Injuries Plague Phantoms in Loss to Force
June 10, 2002 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Toronto Phantoms News Release
Atlanta, GA: "This has to be the worst loss in the history of the Toronto Phantoms." That was the assessment of quarterback Pat O'Hara after Toronto's shocking 35-22 loss in Atlanta to the Georgia Force. Technically speaking, O'Hara is way off the mark â a 70-22 loss to Orlando in 2001 still stands up as the worst loss in terms of absolute margin of victory. However, there is some merit to his suggestion. The Toronto players and coaches seemed especially shaken and demoralized after this latest upset, dropping the team's record to 4-4. "It was a football game in which we simply did not execute", says Head Coach Mark Stoute. "There's not too much else I want to say about it other than that." Toronto's lack of execution might have been tied directly to the lack of its top offensive threat. Offensive specialist Damian Harrell stayed behind in Toronto when the team left for Atlanta. Toronto's leading receiver and scorer is still nursing a strained hamstring suffered in the previous week's win over New York. In Harrell's absence, Toronto's passing attack faltered â even against a defence that ranked last or second-to-last in the league in 5 major statistical categories. Chad Salisbury matched a career high throwing 3 interceptions was sacked once and threw several other balls into the stands. Through the 2nd and 3rd quarters, all the Toronto offence could muster under his direction was a single field goal. Salisbury was pulled in favour of O'Hara after a costly interception just before the end of the 3rd quarter. "This was one of the worst performances of my career", says the Phantoms pivot. "Actually, no, check that â this was the worst, period!" Salisbury completed 18 of his 26 attempts for 220 yards. In Salisbury's defence, Harrell wasn't the only weapon missing from the Toronto offence. Jermaine Younger, Toronto's leader in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, also sat out with a nagging injury. Toronto managed to produce just 1 yard in rushing for the game. By contrast, Georgia ground out 56 yards on 14 carries for a shockingly high average of 4 yards a carry in a league where rushing yards are hard to come by. The Phantoms injury problems continued to mount once the game began. Toronto scored on its opening possession, getting a 33-yard TD reception from Kerry Brown. On the ensuing kick-off, lineman Steve Konopka said he heard a "pop" from his knee as he brought the ball carrier down. He checked out of the game for the night and will be examined by team doctors upon his return to Toronto. Further to that, Anthony Derricks dislocated his thumb in the 2nd quarter, ending his night. Konopka is the top pass rusher on the Phantoms defence, while Derricks stands out as its leading tackler and top "cover man". With Derricks gone, Charlie Davidson had to shift over from his two-way spot (wide receiver/defensive back) to line up at the defensive specialist position. "Obviously, missing Harrell was the biggest thing", says Davidson. "But with A-D out, that took me away from the offence entirely. So for long stretches of the game all you had out there were your second line receivers. That hurt a lot." Toronto got a pair of touchdowns from those second line receivers. Ty Law scored on an 18-yard pass from Salisbury to give Toronto a 13-7 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. Kahlil Carter hauled in his first touchdown pass as a member of the Phantoms grabbing a 36-yard pass from O'Hara in the final frame. Carter finished as the Phantoms top receiver with 5 catches covering 74 yards. Tyronne Jones was a force for the Force. Jones was on the receiving end of 3 scoring strikes from Donnie Davis, earning MVP honours. Jones made 6 catches for 83 yards to lead all players in the game. Ron Carpenter was tabbed as the Ironman by the attending media, pulling in 2 of Salisbury's 3 interceptions. Toronto must now prepare for its shortest "turn-around" of the season, facing the Buffalo Destroyers on Thursday night at home after just 2 days of practice. "We will have to focus in mentally", says defensive specialist Del Lee. "Physically, we're not going to be in the best shape for that game. We have to avoid all the mental mistakes that always come as result of physical fatigue." The status of Derricks, Konopka and Younger for that game remains unclear but the team can take some consolation from the fact that Harrell is expected to play. "Obviously, he's the biggest piece of the puzzle", says Stoute. "We've seen now how hard it is to line up without him. So it will be nice to have him back on the field." Tickets for the latest installment in the "Border War" between Toronto and Buffalo are now on sale and can be purchased by calling (416) 341-1234 or by logging on to www.torontophantoms.com. Get "Insane for the Game" and be a part of "Thursday Night Gridiron Madness"!
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