Roll On, Salsa Cats

Every week, the Santa Fe Salsa Cats strap on their equipment and every week another name stands out. The name this past week was Julius Jones.

Picked up by the then-Green Bay Packers, Jones has been the most consistent force for our lads, churning out multitudes of 100-yard games, easing the transition to the pro game for Patrick Blake.

It all came together for the young running back last night. Compiling 212 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 7.4 yards per carry, Jones was the difference against a less-than-stalwart Minnesota defensive front. And in what was likely a divisional preview, two long runs broke the back of the Minnesota team who suffered their first defeat of the season.

“It comes down to running the ball,” said coach Mike Tice after the game. “They were able to do things with Jones that Moe just couldn’t do. Both Daunte and Patrick were fantastic. There’s no way to pick between the two of them. What it comes down to is Jones killed us.”

Harsh words from the former head coach, now offensive coordinator, whose decision was to go with Moe Williams rather than the less-proven Mewelde Moore whom fans might remember was courted by the Salsa Cats in the offseason.

For the Salsa Cats, it means the untarnished season continues. The Vikings will try to regroup and refocus on next week’s matchup.

It’s only one game, but it looks like Santa Fe has what it takes to come away with the title in what is a surprisingly game NFC North.

Blake Brings Feet, Arm and Brain to Bear in Comeback Win

Special to edMaddenReports
by Daniel K. Wiems

Dawn has broken on the morning after, and the echo of the name still rings in the memory of what has transpired.

Patrick Blake.

Down 31-7 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter, most teams would have thrown in the proverbial towel – given the second team a chance to play and show something positive for the next week.

There was no panic.

With Patrick Blake at the helm, having played a well-below-average game to this point, common wisdom would have said that the rookie quarterback or one of the Quinns could have done a better job of captaining the ship. Coach Crennel would hear none of this, however.

Despite backing Quinn, the younger, in preseason and being overridden by G.M. Collins who placed the mantle of leadership on young Patrick Blake, Crennel did not give in to the call from offensive coordinator Sean Payton that demanded the removal of Blake from the game.

He was rewarded for his trust by 28 unanswered points, by way of the nimble feet of Patrick Blake.

Rushing for three touchdowns is not something new for Blake, the nimble-footed second-year quarterback who starred in college in an option offense. He just hadn’t done it in the pros.

“I saw some openings today and I just took advantage of them,” said Blake who had Miami linebackers on their heels through the fourth quarter.

“Guys in this league are so much faster than they were at State. I’m just glad I can still get around well enough.”

It wasn’t just Blake, or Julius Jones who enjoyed decent success against the Dolphins, both on the ground and through the air. Nor was it Vinnie Vincent, the dynamic receiver who has stepped in to be Blake’s number one option. The defense stepped their game up a notch as well, pinning their ears back and knocking RB Ricky Williams around behind the line.

Williams got away for a long touchdown reception, but aside from that, he was largely ineffectual. For that, the Salsa Cats can thank Cletidus Hunt and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamilla. Both linemen were behind the line of scrimmage on most of the Dolphins’ plays in the fourth.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do in the backfield, limiting yards after the catch, but for the most part, the boys did a good job.” Said Crennel, happy to be 3-0 after a preseason where wins were nonexistent.

“It’s just nice to go shooting out of the gate. Even when we have to scramble back from 24 down that late in the game. It’s nice to know we can turn it on when we have to.”

Can the winning streak continue? It is with a positive outlook that the Santa Fe Salsa Cats turn their attention to next week and a feeling of immortality has suffused this team – an attitude that can turn a winning season into a Super season.

And the Hits Just Keep Coming

Special to edMaddenReports
By Frank Veebles

The NFL Draft is over for another year and the question must be asked: What is G.M. Collins thinking?

Craig Nall was let go. So was Tim Couch. Neither of these things are startling in themselves but the team went into the draft without a quarterback.

That’s okay, you’re thinking, because the team has three draft picks, two of which are in the top ten.

Number four was spent on a receiver – a move which is applauded, given the unceremonious dumping of Robert Ferguson. Number seven, however, was spent on an undersized, slow Free Safety, Carlos Chiang, whose draft stock had dropped considerably since the combine. Gotta love those Green Bay scouts.

The next pick by Green Bay didn’t come until pick number 32 in the first round, when a quarterback was finally picked and the selection was Chris Quinn, a strong-armed and yet hardly football-savvy youngster whose first love is baseball.

More noteworthy moves were made as Green Bay hurried to shore up its defensive backfield, using four draft picks on safeties and corners, despite the presence of young stars Dunta Robinson and Ahmad Carroll.

Then comes Green Bay’s most brow-scratching move. They selected Patrick Blake in the fourth round. Another quarterback. Maybe Collins was thinking that there would be a spectacular camp battle and one would beat the other clearly and rise to prominence. It is hard to say what goes through that exec’s mind at times.

Free agency was a tool to shore up some depth problems, and bring in some veteran mentoring for Blake and Quinn, in the form of Mike Quinn, a non-threatening veteran presence. Ron Dayne is a viable backup running back who can potentially take the load off of 2004 rookie-of-the-year, Julius Jones.

Bubba Franks was not brought back, due to salary demands and the hopes are that Kris Wilson or rookie Bill Jones can compete to fill in his shoes.

What this reporter wants to know is, what game is Collins playing, purging the team of so much talent and replacing it with question-marks?

Training camp and preseason will shed more light and hopefully, a strong defense will help carry this young, unproven offense through a hard rebuilding year with an inexperienced quarterback at the helm.