Xtreme Flatter Themselves, Get Flattened

By David Curtis, Xtreme team reporter

Los Angeles - (6 February 2001) -- The Los Angeles Xtreme’s Saturday walk-through apparently focused more on trash-talking than fundamentals.

Understandable, perhaps, in a league building its reputation on pizazz, but, as the team discovered Sunday afternoon, not exactly a recipe for success. Despite being the oddsmakers’ favorite to win a championship, L.A. and its superior offensive talent fell to the self-destructing San Francisco Demons, 15-13.

In all fairness, the defense did its part. Surrendering 21 first downs doesn’t look good on paper, yet this statistic reflects an intense and fairly disciplined performance that held opposing running backs to 32 yards and allowed only two big plays, one of which required a reverse. Unfortunately, the other -- a deep scoring strike to receiver Calvin Shexnayder – changed the complexion of the game. (Without this breakdown, quarterback Mike Pawlawski would have averaged just five yards per attempt.)

L.A. had previously overcome a mistake- and Demon-dominated first half to establish a 10-6 lead early in the fourth quarter. Since San Francisco’s lone score to that point had come after a turnover in Xtreme territory, it looked as if the "better" team would survive the unexpected battle of endurance. The Demons were close to their final count of 15 penalties for 121 yards, and L.A.’s offense was looking much crisper even when they failed to get points. A spectacular 28-yard catch resulting in a touchdown for receiver Darnell McDonald, who caromed off a perfectly timed hit to reach the end zone, had given the Xtreme at least some measure of momentum, and it showed.

With the bomb to Shexnayder, however, the team began to fold. Quarterback Tommy Maddox ended what was shaping up as a snappy comeback drive with a red zone interception, and when the ball was quickly returned to the Xtreme on a fumble, they could manage only a field goal and a one-point lead at13-12.

The Demons eventually overcame that meager deficit with another patient, savvy drive that consumed the final four-plus minutes and ended with a game-winning 33-yard field goal. This was kicked with two seconds and counting, and there was initially some question about the fairness of clock operation, as the wind-down paused briefly while officials judged whether a first down had been made on the last play..

Receiver Jeremaine Copeland remarked after the game that fans hadn’t seen the real Xtreme offense. He probably was right. If so, the reason was clear enough, because the contest’s announcers spent as much time discussing the team’s swagger in practice the day before as they did reporting exploits on the field. Of course, all good teams can succumb to overconfidence; some would say it’s inevitable. But it shouldn’t happen before a franchise achieves its first historical victory….