Worn down again

Well, sorry that I have not written in a few days. It has been very hectic since Sunday's loss to Vienna. More on that later.

The game started out very well, after a long kickoff return our defense held them to a dominant 3 & out. Our offense took over and marched down the field with some big throws and eventually we forced our way into the endzone to go up 6-0. The extra point was blocked, but Frantzy Dorlean (DE/TE - Tennessee State) scooped it up and scored for the two point conversion. Just like that we were up 8-0.

The Vikings made some adjustments, upped the tempo, and tested our edge, they found it a few times and RB Clinton Graham scampered for a few first downs. Finally, a PI call moved them into the Red Zone and after a long scramble QB Steve Levy (Cal) found pay dirt. They "waggled" on the PAT and it was tied up 8-8.

We still felt pretty confident, however, as they had to work hard for their yards and nothing was coming easy.

On our next offensive series, an errant pass found the hands of a DB who scooted in for the pick6. Down 8-14, momentum started to swing in favor of the Vikings. Our offense moved the ball on the next series, but could not finish the task and we punted away. Midway through the second quarter they began using two tight ends, we adjusted quickly and caused them to call a timeout, but a few plays later they took advantage of some of our very tired two-way players, sealed the edge and were off to the races. The pace was too much and eventually they ran an old student body right play and our guys were caught out of position. Down 8-21, our team started to lose confidence. It didn't help that after a 3 & out and a long punt return, the Vikings were again in scoring position. We made them work for it but before long we were down 8-28 and some bickering began on the sideline.

As the offense took the field I pulled the team together (very cordially, as you can imagine ;) ) and told them that if they didn't believe we could still win this thing, to get off the bus. The game was still very much in reach, end of the half, our ball, if we score we're down 14 and we get the ball to start the second half. The guys bought in, we drove the field and QB Paul Troth (East Carolina) found WR Benni Fussenegger (Austria) just before the half and at 14:28 we were back in the ballgame.

The second half opened up, however, and we could not move the ball. A quick 3 & out and a long punt return saw the Vikings looking for blood. Our defense came out fast & hard, but a Barry Sanders-esque run by Graham, another 3 & out, and a Jason Gesser style scramble and throw by Levy found 14-43.

From there on it was just damage control, our worn out players fought with everything they had, stuffed the Vikings twice in the redzone but gave up one more touchdown late in the third quarter. The only solace available for the second half came early in the fourth quarter, QB Paul Troth (who was under considerable pressure both acting as offensive coordinator and playing quarterback) hit franchise WR/DB Christian Steffani (Austria) for a long strike. We made the PAT field goal (not at all automatic this year) and that was our final score: 21-50.

I was proud about how our boys fought back after being rallied together in the 2nd quarter, but again, numbers and conditioning were a huge problem for us as we simply wore down.

Crazy news, however, the Danube beat Graz, and if we win out, we can still make the playoffs! This truly has been a wild season in the AFL.