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Storm Defense Turns In Strong Effort

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By ADAM ADKINS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 17, 2008

TAMPA - In the Arena Football League, a few stops a game is all a defense needs to lead the team to victory. So there was a reason for Storm coach Tim Marcum to feel pretty good after watching his defense Saturday morning.

The Storm defense got that and more during an intrasquad scrimmage at Skyway Park in front of a handful of spectators, a group that included the franchise's new principal owner, Robert Nucci; and new president and chief operating officer, Jim Borghesi. The defense dominated the 68-play affair, forcing four turnovers while stopping the offense on downs twice more.

"Quoting AFL standards, if we can get three stops we're going to win the game. Sometimes a stop a half will lead to victory," Marcum said. "They certainly had that."

As impressive as the performance was, it should be noted the defense was playing against an offense that was short-handed. The Storm were without Terrill Shaw, the team's leading receiver from 2007, and receiver/kick returner Sedrick Robinson.

Shaw (quad) and Robinson (hamstring) are nursing injuries and were placed on injured reserve Friday to free up roster spots for training camp. They are still eligible to play in the season opener March 1 at Kansas City provided they are removed from IR prior to Feb. 25, according to Marcum.

But without those two weapons at the disposal of quarterback Brett Dietz, the Storm's second-year signal-caller struggled a bit with a receiving corps consisting of several backups. Dietz was intercepted three times during the scrimmage and finished (unofficially) 16 of 30 with three touchdowns.

"Sloppy," Dietz said after the scrimmage. "This was the first game-type atmosphere, getting knocked around a little bit. There was a little more pressure up on me, even though I wasn't getting hit I could still feel the pressure on me. My footwork was messed up and now I know next week what I really need to work on."

Dietz also was sacked (touched) three times, half of the defense's six sacks.

"We were rusty," Marcum said. "Without Shaw and Sedrick in there, some of the young kids haven't been there and done that. Offensively, we were behind a little bit."

Marcum praised the effort and intensity of the entire team during the scrimmage, but didn't single anyone out specifically, reserving those comments until after he reviewed the film. Also to the coach's liking was there were no significant injuries.

The Storm have one final tuneup before opening the regular season. The team will scrimmage rival Orlando on Thursday at the St. Pete Times Forum. The game, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

"We're getting things on track. It's a growing process, mixing in the new guys with the nucleus of the team," veteran receiver/linebacker Lawrence Samuels said. "We're on track of getting everything ready for the regular season."

Reporter Adam Adkins can be reached at (813) 657-4533 or aadkins@tampatrib.com. Keyword: Storm Report for the latest news from training camp as Tampa Bay nears the start of the 2008 season.

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