Turning a blind eye to all the title talk

Don’t say championship around Pioneers coach Rich Ingold.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton skipper was busy Wednesday preparing his team for today’s 7:30 p.m. matchup with Peoria at Wachovia Arena. But he did take time to dismiss any thoughts that he was looking ahead to ArenaCup IX.

“I’m not even thinking about it (the ArenaCup),” said Ingold. “We’re trying to take this one game at a time, one day at a time.

“If you start to put the cart before the horse, that’s when bad things can happen.”

Coming off a bye week after possibly the closest come-from-behind victory the Pioneers (11-2) have ever registered – a 59-56 win over Florida in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will host Peoria (4-9). The Pioneers previously beat the Pirates 74-26 on April 19.

Ingold said his team is looking fresh after the bye and he isn’t worried about the Pioneers dropping another post bye week shocker as they did to Manchester on May 31.

“They are conscious of what happened last time,” he said. “This time, they’re more focused. We’ve had a good week of practice and they all know what’s at stake. On top of that, we’ve done pretty well at home.”

In the Pioneers’ previous meeting with Peoria, fullback Jason Acquaye rushed for two touchdowns and wide receiver J.J. Outlaw punched in another. Ryan Vena tossed five touchdowns, completing 19-of-28 passes for 209 before yielding to backup Matt Schabert in the fourth quarter. Outlaw, Larry Kendrick, David Dean and Rich Musinski all found the end zone in that game as the Pioneers went on three separate 21-point runs.

In total, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton forced and recovered six fumbles and defensive back Micheaux Robinson recorded the lone interception of the game. Troy Blackwell and Justin Parrish each were credited with one sack and the team was credited with two more.

The near 50-point loss was indicative of Peoria’s season thus far – turnovers put them in a hole early, a lack of offense kept them there.

The Pirates may have trouble breaking that trend against a Pioneers defensive unit that’s only 12 sacks from matching the af2 record of 57, set by Rio Grande Valley last season.

“Our defensive goal is simple,” said Pioneers defensive lineman Isaac Hilton, who sits just two sacks off of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton franchise record for sacks in a single season. “We want that record.”

Unlike his near-sighted head coach, Hilton has been peeking down the road a bit – as he admitted thoughts of reaching the ArenaCup have been dangling in the back of his mind. Then again, the pass-rushing lineman could be forgiven for his early excitement, being that he’s never won a championship in football at any level. And if he keeps knocking down quarterbacks during his quest for that goal, all the better.

“For me, I want to win that ring,” he said. “I’ve never won a championship. I’ve won championships in track and baseball but never football. This is the one I want.”

Peoria’s just wants a few wins, but its revolving-door roster has proved to be its undoing. This season alone, 69 players have made appearances on the Pirates’ roster.

In the past two weeks, the Pirates have made eight roster moves. The biggest change came at the quarterback position where injured starter Justin Rascati was placed on team suspension with a shoulder injury. Donald Carrie was brought in to play the position last week in the Pirates’ loss to Lexington. This week, Ean Decker was assigned to Peoria presumably to back up Carrie.

“There’s been a large turnover in players on their roster,” said Ingold. “This week, they cut their best player – Odell Willis.”

Although Peoria’s season is effectively over with three games left to play in the regular season, Ingold is still cautious about his team letting its guard down.

“This team, they’ve got nothing left to play for,” he said. “They’re playing for pride. That makes them dangerous.”

NOTES: The Pioneers are sticking with the same lineup they’ve used for the last three games – one that has scored them wins over Tennessee Valley, Manchester and Florida.

Although there were a few players resting bumps and bruises this week, there are no major injuries for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and all players should be healthy for today’s game.

UP NEXT

Peoria (4-9) at Pioneers (11-2)

For the Pirates: Although Peoria is only two spots away from the final Wild Card berth in the American Conference playoff standings, the Pirates have already been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. A win over the Pioneers would be purely for pride.

For the Pioneers: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has locked up home-field advantage for the first round of the American Conference playoffs, but needs a win over Peoria to clinch home-field advantage throughout the American Conference playoffs. If they were to lose, it would open the door for Green Bay, Florida South Georgia (all 9-4) to jump to top seed.

Jamie A. Raub is a sports writer for The Times Leader. He may be reached at 970-7139.