Post by Free Agent Fan on Feb 19, 2007 17:24:49 GMT -5
ERIE FREEZE WIN!
(February 19, 2007 - Erie, PA) Each time the song "Freeze Frame" blared from the Tullio Arena speakers Saturday, it meant that the Erie Freeze had scored.
Five of the times that the song played during the Freeze's 49-21 victory over the Danville Demolition, it was ignited by the right arm of Erie quarterback Randall Secky, who was participating in just his second American Indoor Football Association game.
Taking a cue from Freeze coach Dave Arnold that in the indoor game you need to get rid of the ball quicker than in college, Secky, who played at the University at Buffalo, made noticeable strides in Saturday's home opener before a crowd of 3,900.
Completing16-of-32 passes for 204 yards and five touchdowns, it appeared that Secky, who struggled in last week's season-opening 43-26 loss to Canton, had climbed precious steps up the indoor football ladder of experience. But he would like to climb even higher.
"I did much better than last week," Secky said. "But I'm still not there.
"I missed a few receivers here and there, and threw a few balls high, but I'm much happier than I was with my performance last week. Last week was terrible, and this week was better, but I've still got to work to get even better."
Some of the receivers that Secky didn't miss were Darmel Whitfield, Shea D'Ambrosio, Ian Nutt and Kevin Scott, who were the recipients of Secky's five touchdown passes.
Whitfield, from Gannon University, scored two of those touchdowns, on passes of 14 and 20 yards. Secky's strikes to D'Ambrosio, Nutt and Scott were of 9, 4 and 8 yards, respectively.
Arnold said he was pleased with Secky's improvement.
"I thought that Randall did a better job of getting rid of the ball in the three-second time frame that we worked on this week in practice," he said. "We know that the offense will come, but it will take some time."
Although happy with the win, Arnold called it "ugly, " as he wasn't pleased that the Freeze fell behind 14-6 to Danville, an expansion team playing it's first game.
"It was a win, and we'll take a win any way that we can, but some things just weren't right," he said. "We were sluggish early, but then they settled down and went back to our game plan, and did some things well."
Many of the things that the Freeze did well came on defense, where after allowing 14 points in the first quarter, they held the Demolition to just seven points the rest of the way.
Arnold felt that the turning point in the game came from a goal-line stand that the defense made near the end of the half, when the Freeze, leading 21-14, stopped the Demolition at the 1-yard-line after they had the ball first-and-goal at the 4.
"We had a great goal-line stand that stopped them when we needed to," Arnold said. "That was great defense. Which is what Erie Freeze football is all about."
Making the tackle on Demolition quarterback Willie Davis just short of the goal line was Erie's Roosevelt Benjamin, a Central High School graduate who played his college ball at Clarion.
"We knew that we needed to buckle down at the goal line and get one big stop before halftime," Benjamin said. "It was great momentum for us going into the second half, where the defense controlled things, and the offense did what they needed to do."
Benjamin also scored on a 22-yard interception return late in the game.
The Freeze bettered the Demolition in total offense, 207 yards to 176. Erie's defense recorded three sacks to none for Danville, as the Freeze's offensive line not only prevented big losses, but allowed Secky more time to seek out his receivers.
(February 19, 2007 - Erie, PA) Each time the song "Freeze Frame" blared from the Tullio Arena speakers Saturday, it meant that the Erie Freeze had scored.
Five of the times that the song played during the Freeze's 49-21 victory over the Danville Demolition, it was ignited by the right arm of Erie quarterback Randall Secky, who was participating in just his second American Indoor Football Association game.
Taking a cue from Freeze coach Dave Arnold that in the indoor game you need to get rid of the ball quicker than in college, Secky, who played at the University at Buffalo, made noticeable strides in Saturday's home opener before a crowd of 3,900.
Completing16-of-32 passes for 204 yards and five touchdowns, it appeared that Secky, who struggled in last week's season-opening 43-26 loss to Canton, had climbed precious steps up the indoor football ladder of experience. But he would like to climb even higher.
"I did much better than last week," Secky said. "But I'm still not there.
"I missed a few receivers here and there, and threw a few balls high, but I'm much happier than I was with my performance last week. Last week was terrible, and this week was better, but I've still got to work to get even better."
Some of the receivers that Secky didn't miss were Darmel Whitfield, Shea D'Ambrosio, Ian Nutt and Kevin Scott, who were the recipients of Secky's five touchdown passes.
Whitfield, from Gannon University, scored two of those touchdowns, on passes of 14 and 20 yards. Secky's strikes to D'Ambrosio, Nutt and Scott were of 9, 4 and 8 yards, respectively.
Arnold said he was pleased with Secky's improvement.
"I thought that Randall did a better job of getting rid of the ball in the three-second time frame that we worked on this week in practice," he said. "We know that the offense will come, but it will take some time."
Although happy with the win, Arnold called it "ugly, " as he wasn't pleased that the Freeze fell behind 14-6 to Danville, an expansion team playing it's first game.
"It was a win, and we'll take a win any way that we can, but some things just weren't right," he said. "We were sluggish early, but then they settled down and went back to our game plan, and did some things well."
Many of the things that the Freeze did well came on defense, where after allowing 14 points in the first quarter, they held the Demolition to just seven points the rest of the way.
Arnold felt that the turning point in the game came from a goal-line stand that the defense made near the end of the half, when the Freeze, leading 21-14, stopped the Demolition at the 1-yard-line after they had the ball first-and-goal at the 4.
"We had a great goal-line stand that stopped them when we needed to," Arnold said. "That was great defense. Which is what Erie Freeze football is all about."
Making the tackle on Demolition quarterback Willie Davis just short of the goal line was Erie's Roosevelt Benjamin, a Central High School graduate who played his college ball at Clarion.
"We knew that we needed to buckle down at the goal line and get one big stop before halftime," Benjamin said. "It was great momentum for us going into the second half, where the defense controlled things, and the offense did what they needed to do."
Benjamin also scored on a 22-yard interception return late in the game.
The Freeze bettered the Demolition in total offense, 207 yards to 176. Erie's defense recorded three sacks to none for Danville, as the Freeze's offensive line not only prevented big losses, but allowed Secky more time to seek out his receivers.
