 |
| Ohio Glory quarterback Pat O’Hara (6) made his first professional start in Week 3 at home against the Orlando Thunder, and was 26-for-39 for 284 yards and an interception. The Glory offense, however, couldn’t muster a touchdown in a 28-3 loss which dropped Ohio’s record to 0-3. |
The Ohio
Glory found itself on the short end of its first two games, despite allowing
just two total touchdowns on defense.
In Week 3 at home against the Orlando Thunder, however, the cracks were
starting to show in all phases of the game.
In a rematch of the heartbreaking Glory loss in Week 1 in Florida, the dam
was starting to bust everywhere:
- Orlando quarterback Scott
Mitchell torched the Glory defense by going 20-of-28 for 273 yards and
touchdowns of 51, 30 and 15 yards. He later was named World League of American
Football’s Offensive Player of the Week for Week 3.
- Mitchell’s performance, along
with Thunder running back Roger Vick’s 90 rushing yards, helped Orlando to rack
up 399 yards of total offense – 97 more than in the teams’ first meeting.
- Ohio’s offense notched just a
25-yard Jerry Kauric field goal to close out the first half, despite gaining
318 total yards. Running back Amir Rasul, who set a WLAF single-game record for
rushing yards against the Thunder two weeks earlier, ran the ball just eight
times for 29 yards.
- Ohio turned the ball over three
times and took the ball away from Orlando just once, giving the Glory a minus-6
turnover ratio in the season’s first three weeks. Two of the Glory’s turnovers
were fumbles by tight end Randy Bethel – one inside the Orlando 20 on the first
drive of the game and the other inside the Thunder 30 late in the first half.
- Ohio committed nine penalties for
90 yards, and one – a roughing-the-punter call against cornerback Aaron Ruffin
– led to the Thunder’s first touchdown pass. Ruffin also committed a personal
foul penalty which led to Orlando’s first touchdown of the game.
- Kauric had a 47-yard field goal
blocked in the first quarter, and he missed another 47-yarder in the second
quarter.
“Right now, we’re our own worst enemy,” Glory Head Coach Larry Little
said after the game. “It’s not that other teams are stopping us. We’re stopping
ourselves.”
Two of the bright spots for the Glory came in the form of quarterback
Pat O’Hara and wide receiver Walter Wilson. O’Hara, making his first
professional start, was 26-for-39 for 284 yards and an interception. Wilson
caught 11 of O’Hara’s passes for 112 yards.
The Glory had its second straight strong home crowd, following up
37,837 fans in Week 2 with 31,232 fans in Week 3. But the results on the field
weren’t getting any better – and players were starting to get testy. One of
those players was starting middle linebacker Jono Tunney.
In an article in the Columbus Dispatch in the week leading up to the
Week 4 contest at the Montreal Machine, Tunney said, “I have no doubt there’s
some selfish players on the team, and I think it’s hurting us. You can’t find
out what kind of heart a guy has by watching him practice. You have to be
first-and-goal and your back’s against the wall.
“I’m not completely sold on some of the character we’ve got on the
team. But I am sold on some of the guys. For the most part, we’ve got an
outstanding club. It’s just going to take time to get the chemistry together.”
Some 20 years later, Tunney expanded on his frustration with the team’s
winless start.
“I
guess I was just getting used to the lack of passion in the professional game,”
he said. “Most people on our team, including myself, were really trying to get
back in the NFL so, yes, selfish to some degree. I think the way the article
came out, I wasn’t happy about. It was just a young inexperienced guy talking,
and I wish I could have taken what I said back.
“I’ve
subsequently learned that when things go wrong, in football and in life,
pointing fingers only works when you get your own house in order.”
Unfortunately
for the Glory, the house would continue to crumble north of the border.
No comments:
Post a Comment