PREVIEW
NEW JERSEY XTREME (0-5) at
CINCINNATI MARSHALS (3-2)
Saturday, April 30, 7:30 p.m. at U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
PREVIEW
Riding a hot streak that includes their first win, their first road win and a shootout against the rival Dayton Warbirds, the Cincinnati Marshals attempt to gain a fourth straight win may be less about if they can do it and more about how they do it.
With the New Jersey Xtreme organization entering this contest in a constant state of change, the Marshals have an opportunity to do to New Jersey what several teams had done to them last year in their previous existence as the Waco Marshals.
After a 2-4 start, the Waco Marshals let go of their roster and played only road games with whatever players they could gather. The result was four disasterous contests in which they were outscored 330-33, including scores of 74-0 and 116-18 their final two games.
The Xtreme's beginning was ever worse, 0-4, before they let go of their coaching staff prior to a 77-26 loss in Dayton two weeks ago.
Since then New Jersey has reportedly lost their home at Continental Airlines Arena and their remaining roster. At least one home game has been postponed while they iron out details with a different arena to play their home games.
In the meantime, New Jersey appears to be traveling to Cincinnati with a collection of players from the New York area, with the majority most likely coming from the New York Predators, a semi-pro team in the North American Football League. The Predators made their way into the NAFL playoffs with a record around .500, led by running back Danny Cowhig, quarterback Lou Scala, linebacker Tim Heaney, and lineman Anthony Polizzi, all of whom were Honorable Mention All-Stars in the 100-plus team league.
It will be hard for the new players to fare much worse than the previous Xtreme squad. With their original set of players, New Jersey ranked at or near the bottom of the NIFL in points, yards, points allowed, passing yards, turnovers, and turnover margin. Additionally, they are one of three teams yet to have made a field goal, and one of two teams listed without a sack.
A three-game road trip to Florida that lasted a little over a week did not help matters, as New Jersey was outscored 153-30 in the losses. New Jersey was little better before that, losing 44-18 to the Miami Morays in their lone game at the Continental Airlines Arena.
With New Jersey struggling as they are, the Marshals' offense has a chance to move their lofty totals even higher. Cincinnati currently ranks fourth in scoring and fifth in yardage. Another 80-point effort like they had against Dayton should push those rankings even higher.
Individually, Rayshawn Askew could start to run away with the league scoring title, already holding the top spot by <<32>> points, and Tobias Deans can maintain his hold as the league's top receiving threat.
Maybe more importantly that bolstering their current stars, this game could give the Marshals a chance to develop even more weapons. Receiver Jeff Jourdan picked up his first touchdown of the season last week, also adding a late two-point conversion reception. Jourdan seems like the most likely candidate to join the Marshals big three of Askew, Deans, and quarterback Brett Dietz as a scoring threat, but Ernie Samuels and Dan Fry also could step into that role with a big game.
Defensively, Brett Hamblen can build upon a two-interception game, and Tim Wilkins still remains among the league leaders with four. The defensive line could also gain some confidence after accounting for only << >> sacks so far. Dayton's Ryan Terry piled up six sacks on the Xtreme in their last game, meaning Ian Etheridge, Taz Holley, and Luke Scarborough could quickly become one of the league leaders.
With their next home game over a month away, the Marshals have a chance to give their growing fan base plenty to talk about until June 4.