Witnessing History; Quad City 103, Greensboro 3

by Mike Vergane
June 5, 2000 - arenafootball2 (af2)

by Mike Vergane

The evening was as much about the Greensboro Prowlers as it was about the Quad City Steamwheelers. It was about a team that let go of its head coach three days before playing an undefeated team. It was about an interim head coach who deserved a much better fate in his first game at the helm. And it was about a much bigger issue as we would find out as the days went by. But it was primarily about history, as a professional football team scored over 100 points for the first time: Quad City 103, Greensboro 3 on May 6, 2000.

Before I describe the events of the evening, let me make one thing clear. Contrary to what others who looked at the box score might say, Quad City did not purposefully run up the score. In fact, the touchdown that put them over the century mark came on an interception return with over two minutes remaining. On the ensuing drive, Greensboro fumbled the ball away deep in their own territory leaving the Steamwheelers only 10 yards to go for another touchdown.

Steamwheeler Head Coach Frank Haege said that no one from the Prowlers accused them of running up the score. "Not one word was said about it. He (Greensboro Head Coach Charlie Griffin) came over and thanked me for kneeling on the ball for the last 90 seconds. We coud have easily scored again."

Some people who have looked at the box score questioned why offensive specialist Shon King, the league's leading scorer, was still in the game in the fourth quarter, and still catching touchdown passes. Frank Haege explains the problems with rosters and substitution rules. "You only suit up 19 guys and you only have one offensive specialist. He has to play. There's nobody else. I would have liked to have taken him out in the third quarter when we took out (QB) Billy (Dicken). You can't tell him to slow down cause that's when you get hurt. When you only suit up 19 you can get lopsided scores when you get up on people."

Haege said there was only one way to have taken out King earlier in the game, and that would have caused one or two of his players unwarrented fatigue and a greater chance of injury. "There are two guys for each position (except OS). Our wide receiver/linebackers are Jeremy Wilkinson and Scott Hvistendahl. I could have made one of those the OS, but then the other would have had to play both ways the whole game. And that's just not going to happen."

There are several things you can point to that caused a 103-3 football game. Greensboro QBs Travis Pender and Brian Foulks were sacked four times and were hurried on virtually every pass play. The Prowlers also turned the ball over a whopping nine times to Quad Cities' none. But Prowlers' interim Head Coach Charlie Griffin summed it up best when he said that his defensive backs could not contain King. "We put our best defensive back on him (King) and he beat us easily. Then we put another back on him and the same thing happened. When you don't have equal talent in Arena Football you have to go to zone, and that usually leaves someone wide open. Their quarterbacks did a good job of finding the open man."

The week leading up to the Quad City game certainly played a part in the 100-point loss. Three days before the game, Prowlers owner Art Donaldson fired Head Coach Clayton Banner and his brother Offensive Coordinator Greg Banner. Greensboro ranked last in the league in scoring, total offense and passing offense.

As for Griffin, he doesn't plan on making wholesale changes with his players. "There are kids out there that just got out of college and we'll look at a few of them. But we have to have a commitment to our program. I don't want to distrust these kids by throwing them away and bringing in a new bunch. The right thing to do is get better with what we've got and sprinkle a player in here or there."

Griffin understands he is the interim head coach and he is fine with that because he is also the head coach and athletic director at Western Guilford High School in Greensboro. He has been very successful there, appearing in the playoffs eight of the past 10 years. But make no mistake, he is committed to Arena Football succeeding in Greensboro.

One person that disapproved with what he considered running up the score is Richmond Speed Head Coach Richard Davis. In an interview with the Richmond Times Dispatch, Davis took Frank Haege to task for the outcome: "I can't believe Frank Haege allowed it to happen. He made a serious mistake for the credibility of this league. That's embarrassing for him. Was it so important to him, on a personal basis, that he scored 103 points against a team that could only score three? Take one for the league, Frank. For the health of us all who are on the bottom."

Since when has it become the responsibility of the stronger teams to take care of the "health" of the weaker teams? This is sports competition, not a form of socialist health care. Take a look at any league in any sport. There are always one or two teams that don't make it. That's just the way it is. It always comes down to fan support and if the fans will support a losing franchise. I doubt if the fans will feel any better about a loss if the team pounding them fell on the ball for the entire 4th quarter.

On an interesting side note, Davis's Richmond Speed play host to the Quad City Steamwheelers this Friday evening.

Mike Vergane writes his af2 column on a weekly basis for OurSports. He has covered college football for local and national radio since 1995.

arenafootball2 Stories from June 5, 2000

• Witnessing History; Quad City 103, Greensboro 3 - OSC Original by Mike Vergane

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