GAME PREVIEW - WEEK 3 - POWER VS MUSTANGS

(1-1)

vs

(0-2)

Monday, March 28, 2011
7:30 PM
TV:
Radio: 93.7 The Fan
Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The Power gear up for their first ever road test this week, travelling to the Bradley Center to take on a team, who, after making the second round of the playoffs last year, is coming out of the gates flat to start out the 2011 campaign.

The Power, used to playing in front of the largest crowds in the AFL, will have to contend with what will probably be a quiet, pre-season like atmosphere. The Mustangs only drew about 3,000 fans for their first game against Chicago, a 49-41 loss.

Perhaps it's for the best, as the Mustangs don't seem to play well in front of large audiences. In the second week, they travelled to Arizona to take on the Rattlers in front of over 9,000, where they were obliterated, 62-31.

The Mustangs are lead by QB Eric Ward out of Richmond, who through two weeks has amassed 475 yards passing and 6 touchdowns to go along with 3 interceptions.

They've got a trifecta of productive receivers in Damian Harrell, Antoine Burns, and Brent Holmes, combining for the bulk of the Milwaukee offense as well as all six of Ward's TD passes. Since 2001 when he was battery mates with local product Chad Salisbury for the Toronto Phantoms (Frazier HS, University of Buffalo), Harrell has amassed over 1,000 yards receiving in each consecutive season.

In spite of the 0-2 record, the Mustangs sit around the middle of the pack in almost every statistical category.

Power coach Chris Siegfried and the team got some bad press this week, when the Trib decided to, inexplicably, run a story about the HC's wife's legal problems. Good God, selling fake weed? Really?

On the field for the Power, the key is whether Kevin McCabe can continue his phenomenal start -- after replacing the injured Bernard Morris last week, McCabe was fantastic in leading the Power to a convincing 58-28 win over the Iowa Goggles.

McCabe is backed up by a bevy of fine receivers, as well as a secondary that really shut down Brad Banks and the Iowa attack in the second half last week, lead by Lenny Wicks and Josh Lay. McCabe's primary targets, as always, will be Mike "Joystick" Washington, Jason Willis, and Lonnell DeWalt. After returning from injury last week, Jerome Mathis and Irv Campbell started to show some signs of life as well. Toss in folk hero Josh Rue, and the Power have a ton of weapons on offense that can hurt you. They've also activated WR David Ball #82 for this weeks game. No word on who will be benched or why.

The Mustangs really are an enigma, having given Chicago, who is tearing the league apart currently, a very close game before getting completely crushed by the Rattlers. As was previously stated, the only real reason we can come up with is that they enjoy playing at home in front of practically no fans. If this were a home game for the Power, it would be an easy call. The Consol Energy Center would have a big crowd, it would be loud, and Milwaukee would simply collapse. However, it's in the Bradley center, there will be 2,000 people there, and the Mustangs will have their home field advantage. Scary stuff.

PREDICTIONS:
For every Power game we cover here on the BOLTSBURGH POWER BLOG, our three contributing editors will pass along their expert picks for the game, along with the key to victory. We call these our BOLTSBURGH POWER BLOG KEYS TO VICTORY! There are three of them. One each.

- Perry -
Kevin McCabe is emerging as one of the top QB's in the entire AFL. Milwaukee has the home field "advantage", but the Power's secondary is finally stepping up. If they can shut down Harrell, they can put up enough points to let the defense carry them to their first road win.

Power 56
Mustangs 31

- Pro -

If you wouldn't have had that half case of Old Milwaukee, you would've finished high school and wouldn't be paying child support right now. Milwaukee vomits on their own shoes and the Power win.

Power 62
Mustangs 41

- Schwartz -
Seems like a good week to lose 71-70.

Mustangs 71
Power 70

KEYS TO VICTORY:

1) Power secondary need to shut down a potent Milwaukee receiving corps.
2) Don't vomit on your shoes.
3) Lose

Aftermath: Bolts vs Barnstormers

A very satisfying victory last night for the Power. Say what you will about Bernard Morris, but he's Coach Sieg's starting QB. When you lose your starter, you're always going to struggle. Kevin McCabe picked it up and the Power put the pedal to the floor and never let up last night. Josh Lay made an immediate impact in his first game back from injury, as did Jerome Mathis.

No need this week for a "play by play" recap like last week. We liveblogged it. If you want a more detailed narrative on the game, check that out.

Cleaning out the notebook from last night....

First off, thanks to reader The Voice for pointing out a mistake in the liveblog. The Power did force a turnover vs Philly last week, which I forgot about and wrote that they had finally forced their first turnover. I forgot about it because Morris bojo'd it up and threw a pick right after a fumble recovery.

This blog, specifically this writer, has said all along that Kevin McCabe should be the starter. Morris has loads of talent, but is just too error-prone in big-time situations. You hate to see anyone get injured, but Big Kev really seized the opportunity. Coach Seig was asked if there was a QB controversy brewing.

“There’s no controversy, we’ve got two good quarterbacks,” the coach told ArenaFootball.com.

Read into that what you will. McCabe was 10-14 with 110 yds and 3 touchdowns, and turned what was a close game that looked like the last team to score would win into a laugher.

For as vague as that quote was, Coach Siegfried spoke to the Post-Gazette in much clearer terms. In Bill Brink's game wrapup, he flat out said that Morris is the starter.

For as much talk as there was about the offense, Tyrrell Herbert, Carlos Campbell, and Josh Lay were absolutely fantastic on D. Lay brought a measure of swagger that was perhaps missing or less emphasized in the first game.

The legend of Josh Rue also continues to grow. The Duquesne grad had three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving) and continues to be met with thunderous chants of "RUEEEEEE!" in every short yardage situation.

Credit where credit is due, when they were in synch, the Goggles had quite a rhythm. Brad Banks threw for 283 yards and four TD's (all to Todd Blythe), but, like Bernard Morris the week before, was a turnover machine, throwing four picks.

Apparently, we rule at evaluating QB's, because we said McCabe would tear up, and we designated the Iowa starter "Bojo Banks" -- boy did he ever live up to that billing. In spite of some unbelievable flashes of brilliance, there were an equal amount of wounded ducks tossed around.

Banks is very charitable like that. He wants to make sure every kid goes home with a souvenier.

Also, let me point out, as I pointed out on Twitter earlier, that Bob Pompiani did an ok job on the local TV play by play. I can also say with full confidence that Craig Woofley was horrific. I was following some message boards and chat rooms, and the entire Arena Football fan nation was laughing at him and his yinzerly ways. The games are all available (home and away) nationwide for free on NiftyTV.com and all games are archived. It's actually a fantastic service for keeping up with the Power when they're on the road, as they will be when they face the Milwaukee Mustangs next Monday.

That said, however... COME ON POMP! The Tulsa Taloons? Yeah, he mispronounced Tallons on the air. More than once. The same people who were laughing at Woof's caveman speak were equally shredding Pompiani for this gaffe.

Derp.

Either way, when all was said and done, the Bolts got the 'W' and that's all that matters.

That, and BoltsBurgh officially arrived in the AFL blogosphere. Can't tell you how unreal and badass it felt to be retweeted by not only the official Barnstormers Twitter, but the official Arena Football League Twitter.

We just started Tweeting, but the response has been fantastic and we've met a lot of very cool Power fans via the Twitterverse, so thanks for that, and if you know a friend or weren't aware that we were residents of the Twit City, make sure you follow us. We promise that if you tweet us, you will be twat back to in kind.

So, between the team getting the win and the blog gaining some traction in the legitimate sense, it's a great start.

Beat Milwaukee.