Fire in the Zone as they Prepare for Florida
Kevin Sedelmeier
Thursday August 18, 2005
But when the Louisville Fire heads there for Saturday’s American Conference Championship game against the Florida Firecats, they’ll have something else on their minds besides sun-soaked mirth. The two teams last met May 21 with Florida claiming a 47-43 victory in Freedom Hall in a game that wasn’t determined until the Fire ran an unsuccessful play with no time left on the clock thanks to a defensive penalty. Although three months may not seem that that long of a period of time, for a football team, it can seem as long and as exhausting as the run of Roseanne on ABC.
"It’s the playoffs, and it’s a different game. Different atmosphere," says Fire QB and af2 offensive MVP candidate Matt Sauk. "But definitely you have to look at it (the earlier loss to Florida) as motivation to know that we were close, and we know that we can play with them. We’ve really improved since we played them."
Both Sauk and head coach Tommy Johnson believe this is a completely different Fire team from May. "We’ve grown up," says Johnson. "You look at (Rob) Mager and Cesare (Manning). Those guys have grown up tremendously. They’re better route runners. They’re smarter players. They’re catching balls. We dropped nine balls in that first game." Wednesday night at practice only two balls fell to the ground during the numerous offensive drills.
With valuable wide receiver Dennis Fryzel out of the game with an elbow injury, it’s up to the other receivers to step up the way Lawrence Matthews did against Manchester last week. "You would not believe the improvement," Johnson said with delight, commenting on Matthews’ maturation as a route runner and receiver.
The Firecats will also be without a key player. Fullback and league rushing leader Steve Gorrie is out. (Gorrie holds the Firecat franchise mark for rushing, breaking current Fire fullback/linebacker Johnny Frost’s previous high.) Does that change the Fire’s defensive scheme? "We know Florida does a good job of running the football. They’ve done it for years," says Johnson. However, without their top back they will be trying to run into a very solid and large Fire defensive line. Between Derrick Shepard, Demetrius Forney, Paul White, and Aaron Tippins, the Fire has size, strength, and speed.
The Fire seem confident but not cocky in the least. "Things are just going our way," says Sauk. "I think you can get in the zone as a quarterback. I have to throw it, but I also need guys to block and guys to catch it. So, it’s kind of a matter of everyone being in the zone and being comfortable, and the last seven games we’ve all been in a kind of comfort zone and hopefully we can take that into Florida."
And if the Fire can stay in their zone, they, too, can create some very special memories of Fort Myers as they leave there with a conference title.
Kevin Sedelmeier is a native Louisvillian. A graduate of the University of Louisville with a B.A. in Communication and M.A. in English, he works as a technical writer and has written fifteen screenplays and numerous short
stories. He lives with his wife Elizabeth, son Lukas, and their dog Springsteen.