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Thursday, Jul. 31, 2008

Horsemen's late-season slide forces tough road

On May 16, the Lexington Horsemen defeated host Green Bay with a touchdown as time expired, 49-48, for first place in the Midwest Division of arenafootball2.

On July 12, the host Horsemen defeated Green Bay 55-54 in overtime when John Cooper caught a TD and a two-point conversion pass.

Lexington was tied for first and then held the tiebreaker with the Blizzard. Two games remained in the regular season.

On Friday night, the Horsemen (9-7) visit Midwest champion Green Bay (11-5) in the first round of the af2 playoffs. Lexington lost its last two games, dropped to a No. 6 seed and now has to travel to third-seeded Green Bay instead of hosting a first-round game.

“It will be tremendously hard,” Lexington defensive back J.T. Haskins said of beating the Blizzard a third time.

“It's definitely on our minds,” offensive lineman Chris Barnes said. “It took us five quarters to beat them the last time.”

What will it take for Lexington to beat Green Bay and reach the second round against the winner of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton versus Quad City game next weekend?

“We have to stop their pass rush. It's unbelievable,” Horsemen Coach Mike Harmon said. “We need to execute better on offense.”

The Horsemen also have to recover from a late-season slide that cost them the division title and forced them on the road. After the thriller with Green Bay, Lexington lost to Iowa and Quad City.

“We're not happy,” said Harmon of the regular-season finish to Lexington's debut season in af2. (That included becoming the second expansion team to reach the playoffs in its first season.) “They're disappointed in themselves.”

They also are injured. Receiver Tavon McGee is out with a collarbone injury. Defensive back and kickoff return specialist William Mulder has a knee injury.

Quarterback Eddie Eviston plans to play despite a knee injury. “He said he can do it,” Harmon said. “He'll give it a shot.”

Barnes and his mates on the line have the chore of protecting Eviston against the Blizzard rush.

“They have an All-Star defensive front,” said Barnes, including his friend and former teammate, Odell Willis. “They're the fastest team off the ball, and they have the strength to go with it. Speed mixed with power coming from both defensive ends.”

Barnes, who has played fullback and all the line positions, realizes the importance of putting the last two weeks out of the players' minds.

“If we lose now, we're out,” he said. “We're better than we played, and we still scored 79 points last week (at Quad City). We're working hard to make sure we don't give up 81 this week.”

Haskins and the defense will be busy.

“We've got to pressure the quarterback, get some sacks and interceptions and play four quarters,” he said.

Haskins recalled that Green Bay led the Horsemen 20 points at halftime at Rupp Arena three weeks ago. “They couldn't put us away,” he said.

Still, Haskins is aware of the task ahead.

“These are the cards we're dealt,” he said of a third game against Green Bay. “Losing the last two cost us. We could have been (at Rupp Arena).”

But, added Haskins, “I think we're a better road team for some odd reason. Our backs are to the wall. It's only us, and we come together as a unit.”

Lexington was 4-4 on the road and 5-3 at home.