Michigan Arsenal Drops First Home Game at the Dow Event Center

Saginaw’s Arena Football League team – the Michigan Arsenal – made its home debut Saturday night in front of nearly 1,500 fans at the Covenant HealthCare Field inside of the Dow Event Center’s Wendler Arena.

The Arsenal struggled on defense and had a hard time keeping up with the high-flying and well-balanced offense of the Minnesota Monsters, suffering a 45-25 loss in its home opener. The local gridders are now 0-3 on the season.

Arsenal head coach Shawn Liotta vowed to bring the energy, but the team was slow out of the gate. The Michigan squad fell behind quickly and faced a 31-13 deficit at halftime. The Monsters, now 1-1 on the season, were bigger, faster, and stronger than the Arsenal. Additionally, the Arsenal shot itself in their own foot with numerous penalties.

The offensive line was the huge problem on the night, offering very little protection for quarterback Malik Henry. Henry is in his fifth Arena Football League season after playing quarterback for Independence Community College and the University of Nevada. While at Independence CC, he was action in 12 games and completed 151 of 288 passes for 1,620 yards and 11 touchdowns. The Netflix documentary series Last Chance U continued its third and fourth season at Independence Community College, where Henry was premiered as one of the stars of the show.

Henry, who was forced to scramble much of the evening and took several hard hits, tossed his helmet in frustration in the bench area which bounced off a teammate. If cursing was an Olympic sport, Henry would be a gold medal winner, letting his anger get the best of him.

The Arsenal have been outscored 157-91 in its three setbacks.

The Michigan Arsenal’s next game is Saturday, May 2^nd, a home game against the Oregon Lightning. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

Arsenal game notes, observations

After talking with several attendees, it’s very obvious that the Michigan Arsenal need help with its marketing efforts. Team members, coaches and management need to be at every Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, and Jaycee organization in the Great Lakes Bay Region, along with Saginaw, Bay and Midland Chamber of Commerce meetings/events touting its product. With only a six-game home schedule, they need to get going and do so in a hurry.

The padded field is 50 yards long with eight-yard end zones. The playing surface is black with the yard lines and major sponsor logo (Covenant HealthCare) white, with the Arsenal’s red/white/black logo at midfield. There are 15-minute quarters and a running clock. The clock stops for out-of-bounds plays or incomplete passes only in the last minute of each half or when the referee deems it necessary for penalties, injuries or timeouts. Each team is allowed three time-outs per half. There is also a 35-second play clock. Each team has eight players on the field (8 on 8), and there are six referees – which is a little overkill on a 50-yard field. Coaches are allowed on the field during play as long as they are behind the play. Extra point kicks must be angled between the two large yellow “squares” which hang from the ceiling. Goalposts are nine feet wide with a crossbar height of 15 feet (NFL goal posts are 18-1/2 feet wide with the crossbar at 10 feet).  

Punting is illegal. On fourth down, a team may go for a first down, touchdown or field goal. If a kickoff passes through the uprights during a kickoff, the kicking team will be awarded two points. One unique feature is the over-hanging nets. A forward pass that rebounds off of the end zone net is a live ball and is in play until it touches the playing surface.

The Michigan Arsenal players were decked out in black uniforms with silver piping. Their uniform numbers were outlined in red. Most of the Arsenal players had their name on the back of their uniform; others, however, were missing. The teams have a 20-man active roster; four-man inactive roster. Four offensive players must line up on the line of scrimmage. Three defensive players must be down linemen (in a three or four-point stance). One linebacker may blitz on either side of the center. Alignment is two or more yards off the line of scrimmage. No stunting or twisting. Offensive motion: One receiver may go in forward motion before the snap.

The Public Address announcer needs to be more engaged and have more enthusiasm. Fans who aren’t familiar with the Arena Football League need to know what penalties are for and what the down and distance is. And, the PA person needs to be more energetic. The energy/entertainment – spitting out good vibes - is what most of the people want. There was (loud) music played between plays. However, after about 10 songs, they started repeating the same songs. The referee twice warned the PA crew to stop playing the music once the team breaks the huddle. A game-day Event Coordinator is needed to coordinate everything. One opening night glitz they had was the referee’s microphone going in-and-out.

Singer/songwriter Indigo (Dudley) Connolly did her usual tremendous job singing the National Anthem. It was nice to have a local talent perform. Connolly is the owner of My Music Matters, an organization dedicated to highlighting local artists and providing more representation in music education in the Great Lakes Bay area.

One of the highlights of the evening was the “Oblivious Cam,” which caught various fans/employees of day-dreaming or engulfed with their cell phones. A 10-person dance emblazoned in Arsenal colors (with silver poms) performed one dance routine at halftime. Otherwise, they were situated at the Zamboni-end of the arena. The official mascot was revealed at halftime. He was led out to midfield, introduced, and then went back to the locker room and was never seen for the remainder of the game.

Unlike the Saginaw Spirit, replays were shown on the overhead video board. It actually helped fans keep track of yardage. There was much confusion as to whether fans could actually keep the game balls that went into the stands on errant passes. At their initial press conference, Arsenal personal said that fans would be able to keep them. Before the game, one referee tossed a football to a fan to keep. However, several times during the game the Public Address announcer stressed to fans to return balls to the field.

At the end of the third quarter, the Saginaw United High School boys’ basketball team was introduced, touting the Phoenix for winning a district title. I’m not sure if the Freeland boys’ basketball team was busy at the Freeland Walleye Festival, but the Falcon cagers won a state championship. Hopefully, the Arsenal will give them their accolades during an upcoming game.

I did hear complaints from people who were expecting more team gear for sale at their t-shirt stands. It probably wouldn’t have hurt to have tossed a few t-shirts into the stands – a la Saginaw Spirit.

Kudos go out to the Downtown Saginaw Association (DSA) who organized a Tailgate Party in the west-end of the Dow Event Center parking lot. Fans were treated to music, games, food, and beer. They will be at every home contest, beginning at 4:30 p.m.