DAVID BUCK Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Friday, July 25, 2008 12:00 am
Tonight, the predictions can come true.
Since the Cavalry's first meeting with the media in March the team has claimed it would win a championship. Tonight, Wyoming gets that chance, facing the Florence Phantoms at 5:45 p.m. in Florence, S.C., in AIFA Bowl II.
"It's a great thing because not a lot of people say they are going to do something and finish it," Wyoming coach Dan Maciejczak said. "Our guys have worked hard and talked since training camp about winning a national championship. For us to go through and beat Arizona after losing to them the previous two times, and beat a great Mississippi team - to play for this - and go full circle and finish something that we set out to do is a great thing for us."
In order to accomplish their goal and back up their preseason talk the Cavs must stop Florence quarterback Omar Jacobs. Jacobs is one of the top quarterbacks in the American Indoor Football Association, throwing for 66 touchdowns and leading the league during the regular season with an average of 14.5 yards per completion.
What Jacobs has done in Florence pales in comparison to what he did in college at Bowling Green. In just two years as the Falcons' starter, Jacobs became the school's leader in touchdown passes with 71, and in 2004 he led the nation with 41 touchdowns passes, set an NCAA record for touchdown-to-interception ratio (71-to-4), and was the Mid-American Conference offensive player of the year. The Pittsburgh Steelers selected him 164th overall in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL draft.
Maciejczak said the Cavs have seen good quarterbacks this season, but none with as famous of a past as Jacobs. Maciejczak, though, takes the name in stride.
"There just isn't much you can say about (Jacobs), except that he's darn good," Maciejczak said. "I don't really look at guys at where they've been. I look at where they are. He's playing in this league, so that makes him no better than any of our guys. Maybe he gets an opportunity to get back into the NFL, but that's what this league is for."
Cavs defensive end Tyrone Saterfield remembers hearing about Jacobs in college, and hoped he would get a chance to tackle him once he saw the Phantoms were in the playoffs.
"I'm not sure why he's down here," Saterfield said. "We are just going to go in with the mind set of, defensively, putting pressure on him. We'll put pressure on him just like any other week. We put pressure on the quarterback, make the quarterback make mistakes and play defensively sound. There is no reason why we can't stop that quarterback or that team."
Saterfield said pressuring the quarterback was key in the Western Conference championship against Mississippi. The Cavs had two sacks and forced three fumbles against the Mudcats.
"We can't just allow (Jacobs) to sit in the pocket and pick our (defensive backs) apart," Saterfield. "I think that was the key this past game. We need to translate this last game to the next game so we can come back with a championship."
The championship would be the first for the Cavalry, and a first for many of the players. A victory would also make the preseason predictions true.
First, though, Wyoming must stop Jacobs and the Phantoms.
VOICES IN THEIR HEADS: Cavs quarterback Matt Strand and linebacker Jeff Main will be hearing voices from inside their helmets all game. The voice will be that of coach Dan Maciejczak.
Both teams in AIFA Bowl II will have two players equipped with the same communication system that NFL players have.
To install the technology, AIFA officials took Strand and Main's helmets after last week's game. Maciejczak said the team didn't get the helmets back until after Thursday's practice.
"I think it's kind of tough just to add for the championship for us to utilize it, but we'll see how it goes," Maciejczak said. "I don't know how it's going to work. It might be helpful, it might not be helpful. So for me, we'll try it out, and if it's not working well, after I tell Matt the play, I'll just take my head set off so he doesn't have to listen to me."
COMMON OPPONENTS: Florence has the homefield advantage, but Casper has the advantage of beating Mississippi, the only common opponent the Phantoms and Cavalry have. Wyoming beat Mississippi 54-26 last week. Florence didn't have the same luck, losing to Mississippi 40-39 when the Mudcats made a last-second field goal on May 3.
RETURNING CHAMPIONS: The Phantoms didn't win the AIFA title last year, but many members of the organization did with the Lakeland (Fla.) Thunderbolts.
Florence general manager Bennie King, head coach Tavares Bowens and assistant coach Aso Pogi were all part of the Thunderbolts last year. King was the general manager, Bowens was an assistant coach, and Pogi was Lakeland's quarterback.
FIELD ADJUSTMENT: Wyoming will have less room to score this week than it has all season.
The Florence Civic Center, the site of today's game, has shorter end zones than does the Casper Events Center.
"They are about half the size of our end zones," Maciejczak said.
Wyoming's coach said the end zones would be an adjustment, but that he didn't think it would bother his team or impact the game.
Florence's end zones are 5 yards deep in the middle, while Casper's are 7.5 yards deep.
AIFA BOWL II TRACKER
AIFA BOWL II: Wyoming at Florence, 5:45 p.m., today, Florence (S.C.) Civic Center.
RECORDS: Cavalry (13-3); Phantoms (12-4).
LISTEN LIVE: Go to the Cavs Web site, www.wyomingcavalry.com, for an Internet broadcast of the game.
BIG NAME, SMALL LEAGUE: Phantoms quarterback Omar Jacobs starred at Bowling Green and led the NCAA with 41 touchdown passes in 2004. The Steelers selected him in the fifth round of the NFL draft, but he is now playing in the AIFA.
HE SAID IT: "I don't really look at guys at where they've been. I look at where they are. (Jacobs is) playing in this league, so that makes him no better than any of our guys." - Cavs coach Dan Maciejczak.