Theotine "Theo" Ulysse Dardar
June 23, 2009
Diana Benoit Toms
June 25, 2009
Barely hanging on to their slim shot at the Southern Indoor Football League playoffs, the Houma Conquerors played its worse game of the season Monday night.
Two turnovers and a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown to end the first half punctuated a 41-16 loss to the Louisiana Swashbucklers.
The official debut of new Conquerors head coach Clyde “C.J.” Maiden did not go according to plan.
“I thought we were better prepared for this game after the battle we had against Acadiana, but it looks like we weren’t as prepared as I thought we were,” he said. ” We just came out flat. We played in spots.”
The Conquerors (1-7) have to win at least two of its final three home games to clinch a playoff berth. Their next game is Saturday at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center versus the North Texas Crunch at 7 p.m.
The Crunch replaced the Florida Kings last month when the club folded operations. The Crunch are the defending champions of the second-year Dallas-based Independent Indoor Football Association.
“Hopefully, the short week will help us play a much game against (North) Texas,” Maiden said. “We need that win against (North) Texas to get into the playoffs.”
Monday’s loss was Maiden’s second game as head coach. Conquerors owner and former head coach Franklin Thomas Jr. let Maiden take over during the June 13 game against the Acadian Mudbugs while he attended to other team business.
Two days later, Thomas officially resigned as head coach and promoted Maiden who was director of player personnel.
“The move was about longevity,” Thomas insisted. “I had to make sure the front office was intact these final four games in order to get more sponsors to come on for next year.”
Thomas said being the head coach was not a bigger challenge than he had anticipated. In fact, he found it easy because it was a way of relieving his stress.
However, the continuous need to find new sponsors and administrative duties were taking away from his game preparation time as head coach.
“I needed to devote the rest of this year, that five or six weeks we have left, to the front office,” Thomas said. “That’s why I decided to step down.”
Maiden, a former Houma Bayou Bucks assistant coach from 2002-03, has a long and distinguished coaching indoor and minor league football.
He has earned four championships in his 30-plus year coaching career in different leagues, including consecutive titles in 2000 and 2001 with the Mississippi Firedogs.
Maiden admits the past week of practice was not a smooth transaction for some players from Thomas’ style to his.
“I’m a different kind of coach. I’m a military guy,” said the U.S. Naval Academy graduate. “I think we got a hot of hotheads on the team that are not used to a guy getting up in their face trying to get total production out of them.”
“A lot guys got frustrated with that because their not used to it,” he added. “If you can’t accept that, you can’t play for me.”
The Conquerors are battling the Texas Hurricanes (1-5), the only team they have beaten this year, for the final playoff position.
The top four teams will qualify for the SIFL playoff. The Hurricanes are fourth in the league standings, while the Conquerors are fifth.
Maiden wants to see his squad play harder and more consistent to get them into the postseason.
“Losing when you’re playing very hard and consistent, I can accept that. But losing like we lost tonight, I can’t accept that,” Maiden said. “It’s a coach’s dream to have four games at the end of the season at home. We have to take advantage of it. Hopefully, we take advantage these last three games.”
Houma Conquerors defenders Prince Riley (left) and Charles Philips (right) hang on to tackle Louisiana Swashbuckler running back Time Blackwell in Monday’s 41-16 defeat. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF
