The Stallions and Barracudas get their first look at each other when the top two teams in the Emirates American Football League heading into the new season square-off tomorrow at Dubai Sports City.
After a dazzling unbeaten regular season last year, the Stallions’ run fell short in the Desert Bowl against the Abu Dhabi Wildcats. They head into the new season looking to take care of unfinished business but face a difficult challenge right off the bat against the Barracudas and their quarterback Zavier Cobb.
Cobb was last year’s Most Valuable Player as a duel-threat quarterback. The elusive dynamo threw for 388 yards and seven touchdowns while leading the league with 191 rushing yards.
The Stallions will try to limit Cobb’s playmaking ability outside of the pocket by containing the ends and relying on their spy pass coverage.
“The focus is going to be on basically shutting him down,” said Stallions player-coach Chris Wentzel.
“He’s very dangerous when he runs outside the pocket because he looks for pass-run opportunities.
“We just need to make sure that we shade him and have the rest of our defence maintain their coverage responsibilities. We can’t afford to make mistakes against a quarterback like that.”
While Cobb’s legs make him dangerous, Barracudas coach Kyle Jordan is looking forward to his quarterback’s development as a passer in only his second year playing the position full-time.
“He’s very hard to keep in the pocket, he’s got quick feet and when he’s rolling out he’s always got his eyes down the field looking for receivers,” said Jordan.
“He’s not just looking to run for the sake of running, he’s looking to connect with somebody. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do.”
With both rosters having changed during the offseason, there will be a feeling out process in the opener. Rather than heading into the game with a rigid game plan, the Barracudas are planning to feel out their opponent before making crucial adjustments.
“We’re going to be figuring things out from the first kick-off through the end of the game,” Jordan said.
“I’m sure they’re doing new things, we’re definitely doing new things. Look in the first quarter for a little bit of feeling one another out and trying to figure out what each other is doing. At some point, a football game is going to open up and we’ll see each other for who we are.”
The Stallions, despite topping the league’s power rankings, will also have to deal with working in new players, but after rolling through the regular season last year and losing in the championship, they’re playing for the long haul.
“We’re going to use the first couple of games to test out a lot of the new players that have joined,” said Wentzel. “It’s very important to get them repetitions and work on in-game experience for the important games later on this season, especially come playoff time.”
The battle for Dubai gets under way at 19:30.
