Macon takes on Jacksonville and Spiderman this weekend
Keith Murphy
Thursday May 2, 2002
Macon Knights’ coach Kevin Porter characterized Jacksonville’s early season performance with a Dickensian metaphor: “It’s been a tale of two teams.” Porter has to be wondering which team will arrive, the Tomcats squad which managed only 14 points while losing to a Columbus team which had never won a game in their history or the Tomcat squad which dropped previously unbeaten Charleston 46-34? “I saw the Columbus game first hand. The quarterback didn’t play well. Their defense played well enough to win. However last week against Charleston, [QB] Rashard Casey took most of the snaps and played very well. They’re obviously getting better.”
Porter’s Knights are improving as well. New quarterback John Rayborn will have had nearly a week and a half to get acquainted with the Macon offense and Porter says he can already see improvement. “Up until now, he’s [Raybor] had good practices. He’s getting more comfortable with his receivers and teammates and that’s a plus.” After only two days of practice, Rayborn completed 21 of 37 passed for 228 yards and three TDs and he rushed for two other scores against Tennessee Valley.
The Knights have also seen the best and worst of times over their first four games and, as Porter points out, lack of consistency has been the Knights’ biggest enemy. Coming into the game against Tennessee Valley, the Knights’ defense had played very well, but in the loss to the Vipers, “The defense allowed four or five big plays of 25 yards of more and the kicking game missed two extra points and two field goals.” Porter says that the Knights need to play well in all three of the game’s major aspects, “We’ve played well in spots but haven’t in others. We haven’t been able to put it all together, offense, defense, and kicking. We usually get two, which is enough to win . . . but we only got one against Tennessee Valley. We hope to play well in all three phases of the game.” Porter pointed to the 5 – 0 Richmond Speed and the 3 – 0 Vipers as examples of teams that consistently play well in all aspects of the game.
Porter says that he has a special relationship with Jacksonville coach Earnest Wilson, “He’s a very good friend of mine. We’re two of the original coaches in the league. You know how sometimes you just meet someone and know you’re going to be good friends? That’s how it was with us.” That friendship has developed into a friendly rivalry. “So far, he’s gotten the better of me. I’m 1 and 2 against him. I know he’ll have his guys ready. But, it’s always fun to play against your friends.”
One of the pivotal lines in this weekend’s Spiderman film is “With great power comes great responsibility.” Porter reminded Knight fans that they have a great responsibility as well. “Right now I don’t know if we have a home field advantage. It’s been a struggle. We’ve got a good team. Until last week we’ve played well at home. It’s disappointing that the crowds aren’t there. The community has a responsibility to support local entertainment outlets. If they don’t they’ll leave. Mrs. [Beverly] Olson loves Macon but doesn’t have the team here to lose money. We need the community to get behind this team.”
Kickoff is set for 7:30pm Saturday at the Macon Coliseum.
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
