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Ray Lewis Inspires ThunderBolts

March 23, 2005 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL)
Lakeland ThunderBolts News Release


The Lakeland ThunderBolts knew that Ray Lewis would be a tremendous help to the franchise, but they did not realize how much. When the Bolts took the field Saturday night they were truly inspired. They were ready to play. Head Coach, Garrett Hagin, had his team well prepared and ready. But the speech that Baltimore Raven linebacker, Ray Lewis, gave in the locker room was the emotional lift they needed to give them the edge. Players said the speech was so involved that they felt he was going to put on his pads and join them on the field.

Coach Hagin credits the ThunderBolts' success against the Daytona Hawgs to the way the players approached training camp. “Our early recognition of not beating ourselves up that got us to the game,” he said. “There’s definitely a trade off with being more in shape and being healthy. We were fortunate we came away with no major injury problems.”

Coach Hagin has been around the block in the coaching ranks and says his experience from various leagues has helped him put together the 2005 Lakeland team. “Having coached in af2, where some players go both ways the entire game and the substitution was a puzzle every quarter, was one of the best experiences,” Hagin said. “Believe me, you have to have backups to backups here also (in the NIFL) and know how to use them.”

He lists Myqual Spann, a 6-foot-4, 275-pounder, as an athlete because of his flexibility at different positions. “You have to ask some guys to play other positions,” Hagin said, “but it’s most likely that we’ll have the offense and defense separate, the way it is set up in this league.”

His offense and especially defense played well against Daytona Beach. The Thunderbolts’ defensive back Lance Small corralled two of five total interceptions made against the two Hawgs’ quarterbacks. “Our defense put us in some great situations,” said Hagin. “The defensive tempo was good and those kinds of things just kill the opposition’s momentum.”

On offense, Hagin said there were plenty of positives, especially the distribution of the receiving yardage. “We had no go-to guy in this game and all played well,” he added. “We also put ourselves in a position to score more points. Once we were on the one-yard line when time ran out at the end of the first half and there were two other possessions which could have resulted in scores.”

He cited Jeremy Martin’s leadership at quarterback, connecting to four receivers including Tavaris Johnson five times. Andrews and Gallishaw caught two of the four touchdown passes. “What makes Jeremy so effective is that he can move around,” Hagin explained. “He made some plays (ran 6 times for 16 yards) and he made some good decisions. Anytime you can throw for nearly 200 yards and hit on three to four touchdowns, you’ll be successful in this league.”

Coach also cited the “ninth” player as being a tremendous advantage. “The enthusiasm of the crowd was a great surprise,” Coach Hagin said, “you never know how a new team will be accepted, but Lakeland accepted us totally beyond our expectation.”

Next up for the ThunderBolts is the Miami Morays on Saturday, Mach 26 at 7:00 at the Lakeland center. Miami is owned by former Dolphins receiver Oronde Gadsden and is coached by also former Dolphin, Larry Little. Ray Lewis will again be on hand to cheer on the ThunderBolts.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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