Wilmot Phoenix

                The Phoenix were battered and bruised well before they took the field against the reigning GFL Champion Lake Shore Lynx this past Friday night. Suffering from a truly brutal string of injuries, the Phoenix would only compound those problems starting with their second offensive play from scrimmage when Frank Kiczula, the starting center, suffered a knee injury that will take him out of the lineup for weeks, if not months. Following that, Nic Purtee, one of the most sure handed tacklers on the team would suffer a severe concussion in the first half, and late in the game a late tackler would prove to knock Ronnie Orr from the game as he too felt dizzy and will see a doctor as well. After this game, the Phoenix has a serious injury to 30% of its roster.

                That being said, the Lynx are everything they used to be and more. Letting it fly more than usual, the Lynx beat up on the depleted Phoenix secondary by throwing for four touchdowns, while racking up massive time of possession in the first half. The Phoenix’s front line continued to be solid on defense, while not exactly overwhelming the Lynx’s running attack, it would be fair to say the Lynx had more difficulty in that area. However, it was probably the Phoenix’s attention to that vaunted rushing attack that led to breakdowns in coverage, which nevertheless doomed Wilmot early on.

                Offensively, it took a bit of time to get the tread to grip as the Lynx stuffed the Phoenix almost completely for the first three drives. This was all the time the Lynx would need to amass a big enough lead to control the game. However, after gaining traction, the Phoenix weren’t exactly stopped cold on the night, scoring late in the first half and driving multiple times later in the game to rack up some decent yardage. A late drive to the Lynx 3 yard line stalled out, and after that the game coasted from there.

                Perhaps the biggest problem going forward is not so much what the Phoenix is doing, yet who they are trusting to do the job. Multiple times, in each game this season, a well executed drive or momentum swinging play will be contrasted by a missed assignment or an errant penalty. In driving down to the 3 late in the game, a missed block and a penalty shoved the Phoenix back to the 25 yard line, from which the hope of scoring vanished. In these games you must take the opportunities when they are presented, and when talking of this game, it was clear the team did not.

                However, bright spots emerge, as said before, when considering the troubles the offense had early on, gaining nearly 250 yards of offense is not too egregious. Also, Ronnie Orr nearly topped 100 yards again, gaining 95 on 16 carries. The end zone has eluded him this season, yet it’s more of a fluke than because of his efforts. Adam Knoll and Hector Carrasco hooked up for another score, this time on a sweet adjustment by Carrasco to find the ball in traffic. Defensively, the front box of David Haywood, Jessie Wine, TJ Dotson, Chris Bella and Nick Weiss was formidable. Trion Brown had an INT.

                In all, this game could become a simple learning experience, the good teams of this league are not going to give in much at all, and opportunities are scarce. The Phoenix have to pick themselves up quick because right around the corner is the Fox Valley Premier, who are enjoying quite a nice early going of the season. Perhaps the Phoenix can find their legs earlier in this game, and pose a bigger challenge next Friday.