LOOKS DECEIVING IN SCRIMMAGE FOR SAN JOSE
By Andy Lopusnak, ArenaFan.com
February 20, 2008

STOCKTON, CA – The final score and statistics were clearly in favor of the Kansas City Brigade in a controlled preseason scrimmage held Tuesday night in Stockton, California. For the San Jose SaberCats, Tuesday's score and statistics were not that important. However, they will certainly matter on March 3rd when the regular season kicks off for the defending ArenaBowl champions and they face off against the Rush in Chicago.

“You can’t concern yourself about the final score of a scrimmage,” said San Jose head coach and general manager Darren Arbet. “Both teams played everyone and with cut downs this weekend, we had a lot of players to get film on so we can make decisions on who’s making this roster.”

Combined, both teams played over 70 players. Almost 30 of those players won’t be on either team’s roster by Monday afternoon when final 24-player rosters for the regular season will be announced.

For a team that returns 18 of its 20 starters from last year’s ArenaBowl win, the SaberCats used the scrimmage as an opportunity to look for upgrades and secure spots for the rest of the team rather than to evaluate the team’s starters and veterans. San Jose played its starters for the first two series of the contest. For the most part Kansas City did the same, but quarterback John Fitzgerald took all the snaps in the first half. Additionally, SaberCats veterans WR James Roe, DB Omarr Smith and LB Steve Watson did not participate in the scrimmage.

“Honestly, until I watch the film, I can’t say who did well and who did poorly with so many players out there,” added the two-time AFL Coach of the Year and Stockton native.

SaberCats quarterback Mark Grieb completed his first five passes of the night. On San Jose’s first possession, he led the team to a seven-play, 30-yard drive culminating in a two-yard touchdown plunge by Brian Johnson that tied the scrimmage at seven apiece.

Grieb’s night ended on his sixth pass attempt, an interception that caused a bit of controversy. San Jose receiver Rodney Wright caught the ball with possession, then was smashed into the boards. In normal circumstances, Wright would have considered tackled, but after hitting the wall, the ball slipped loose and into the hands of Kansas City defensive back Monty Montgomery. It was ruled an interception and the Brigade took over at the Kansas City 23. The SaberCats coaches said they would look at the play to determine if the correct call was made on the field or whether it should have been a catch with a fumble, an incompletion or a completion and then a tackle into the wall. Nonetheless, the stats will not change since this was just a preseason scrimmage.

“You don’t go and hit the reset button,” said Grieb, a two-time ArenaBowl MVP. “Championship teams get better with every week of the season and this is the starting point to take a look at ourselves to get better.”

On the ensuing Brigade drive, the SaberCats’ defense forced a turnover on downs when Fitzgerald misfired on four straight passes. That ended the time on the field for San Jose’s first-team defense. Kansas City was up 14-7.

“It’s a different ball game when Grieb is out there - he changes the dynamic on both sides of the ball,” said Fitzgerald, who was selected Offensive Player of the Scrimmage after completing eight-of-15 for 166 yards with three touchdowns for the Brigade.

San Jose’s special team unit was perhaps the highlight of the night. Trestin George had a 57-yard kickoff return for a touchdown near the end of the first half and the team held Kansas City to an average of 12.8 yards per kickoff return while gaining 37.0 yards per kickoff return. For those of us that obsess over the numbers and just have to know, the final score was Kansas City 58, San Jose 35 with the Brigade outgaining the SaberCats 312 to 164 in total yardage.

Next weekend, both teams will strap on their helmets for real as the 2008 regular season kicks off. Kansas City will host the Tampa Bay Storm on Saturday, March 1st, while San Jose will travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Rush on Monday, March 3rd – the game will be televised live on ESPN2 at 6:00 P.M. PT.

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Photos below: from the Feb. 19 scrimmage between the San Jose SaberCats and Kansas City Brigade.