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Georgia Force Predators into Prey
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Georgia Force Predators into Prey
I Light Media
A new football season is underway just as another comes to a close. Atlanta football fans, still reeling from the Falcons last half collapse needed only to look back to its owner, Arthur Blank, for the cure. Blank's latest acquisition, the Georgia Force, kicked off the 2006 Arena Football Season with an exciting 48-31 win over the Orlando Predators.
For those who are only casually acquainted with Arena Football through television need to get down to Philips Arena and quick. Sitting in the stands of an AFL game is like standing on the sidelines of an NFL game. You can literally feel the contact in the stands as players crash into the boards.
As repel teams descended from the ceiling, sometimes head first, with Old Glory the Philips Arena crowd pounded standard issue buckets in approval.
The Georgia Force ended last season one game short of winning all the marbles. Force head coach Doug Planck knows returning to that level is not an easy road.
Former rookie and offensive player of the year, offensive specialist Chris Jackson, put the Force on the board first with a 25 yard touchdown catch.
The Force was driving for another score when Matt Nagy's pass to Jackson at the 6 was knocked loose by Predators defensive back Jermaine Mays. Scott Cloman recovered the ball for Orlando at the 2.
Georgia's own Joe Hamilton (Georgia Tech) made the most of the turnover. Hamilton tied the game with a 6-yard pass to Jimmy Fryzel to start the second quarter.
Two of the better teams in the National Southern Conference battled punch for punch clear into the final quarter. After tough defensive stands from both teams limited the scoring to competing field goals, Orlando opened up the fourth the way they ended the half with a touchdown. Hamilton's 5-yard bullet to Cloman gave the visitors a 24-20 lead.
"It's not how you begin, it's how you end" is the one line charge Coach Planck gives his team. And the Force ended the game well taking the lead for good with just under 2 minutes to play. Nagy's pass to a leaping Jackson in the corner gave the Force a 34-31 lead.
With the slim lead and the Predators holding the ball the noise level increased even more as if it were possible.
How much of an effect did the crowd have on the game? "The crowd noise was a big factor", praised Coach Planck. "The fact that they were so loud put a lot of pressure on the offense" assessed Planck. "They (the Predators) were not able to make adjustments. If you noticed several times during the game their coach, Jay Gruden, ran out there to instruct his receivers and offensive personnel into position".
The adjustments didn't make much difference as the Force intercepted Hamilton twice more for two touchdowns that sealed the game.
Philips Arena will be rocking again next Super Bowl Sunday as the Force takes on the team that ended their championship run, John Elway's Colorado Crush at 1:00 pm.