Wins turn up heat on state feud

The Florida Bobcats aim to sweep the Storm and intensify a rivalry.

By MIKE READLING

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 3, 2000

TAMPA -- The opening shot in Florida Bobcats coach Dave Ewart's statement to the rest of the Arena Football League and Orlando and Tampa Bay in particular came after a 55-34 preseason win over the Storm in March.

"Soon they're going to have quit worrying about the I-4 War and start worrying about the team coming up the turnpike," Ewart said after the Bobcats' first win against Tampa Bay.

"I want everybody to know that there are three teams in Florida."

In the second week of the season Ewart fired another salvo. This time it was a 31-30 victory over the Storm.

Ewart wants a blazing rivalry with his Southern Conference neighbor and tonight the rookie coach gets a chance to fan those flames as Florida plays the Storm at the Ice Palace.

"Obviously I want to turn this into a rivalry," Ewart said. "Any time you can have a rivalry with a team like Tampa Bay it means you're on the rise."

It takes more than a preseason win and a victory claimed only when the Storm's kicker missed a field goal as time expired to really inspire competitiveness between players and fans.

"With any rivalry you have to have different teams win different games," Storm coach Tim Marcum said. "Until that happens or until he (Ewart) calls into question the marital status of my mother at the time of my birth it's not a rivalry."

The Storm is 13-1 against the Bobcats, which hadn't even won a game against a conference opponent until this season. The teams have never played in a "meaningful" game and the Storm is still four championships ahead of the Bobcats.

The Orlando Predators and Tampa Bay, by comparison, have split 24 games since 1990.

But Ewart is hoping another win tonight will help propel his team into the same category as Orlando-Tampa Bay, whose season series is known as the I-4 War.

To that end the Bobcats traded veteran quarterback Fred McNair, the team's all-time leading passer, to the Carolina Cobras for quarterback Jim Arellanes and wide receiver Jack Jackson, a former University of Florida standout.

There is a chance Arellanes will play as the Bobcats are coming off of a bye week but Ewart also has quarterback Clemente Gordon, who backed up McNair all season.

"We had the opportunity to get a young quarterback in here, a kid I've seen do some good things," Ewart said. "Jackson will be able to help us with our receiving corps. I just felt it was time for a change."

The addition of Jackson bolsters a deep receiving squad, which could pose a problem for the Storm, which has had its share of defensive lapses the past couple weeks.

"They've got an excellent group of receivers. Curtis Ceasar is a doggone good receiver as is Bernard Edwards," Marcum said. "Ewart's got them fired up and believing in themselves."

Tampa Bay will get a boost when Matt Huerkamp, last season's All-Arena rookie kicker, returns after an injury to his kicking leg in Week 1.

Since Huerkamp's injury, the team has gone through kickers almost weekly, going so far as to hold a "kick-a-thon."

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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