SaberCats Defense ‘All In’ to Take on Division Rivals the Spokane Shock
Leanne Cozart
Friday May 31, 2013
The San Jose SaberCats (7-2) will be traveling to Spokane to face their West Division rivals the Shock (7-3) this Saturday. This SaberCats team has been revamped since their last time battling against the Shock in week four where they concluded with a disappointing 69-47 loss. With playoff implications in mind, the SaberCats are hoping to continue their five game winning streak by riding their momentum through the Shock and avenging their earlier season loss. With eight games left to play in the season, the Shock sits one game behind the ‘Cats who are currently placed second in the West Division standings.
The key matchup in this game will be between the SaberCats dominant defense and the Shock’s consistent offense led by quarterback Erik Meyer, who leads the AFL with 2,926 passing yards and 70 touchdowns. The SaberCats has the second most sacks in the league with 22 and is the fifth-ranked scoring defense. The ‘Cats defense has held opposing offenses to under 40 points in the past five consecutive games and will be looking to do that once more against a potent Shock offense that averages 66.2 points per game. It will be a challenge for the ‘Cats defense to uphold this streak as the Shock’s offense has only been held to under 60 points one time all year.
“We definitely take a lot of pride in that, having built up that reputation. We’ve assembled a group of guys who are the best at what they do in each position and we expect nothing less than that,” said linebacker Francis Maka.
When watching film on the Shock, it’s easy to see that Meyer and wide receiver Adron Tennell have a very developed chemistry, as Tennell leads the league in both, receiving yards at 1,221 and touchdowns with 35. Going up against a Spokane team that has the second ranked-scoring offense will be a test for the ‘Cats, but for a defense that has allowed only an average of 241 yards passing per game, they’re expected to hold their ground well and especially against the team that ignited their five game winning streak .
Future hall of famer and SaberCats defensive back Clevan Thomas reflects on what he recalls to be the turning point for the ‘Cats defense, “When we were 2-2, I remember (defensive lineman) Jason Stewart stood up in the meeting room with just the defense and said, ‘you know what, I have to be accountable from this day forward. I’m Jason Stewart and I’m all in.’ From that, all of the other guys on defense stood up and one by one stated our name and said ‘you know what I’m all in.’ So from that day forward we never looked back and we don’t think about who we’re playing or how many points, we think about going out there and everybody being accountable.”
The Pillars of a Strong Defense
Thomas currently leads the league with eight interceptions and is accompanied by Shock defensive back Paul Stephens who also has eight. Thomas credits his ball hawking abilities to what he learns about his opponents in film study. “We’re all creatures of habit and everybody has tendencies that they do,” said Thomas. “So I just watch the tendency of the quarterback, the down and distance, you know what hash mark the ball is on, and teams don’t change too much.”
Maka echoes Thomas’s emphasis on the importance of film study, “It starts out with film. Early in the week we see what we need to work on, the vulnerabilities of the guy that we’re going against and I try to work on those things against whoever I’m facing during practice. Then being linebacker, I have to delegate a lot of responsibilities to everybody up front and even in the backfield. So I have to do a lot of film study just to see formations and what to expect.”
Another integral part of preparing for a game is taking care of your body in the weight room. The SaberCats defense hits the weights hard because they know it translates to the field. “In the weight room we do a lot of position specific exercise,” said Maka. “For me, it’s all about explosion and extension.”
For the secondary where agility and speed are essential, Thomas describes how they focus mostly on, “quickness and change of direction.” Thomas says he personally focuses more so on squats, “You have to have pretty strong legs to go up against some of these 230-pound receivers who are running 4.3’s and 4.4’s.”
With the combination of solid film study and great workouts, the SaberCats roster is primed to take the field for practices. The preparation and professionalism each man brings to practice is why the ‘Cats defense has performed at such a high level week to week.
Apart from all the other elements, the main reason this defense really works is because of the cohesion they have as the front four and defensive backfield work as a unit. “We’ve got to get a great push in helping our backfield out with covering and the same goes for them. If they don’t cover well we don’t get enough time to get pressure, so it’s interrelated,” said Maka.
Leadership is something that this defense has an ample amount of as Maka describes each player takes it upon themselves to get the job done. “Being that everybody is so good at what they do, everyone takes it on themselves to be a leader in some way. Myself, I just like to let my actions speak and everyone will follow in suit and everyone has their own role. Clevan especially, he’s been here, he’s a vet, he knows the system and he knows how to get everybody motivated.”
With all cylinders running well on both sides of the ball, the ‘Cats are entering week 11 poised and ready to avenge their week four loss to the Shock in a hostile atmosphere. “Our mind is right because we truly as a team felt that we left something out there when they came here and took something from us,” said Thomas.
Player Q & A: Which Superhero would make the best AFL player?
Francis Maka: “The hulk. You can’t stop him.”
Clevan Thomas: “Spider man because he can jump off the wall, he can go up and get it and he can send a web to go get the ball.”
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.