The Southern Gentleman and the Gunslinger Break Records and Prepare For Playoffs
Kevin Sedelmeier
Wednesday August 3, 2005
The Fire also won its 11th game, a franchise record. In his second full season as head coach, Tommy Johnson has taken a team that was 2-14 in 2002 and in big trouble early in 2003 and has guided them to the playoffs in consecutive seasons.
"I can’t take all the credit for that. Believe me," said Johnson. "Coach (Chris) MacKeown and Coach (Adam) Shackleford – when I got both of those guys, I literally got a steal. I got two assistant coaches that should be head coaches in this league. Those guys are huge factors in why we’re doing as well as we are."
Johnson, whose father was on hand celebrating a birthday with his entire family, is a humble and respectful man, a great coach to play for, and a true Southern Gentleman. He also knows the type of player he wants on his team. "One of the things I told them (assistant coaches) when they got here with me was no matters what happens, we’re going to have some character on this team. I think they’ve done an outstanding job in helping me bring in players who could do that." Perhaps it is no coincidence that the 2004 and 2005 teams have been the franchise’s most successful.
Players agree the Fire under Johnson is a different team. Dennis Fryzel, who finished the year with a career-high 105 receptions, said "We had some key players that are no longer with the team because of that reason (character issues)," he said. "They were better athletes than some of the guys we have, but they didn’t fit in with the team" Fryzel, a real glue for the Fire, believes there’s real camaraderie on this team. "Everybody likes each other, and everybody trusts each other on the field. You‘ve got nobody doing their own thing. It works out a lot better. Everybody has confidence in everybody else being there, so nobody has to do somebody else’s job," said Fryzel.
As for Sauk, the Gunslinger from Utah State, he had another MVP-type game. He ended the season with Playstation sort of stats: 408-603, 4489 yards, and 99 touchdowns. In addition, he completed almost 68% of his passes, and he was only intercepted 16 times. Last year, Sauk had 76 scores and 22 interceptions, still very respectable numbers. But this season, he has shown greater discipline and seems to see the field better, looking at secondary receivers more often. He’s a fiery competitor who still occasionally tries to thread a pass when there’s little daylight, but few were intercepted this year, and his competitive spirit is a real plus for this team.
Sauk is all about wins, but the individual record, which he once held before coming to Louisville, is still nice to own. "It feels good to get it back. It’s always something when you set it, you think it might last a little bit, and I think it lased two seasons."
After breaking the record with 93, Sauk didn’t keep the football like most players do after achieving a milestone. Instead, he got it from the official, and threw it up in the upper deck. "I just thought that a fan up there should get it because they really don’t get a chance to get footballs that much," said Sauk, in one of the nicest gestures you’ll see on the football field.
Like Johnson who offers much of the credit for his success to others, Sauk refuses to take all the glory himself. "The receivers are making the plays. I’m getting the time from the line, which is awesome, and they’ve done a great job all year," he said. "And when you do that, receivers get open like they have been plays happen, and we’ve been doing it all year."
Late in the game, the Fire scored their final touchdown on a Demitrius Forney run. One more touchdown pass would have put Sauk at an even 100, but as soon as Forney burst into the end zone, Sauk was one of the first players there to greet him. "Demitrius was like can I get the ball; can I get the ball? It’s the sad part that he’s kind of unheralded all year. It feels good for him," Sauk said. "When he’s in there at fullback, we definitely want to run the ball" even if a 100th touchdown is on the line. There’s a great example of the character that Johnson talks about.
It was another game that saw many other players step it up as well. Paul White added to his steady, unassuming play with a miraculous interception. He snagged it off the back of Steamwheelers’ Tim Dodge and rambled 17 yards to near midfield. "It was a screen, and I jumped out there, and the ball, one of our DBs, Robert Green, hit it up, and I saw it and just grabbed it out of the air and just ran and I felt like a running back," White said with a smile. "I felt like The Refrigerator." Truth be told, White looked pretty fast. Even at a buffet line, William Perry never moved that quickly.
The defense continued its strong play. Derrick Sheppard had a big sack with just three minutes left in the game, and Nate Green’s interception sealed it with under a minute to go. Andrew Tippins continued his relentless play and Kabote Siykala seems to be everywhere on the field. Tippins, who coaches at St. Cloud State and is there working on his Masters, may have to put his coaching career and Education degree on hold, because he may be playing himself into an AFL, CFL, or NFL camp soon.
The special teams were also impressive. Cesare Manning returned two kicks to midfield, picking his way through tiny cracks in the defense, and Danny Kight was 10 for 10 in PAT attempts.
So the Fire played well in every facet of the game. The fact that Albany lost to Manchester on Friday night and clinched the East Division championship could have meant that the Fire would not be as up emotionally for the game. After all, they were already in the playoffs and because of scheduling conflict, Freedom Hall would not be available for a playoff game. "It’s about five minutes where you’re like ‘Ah man,’ but then you get over it, and you’ve got to play your game," said OS Rob Mager, commenting on the team’s reaction to the Manchester win. "No matter what happened, we said all week we were going to come out here to play to win, and that’s what we did." Coach Tommy Johnson said it was really simple. "The most important thing for us was to try and go into the playoffs on a high." Mager, who finished the season with 125 catches for 1439 hard fought yards and 39 touchdowns is right; momentum is powerful.
The Fire prepared only one way in the week of practice leading up to the game – all out, knowing that can’t control what other teams do, but they can determine their own destiny. "We took the initiative to step it up in practice. We go hard against each other every play," said Paul White. "We’re just relentless, and once we get here, it’s just like smooth sailing. We’re just worried about keep winning; we’re five straight, and we’re just going to the bus moving and try to take it all the way."
The bus ride to Macon will be both spirited and composed. It’s a team full of players who seem to really like each other and have fun together, but they also know how to stay focused on the business ahead of them. "We feel like we’re at our strongest right now. I think it’s that feeling that we’re rolling at the right time. We’re peaking heading right into the playoffs, everybody’s really excited to get this started," said Mager. "We don’t care where we’re going; we just want to play like we’ve been playing and take it all the way to Bossier."
With the Southern Gentleman driving the bus and the Gunslinger serving as co-pilot, this team may not be done traveling until they reach the ArenaCup.
Into the Fire
LG&E concluded their season-long good will on Saturday night. For each home game, they gave $100 for every touchdown the Fire scored to a different and deserving organization. Despite the charitable kindness they have given the past few months, one spectator still felt compelled to yell, "How about lowering my natural gas prices?"
That rambunctious group know as the Fire Fanatics got so loud during a second quarter Quad City P.A.T. that holder Matt Pike (former Fire QB and current Fire fans’ favorite nemesis) had to keep yelling for the snap because the center couldn’t hear him. Now that’s home field advantage. And remember Fanatics, never hold back with that cowbell.
There may have been someone different running the P.A. system. On the plus side, the music wasn’t as loud as usual. Thank you. Thank you. (Fill in your own Lawrence Welk joke here.) You could actually talk to the person sitting next to you. The music selection was also predominately the 70s and 80s variety: Rush, E.L.O., Elvis Costello, B.T.O., Led Zeppelin, Huey Lewis, Rolling Stones, and a peculiar ska version of A-Ha’s Take on Me. Oh, and even Elvis’ Burning Love was played, appropriate enough for a Fire game. The only misstep was a slow start to a song used for a dance number that left the Wildfires standing frozen and waiting for a long period of time before launching into their routine.
An announced crowd of 9,317 secured the Fire’s position as the league leader in attendance for the third time in five years. Perhaps the AFL will take notice of this when expansion comes again, and the new arena in Louisville is built.
Coming up from the field after the post game autograph session, a boy was holding a Fire cap covered with autographs of Louisville players. He was proud of the item but also surprisingly opportunistic. "If any of these people make it to the NFL, I’m going to sell it," he said to a friend. These kids today.
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.