The Cox Colts mistakenly thought they were Cayman’s second-best flag football team.
Instead of a repeat run to the finals, Cox would end up out of the playoffs in the Digicel Summer League, put on by the Cayman Islands Flag Football Association.
Colts quarterback Kevin Solomon states the side was hampered by a number of problems.
“From my point of view, it was a bit of a disappointment,” Solomon said. “There were a few ups and downs this season. But, on a whole, it was disappointing.
“For one, I think we started out with a different outlook and came in with the feeling that because we went to the finals last year that we would make it back to the finals and win it all with some minor changes. I think we got way ahead of ourselves and lacked the focus for the season, that was evident in the lack of intensity at practices.
“There was also a change in the team dynamics as we brought on board an offensive coordinator, Mike Bird, who was on the offensive line last year. He had some good ideas but they were difficult to implement due to poor practice and game turnout.
“I also prefer making calls in the game and calling my own plays, but we attempted to have him calling plays from the sideline. That move added some frustration for us both as we were rarely on the same page.
“As a team we also didn’t do a good enough job of recruiting. Traditionally, we’re a team of young professionals and for weeks, we had 12/13 guys each game due to people taking vacation during the summer months. Our team really lacked depth at many positions, most noticeably at wide receiver and it became more difficult each week with guys playing on both sides of the ball on offence and defence.
“It is very difficult to give 100 per cent playing both sides of the ball when there are few substitutes. The end result was we went from a team that played very smooth and efficiently to a team that struggled. It was a total shift from last year.”
The Colts lost their regular season finale to the Burger King Panthers last Saturday at the Ed Bush Field in West Bay. Cox head into the offseason with a 4-8 record, which landed them sixth out of seven teams. The stats show the squad struggled on both sides of the ball, scoring 126 points (third-worst in the league) and allowing 134 points (second-worst in the competition).
For Cox, that form represented a drastic departure from their performance in 2011. The Colts would finish second in their division in their inaugural season and go on to beat the Panthers and the Bulldogs, formerly sponsored by Doghouse and currently backed by Club House, before losing to the dms West Bay Hellcats in the finals.
Colts tight-end/linebacker Rhys Ebanks broke down how Cox progressed from that point to where they are now.
“The 2012 season for the Colts was filled with some ups and downs until about Week 10 when reality set in that our playoff hopes were over,” Ebanks said. “I personally feel the season started off well, seeing as how we were coming from the finals the year before and came so close to dethroning the reigning five-time champs.
“We tried to iron out some of the kinks that we felt hindered us from reaching our full potential. We didn’t do any real heavy recruiting because we still had the core guys and felt that we could overcome our ‘issues.’ After about week four/five, it was clearly evident that we were not the same team as last year but we felt that we still had enough room/time to get things right.
“Unfortunately things didn’t go as planned and we’re left with a 4-7 record heading into the final week of games. For me personally, I’m very disappointed in the season as I went from becoming very involved in the offence last year, leading the team with 10 touchdowns, to tallying a total of zero this year.
“While I don’t think that I single-handedly would’ve made the difference in our season I was responsible for over 40 per cent of our points last year. So, as well as the team not performing, I’m also a bit bummed to have the season that I had.”
A change in personnel might have played a role in this year’s showing. Taj Haye and David Taylor left the Colts to join the Panthers and Cox employees Dale Stoudt and defensive coach Darell Johnson did not return to the team. Keeping the side together were head coach Rick Hurtt and lineman Dave Nielsen.
Stats-wise, the returning cast of veterans steadied the club. Solomon was the top hurler with 11 touchdowns and two rushing scores. Brad Conolly had a team-high 37 receptions and Chester Hurlston tied newcomer Richard Campbell for the most receiving touchdowns with three. Jonny McLaughlin had the most sacks with six while Conolly had a team-best 28 tackles.
Ebanks states those efforts did little to counteract the team’s problems.
“We didn’t have a real common direction or one common voice to follow. I think, from a vocal standpoint, we have about three guys that would stand up and say guys this is what we need to do. Unfortunately, no one person had the respect of the entire team.
“Everyone felt they knew what needed to be done to win, we would practice it the week before and come game time we would move away from what we were supposed to be doing. I think defensively we started out good for about the first half of the season, but I think failing to score as much as we felt we should on offence had a negative effect on the mind-set of the defence.
“There is no one person or issue to point at to lay blame on, it was more a collection of little things that would be taken out of proportion and become an unnecessary problem. Don’t get me wrong, we have all of the pieces to field a very dangerous team. Somehow those pieces just didn’t click on all cylinders at the same time.”
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