Wardogs Lose Opener
Dallas Dunn
Sunday April 8, 2001
The Wardogs invited Auburn Football Coach Pat Dye to do the coin toss, which drew a loud cheer from the crowd. They won the toss and elected to kick off in the first quarter. The game started off well with the Cory Smith (DL #99) sacking Herb Tyler (QB #14) of the Blaze. The ball went from Tyler`s hands into the hands of a lucky fan that became the recipient of the first ever af2 football in Columbus History. The defense looked really good on the first drive holding the Blaze to a 3 and out. The Wardogs took over with Jerome Weaks (QB #5) as there starting QB. Weaks could not get anything going as the Wardogs went 3 and out as well. Through out the first quarter both teams traded 3 and outs and penalties. At the end of the 1st Columbus had 6 plays for 10 yards and 4 penalties for 27 yards. The Blaze had 11 plays for 5 yards and 4 penalties for 25 yards. The defensive line looked good during the 1st quarter but the offense looked like it was out of sync the entire quarter.
The second quarter stared with the Blaze attempting a field goal from their 5-yard line. It was no good but Tyrone Butterfield (OS #3) had trouble remembering the run out of the end zone rule and received a penalty for not attempting to run it out of the end zone. The defensive line of Baton Rouge began harassing Weaks and he started to look frustrated, throwing the ball into the stands. The Wardogs continued there trend of three and out and missed the field goal attempt. On the next Blaze possession they marched down the field and scored on a 3-yard end around by their QB Tyler. The first PAT was blocked by Howard Burns (DL #95) but he was charged with an illegal rush and the Blaze made their second attempt to make the score BAT 7, COL 0. Columbus came right back and scored on their second play from scrimmage. The crowd really came alive seeing a beautiful 23-yard scoring pass from Weaks to Butterfield. The PAT was good and now the score was tied BAT 7, COL 7 with 4:44 left in the first half. The next Blaze possession was penalty filled. It started off with 2 complete passes but then went south quickly. The Blaze had back-to-back penalties that backed them up to their 13-yard line. On 4th and 7 from they attempted another field goal but it was wide right and Butterfield returned the ball back the 3-yard line. With 50 seconds left in the first half the Wardogs took over the ball but they could only manage another 3 and out and after a missed Field Goal attempt the Blaze took over the ball on the Columbus 15-yard line. With only 7 seconds left the Blaze made one attempt at a TD but it fell incomplete. Now with 4 seconds left the Blaze made a successful Field Goal attempt and at the half it was BAT 10, COL 7.
The third quarter begin just as the second ended, with the Blaze QB Tyler throwing an 16-yard touchdown to Matt Butler (WR #88), Baton Rouge missed the PAT. Now the score was 16-7 Blaze. The Wardogs offense begins the 3rd quarter looking good. They put together an 5 play drive that got them to the Blaze 15-yard line, but then Jerome Weaks (QB #5) threw a pass right into the hands of Jerry Guye (DB #1) of the Blaze and he returned the ball to the 20-yard line. The Blaze offense then came out hitting on all cylinders and in two plays drove down the field, scoring on a 15-yard pitch out to Archie Turner (OS #2). After a failed point after attempt the score was BAT 22, COL 7. Now the situation looked bleak for the Wardogs and they needed a spark. Coach Campbell put in QB Matt Hicks for Weaks. Coach Campbell said “he was trying to get someone to give the team a spark, hoping someone would jump out and lead the team.” It took Hicks only two plays to get the Wardogs back into the game with a 19-yard TD pass to Butterfield. Now the score was BAT 22, COL 14. But the defense could not hold the Blaze and they drove down the field and scored again on a 16-yard TD pass from Tyler to Butler to make the score 28-14 Blaze. The offense was besieged with penalties on the next drive and was unable to do anything with the ball as the 3rd quarter ended with he Blaze leading 28-14.
The fourth quarter was filled with penalties and another QB change for the Wardogs. The Blaze continued to score at will while Columbus could not get anything going offensively. The final score was Blaze 42, Wardogs 20.
The Wardogs only had 173 total yards to the Blaze’s 192. It was a very sloppy game with penalties killing both teams. Columbus had 14 penalties for 67 yards and the Blaze had 12 for 94 yards. In a surprise the Blaze had 66 rushing yards to only 8 for the Wardogs. The lone bright spot for the Wardogs was OS Tyrone Butterfield who had 10 catches for 139 yards and 3 touchdowns, but after the game he said, “It was all for nothing, I’m used to winning, so this is really frustrating.” If the Wardogs are going to have a successful first season they are going to have to get the QB situation under control and get the timing down with the receivers. After only being with the team only two days Matt Hicks was 3 for 5 with a TD and Jerome Weaks was 11 for 25 with 2 touchdowns. This will be the biggest decision in Coach Campbell’s short coaching career and it could decide the fate of the Columbus Wardogs season.
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.