Huey Whitaker is the SaberCats Week One Impact Player in Victory against the Talons
Leanne Cozart
Sunday March 24, 2013
Huey Whitaker was a jack of all trades in the 47-42 victory against the San Antonio Talons Saturday night in the Alamo Dome. The SaberCats held the lead until the third quarter when the battle intensified and the lead began to exchange frequently. It came down to strategic ball and clock management in this fast paced Arena style ball game.
Two head coaches with two different strategic approaches is essentially what the game came down to. The San Jose SaberCats secured a lead with less than a minute left on the clock and trusted their defense to fend off the Talons offense while the clock expired. The Talons decided to take the other route and attempted to run out the clock with hopes of scoring with little time left in the game which didn’t pan out for them as the SaberCats defense shut them down with 13 seconds remaining.
The SaberCats had a lot of momentum shifting plays throughout the game, a lot of them caused by top playmaker Huey Whitaker. This Iron Man spent time as a receiver, jack linebacker, on special teams and a defensive back when the team needed him to step in. Scoring on both sides of the ball, Huey finished up the night with four receiving touchdowns and an interception return for a touchdown as well as a forced fumble, several tackles and a pass broken up at a crucial time in the game.
Another notable impact player was veteran defensive back Clevan Thomas who shook up the Talons offensive game plan. Thomas’s effective coverage and ball hawk skills contributed to an overall great defensive effort for the SaberCats.
The SaberCats picked up their third consecutive season opening win in the Alamodome. Next week the SaberCats will be hosting their season opener at the HP Pavilion on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. PT.
Quotes of the Night
“For us to get a win with three turnovers is a great accomplishment. I’ll definitely get better,” said Aaron Garcia on the televised CSN broadcast postgame interview.
“Defense is fun. I put a guy on the wall when I was playing corner and that was pretty fun,” said Huey Whitaker on the televised CSN broadcast postgame interview.
Statistical Highlights
Quarterback Aaron Garcia reached his 1200th touchdown pass adding to his league record.
Receiver Jamarko Simmons posted his 100th career catch.
Leanne is a freelance sports journalist residing in the San Francisco Bay Area as she finishes up her Mass Communication, Media Production B.A. at Cal State University, East Bay. This will be her second season as a correspondent covering the San Jose SaberCats.
