Cobras Wrap Up Road Schedule With Trip to Buffalo
July 10, 2002 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Carolina Cobras News Release
RALEIGH, N.C. (July 10, 2002)- The Carolina Cobras will conclude their 2002 regular season road schedule this Friday night, July 12 when they take on the Buffalo Destroyers at the HSBC Arena. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. (ET).
Carolina (5-7) comes into the contest as the No. 11 seed in the 2002 playoff race and is coming off a 58-44 win at Toronto last week, snapping a five-game losing skid. The Cobras are tied with the Georgia Force for second place in the AFL's Southern Division, just one game behind the Orlando Predators (6-6). Twelve of the 16 AFL teams will make post season play, and if the Cobras can win their final two regular season games, they will be assured of making the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
"We're looking at this as a one-game season," said head coach Mike Neu. "We had to win last week against Toronto to stay in the playoff hunt, and we have to win this week to continue to have a chance to make the playoffs. We're not going to look ahead to next week. We're going to concentrate on Buffalo, and only Buffalo."
Carolina will take a 4-2 (.667) road record into the HSBC Arena against a Destroyers team that has lost two straight after posting a season-high three-game winning streak. Carolina has won each of the previous two meetings over Buffalo (6-6), including a 53-44 win at the HSBC Arena last June 17.
Last week the Cobras scored a season-high 58 points against the Phantoms, only the second time this season Carolina surpassed the 50-point plateau (they scored 55 in a Week Two win over Georgia).
"I knew we could score points," said Neu. "We've got a good group of receivers and we've been playing well the last three, four weeks. Like I've said before, turnovers will kill you in this league, and that's what killed us the past few weeks."
During the Cobras recent five-game losing skid, they turned the ball over 21 times. Last week, Carolina committed only one turnover, while picking off three passes, in the win. Carolina now stands at a minus 5 (No. 11) in the AFL in turnover margin. On the other side of the ledger, the Destroyers are a plus 4 (No. 6) in the AFL in turnover margin.
Friday's game against Buffalo can be heard live in the Raleigh-Durham area on WRBZ 850 The Buzz Sports Radio with Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes on the call.
The Cobras return home next week to conclude the 2002 regular season as they play host to the San Jose SaberCats on Sunday, July 21, 2:00 p.m. at the Entertainment and Sports Arena.
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