FORT WAYNE – FireHawks coaches and players have been watching film the past two weeks to prepare for the first playoff game in the franchise’s debut season.
There’s been some on-field prep work the last two weeks, too.
The team has practiced twice – once before whipping Chicago 48-0 June 5 and then on Friday. Next week, Fort Wayne (6-4) likely will go back to its typical two-practices-a-game-week approach gearing up for Wisconsin (8-2) in the Continental Indoor Football League playoffs Saturday.
“We’re just kind of keeping guys in shape, keep things sharp, receivers catching balls,” coach Willie Davis said.
Davis already has turned in a 30-man playoff roster. He still will be able to have only 21 active players, but he has until an hour before kickoff to set those players, he said. So it’s possible Davis will bring a couple of extra players on the trip to Madison, Wis.
But he knows Thomas McKenzie and Mike Tatum will be on the list.
McKenzie and Tatum were late-season pickups after Marion folded. In their first game with the FireHawks last week, McKenzie set a CIFL single-game record with 5 1/2 sacks and Tatum had a touchdown catch and returned a missed field goal for a TD. McKenzie’s success likely benched former starting defensive end Allen Craine III, who had been a fixture in the lineup all season.
Tatum will join Justin Wynn, Brandon Walker-Roby and Brandon Williams as the likely active receivers. Walker-Roby has been out of the lineup since breaking his jaw in April. But he was at practice Friday, and Davis said there’s no doubt Walker-Roby will be starting next week.
Wynn, Walker-Roby and Williams have been on the team throughout the season, but Tatum’s emergence will mean another former full-time receiver will sit. Jermaine Woolfork probably will be the odd man out for the receiving corps.
But Davis didn’t seem concerned about wounded egos, even if players such as Woolfork and Craine have stuck with the team despite being consistently paid.
“I told those guys before that it was never personal,” Davis said. “It’s one of those deals. If someone comes in, is able to outperform you or give more than you’re able to give, that’s just what it is. McKenzie, it’s not like he’s a fly-by-night type of guy. Statistically, he came already in the league and was one of the top D-ends to begin with.”
According to CIFL statistics, McKenzie has 16 tackles and seven sacks through six games, and Craine is listed with 20 1/2 tackles and four sacks in six games.
