Phantoms fend off Fury

by Campbell Blake
April 26, 2002 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)

The Toronto Phantoms are still an unbeaten team after their 50-30 victory over the visiting Detroit Fury in front of 7,107 fans. With Chad Salisbury leading the way, the Phantoms were up on the Fury right from the beginning, and they never looked back. In the end they had the victory and the Fury were left looking for their first win of the season.

"Chad (Salisbury) really had a good game" said Phantoms head coach Mark Stoute. "He played real steady last week down in Tampa. He opened up 10 for 10, and tonight he really took them apart early."

Salisbury, the game's MVP, had a stellar evening. He got the ball deep down the field on a consistent basis and spread it around, completing passes to seven different receivers. In the end he connected on 21 of his 32 pass attempts for 283 yards and five touchdowns.

"The key to getting the ball down the field is the offensive line, and those guys did a great job tonight," said Salisbury. "When you have guys like Damion Harrell, Ty Law and Charlie Davidson it is easy to put the ball down the field because those guys are going to make great catches."

Damion Harrell led all Phantom receivers with seven catches for 113 yard and one score. Charlie Davidson, who was named the Iron Man of the game, followed with six receptions for 90 yards and two first half touchdowns. Phil Glover and lineman Kelvin Ingram pulled in Salisbury's other two touchdown passes on the evening.

The rest of the Phantoms scoring came on a Jermaine Younger one-yard run in the second quarter and Ty Law's 42-yard interception return of an errant Rickey Foggie throw.

One interesting absence from Thursday night's game for the Phantoms was that of defensive specialist Tommy Henry. Henry was left out of the game so the Phantoms could match up evenly against Detroit. With the Fury dressing seven linemen and three fullbacks, the Toronto brain trust felt it was necessary to match them, making Henry the odd man out.

On the other hand, even though the Fury are a talented team with the likes of Robert Gordon and Chuck Levy they were not clicking on cylinders. Quarterback Rickey Foggie at times seemed to be rushed and unable to hook up with his receivers while having one of his errant passes intercepted and returned for a Phantom touchdown. He completed only 50 percent of his attempts and was pulled in favor of rookie Drew Miller during the third quarter.

Foggie passed for 132 yards and two scores while Miller ended his evening with 132 yards in the air himself and three touchdowns.

"I think we are still trying to get used to each other, and it is disappointing because we have a lot of talent on the team and we struggled," said Foggie. "Offensively, we made some errors here and there, and I think it is the most frustrating part knowing you can score and put points on the board and not being able to do it."

Chuck Levy was one of the few bright spots for the Fury. He played a splendid game, pulling in nine receptions for 96 yards and four touchdowns. Robert Gordon finished with four catches for 89 yards on the evening and rounded out the Fury's scoring with a 44-yard touchdown reception from Foggie during the second quarter.

With the victory, Toronto will head into Arizona next week with their sights set on continuing with their winning ways. The win has given the team a sense of confidence that did not exist at this time last year. With Salisbury, Harrell, and Davidson leading the way, the Phantoms hope to tame the Rattlers next weekend in Phoenix.

Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 26, 2002

• Phantoms fend off Fury - OSC Original by Campbell Blake
• Thursday Recap - AFL I
• Arena Football League Transactions - AFL I
• Empire Sports Begins Destroyers Schedule Sunday - Buffalo Destroyers
• Destroyers Ready to Slay the Dragons - Buffalo Destroyers

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.