"Damon Mason is sort of like having a coach on the field," said White. "He's really good at communicating and has been a big help. Eddie's doing a nice job too. It just takes some time when you have three guys coming from different systems trying to all get everything straight."

Canonico agrees.

"We're jelling now," said Canonico of the Blaze defensive backs. "It takes a little while when you have three new guys working together to get on the same page. In (the arena) game, the DBs all have to have the same mindset and know what each other is going to do, and it takes a couple of games to get that down. But we're starting to come together now."

The Blaze, meanwhile, still haven't given up on the season. With 10 games remaining on their schedule, they know they are only a couple of games out of the playoff picture.

"I'm telling you, once we get one win, this team is going to get rolling," said Canonico. "We're going to be rolling right into the playoffs."

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E-mail: lojo@desnews.com