Fire Don’t Know When to Hold ‘Em, When to Fold ‘Em
Kevin Sedelmeier
Monday June 21, 2004
When Demetrius Forney scored his third touchdown of the game, the Fire pulled within 51-50 after the alternating possessions of the first overtime. Then, perhaps fearing the sudden death situation that was impending, Head Coach Tommy Johnson decided to go for the two-point conversion for the win. Offensive Coordinator Chris MacKeown called a play that worked earlier in the game for a Forney TD reception. Fake handoff to the motion receiver and then a dump off to the fullback. This time, however, the play didn’t develop as it did before, and QB Matt Sauk had nowhere to throw the ball except low, ultimately too low for Forney. Game over.
Frankly, the Fire were fortunate to be in a position to even play in overtime. They were, however, unfortunate to be forced to make such a tough decision. Confused yet? Let’s explain. As time expired in regulation, Fire kicker Marc Samuel was perfect on a 39-yard field goal attempt. It was one of the Samuel’s biggest kicks with the Fire, and he has had a few. As one fan chimed, “He’s Marc-O-Matic!” Indeed, Samuel should be kicking in the AFL, and it’s no wonder he’s near the top of the AF2 scoring list for kickers.
The unfortunate part of the equation happened when Peoria lost the overtime coin toss and had to receive first. Quarterback Talmadge Hill threw a bomb to Lawrence Matthews that Matthews made a nice catch of … but he did so over the wall as he knocked down some fan in a yellow polo shirt who thought he was bringing home a souvenir. Matthews plopped back over the sideboard and onto the field and kept running into the end zone. The officials called it a touchdown. This, perhaps, was the worst call ever made in organized sports of any type. It made the Dave Casper kicked forward fumble into the end zone for the Oakland Raiders look plausible and hardly deliberate. It makes the no calls when Quad City roughed up Sauk a couple weeks ago seem like an honest oversight. It was unbelievable in the same way it’s unbelievable a spaceship can go to the moon, the Internet can work so quickly, or that Roseanne could air for nine seasons.
OK the point is understood. It was a horrific call. But lesser calls and generous forth down spots had gone against Peoria much of the night. Those, of course, led to a constant brigade of argument and questing by Peoria coach Bruce Cowdrey. If you were sure Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski whined and complained about calls more than any coach ever, Cowdrey has him beat. Nearly ever call had him summoning the official over for a lengthy explanation. Compared to Fire Coach Tommy Johnson’s cool demeanor, Cowdrey came across as a bit of a blustery jackanapes. (I’ve wanted to use that word in a story or article for years.)
Still, blown calls aside, the Fire were up 35-23 with just over nine minutes to go in the game. They gave up two long touchdowns and threw an interception. “We have to play consistently,” said lineman Sam Maverick. “When you have a chance to put a team down by a couple of touchdowns in the first quarter and let it sneak away, then that’s our fault.” So, the loss was a team effort. But this team isn’t willing to let back-to-back losses to a heated rival derail their season just yet.
“It hurts, but we’ve just got to come back and prepare better and get at it again.” Forney said, “and play Fire football.” Forney, is one of those consitent contributors week in and out on both sides of the ball. Lineman Derrick Shepard agrees. “We need to keep on practicing hard and get healthy,” he said. “We’ve got to start having confidence now and come out with that swagger that we had at the beginning of the season.”
While the Fire players either had little to say or nothing particularly positive about the officiating, they had good things to say about Peoria. “They’re a tough team. They execute,” says Shepard. “As the game got going, we got weaker, and they got stronger.” That has been an atypical scenario for the Fire, who have had great second halves and good finishes all season. Offensive specialist James Scott, who returned from the IR and came up big with 14 catches for 133 yards, said, “Peoria’s not a bad team. They’re a great team. They played hard and they just outplayed us today.”
During the game, the Fire went for a couple 4th and longs that were suspicious calls, especially when you have a kicker like Samuel, but they connected one of two. But the two-point call at the end, left many scratching their heads. In fact, after Forney’s touchdown and before they lined up for the failed conversion attempt, Coach Johnson didn’t look either happy about or confident with the decision to go for two. His countenance suggested some indecision. If he was worried that Peoria, who would get the ball next and only need to first score to win, was going to score since they did so easily in the second half, then his call is more understandable. Still, a Samuel PAT is money in the bank, and in arena football you never known when a fumble of a netted kickoff will give you the ball back. It almost happened at the beginning of overtime.
Still, hindsight is perfect, and we can speculate ad naeseum. A bigger question might be is this second loss in a row a bump in the road, or does the law of averages catch up with this team? You win some close games, you lose some close games. Sam Maverick thinks the Fire will respond. “We have the leadership here and the experience to play this game the way it needs to be played,” he said. He’s right. During the first half of the year, this team found a way to win the close games. Now they’ve lost two by five points.
Well one thing is for sure, one line from Rogers’ The Gambler doesn’t apply to this team. “Know when to walk away/ know when to run.” This team won’t run; they will right their wrongs and get back on track . Unlike past Fire teams, this one is not accustomed to losing, and odds are it won’t sit too well with them.
Smoke Signals
Late in the game James Scott made a leaping, diving grab of a Sauk bomb that took the Fire to the Peoria two-yard line. It was a Cris Carter-esque grab. Scott, however, was humble about the impressive feat of athleticism and concentration. “Anything in the air in my area, I try to go get it,” he said. He did just that.
Why doesn’t Takuya have his name on his jersey? He certainly deserves it. Come on Fire, “Furutani” is not the longest name ever sewn on a nameplate.
Demitrius Forney’s 29 TD run in the second quarter was the longest ever by a Fire running back.. The big guy broke free and showed some good speed normally not as readily apparent on his tough goal line carries.
Halftime entertainment was provided by The Great Pretenders from Vinnie’s at O’ Malleys, a downtown night spot. The duo came out in turquoise sixties-looking suits and huge wigs. (The wigs looked like the Afro donned by former major league Oscar Gamble.) They lip-synched to a medley of oldies, including an inspired faux vocal to My Girl. They changed clothes and came back as Run-DMC and Aerosmith for Walk This Way, specifically, Run and Joe Perry, I guess. Now, these guys have great courage and abandon to perform like this. However, I’m guessing they are more amusing when you are inebriated in a bar on a Saturday night than sitting sober in the upper deck of an arena. It was like the 1988 St.X lip-synch mixer all over again, but this time I didn’t share prize money for Spandau Ballet’s True.
The Fire had another great promotion, giving out football card team sets to the first 1,500 fans. As a fan of card collecting, I was all for this promotion. If these can spur young fans to collect cards the way I did in the 70s and 80s, it will be the start of a worthwhile hobby that will give them lasting memories like snickering at the name of Cleveland Indian pitcher Dick Tidrow from the 1974 Topps set.
Tony Stallings missed the first of two games for more commitments to the Animal Planet. He is set to return to the Fire for the Columbus game.. Not sure if this trip suggests that he was a winner or finalist in the competition. King of the Jungle 2 begins July 20. You can watch his audition video at the Animal Planet’s website. It’s well done, and it’s no wonder they picked him.
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.