Post by AZ Adrenaline Junkie on May 24, 2008 3:14:24 GMT -5
Playoff spot within reach for Adrenaline
Special to the Courier
Thursday, May 22, 2008
PRESCOTT VALLEY - No Chad DeGrenier. No Maurice Bryant. No Nick Hannah. No Josh Duran. No Sully Beard.
No problem.
At least that was the scenario for the Adrenaline Tuesday night at New Mexico as Arizona showed some depth and grit by coming within 30 seconds of pulling off a mega-rare indoor football shutout against the Wildcats. Many of those aforementioned starters could be missing Saturday as well when the 0-8 Utah Saints come to town for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Tim's Toyota Center.
DeGrenier, one of the AIFA's top-rated quarterbacks, will definitely not play after injuring his right foot in the second quarter on Tuesday, but plans to return for the Wyoming game May 30 in Casper. In his place will be rookie Jason Swanson, who played collegiately at Kansas and ran for two touchdowns in the second half of Tuesday's win.
Head coach Andrew Moore does expect Bryant back, but Hannah is reportedly very close to signing with the Arizona Rattlers and both Duran and Beard were not on the 20-man roster as of Thursday.
"We preach 'coming together as a family' all the time," said Moore, whose team is 6-2 and could mathematically clinch a playoff spot with a win Saturday, coupled with Wyoming beating New Mexico.
"We really showed that against New Mexico. When one guy would go down, someone was there to step up in their place. But we can't look past Utah. They have some new players and have been improving each week. We have to keep moving forward."
The Adrenaline already played one of their best games of the year against Utah, and one of their worst.
They beat the Saints 95-21 at home on April 20, then won a mistake-laced 43-22 decision in Kearns on May 6.
Utah, which has undergone some coaching turnover and poor attendance, has allowed the most points of any team in the AIFA (67.8), but has given up just 46.0 in its last three outings.
"When you play at home you're never flat," Adrenaline linebacker Chris Whitaker said. "You have your own crowd there and that makes a big difference. And Utah has some new people and different schemes. They really do have some good weapons, it's just a matter of them getting the continuity that you need. We can't take them lightly at all."
As mentioned earlier, an Adrenaline win, coupled with a New Mexico loss against Wyoming on Saturday would clinch a playoff berth. But Arizona will no doubt be big Wildcat fans this week. Should New Mexico upset Wyoming at the Santa Ana Star Center, and the Adrenaline take care of Utah, Arizona would trail the Cavalry by just one game entering next week's matchup in Casper.
First up is Utah, but only after still buzzing over Tuesday's near shutout, which is to indoor football what a perfect game is to baseball.
"It was one of those nights where every call we made seemed to be the right call," Whitaker said. "It's almost like a no-hitter in baseball when the catcher is calling all the right pitches."
Or, as Andre Bishop, who had a big night replacing Hannah at linebacker said, "Everything came together early and we just said, 'Let's keep it going, let's keep it going.' And we did."
Special to the Courier
Thursday, May 22, 2008
PRESCOTT VALLEY - No Chad DeGrenier. No Maurice Bryant. No Nick Hannah. No Josh Duran. No Sully Beard.
No problem.
At least that was the scenario for the Adrenaline Tuesday night at New Mexico as Arizona showed some depth and grit by coming within 30 seconds of pulling off a mega-rare indoor football shutout against the Wildcats. Many of those aforementioned starters could be missing Saturday as well when the 0-8 Utah Saints come to town for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Tim's Toyota Center.
DeGrenier, one of the AIFA's top-rated quarterbacks, will definitely not play after injuring his right foot in the second quarter on Tuesday, but plans to return for the Wyoming game May 30 in Casper. In his place will be rookie Jason Swanson, who played collegiately at Kansas and ran for two touchdowns in the second half of Tuesday's win.
Head coach Andrew Moore does expect Bryant back, but Hannah is reportedly very close to signing with the Arizona Rattlers and both Duran and Beard were not on the 20-man roster as of Thursday.
"We preach 'coming together as a family' all the time," said Moore, whose team is 6-2 and could mathematically clinch a playoff spot with a win Saturday, coupled with Wyoming beating New Mexico.
"We really showed that against New Mexico. When one guy would go down, someone was there to step up in their place. But we can't look past Utah. They have some new players and have been improving each week. We have to keep moving forward."
The Adrenaline already played one of their best games of the year against Utah, and one of their worst.
They beat the Saints 95-21 at home on April 20, then won a mistake-laced 43-22 decision in Kearns on May 6.
Utah, which has undergone some coaching turnover and poor attendance, has allowed the most points of any team in the AIFA (67.8), but has given up just 46.0 in its last three outings.
"When you play at home you're never flat," Adrenaline linebacker Chris Whitaker said. "You have your own crowd there and that makes a big difference. And Utah has some new people and different schemes. They really do have some good weapons, it's just a matter of them getting the continuity that you need. We can't take them lightly at all."
As mentioned earlier, an Adrenaline win, coupled with a New Mexico loss against Wyoming on Saturday would clinch a playoff berth. But Arizona will no doubt be big Wildcat fans this week. Should New Mexico upset Wyoming at the Santa Ana Star Center, and the Adrenaline take care of Utah, Arizona would trail the Cavalry by just one game entering next week's matchup in Casper.
First up is Utah, but only after still buzzing over Tuesday's near shutout, which is to indoor football what a perfect game is to baseball.
"It was one of those nights where every call we made seemed to be the right call," Whitaker said. "It's almost like a no-hitter in baseball when the catcher is calling all the right pitches."
Or, as Andre Bishop, who had a big night replacing Hannah at linebacker said, "Everything came together early and we just said, 'Let's keep it going, let's keep it going.' And we did."
:)Don't think so Cavfan
