Orlando smacks Austin, playoffs in sight

Published on May 16, 2004 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Orlando Predators News Release


AUSTIN, TX -- Six weeks ago, Orlando fans were sitting around wondering what happened to its once proud franchise. The Predators were sitting with the 13th best record (3-5) in the Arena Football League and were looking at missing the playoff for the first time in 13 seasons.

But Orlando got its rookie quarterback Joe Hamilton back from injury, picked up Damon Mason in a key mid-season free agent signing and started turning those fortunes around. The transformation continued on Sunday as the Predators blasted the Austin Wranglers and recorded an easy 43-26 win over their Southern Division rival.

It marked the second consecutive week the Predators went on the road as an underdog and came away with relatively easy win. Orlando went to 8-6 on the season to tie Austin for second place in the Southern Division. Since Austin beat the Predators 49-48 in overtime in Week Two of the regular season, Orlando would hold a head-to-head tiebreaker based on point differential.

Unlike last week when the Predators blew several opportunities to put the New Orleans VooDoo away early, they took control early in this game and never let the Wranglers back in the game. But a few mistakes made the first half made things a little dicey. After Orlando took a 10-3 lead in the game, Damon Mason gave the Predators a chance to take a two-score lead with his first interception with Orlando.

But on a first and goal from Austin's three, Idris Price fumbled and Austin's Tom Briggs recovered. That led to a Tony Dodson field goal that cut the lead to 10-6. After the teams exchanged touchdowns, Orlando took over on its own five-yard line, leading, 17-13, with just 20 seconds left.

That sequence led to the key play of the game. Rather than look for two quick completions to set up a field goal attempt, Head Coach Jay Gruden sent two receivers deep. Anthony Bright, who was waived by the Predators in the pre-season and resigned after Travis McGriff was injured last week, beat his man deep and hauled in a 44-yard pass to the Austin one. One play later, Joe Hamilton scored on a quarterback draw and the Predators led 24-13.

"I thought we had control of the game anyways but that play was huge," Gruden said. "The way Jay Taylor was kicking, I thought he had a good chance to make anything from 45 yards in so rather than go for two short completions, I wanted to go vertical on the first play. We sent Anthony out on a deep post and had Cory Fleming do a stop and go, I was shocked to see them in a man coverage and Anthony just beat his man."

The second half was all Orlando and its defense. The Predators outscored Austin 19-13 in the half, but it was not that close. Austin took advantage of a Hamilton fumble to score on a short four-yard drive in the third quarter and scored a meaningless late touchdown in the final seconds after the Predators had built a 43-19 lead.

In between, the Predators stopped the Wranglers on three consecutive possessions, forcing Austin to give the ball up on downs twice and getting a safety on a kickoff. For the game, the Predators recorded six defensive stops, sacked Wrangler quarterback John Kaleo four times and limited the Wranglers to a season-low 26 points and just 147 yards of total offense.

It was a marked contrast to the first time when the teams met and Austin scored on all but one possession. "We felt coming in we could cover their receivers," Gruden added. "We covered man early in the game and then started switching up coverages and I think it confused John (Kaleo) a little. By the time he recognized what was going on, our line was getting to him. It was a solid all around defensive effort."

Offensively, the Predators did enough. Playing without two of its top four receivers, Orlando managed to put points on the board on seven of 10 possessions. Hamilton completed 75% of his passes (15 of 20) for 220 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for two to pick up offensive player of the game honors. Cory Fleming caught three passes for 56 yards and one score, added one rushing, had one sack and a pass defense to earn game "Ironman" honors for a second straight week.

With the win, the Predators have now won five of their last six games. They can extend their AFL record of consecutive winning seasons to 13 with a win next week at home against the New York Dragons. Kickoff is 3 p.m. on Sunday from the TD Waterhouse Centre. The game will be televised regionally by NBC.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 16, 2004


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