Loss at Surge highlighted by start of Frey era

The Ohio Glory’s next-to-last game of the 1992 World League of American Football season also was its last road game of the season. In a rematch against the eventual World Bowl-champion Sacramento Surge, the Glory lost 21-7, burned by David Archer touchdown passes of 45, 59 and 74 yards.

Following a thrilling last-second win and a perhaps-as-equally-thrilling overtime loss in consecutive home games, the Ohio Glory took to the road for its final game away from Ohio Stadium for the 1992 season.

The problem for the Glory was the opponent – the Sacramento Surge. The eventual World Bowl champion still was in a fight for the North American West division title, and the Surge had beaten Ohio in Week 2.

The result was a 21-7 loss which put the Glory’s record at 1-8, but there were some bright spots.

First and foremost, the Glory started the process of finding its future quarterback. Former Ohio State quarterback Greg Frey played the second half for an injured Babe Laufenberg (concussion) and was 11-for-26 for 164 yards and a touchdown, an 18-yard strike to wideout Walter Wilson in the final quarter.

Also, the Ohio defense got after veteran Sacramento quarterback David Archer to the tune of seven sacks. Linebacker A.J. Jimerson led the way with 2½ sacks, and linebacker George Koonce (1½), defensive tackles Kent Wells (one) and Charles Jackson (one) and defensive end Chad Rolen (one) all got into the act.

Archer, however, stood upright long enough to go 20-for-40 for 360 yards and long touchdown passes of 45, 59 and 74 yards. Surge wide receiver Eddie Brown caught eight passes for a league-record-tying 196 yards and two of those TDs, and earned WLAF co-Offensive Player of the Week honors for Week 9.

Despite Frey’s second-half success, the Glory couldn’t duplicate its offensive prowess of recent weeks. Ohio gained just 196 total yards, turned the ball over twice and Laufenberg and Frey were sacked nine times. Ohio’s offense was hindered by both starting tackles – Mike Graybill (left) and Ben Jefferson (right) – going out with injuries by the second quarter.

The win was Sacramento’s fourth in a row – the second week in a row a Glory loss resulted in the opponent’s winning streak reaching four games.

There was one game left in the season, a home game against eventual two-time playoff-qualifier Birmingham. But with the potential of Frey getting the starting nod in Ohio Stadium once again, the Glory might have the chance to see how much brighter the days ahead could be.