Since the announcement last September that Columbus would be getting an Arena Football League team, potential fans were promised by both team officials and local media there would be plenty of points scored. Through the Destroyers’ first two games, offense-hungry fans were not disappointed as the Destroyers scored 54 and 53 points, respectively.
The offense struggled last week, however, in a 56-34 road loss to the Philadelphia Soul and again yesterday at home in a 51-35 loss to the Dallas Desperados.
Afterwards, Destroyers offensive specialist Coco Blalock, who did his part by scoring two touchdowns yesterday and piling up 200 total yards, summed up the team’s offensive situation.
“No matter how good (an opposing) defense is, we’ve got to score points,” Blalock said. “Thirty-five points are not enough.”
Entering the game, Columbus (1-3) found itself in the bottom half of the league in both average points per game (47) and total touchdowns (19) and did nothing to improve on those rankings against Dallas.
Coach Earle Bruce made a switch at quarterback, allowing back-up John Rayborn to start in place of rookie Ryan Vena, who started each of the Destroyers’ first three games before being pulled in favor of Rayborn in the third quarter in Philadelphia.
Rayborn struggled to move the offense consistently yesterday – especially in the second half when he threw two crucial interceptions and failed to convert a fourth-and-inches play with the Destroyers trailing 48-35 and a little over five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
“We did some good things but we did too many bad things,” Rayborn said. “For us to start winning football games we’ve got to cut down on the mistakes.”
Rayborn played the entire game and threw three touchdown passes but his 183 passing yards were the lowest Destroyers team passing total of the season. In comparison, Vena averaged 229 yards passing in the two games in which he took every snap. Rayborn’s two interceptions yesterday matched Vena’s total for the entire season.
Bruce said he thought Rayborn did well for his first start, but added he did not like the two turnovers.
“He was under heat a little bit,” Bruce said. “They have a big defensive line and they rush the passer. He was under duress at times when either we missed a guy or they overpowered us.”
The coach blamed his team’s struggles on the overall execution of the offense more than the lay of his quarterback and said his team simply must score more to be competitive.
“We’ve got to move the ball and score every time we get the ball,” Bruce said. “Until we do that, we will not be a winner. We’ve got to get more points and the only way you can get more points is to make your plays.”
He added he has not had time to think about who will start at quarterback Friday night in Phoenix.
Blalock said it does not make much difference to him who leads the offense.
“To be honest, I don’t even look at who’s at quarterback,” he said. “I just do my job, run my routes, and when it’s thrown my way, catch it and run with it.”
