Cobras Slither into Post Season
Published on July 25, 2002 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Carolina Cobras News Release
RALEIGH, N.C. (July 25, 2002)- The Carolina Cobras begin their quest for the ArenaBowl XVI championship this Sunday, July 28 with a date at the defending ArenaBowl champion Grand Rapids Rampage. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. (ET) and will air nationally on ESPN.
Carolina (6-8) has advanced to the postseason for the second consecutive season, entering the 2002 ArenaBowl XVI Playoffs as the No. 11 seed. The Cobras had their two-game winning streak snapped last week in the regular season finale to the No. 1 seed San Jose SaberCats. The Cobras, under first-year head coach Mike Neu, placed second in the Southern Division, one game behind the Orlando Predators. Grand Rapids (8-6), who won their first AFL title last season, head into the playoffs as the No. 6 seed.
"We feel pretty confident," said Neu. "We just ran out of gas in the last quarter against San Jose, but that's just a testament to them. If you look back over our last 11 quarters, not including the fourth quarter against San Jose, I think we're playing our best football. This is where you want to be when the playoffs roll around."
The Cobras defensive backfield will be facing one of their stiffest tests to date this season as they take on arguably the leagues best quarterback in the Rampage's Clint Dolezel. Although he threw an uncharacteristic 19 interceptions this season (tying his career-high which he set as a member of the Houston ThunderBears in 1999), he still led the league in passing yards (3,878) and passing TDs (79). The Cobras main threat defensively, DS Kevin Gaines, picked off a career-high eight passes this season, helping him to a tie for second in the final AFL rankings. In addition, the fifth-year veteran tied for the league-lead with 29 passes defended and placed fifth with 73.5 tackles.
"Our defense has a tough challenge this week," said Neu. "Clint (Dolezel) is one of the best quarterbacks playing in this league right now, so it's not going to be easy. But it helps to have a player like Kevin Gaines back there. He's a playmaker. He plays with a lot of intensity and emotion and I' m extremely happy to see him have the type of year that he's having."
Carolina finished the regular season 5-2 (.714) away from the Entertainment and Sports Arena in 2002 and sports an 8-13 (.381) all-time record on the road. Grand Rapids has an all-time record of 19-16 (.543) at the Van Andel Arena, including a 4-3 (.571) mark this season. During the playoffs, the Cobras are 0-1 all-time, with that loss coming to the Indiana Firebirds, 58-41, in the First Round of the 2001 playoffs. The Rampage are 3-2 in post season games, including a perfect 3-0 at home.
Should Carolina win, they will travel to either the No. 1 seed San Jose SaberCats (13-1) for a Saturday, August 3 contest, or to Phoenix to take on the two-time AFL champion and No. 2 seed Arizona Rattlers (11-3) on Sunday, August 4.
Sunday's game against Grand Rapids can be seen live on ESPN with Dave Ryan (play-by-play) and Merril Hoge (color analyst) describing all the action. There will be no radio broadcast in the Raleigh-Durham area.
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