.
I’ll Be Back
By virtue of the first round bye the Storm should be able to reacquire the services of John Kaleo as the team’s starting quarterback. Kaleo, who led the Storm to an 8-3 record, separated the shoulder on his throwing arm on a scramble to avoid a sack late in the third quarter against the Houston ThunderBears in week thirteen. Backup quarterback Shane Stafford led the team to a 2-1 record, including a victory in relief following Kaleo’s injury.
Up Next
With a week off, the Storm do not have another game until a second round matchup Sunday, August 5, at 1:30 pm. The Storm’s opponent won’t be known until after the completion of the first round games, but if the seeds hold, the Storm will face Indiana in the Ice palace.
Joe Kauffman is President and Editor in Chief of Arenafan Online, having joined the staff in 2000. He graduated from Florida State University in 1998 with a degree in communications andbuilds ecommerce sites for a day job. Joe has enjoyed Arena Football since 1991 and has been a member of the Arena Football Internet community since 1995. Prior to Joining Arenafan, he was a co-founder and Technical Editor of the Storm Shelter, which covered the Tampa Bay Storm from 1996-99. Joe and his wife Erika live in Hackettstown, New Jersey with their two daughters.