May 10, 2008 01:06 am
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By Anvil Welch
awelch@joplinglobe.com
The Joplin Crusaders tonight are tackling the Arkansas Warriors in the semifinals of the Central Football League playoffs at least for the second year in a row.
Joplin hopes the rerun continues, of course, since the Crusaders believe they’ve gone 9-0 against the Warriors through the years.
Strangely, perhaps, the Joplin co-head coaches, Brenden Gubera and David Pitts, don’t perceive the Warriors as easy opponents even off the record.
“They (the Warriors) seem to play us tough each time,” Pitts said.
Echoed Gubera: “They always have been very competitive. Definitely, we don’t expect it to be an easy game.”
The Springdale-based Warriors (7-2) visit the Crusaders (9-0) with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. at Junge Field.
The Northern Division winner advances to the championship game next Saturday at Tulsa against the Southern Division survivor.
The Oklahoma Rebels visit the Oklahoma Outlawz at 4 p.m. today at Stratford High School to decide the Southern Division.
Joplin nudged the Oklahoma Knights 7-6 and the Warriors trimmed Enid 42-13 in quarterfinal games last week.
Defending champion Joplin, 13-0 overall in 2007, will be seeking a 23rd straight victory. Joplin beat the visiting Warriors 29-20 on March 1 during the regular season.
“Turning over the ball hurt us in that first meeting,” Pitts said.
“I believe the strengths of the Warriors are running the ball and having a hard-nosed defense,” Pitts said. “I was impressed with the ability of their quarterback running the ball.”
Said Gubera: “The Warriors’ strength is defense. They’re very solid. We understand they have seven or eight guys from Arkansas State and the University of Arkansas. They’re big and physical. ... we mirror each other in those qualities.
“We couldn’t get into a rhythm last week (on offense),” Gubera said. “We simply didn’t have the ball enough. We had the ball for about 20 minutes in running 34 plays. The Knights ran 61 plays.
“The defense, considering the amount of time it spent on the field, played just great,” Gubera said.
Added Pitts: “Obviously, we didn’t play very well last week. By the time we’d have a positive play, we’d have two negatives. The defense bent but didn’t break.”
Notes: The Crusaders are ranked 32nd nationally by the Minor League Football News. The Western Football News’ rankings for the Central Region include No. 1 Joplin, No. 7 Arkansas, No. 11 Oklahoma Knights and No. 12 Oklahoma Outlawz. ... The CFL All-Stars will be announced at the CFL championship game next week. ... Joplin, according to general manager Charlie Hudson, could be in the running for another home game. That’s if the Crusaders repeat as CFL champions. Such a scenario could bring a team from the Oklahoma Metro League to Joplin.
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