Dragons drop playoff opener to Preds, 47-42

by David Holusha
Published on June 1, 2005 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
New York Dragons


The New York Dragons won the coin toss to start their crucial home playoff game against the Orlando Predators. Chalk that up as their last "win" of the season. That they elected to kick off rather than receive would turn out to be a harbinger of things to come. The Predators calmly and methodically drove down the field and scored with relative ease. This is a game plan?

The final score was 47-42 in favor of the visitors. To say it was a disappointment for the long suffering Dragons fan would be something of an extreme understatement. In a season that started out with so much hope and promise, this was not how the script was supposed to go.

Nearly faultless all season long, superstar QB Aaron Garcia did what he had to do, driving the team downfield and getting that first score back, by completing a short hook-up with WR Chris Anthony. But then the first disaster struck when incredibly, someone on the Dragons coaching staff felt it would be a good idea to go for an onsides kick at this point. What is a long-shot play to begin with - this "strategy" is usually called upon in desperation times, when a team is more than one score behind and time running out on the clock. But early in the first quarter with the score tied 7-7?

"We tried to steal a possession," was the attempted explanation by Head Coach Weylan Harding. "It doesn't have to be a desperation time. You try to call the onsides when they least expect it." However, Jay Gruden and his men did not appear to be fooled by this bizarre move and in fact recovered the ball. One play later they were up by a touchdown.

The second disaster for NY struck when Will Holder fumbled the ball on the ensuing kickoff. Trying to squeeze more yards out, Holder failed to protect the ball and had it swatted away. Orlando recovered, but credit the Dragons defense for holding them only to a field goal at this point. However, the hole they were digging themselves had grown a little deeper, as the first quarter came to an end

Garcia continued to move NY's offense authoritatively, though, engineering a drive down to the 9 yard line. At this point, disaster number three emerged, when on an attempted running play FB Josh White fumbled the ball in the end zone and Orlando recovered for a touchback. Predators QB Joe Hamilton then directed a grueling 45-yard drive that ended with the QB rushing 3-yards for the score. NY's hole was now 24-7

Once again, Garcia would attempt to bring the Dragons downfield. Doing what he has done all season (read: pass the ball), the QB fired a short pass underneath to WR Mike Horacek, putting the ball on the 23 yard line. Then one to Chris Anthony down to the 16. Then finally passing over the top, again to Anthony for a classic Dragons touchdown. When you have a QB with this kind of ability, why would you ever take the ball out of his hands?

Certainly credit must be given to an Orlando defense who came into this game well prepared and with a specific plan. Buoyed by their early success, it appeared as if they were attempting to chop the arm of each Dragons ball carrier, especially whenever a long run was involved.

"Definitely, they were trying that,", said Garcia. "You saw that they weren't covering us" (the receivers). "But that's part of defense, and another way to create turnovers. That's what they do. They're coached well in that aspect, and we know that's what they do going in, and we've got to be extra careful with the football because of that."

An illegal defense call on NY reversed what would have been a big third down stop and instead awarded Orlando an automatic first down. But the Dragons D came up big again holding them on three downs, setting up another 4th down situation. However, with a lead and building confidence against a quality team that appeared to be shooting itself in the foot, the Predators went for it on 4th down and completed yet another score. With a minute to go on the clock, Garcia went back to work and just two passing plays later, had put up another touchdown with relative ease (on successive completions to Horacek and Holder). This should have been the game plan from the start. Give AG the ball and let him to find his receivers. Now with only seconds left in the half and the Dragons defense playing inspired, the Predators attempted a field goal on third down. Bursting through the line and smothering the ball in midair - came All-Ironman Marcus "Snoball" Owen, to prevent the score. The hometown fans were buzzing and felt this just might be the lift the team needed.

However, the start of the second half brought New York their next disaster. Cashing in on their "coin toss victory", the Dragons received the ball and set to work. The very first play from scrimmage had blockers missing assignments and Garcia was hit hard - popping the ball loose. Opportunistic to the very end, Orlando lineman Justin Cleveland pounced on the ball in the end zone for yet another score.

Asked if the defenses were showing them something different, Garcia was blunt with his response. "Those are basic things we've handled all year," he said.

"I don't know of guys weren't hearing me or what. We made some crucial mistakes, and pretty much gave the game away".

Despite all that, Garcia got the Dragons back to within nine points, hitting Chris Anthony, lofting high and softly over the middle for another touchdown pass at the ten minute mark of the third period. But Orlando answered back to keep the score a 16 point difference.

With just under seven minutes to go in the quarter, Garcia hit Horacek moving the ball to the Predators 16 yard line. A quick toss to Holder moved to them the 7, leaving 1 crucial yard for the first down. At this point, Garcia rolled to the right with OL Marcus Owen running a block in front, but with the field cut in half, the QB was hurried and overthrew his intended receiver. Third down, and a running play was attempted for no gain. Stunningly, the Dragons come right back with another running play for the same disastrous results.

"You get down there in what we call the green zone and sometimes you want to prove you can be physical and get that one yard on the ground," Garcia attempted to explain.

"I'm a quarterback. I want the ball in my hands in those situations. But those are the things that an offensive coordinator has to do to try and keep the defense off balance. That's the decision that coach Kimbrough made, and we have to make the plays work - no matter what he calls."

With all these misfires, the Dragons still had opportunities in the fourth quarter to pull this one out. Outscoring the opposition 14-3 (the only quarter where they did so). Garcia found Holder for both a touchdown and a two point conversion to make it a 44-36 game. With the 8 point difference, the game was still within reach. The Dragons defense came up big, stopping Orlando on four downs. At this point, the hometown Coliseum crowd was loud and rocking. But the Orlando defense answered back with a big four down stop of their own. Time was now running out on New York.

The final nail in the coffin was a 29-yard field goal kicked by emergency replacement Ken Hinsley, giving the Predators an 11 point lead at 47-36 with just over a minutes to go.

The Orlando defense, now sensing victory, forced New York to use up valuable clock time before Garcia hit Anthony for his fourth touchdown pass to make it a 47-42 game. However, New York failed to complete the two-point conversion allowing the Predators to recover the on-sides kick and run the clock out.

"Starting off as a team, I've said all year that our only goal - the only thing we were going to be satisfied with was winning an Arena Bowl championship," said Garcia in a subdued postgame lockerroom.

"Not only did we not do that - we made too many mistakes and pretty much beat ourselves. You can be satisfied if you play well as a team, but still get beat. But to make that many mistakes to a good team like that, no I'm not satisfied."

Arena Notes: As this was the last game of the season, I'd like to take a moment to thank Dragons Firedancer Dina - who has been a friend for more than a few seasons. It has been my pleasure to chat and photograph Dina and many of the other lovely dancers throughout the year. These photos of Dina and many of the other Firedancers can be viewed right here on this site's Photo Album page, or by clicking on this link: http://www.oursportscentral.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=15

Any thoughts, suggestions or diatribes can be addressed to dave_h_80_83@yahoo.com.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from June 1, 2005


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