EVERETT – The Everett Hawks’ April 3 home opener was just eight seconds old and already the visiting Wyoming Cavalry trailed 6-0.
Wyoming’s Jegil Dugger received Everett’s kickoff at the goal line and bolted to his own 9-yard line before being knocked helmet-over-thigh pads by a hit that seemed to say “Welcome to Everett.”
Later, while the Hawks basked in the glow of a 64-28 triumph, Dugger shrugged off the play with a smile.
“They’ve got to come to our house next time,” Dugger said, almost licking his chops at the prospect.
Next time comes tonight when the Hawks travel to Casper, Wyo., for a National Indoor Football League showdown with the much-improved Cavalry.
Since losing to Everett in April, Wyoming has won six of seven games. The Cavalry’s 7-2 record is the third-best in the Pacific Conference and fifth-best in the NIFL. Wyoming has secured a firm grip on second place in the West Division, trailing only Everett (10-0).
Given the Hawks’ difficult remaining schedule – they play South Division-leading Miami (7-3) twice in the final three regular-season games – upending Everett tonight would put Wyoming squarely back in the chase for first place.
“Everett’s the locomotive that’s going through the NIFL right now,” first-year Wyoming coach Shannon Moore said. “They’re a powerhouse, but we want to play with them and beat them.”
Casper, where the Cavalry is unbeaten, would seem the perfect place to accomplish that feat.
Everett coach Dan Maciejczak has visited the Cavalry on multiple occasions over the past five years, as both a player and a coach. He said fans are likely to do or say most anything to get the goat of visiting teams.
“Casper’s the toughest place to play in the league, bar none,” Maciejczak said. “That’s what makes it fun.”
Just how tough is Casper? Well, a good number of the local children attend an institution known as Poison Spider Elementary School.
Seemingly snake-bit after compiling a 12-30 record over three consecutive losing seasons, Wyoming’s emergence as one of the premier teams in the league is a credit to Moore, a former assistant coach who took over the head-coaching duties just two days before the season opener.
“He’s really learned the indoor game quickly,” Maciejczak said of Moore, who at 27 is the league’s youngest coach.
Behind quarterback Matt Strand, who has thrown 29 touchdown passes and just seven interceptions, Wyoming ranks No. 3 in the league in total offense (259.6 yards per game), behind Everett (280.8) and River City (266.6).
Dugger’s 458 yards rushing (nine TDs) rank sixth in the league, just behind Everett’s Verna Owens (476 yards, 17 TDs). Kicker Pete Garces has been very effective, converting 46-of-48 PATs and ranks third in the NIFL with 12 field goals.
With six interceptions, Cavalry defensive back Erlin Sanders is tied for eighth in the NIFL with Everett’s Milton Myers and Jaquwan Brackenridge. Sanders boasts a team-high 36 tackles.
Wyoming allows an average of 35 yards rushing per game. Everett (29 yards) and Odessa (33) are the only NIFL teams more efficient at stifling opponents on the ground.
Fields lost for the season, Pharms to step up: Last Friday’s 70-33 shellacking of Daytona Beach proved costly for Everett. In his third game back after injuring his shoulder in the season opener, defensive lineman John Fields broke his right ankle and is out for the remainder of the season. Previously flush with defensive linemen, the loss of Fields, coupled with Reggie Hargrove’s departure for Hamilton of the Canadian Football League left Maciejczak scrambling for someone to rotate with Tai Tupai, Tupo Tuupo and Sabree Anderson on the Hawks’ three-man front. Enter Jeremiah Pharms. The former UW standout (1996-99) was previously restricted from traveling out of state under the terms of a work-release program that followed the 27 months he spent in prison for a 2001 robbery conviction. Pharms successfully completed work-release this week, Maciejczak said, and is no longer restricted from participating in road games, starting today in Wyoming.
Misleading numbers: Despite leading the league in TD passes (53), total yardage (2,154) and total offense (214 yards per game), Hawks quarterback Albert Higgs is sixth in the league passing ratings at 109.3. Of course, Higgs’ rating suffers because he throws a few interceptions, usually when trying to thread the needle with a five-touchdown lead.
“I don’t give squat about statistics,” Maciejczak scoffed. “The only numbers I care about are wins and losses.”
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