Utah Blaze: 0-5 Blaze face critical stretch
But even greater struggles are a distinct possibility for Utah's third-year Arena Football League franchise. The Blaze now face perhaps their toughest stretch of opponents. Plus, three of their next four games are on the road.
First up, next Saturday, the Blaze will be on the road to face the Philadelphia Soul (5-0), the best team in the AFL so far. Utah will then travel to play at the division-rival Los Angeles Avengers, return home to face the defending ArenaBowl champion San Jose SabreCats and then travel to New Orleans to face the tough VooDoo.
Utah, no doubt, will be the underdog in all four of its next games. By the time May rolls around, the Blaze could be 0-9.
But even if things don't start going their way, Blaze quarterback Joe Germaine feels his team won't give up.
"We have a team of a lot of character. We have a lot of tough guys," said Germaine following Saturday's 70-49 loss to the Georgia Force. "None of us have ever been in this situation before, but there is no quit in our team. I know that if we go down and we don't win a game this year, we'll still fight the whole way."
"It was everybody playing for themselves," said White.
Prior to Saturday's loss the Blaze took some comfort in the fact that all four of their previous losses were by one score in close games that could have gone either way. That wasn't the case against Georgia, as the Force led by at least two scores from midway through the third quarter on. The result left White stunned and questioning what should be done next in an attempt to save the season.
"I've never been 0-5. I've never been 0-4," said White, a veteran of 15 AFL seasons as a coach. "This is definitely new ground."
White pointed out, however, that he has had teams lose five games in a row — most recently last year when the Blaze had a midseason swoon yet still made the playoffs. But he's never had such a miserable start to a campaign.
As the team's general manager, White hasn't hesitated to make roster moves to try to right the ship. He's made trades in each of the past two weeks to acquire veteran defensive backs Damon Mason and Eddie Canonico, for instance.
But Mason, the all-time AFL leader in tackles, missed much of Saturday's game after pulling a calf muscle in pregame warmups.
"We may have to find another DB," White said when asked if he expects any more changes this week. "I thought Eddie Canonico played well early in the game until it was out of reach and then he played like everybody else."
Which is to say, not very well.
If there was one bright spot for the Blaze on Saturday it was the crowd. Utah's attendance of 15,240 was a season high despite the fact that the team has yet to win.
E-mail: lojo@desnews.com
Recent comments
Fizzles, have you been to a game? The league has been around over...
Gene | April 1, 2008 at 5:10 p.m.
They should rename the team the Fizzles. LOL, or "Get Blazed...
Fizzles | April 1, 2008 at 11:55 a.m.
I hope that Danny White looks to do something with the defense, I...
Sorry looking defense | March 31, 2008 at 7:06 a.m.
