Fire Enjoy Record Night as Knights Record Drops
Kevin Sedelmeier
Monday April 19, 2004
When the Fire opened their first offensive series with a 39-yard Matt Sauk to James Scott pass, it was a harbinger of good things to come, and the first quarter ended with a 17-7 fire lead. No one was more active in the first quarter than Tony Stallings, the Fire’s WR/DB who is arguably the league’s most exciting player. He was on both ends of the night’s biggest hits. Despite being decleated on a kick off return, he jumped right back up and showed no signs of being worse for the wear. Just moments before, while flying down field on kick off coverage, he laid a crushing hit on a Knight blocker that could be heard in the upper deck of Freedom Hall. Oh, he also had a 32-yard kick off return, sprung Demetrius Forney with a great block on a screen pass that went for a touchdown, made a diving pass deflection, and had a run and a reception. The former University of Louisville star likes the arena game. “It challenges me,” he said. “It gives me a chance to show I’m versatile.”
Second quarter scoring once again came from Sauk. His 34-yarder to Ryan Russell looked to be overthrown, but Russell resembled Darrell Green circa 1989 as he chased it down. Scott also made a nifty catch on a 42-yarder TD. Sauk’s pass was on the money, but solid coverage made it a tough completion, and Scott kept great concentration on the play. At halftime, Scott was already over 100 receiving yards.
Before the half ended with the Fire up 31-28, a couple of wacky calls and no-calls by the officials were met with cries from a disgruntled crowd. A mysterious unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Fire moved the Knights’ ball half the distance to the goal and later a no call on a blatant facemask against the Fire wasn’t called. Even Fire coach Tommy Johnson looked a little miffed, but as usual he remained composed unlike one fan that yelled, “Don’t go to sleep tonight, ref!” As the second half started, however, the officials took a back seat to the offensive juggernaut manned by Sauk.
The game was hardly decided before the onslaught began. The Fire only led 51-42 to begin the fourth quarter. “Those guys are a tough team,” said Fire kicker Marc Samuel about the Knights, who played in last year’s Arena Cup “This game was a lot closer than the score let on,” he said after setting a team record with nine PATs. The Fire then went on a 27-0 run in the final 11:25. Not bad for a team that battled shaky fourth quarters last season. In that fourth quarter, Stallings had two impressive TD grabs, Russell added another touchdown, Dennis Fryzel added two more, and Anthony Payton, a former Fire MVP now back with the team after a season in Cincinnati, caught a 24-yarder to end the Fire scoring mercifully for Macon.
When it was over, besides Samuel’s PAT record, the Fire set marks for highest average gain per play (10.7 yards), average yards per completion (19.1), and TDs thrown in a game (Sauk with 9). They also finished with their second highest point total in team history.
Besides the offensive records, the defense also represented itself nicely. For the second week in a row, Justin Thomas had a big game, hauling in two interceptions and recording seven tackles. Corey Wallace and Dennis Fryzel also had takeaways of their own, an interception and fumble recovery, respectively. This defense plays hard and not cheap. Defensive lineman Derrick Shepard, a strong force in the middle, attributes part of the unit’s success to team chemistry. “Everybody’s getting along and everybody’s starting to believe in each other,” he said. The addition to Shepard and line mates Nick Myers and Jason Ferguson, are a few examples of the new talent and attitude Fire staff have brought in this season. Both sides of the ball are improved.
“They’re doing a great job,” said Fire owner and former NFL star Will Wolford about Head Coach Tommy Johnson, Offensive coordinator Chris MacKeown, line coach Adam Shackelford, and the entire staff. He applauds the coaches for “recruiting the better talent and the guys with heart.”
He’s right. It’s too bad that more than 7,107 didn’t come out Friday night. The University of Louisville red-white spring scrimmage probably took a chunk of the Fire’s attendance, but U of L’s Stefan Lefors wasn’t the only quarterback who put on an impressive show that night. Matt Sauk’s 310 yards passing and nine scores wasn’t too shabby, either. “Once you start winning people will come out and the papers will start noticing you,” Sauk said.
He’s right and if the Fire continue to play on the road the way they have at home to open the season, they should be gaining a higher profile around town and in the league. From the fan’s perspective, who doesn’t appreciate hard work, good attitudes, and hustle? That’s what this team is about so far this season. “When it comes to professional football,” says Wolford, “being a true professional is playing with class and character and heart and guts.”
That description is appropriate to this year’s team. The 2-0 start doesn’t appear to be an aberration, either. Instead, it looks like it’s a sign of good things to come.
Smoke Signals
Macon’s Miacah Cooper is perhaps the loudest player in the league. Now that’s not necessarily good or bad, really. But he could easily be heard far from the Knights’ bench. His vocal strength was impressive even to opposing fans.
Knights’ kicker Wes Virgilio is a three-year veteran, but he may be the youngest looking player in the league. I was surprised to see him on the bench without a Civics or Geometry book. Just because he has a youthful appearance, however, doesn’t mean he’s not tough. He stopped Tony Stallings on a kick off return and saved a touchdown. He may be the only kicker in the league this year who will be able to do this. Similarly tough on Macon was receiver Hosea Laney, who was a hard-nosed competitor and the unfortunate recipient of a hard Fire face mask penalty in the second half.
Often cited as the Number One Fire Fan, Andy Martin, the guy who yells “Kicker Boy” at opposing team’s special teams aces, was a no show for the game. Apparently, he was not allowed to bring his Fire flag inside Freedom Hall despite the fact he did so last week and for the last couple seasons. As part of a group that once tried unsuccessfully to get a New England Patriots flag and poll in the bleachers at Wrigley Field (hard to explain but we thought such nonsense might get us on Sportscenter), I understand the rule for crowd safety. What I don’t get is why it went into effect during the season as opposed to before. Hopefully he will return sans flag to taunt visiting teams.
Perhaps Orkin would like to be the official pest control provider of the Louisville Fire. Apparently there’s work to be done in Freedom Hall, where a huge but dead roach was laying on the men’s restroom floor.
Beloved Toys ‘R Us mascot Geoffrey appeared to trip a youngster who was partaking in a game during a timeout in the action. When the foot race between a handful of youth was ending at the goal line, the lovable giraffe seemed to playfully nudge a boy sprinting to the finish, only to send him tumbling to the artificial surface. Thankfully the boy was alright, and Geoffrey apparently has been cleared of wrongdoing.
For the second game in a row, the Fire only dressed one quarterback. That must be code for “Offensive line, you better protect Matt Sauk.”
Also for the second game in a row, Tailgaters, a fine restaurant and sports bar near Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, offered x amount of wings for a dollar. That x would be determined by how many points the Fire scored. Yep, 78 wings for a dollar. While I don’t know how crowded they were, it was speculated one of two things had to happen: 1. beers would now cost $15.99 each to offset the unexpected costs or 2. this would be the last time Tailgaters would run such a promotion.
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.