Columbus Wardogs hold scrimmage against the Birmingham Steeldogs
Dallas Dunn
Monday March 26, 2001
The scrimmage started off with the Steeldogs driving down the field and scoring with little opposition. The Wardogs then had their crack at an offensive drive but it ended in a loss of downs. The second defensive stand ended like the first with another Birmingham touchdown and the score now 13-0. The second offensive drive started out with a long pass from QB Ed Moore to WR Preston Pratt to the 3-yard line but the Wardogs failed to convert and turned the ball over on downs.
The next defensive stand brought the first interception in Wardogs history when DB Germaine Jones stepped in front of the ball. The Wardogs failed to do anything with it when QB Jerome Weaks fumbled the first snap and it was recovered and returned for a score by the Steeldogs.
Columbus got their first touchdown of the franchise when Weaks threw a 19 yard touchdown making the score 19-6. The defense could still not hold as Birmingham got a 35-yard TD off of blown coverage by DS Kevin Pope. The final offensive drive of the first half resulted in QB Ed Moore throwing the team’s second touchdown to WR Larry Perrymont. The offensive line gave Moore all day to throw the ball and he delivered a perfect strike. The last defensive stand ended when DB Larry Perrymont made a crushing tackle on Wayne Thomas of the Steeldogs. A fight ensued and the teams went off the field for halftime with the score Birmingham 25, Columbus 12.
The second half started off with QB Moore throwing an interception. The defense then really tightened their belts and held the Steeldogs the rest of the game. David Evans, a lineman from Ole Miss, really played well recording a sack and running over the center on every play. The offense could not get on track as QB Jerome Weaks fumbled the snap from the center and it was knocked out of the endzone for a safety for Birmingham’s final score. The score was now 27-12 Steeldogs.
The defense continued to shine as DS Jermaine Morse got his first interception and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown making the score 27-18 Steeldogs. The very next defensive stand had similar results as DS Morse got his second interception and this time returned it to the 8-yard line. Then the scrimmage took an ugly turn as a player for Birmingham got knocked into Columbus’s bench and a bench-clearing brawl ensued. After about 5 minutes the Steeldogs and Wardogs coaches decided that was enough and called the scrimmage with the final score 27-18 Birmingham.
Columbus’ Coach Campbell said that he was very pleased with his team’s performance after only 3 days of practice. He attributed the poor showing in the first half to himself because he was trying lots of different player combinations. He literally tried every play in the book to get a feel for what would work. He stated the defense looked untouchable in the second half and that was his main concern. The ineffective offensive line play was most likely due to only having two true offensive linemen on his roster and converting the rest from the defensive line to play both ways. Coach Campbell said that he has a lot of work to do but this was a great start.
Overall the team played well considering they had only had 3 days of practice. The Quarterbacks will have to get used to the speed of the game but the offensive line must give them better protection. The line played well without question but the secondary gave up too many big plays. These are all things that would be expected of a first year team.
32 Wardog players dressed for the game and that will have to be trimmed down to 21 by the 1st of April. With no pre-season games between now and the season opener on April 7th it will be interesting to see what players make it and which ones are released with only one live ‘test’ under their belt.
The team will have a solid defense led by defensive lineman David Evans and the secondary by Jermaine Morse. The offense will take some time to gel and come together. Just from tonight it looks like Ed Moore has the edge on the starting job but there is a lot of time between now and opening day. It will be an interesting first season. Join us for the ride.
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.