by The 2-4 Columbus Aviators roll into St. Louis this Friday night to take on one of the top teams in the UFL as they do battle with the 4-2 Battlehawks. While the task may seem tall, the Aviators have won 2 of their last 3 and were one fumble away from 3 straight. They are playing their best football of the season and bring a ton of momentum into this matchup.
One of the reasons for the Aviators success this past Friday 24-17 over the Houston Gamblers was their ability to hold on to the ball and protect quarterback Jalan McClendon as well. For the first time all season they finished a game with zero turnovers and zero sacks given up.
Head Coach Ted Ginn Jr. touched on why ball control and clean play is so vital to their success, “we just have to play our game. We’ve seen that we can take over at certain times of the game like they can and we need to do that. It’s a challenge to repeat what you do to be successful. That is our mindset, don’t let the crowd or big stadium get into you head so we can finish. My guys are still gelling and once we put it together it will show. We have a great quarterback in Jalan who is very vocal with our guys as well is Tony Fields on the defensive side of the ball.”
Speaking of quarterback Jalan McClendon, this Columbus team has shown that he and wideout Tay Martin are more than capable of big plays. Their 52-yard pitch and catch last week against Houston turned the tide for good and was their biggest play of the season. Ginn touched on that as well and taking what the defense gives you, “we just need to take what the defenses gives us and make it work to our advantage. You need to do that to have a complete team and play as a team.”
I spoke with quarterback Jalan McClendon who currently leads the league in passing precision and what he can do to help keep the Aviators rolling, “It’s a comfort zone when you can take care of the ball and minimize the mistakes. It is good on any level and that is something that I harped on for myself coming into that game and just wanted to do my job. Our coaches have us focus on that. “
Just as coach Ginn did, McClendon also touched on their aerial attack and taking what the defenses presents them with, “explosive plays will help you win the game, depending on where you’re at, anything over 20 yards. You get 4 or 5 of those a game and you’re going to win. It come on any side of the ball and special teams. That is something we want to do every game. Tay can pop open on the seam and make a huge play for us.”
Right now, the Aviators are on the outside looking in when it comes to playoff contention. They will need to win out and get some luck along the way. They have their next two on the road as this week they travel to St. Louis and then next week at Birmingham before coming home to close out the season against Birmingham and Louisville. The Stallions are a two time USFL champion, but have struggled this season in the UFL, sitting at 2-4 along with Columbus, Houston and Louisville. So, when you look at it that way, 3 of their final 4 games seem very winnable. It is this week that will tell the story however as they go into a hostile environment that is rumored to have 30,000 fans in the stands.
Jalan McClendon touched on the road ahead and the tall task of this coming Friday night, “We can only control what we can control, we cannot worry about any other game then this one and putting out our best game possible. We just need to do our jobs because the only thing we can control is ourselves, we just need to take care of business and the cards play out. “
The big game is this Friday at 8pm on Fox. As mentioned, it is huge because this is their last game against a team with a winning record and they can make some serious progress with a win. They currently sit in a 4 way tie for 5th or 8th, depending on how you want to look at it but only 1 game behind the 3-3 Dallas Renegades who have lost 3 straight. A reminder, the top 4 teams makes the UFL playoffs in June.
