Arizona Football League - AzFL

It has been a rough journey thus far playing in the 2006 year. The talent we have as a team doesn't reflect in the 3 - 2 record that we have. The two games that we lost were errors committed on all sides of the ball. Had we played more disciplined, the G-Men would be 5-0 right now. Each week we learn more about our mental errors and apply them to the following game.

In week 5 we played the injury plagued Flagstaff Hitmen. Granted they don't have a good record but this team plays with a lot of heart and has a lot of talent. Losing their starting QB, let alone any other teams starting QB, puts a hurting on playoff vision.

Overall the G-Men didn't play to their full potential. Offensively we are still stuggling to put mass points on the board. With the amount of speed and talent we posses on the offense, we should be averaging 30 + points a game. We lost 45 yards alone on mishaps from punting, running and sacks. The offense should have had a total of over 300 yds but losses gave the Hitmen 2 TD's from our miscues.

This years addition to our running game involved a player that was once the primary threat for the Hitmen. Darnell Potee decided to leave his former team and join the Gladiators. With a sprained ankle and against the coaches and Dr's orders, Darnell wanted to play this game. He had 14 rushing attempts for a total of 84 yards and 1 TD, averaging 5.1 yards a carry. Had we not blown two running blocks, Darnell would have had 97 yds on the ground.

The G-Men won the coin toss and decided to take to ball first. The offensive unit was running on all cylinders their first series scoring in 3:14. John Cyga hooked up with Alan Stevenson for a 30 yd touchdown pass. Extra point by James Austin was no good.

The Hitmen scored their first touchdown in the 1st quarter with 0:21 remaining on the clock. The offense kept their drives alive with 3rd down conversions. The Hitmen had the ball again in the second quarter with an impressive drive, however, it ended with an interception by Benny DiDomenick. Benny's 28yd interception return for a TD put the G-Men up 12-7. James Austin's kick was good making it 13-7 going into the half.

In the second half, the G-Men offense was slowing down. Not converting on 3rd down was causing the G-Men to punt the ball away several times. Two muffed punts gave the Hitmen great field possession resulting in 9 points. The Gladiators were trailing 16- 13 for most of the second half until safety David Bean intercepted a pass from Collin Spickler for 58 yards. This gave the G-Men hope for a win.

With a little over 2 minutes to play, the G-Men wanted to run the clock down because the Hitmen had no more timeouts left. They kept their drives alive with first downs and smart play calling. With 1:04 left on the clock, former Hitmen running back Darnell Potee scored a 4 yd TD giving the Gladiators a 19 - 16 lead. The extra point was muffed, however, Potee scrambled around and threw a pass to Josh "Sloth" Hawkins and crossed the endzone........or did he? The officials stated his knee was down before he crossed the plain even though the team and fans all stated he was in......Do I hear instant replay in the AzFL?? I think not.....

On the kickoff, the G-Men kicked the ball out of bounds giving the Hitmen great field position. This caused a lot of concern because the Hitmen kicker, Keith Carmichael was drilling FG's in warmups. Hitmen were driving down until Gladiator defensive man Anthony Alderman and Chris Frettoloso caused a huge fumble giving the G-men the ball back with 0:24 remaining on the clock.

Overall, our performance wasn't the greatest but we pulled out a win and giving us a 3 - 2 in the standings. Next week we have the most aniticipate game of our season against the team we all once played with for several years. Next week we take on the Paradize Valley Villainz. Come watch a game that will be filled with non-stop hitting and smack talking. Games is at Sunnyslope at 2pm Saturday February 25th.

This weeks players of the game are Darnell Potee for the offense and shared defensive players of the game are Benny DiDomenick and David Bean.....thank you for your contribution to our win this week.

Darnell Potee (Picture Not Available) 
David "Mean" Bean 
Benny DiDomenick
 

 

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