April must have been a good month for the Colorado Crush.
The Arena Football League honored the Crush’s Damian Harrell as the offensive player of the month and Rashad Floyd as defensive player of the month Thursday.
Colorado went 4-1 in April with Harrell catching 56 passes and scoring 21 touchdowns and Floyd making 45 tackles and intercepting seven passes, returning one for a touchdown. Harrell’s 21 touchdowns gave him a single-season-record 51 receiving scores and tied the league record for total TDs.
But the Crush faces a challenge to continue that success. The first test is Saturday night at San Jose, with the SaberCats riding a five-game winning streak and bringing a history of scoring many points against the Crush.
“They do a great job offensively and they have kept the core of their main players together, starting with quarterback Mark Grieb,” Crush defensive coordinator Ernesto Purnsley said. “We have done some things against them that have hurt us. We missed a lot of tackles in the game last year.”
Purnsley said the Crush must get pressure on Grieb and force him to make short passes.
“When we get them in third-and-long, we can’t give them any chances with mistakes and penalties to give them a chance to keep drives going,” Purnsley said.
The SaberCats lead the series 4-1, with the only Crush victory last season at the Pepsi Center. San Jose twice has scored at least 80 points against the Crush.
This year’s meeting is important for both teams. The Crush needs a victory to clinch the best record in the American Conference and home field throughout the playoffs. The SaberCats need to win to clinch the Western Division title, which would provide a bye in the first round and home field for a second-round game.
“We have two games remaining, and we’re hoping we can win one of the two or both and put us in a situation where we have the top seed for the playoffs,” Crush coach Mike Dailey said. “It could be a heck of a ballgame because there’s some importance to what they’re trying to do, and we’re trying to get the top seed.”
Dailey coached the Crush to the AFL title last year, but admires what San Jose has done over the years.
“We’ve had great success in Denver, but San Jose has done it over a long period of time,” Dailey said. “Those are lofty goals.”
Dailey said the Crush has the pieces to continue his coaching success in terms of players and administration. He needs two wins to raise his average to 10 victories a season in 10 years as a coach, three with the Crush.
Colorado Crush (10-4) at
San Jose SaberCats (8-6)
What: Arena Football League
When: Saturday, 8:30 p.m.
Where: HP Pavilion, San Jose, Calif.
TV/Radio: FSN (9 p.m.) / KHOW 630 AM
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
