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Cardinals Digest
Volume #1, Issue #4
Monday August 2nd 2004
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A Real Ass Kicking In Murfreesboro
It was the game Coach Tyrell Nichols knew was in team ever since they gathered for their first spring practice.
"As a coach, you have a feeling of a how team can play when everything is working right, mistakes are what lose games, talent takes you so far, then it's being able to capatalize on that talent and not make a bad mistake. That's what we did today, play mistake free football and let the talent take over, on both sides of the ball".
Wether it was the swarming defense or the deep TD bomb or the solid as a rock running game, today was the day the Cardinals did everything right, and even what they did do wrong, came out smelling like a rose.
Things started off the way coach Nichols had hoped they would, a long drive into Mules territory, but A Mark McMurray interception inside the Mules 20 may have seemed like a dejavu that this team didn't wanna live thru again, bad mistakes at bad times, but they would rebound. After stopping Murfreesboro on the ensuing drive, the Cardinals again went to work with a perfect balance of run and pass and held the ball all the way into the 2nd quarter, Boyce Heddens 33 yard FG gave the visitors a 3-0 lead. Following a short Mules drive, the Cardinals took over again and this time it was the big play instead of the little one that killed the Mules defense. "We've been waiting for that one all year", Quarterback McMurray said, "for whatever reason it hasn't come, but we knew it would, and today it did". McMurray dropped back on a 1st and ten from his own 31 and proceeded to air out a bomb down the sideling, WR Zachary Hall had his man beat by a good 3 steps when the ball landed square in his arms, never breaking stride he raced the remaing 30 yards down the sideling and into the Murfreesboro end zone to give St. Louis a 10-0 lead, and then defense took over.
The Mules would get a late FG to make it 10-3 at the half but the fierce hits and swarming pressure were clearly taking their toll on the home teams offense, it was the Mules defense that would need to make a big play today, and they did, but it didn't work out the way it was supposed to. With just over 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Alexus Winston took a handoff from McMurray and swept outside, has was corraled by Dennis Gallup and the ball popped loose. As multiple Mules made a beeline for the ball, TE Alonzo McGriff saw an opening, "the ball was bouncing, and you could see the angle it was gonna land, instead of diving on it I went to the left of it, it was instinct, i'm sure coach will tell me never to do that again", he said with a smile. McGriff scooped up the ball, and started running, "PB (WR Phillip Brauer) was downfield, and he turned around as I started running, he laid a heckuva block for me and I saw daylight, I didn't think I could go all the way but I knew I had daylight". Turns out he could go all the way, and the TD was the final nail in the Mules coffin for this game.
Another Hedden FG would make it 20-7 and that's the way it ended, the defense never let Murfreesboro back in the game and the offense was as a steady as Nichols envisioned it, wrapping up the teams 2nd road win in 3 games.
Birds Of Prey
The Cardinals defense has been talked about up and down the Mississippi, and while they've played well, today may have been their coming out party, that's the kind of hype that comes along with 6 sacks, 2 Interceptions and a fumble recovery. "Its amazing", says defensive coordinator Rufus Schneider, "when we got together for the first time, and Tyrell asked me to map out the kind of player I wanted at every position on defense, I never imagined that I would pretty much get my entire list granted, it's an amazing flexibility to have that amount of talent out there".
MLB Noel Daniels may have had the best statline of all on the day, recording 7 tackles, assisting in 4 more, recording a sack and an interception to go along with setting the schemes on the field. "It feels real good, I can go out there and see what's coming and not worry about anyone else, sometimes you say to yourself, well this guy may not have a good read on what he needs to do so maybe I should slide over a little bit and help him out, and then all of the sudden you're out of position and someone runs right by you and bad things happen, that doesn't happen here, I can do my job without any worries, and as the Quarterback of the defense, it's such a refreshing thing.
Other notable defensive standouts on the day were Evangelista who recorded 2 sacks, Lee, Maldanado and Covington who all added a sack and Langevin who picked up his 1st interception of the year. Overall the Mules were held to 244 yards, not a strikingly low number, but when it counted, inside Cardinal territory, the yards were few and far between. "We know we're not there yet", Schneider said. "but we also know that when it counts, theres alot of heart to go along with the talent, they know how to buckle down and put the screws on when needed".
Players Of The Week
RB's Winston and McKelvey combined to gain 87 yards on 24 carries. McMurrays 19-32 for 200 yards and A TD was his best line as a pro and Zach Cowards 69 yard TD reception was both the longest reception of his and McMurrays career.
McGriff, Desantis and Hall combined for 16 catches and over 170 yards.
On Defense, Noel Daniels continues to play lights out football, a sack, a pick and 7 tackles from him led the defense. The Defensive End play was the story of the day again as Maldonado, Lee, Evangelista and Covington accounted for 5 sacks and kept pressure on the QB all day. Gil Langevin added his 1st interception of the season.
Volume #1, Issue #4
Monday August 2nd 2004
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Real Ass Kicking In Murfreesboro
It was the game Coach Tyrell Nichols knew was in team ever since they gathered for their first spring practice.
"As a coach, you have a feeling of a how team can play when everything is working right, mistakes are what lose games, talent takes you so far, then it's being able to capatalize on that talent and not make a bad mistake. That's what we did today, play mistake free football and let the talent take over, on both sides of the ball".
Wether it was the swarming defense or the deep TD bomb or the solid as a rock running game, today was the day the Cardinals did everything right, and even what they did do wrong, came out smelling like a rose.
Things started off the way coach Nichols had hoped they would, a long drive into Mules territory, but A Mark McMurray interception inside the Mules 20 may have seemed like a dejavu that this team didn't wanna live thru again, bad mistakes at bad times, but they would rebound. After stopping Murfreesboro on the ensuing drive, the Cardinals again went to work with a perfect balance of run and pass and held the ball all the way into the 2nd quarter, Boyce Heddens 33 yard FG gave the visitors a 3-0 lead. Following a short Mules drive, the Cardinals took over again and this time it was the big play instead of the little one that killed the Mules defense. "We've been waiting for that one all year", Quarterback McMurray said, "for whatever reason it hasn't come, but we knew it would, and today it did". McMurray dropped back on a 1st and ten from his own 31 and proceeded to air out a bomb down the sideling, WR Zachary Hall had his man beat by a good 3 steps when the ball landed square in his arms, never breaking stride he raced the remaing 30 yards down the sideling and into the Murfreesboro end zone to give St. Louis a 10-0 lead, and then defense took over.
The Mules would get a late FG to make it 10-3 at the half but the fierce hits and swarming pressure were clearly taking their toll on the home teams offense, it was the Mules defense that would need to make a big play today, and they did, but it didn't work out the way it was supposed to. With just over 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Alexus Winston took a handoff from McMurray and swept outside, has was corraled by Dennis Gallup and the ball popped loose. As multiple Mules made a beeline for the ball, TE Alonzo McGriff saw an opening, "the ball was bouncing, and you could see the angle it was gonna land, instead of diving on it I went to the left of it, it was instinct, i'm sure coach will tell me never to do that again", he said with a smile. McGriff scooped up the ball, and started running, "PB (WR Phillip Brauer) was downfield, and he turned around as I started running, he laid a heckuva block for me and I saw daylight, I didn't think I could go all the way but I knew I had daylight". Turns out he could go all the way, and the TD was the final nail in the Mules coffin for this game.
Another Hedden FG would make it 20-7 and that's the way it ended, the defense never let Murfreesboro back in the game and the offense was as a steady as Nichols envisioned it, wrapping up the teams 2nd road win in 3 games.
Birds Of Prey
The Cardinals defense has been talked about up and down the Mississippi, and while they've played well, today may have been their coming out party, that's the kind of hype that comes along with 6 sacks, 2 Interceptions and a fumble recovery. "Its amazing", says defensive coordinator Rufus Schneider, "when we got together for the first time, and Tyrell asked me to map out the kind of player I wanted at every position on defense, I never imagined that I would pretty much get my entire list granted, it's an amazing flexibility to have that amount of talent out there".
MLB Noel Daniels may have had the best statline of all on the day, recording 7 tackles, assisting in 4 more, recording a sack and an interception to go along with setting the schemes on the field. "It feels real good, I can go out there and see what's coming and not worry about anyone else, sometimes you say to yourself, well this guy may not have a good read on what he needs to do so maybe I should slide over a little bit and help him out, and then all of the sudden you're out of position and someone runs right by you and bad things happen, that doesn't happen here, I can do my job without any worries, and as the Quarterback of the defense, it's such a refreshing thing.
Other notable defensive standouts on the day were Evangelista who recorded 2 sacks, Lee, Maldanado and Covington who all added a sack and Langevin who picked up his 1st interception of the year. Overall the Mules were held to 244 yards, not a strikingly low number, but when it counted, inside Cardinal territory, the yards were few and far between. "We know we're not there yet", Schneider said. "but we also know that when it counts, theres alot of heart to go along with the talent, they know how to buckle down and put the screws on when needed".
Players Of The Week
RB's Winston and McKelvey combined to gain 87 yards on 24 carries. McMurrays 19-32 for 200 yards and A TD was his best line as a pro and Zach Cowards 69 yard TD reception was both the longest reception of his and McMurrays career.
McGriff, Desantis and Hall combined for 16 catches and over 170 yards.
On Defense, Noel Daniels continues to play lights out football, a sack, a pick and 7 tackles from him led the defense. The Defensive End play was the story of the day again as Maldonado, Lee, Evangelista and Covington accounted for 5 sacks and kept pressure on the QB all day. Gil Langevin added his 1st interception of the season.