Dragons dominate Rampage
by David Holusha
April 9, 2008 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
New York Dragons
It was almost too good to be true. The New York Dragons were up 35-0 on the Grand Rapids Rampage as seconds ticked down towards the end of the first half. But Grand Rapids had the ball deep in the New York zone and were knocking on the goal line. Four times The Rampage tried to rush the ball from the 1 into the end zone. And all 4 times the Dragons defense stuffed them. Headcoach Weylan Harding couldn't contain his excitement over what he had just witnessed.
"I am a defensive guy through and through," said Harding. "Stuff like that has to turn you on. You probably have the most high pressure job, being the defensive coordinator. To see those guy pull together against adversity and being in a point where they're supposed to score - and to see them with their collective will to deny that , well I can't express how good that feels".
However, it wasn't all great defense that won the day here as the Dragons offense put on an impressive display as well. The Dragons would eventually win 63-34. Star quarterback Aaron Garcia led the way with seven touchdown passes. He finished 24-of-39 passing for 290 yards and a pair of interceptions. Equally impressive was his 2 yard run on a quarterback sneak for a TD late in the second half that boosted the Dragons lead to 35-0. Garica had been coming off a series of injuries that forced him to miss quite a bit of playing time.
Garcia said it was big psychological boost. "Coming off the injury, everyone was like, âwe need to protect Aaron. He can't run the ball,'" he said. "I wanted to do it last week but I didn't feel like I was totally ready. I did it this week and it's something the opposition need to look out for."
Rookie defensive back John Walker had three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown in the third quarter to make the score 49-0. He also had two pass breakups and two tackles Walker was named Co-ADT Defensive Player of the Week. Grand Rapids' first score came with 8:16 left in the third quarter on a 4-yard touchdown by wide receiver Jermaine Lewis.
WR/LB Chris Anthony earned the game's Ironman honors, as he was a force on both sides of the ball.
Anthony pulled down 10 catches for 92 yards and four touchdowns. He also forced a fumble which directly lead to another Dragons touchdown. All of this also earned him the AFL Ironman of the Week award as well.
Despite setting a season-high mark in points scored without the injured Kevin Swayne, Anthony said the offense can still improve.
"I still don't think we played that well," Anthony said. "We made a lot of mistakes, especially in the second half. It's a lot of fundamental things we did poorly.
"Our defense is playing unbelievable. We have a lot of great players. They are playing well right now, which is helping us."
"It's huge in this league if you can get a stop and then score, that's how you win ball games in the Arena League," Anthony said.
WR Keron Henry, WR Jason Willis and WR Terry Moss also caught touchdown passes from Garcia.
During the halftime show, local band "Joe Rockstar" performed. They played Tom Petty's "American Girl", Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me" and The Kinks "You Really Got Me", and were well received by the crowd of over eight thousand fans.
The Dragons' play next on Sunday, April 13 at 3 pm at the Nassau Coliseum.
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