The Hawks Defeat the Warriors
Dallas Dunn
Tuesday March 21, 2006
In what Coach Foggie hopes to be a preview of things to come this season the Hawks defeated the Warriors 75-40. It started on the first play from scrimmage when nose guard Rico Ochoa intercepted the Warriors QB and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown. Rico said he felt that "we set the tone for the day" as the Hawks defense controlled the Warriors all day intercepting 3 different quarterbacks a total of 6 times.
The fans were rowdy from the start. I spoke to several season ticket holders and they all had the same thing to say, "The Hawks were great last year in the national indoor football league (NIFL) and they will be great in arenafootball2." Several fans seemed confused as they walked into the arena and saw the nets for the first time. I spoke with Chico Alfred who said "it looks like something out of the future, it sure is different but I think it will add to the excitement of the game."
The nets did just that as there were several kicks that went off the nets that both teams had trouble controlling but one of the most amazing plays of the day was by Milton Myers. The Warriors kicked the ball off the crossbars, he turned his back to the defense to catch the ball but he muffed it before he finally picked it up off the turf, he then turned around and all he saw was opposing jerseys. Milton started to his left then did a couple of shake and bake moves to his right and with the grace only a professional athlete has he ran into the end zone for a 54 yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
But the highlight of the night had to be the defense. The defensive line consisting of Ochoa, Clay Harrell and Dannie Snyder harassed the Warriors quarterbacks all night. Snyder even caused an intentional grounding call in the end zone which resulted in a safety for the Hawks. Coach Foggie said "the defense doesn’t get any credit in the league, but for us to come up with six picks is huge."
This was just an exhibition game but it was just what the team needed according to Coach Foggie. "We almost have two teams that we are trying to bring together as one the Hawks that were here last year and about 8 to 10 guys that came from Amarillo and my main concern was to see how they would gel and they did a great job."
One of the players the Hawks have back from last year is Jamley Austin. With less than 2 minutes left in the game Austin made a great open field tackle on the Warriors tight end Haruhisa Hiramoto. Austin who was shaken up on the play told me "I was giving up 100 pounds to him so I had to come with 100 pounds of force, but you know what, I love this game and I love the fans so I am willing to sacrifice myself for their joy." I asked Coach Foggie what he thought of Austin and his tackle and he replied "It would be an understatement to say Jamley is our lighting rod or emotional leader he is more like a volcano. He came to camp a week late due to a family emergency and we really did not have that spark before he came, he keeps the guys up." Austin told me "when I came into camp I was last on the depth chart when the last 2 years I have been a starter, my mother had been diagnosed with bone cancer so I’m riding on some emotion that I don’t think anyone understands right now, Everett is my family and I am being blessed with being able to be here and I can promise you I will play with everything I have when I get out there."
The Hawks showed tonight that they have a wealth of talent and Coach Foggie will have lots of trouble trimming the roster to the league mandated 20 players. The one position that the Hawks are stacked at is quarterback. Julian Reese who followed Foggie from Amarillo to the Hawks looked impressive in his three quarters of work. He showed a knack for moving around in the pocket and avoiding the sack. He is a mobile quarterback in the Michael Vick mold. Backup quarterback Matt Dennison from Washington State showed that he could also play in this league when his first pass from scrimmage went for a touchdown. With quarterback play being, in my opinion, the most important position in the af2 the Hawks have the luxury of having two quarterbacks that can guide this team to victory.
After the game I spoke with some fans and they were excited about the win and fell that this team is headed for the ArenaCup this year. Well if they continue to dominate their opponents like they did tonight they will challenge for the ArenaCup.
One injury note: Kohei Samtomi, the Hawks international player, was taken off the field and taken to the hospital with a dislocated shoulder. His status was not known as of this article.
Coach Foggie will give the players the next two days off and then get ready for their opening game against the Bakersfield Blitz on Thursday March 30th at 7:30 PM here at the Everett Events Center. If you are in the area come to the game, you will have a great time!
Dallas Dunn has been an Arena Football League enthusiast since he
first attended a Tampa Bay Storm game in 1991. He graduated from Nova
Southeasten University with a Bachelor's Degree in Management. He has
spent the last 18 years in the Army and is currently stationed at Fort
Lewis, Washington with his wife Stephanie. He covered the Columbus
Wardogs during their inaugural season of 2001 for Arenafan and is now
covering the Everett Hawks.