After all, the last time the Barracudas played the Alaska Wild the Barracudas rolled to a 54-7 win on May 24 to improve their all-time record to 3-0 against Alaska.
And the Wild has yet to win a game outside of Alaska in its two years of existence. So when the Barracudas (8-6) host the Wild (5-9) at 7 p.m. today at Bell County Expo Center, they will definitely be thinking ahead a bit.
But that doesn’t mean they aren’t taking the Wild seriously.
“I think we’ll see a much-improved team,” Barracudas first-year coach Chris Duliban said. “They were missing five of their linemen when we played them last time and they had their fullback playing center. That’s important.”
That’s part of the reason the Barracudas’ defense recorded six sacks that day and limited Alaska to 56 total yards.
The Wild never did get back on track, losing four of its next five games and seven of its final eight to barely sneak into the playoffs as the No. 6 seed in the nine-team IFL.
But it’s not as if the Barracudas are taking a lot of momentum into the playoffs. CenTex lost its final two regular-season games, preventing it from securing a first-round bye. And that last game was a 70-54 loss at Corpus Christi on June 21, giving the Barracudas 20 days off between games.
“I think we’ll have more energy just because it’s been so long,” Duliban said of the rest. “We’ll have to knock off some rust and we’ve worked hard this week to get in a lot of reps because it’s been so long since we’ve played.”
But the talent should favor the Barracudas. Nine of their players were selected to the IFL All-Star Game, including quarterback James Brown and wide receiver Olan Coleman, two of the deadliest offensive weapons in the league.
Brown leads IFL quarterbacks with a 60.1 pass completion percentage and a 104.2 pass efficiency rating. He has completed 158 of 263 passes for 1,681 yards, with 41 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
“We are where we are because he fuels us,” Duliban said of Brown. “A lot of guys suddenly said, ‘Hey, we can do anything.’ He wants to win every play. Not just win a game - win every play.”
A standout at Texas from 1994-97, Brown spent several seasons with Arena Football and NFL Europe. But he’s by no means a superstar, and he has the same loose-but-serious attitude Duliban and the coaching staff have on the field.
After Brown joined the Barracudas for their sixth game, he led them to three straight wins and six of seven wins overall before CenTex lost the final two games.
“I came in and got in the groove of things,” Brown said. “We lost a couple there at the end and have got to get back in the groove.”
As a Pan American Games medalist, Coleman offers the Barracudas world-class speed and also has the ability to find a hole and make a quick cut when needed.
That’s made him the best kick returner in the league, averaging 21.4 yards per return with six return touchdowns.
His skill has forced some teams to choose the lesser of two evils on kickoffs: Kick out of bounds and let the Barracudas start at midfield, or kick to Coleman and hope he doesn’t score. Most teams opted for the first option as the regular season wound down.
If that weren’t enough for opponents to deal with, Coleman is CenTex’s leading receiver with 67 catches for 756 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Coleman and defensive backs Rolandus Johnson (Mary Hardin-Baylor) and Roderick Knight (Cameron Yoe) have been the key mainstays for the Barracudas, playing in all three of their seasons. Now they have finally been rewarded with their first home playoff game.
“I think it means a lot. They always believed it could happen here,” Duliban said. “We just needed to get the right pieces, right work ethic, and I’m proudest of those guys. They have been through the fire and the 2-12 season (2007). They stepped up and said, ‘I want to do what it takes.’ They’ve been kind of the rudder of the ship.”
Knight and Johnson have combined for 18 of the team’s 32 interceptions.
Alaska’s DeMarcus James has 18 alone to help give the Wild the second-best defense in the league in both points allowed and yards allowed.
“Alaska does have a good defense,” Duliban said. “We have to be patient. We need to relax and take what they give us.”
So the Wild might indeed be a better team than the one the Barracudas demolished in late May. But the Barracudas, despite a two-game losing streak, are hungry not just to get their first playoff victory but also to get a rematch against the Corpus Christi Hammerheads - whom the Barracudas would play next Saturday in the second round of the playoffs - and eventually win the IFL title.
“The bottom line is the last two games we played were away and we lost them,” Duliban said. “It left a bad taste in our mouth and we’re ready to get over that. It’s always in the back of your mind and you always have extra incentive when you have somebody that beat you waiting there. So we can go back and have the opportunity to beat them in basically the rubber match of the series, since we’ve both won one. That gives you motivation. You don’t really dwell on it but it is just kind of that burning fire that keeps you motivated.
“We have a bigger goal than just one playoff game. We want to take it all the way to the championship."
mhood@temple-telegram.com
