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Can a Broken Tart Be Mended?
Jimmy Somelove
Stallions came out flat against an aggressive Hellrider team and almost gave the fans their first home loss since week 3 last year. The Hellriders came to play and seemed well coached on how to deal with James Tart as they gave him no running room all day (6 carries for 0 yards). Even more impressive is that SLC was indeed featuring Tart in this game plan. That would make the Hellriders the first IFL team to really "shutdown" James Tart.
Seeing that the ground game was not working, Coach Palmateer went to Tart's receiving game but the Hellriders countered by swarming to him and limiting his YAC.
You could see the frustration in JT as he just couldn't get untracked. Then, the unthinkable happened. On his signature play, (Power Trips Screen) Tart caught a screen pass and danced his way through Texas defenders for an 8 yard gain. He never saw Texas LB Calabrese and failed to protect himself like he usually does. Calabrese's hit was fierce as it spun JT around while his foot was still planted for a cut. You could see his knee buckle as he hit the turf. The stadium went dead silent as the fans waited for "Sweet" to hop back up and laugh at Calabrese like he had done so many times before. Tart motioned for the trainers and while he was able to walk off the field, he did not return to the game. He is scheduled for an MRI early Monday but team doctors think its a badly sprained left knee and he's likely out 3-4 weeks.
With Tart out of the line-up the Stallions turned to their powerback, Norman Wiseman and he proved to be a load for the Hellriders as he ripped off runs of 29, 11, 10 on his way to 109 yards and 2 TDs on 24 carries. His runnnig allowed the Stallions to play keep-away ball in the 4th
quarter get away with the 'w'.
While its good to know that Wiseman can be servicable, this team is now missing Mertz and Tart on offense and I don't think any amont of gameplanning is going to be able to replace two players of their caliber.
Sure we know Booker can sling the rock and Money Gomez has proven he's not a bust as he is now second in the league in receiving yards; but they thrived when other teams had to account for Mertz and Tart. I don't think the Stallions will lay down at all---this team can get hot when they need to. But you can't discount the effect losing these starters will have. This just made SLC's chances of a playoff berth very very slim.
Let's hope Booker has some 'extra' magic in that left arm and that Money Gomez can't be double-teamed --JS
Jimmy Somelove
Stallions came out flat against an aggressive Hellrider team and almost gave the fans their first home loss since week 3 last year. The Hellriders came to play and seemed well coached on how to deal with James Tart as they gave him no running room all day (6 carries for 0 yards). Even more impressive is that SLC was indeed featuring Tart in this game plan. That would make the Hellriders the first IFL team to really "shutdown" James Tart.
Seeing that the ground game was not working, Coach Palmateer went to Tart's receiving game but the Hellriders countered by swarming to him and limiting his YAC.
You could see the frustration in JT as he just couldn't get untracked. Then, the unthinkable happened. On his signature play, (Power Trips Screen) Tart caught a screen pass and danced his way through Texas defenders for an 8 yard gain. He never saw Texas LB Calabrese and failed to protect himself like he usually does. Calabrese's hit was fierce as it spun JT around while his foot was still planted for a cut. You could see his knee buckle as he hit the turf. The stadium went dead silent as the fans waited for "Sweet" to hop back up and laugh at Calabrese like he had done so many times before. Tart motioned for the trainers and while he was able to walk off the field, he did not return to the game. He is scheduled for an MRI early Monday but team doctors think its a badly sprained left knee and he's likely out 3-4 weeks.
With Tart out of the line-up the Stallions turned to their powerback, Norman Wiseman and he proved to be a load for the Hellriders as he ripped off runs of 29, 11, 10 on his way to 109 yards and 2 TDs on 24 carries. His runnnig allowed the Stallions to play keep-away ball in the 4th
quarter get away with the 'w'.
While its good to know that Wiseman can be servicable, this team is now missing Mertz and Tart on offense and I don't think any amont of gameplanning is going to be able to replace two players of their caliber.
Sure we know Booker can sling the rock and Money Gomez has proven he's not a bust as he is now second in the league in receiving yards; but they thrived when other teams had to account for Mertz and Tart. I don't think the Stallions will lay down at all---this team can get hot when they need to. But you can't discount the effect losing these starters will have. This just made SLC's chances of a playoff berth very very slim.
Let's hope Booker has some 'extra' magic in that left arm and that Money Gomez can't be double-teamed --JS
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