By Adam Mertz
The Capital Times
The postgame ambush began with one young fan asking politely for Mark Wilson's elbow pad. In obliging, he set off a flurry of beggary.
By the time it was over, Wilson had given away an armband and both wristbands as well, the latter pulled right over his hands.
"Only thing left is the jersey,'' remarked Wilson, "and that's where it stops.''
Rarely did anyone put a hand on Wilson's jersey Monday night in his debut as starting quarterback of the Madison Mad Dogs.
He may have just juked, faked, slithered and sprinted his way to a stranglehold of that position in leading the Mad Dogs to a 29-12 exhibition victory over their intercontinental Professional Indoor Football League brethren, the Great Britain Spartans.
"I think it's still up in the air a little bit, but I think he proved very capable of stepping in there and doing it,'' said Madison coach Dick Adams, who must now choose between Wilson and Janesville's Mark Martinez. "Mark, I thought he did well when he was in there, too.''
Martinez completed 1 of 3 passes for eight yards in spot duty while Wilson put on a two-pronged show at the Dane County Coliseum.
He played a part in three of the Mad Dogs' four touchdowns -- two on his own on the ground, one through the air -- and finished as Madison's leading rusher with 88 of the team's season-high 155 rushing yards on 11 carries.
More impressive than the numbers was the anecdotal evidence. On the last scoring drive, Wilson made two sterling plays.
First, he somehow got out from under two converging Spartans in the backfield and not only avoided the sack but gained five yards. The Brits were so stunned they cartoonishly pulled a double-take in looking down at their still-clenched hands.
"I guess it's just a gift God gave me,'' Wilson said. "Sometimes, when I look at the film and see some of the plays I made, I just can't even believe it. It's like I've got eyes in the back of my head or something.''
The second came on second-and-6 at the Great Britain 14-yard line. Wilson pump-faked toward receiver Derek Schaefer on a screen, then looked to the end zone, as was the play call.
But that option was covered, and so was Schaefer on the check-off. So Wilson tucked and sprinted up the middle to paydirt.
Not bad for a guy who a few weeks ago was sitting at home in Rialto, Calif., working for UPS.
"I've been through so much in football, and I've been wanting to break in, but I haven't caught the breaks in the past,'' said Wilson, who credited a 6-of-20 passing night to his unfamiliarity with personnel and the offense.
"When I heard about this opportunity, I just jumped right at it.''
In that regard, Wilson and his new backfield mate, running back Brian Knuckles, have something in common.
After playing as a backup quarterback at Oklahoma State, Wilson went to Europe and played club ball in England and spent last year in Germany's Bundesliga, American football style.
He wound up in Madison when he got a call from Mad Dogs offensive coordinator Bruce Cowdrey, who had recruited him to Oklahoma State. Knuckles got that same call and joined the team last Thursday. Knuckles, a former backup to Lawrence Phillips at Nebraska who got an invitation to the St. Louis Rams' training camp last season, showed some promise in running 12 times for 57 yards and one touchdown.
The Mad Dogs played well overall in rushing to a 23-0 lead before getting a little sloppy.
The Mad Dogs (0-2 PIFL) will try to record their first regular-season win Saturday at the Coliseum against the winless Texas Bullets (0-3).
Great Britain 0 6 6 0 12
Madison 14 9 0 6 29
First Quarter
Mad-13:13-Mark Wilson 7 yd run (Dale Nelson PAT) 7-0
Mad- 5:13-Nick Johnson 1 yd pass from Wilson (Nelson PAT) 14-0
Second Quarter
Mad-14:15-Brian Knuckles 4 yd run (Nelson PAT) 21-0
Mad- 8:14-Tawan Temple block field goal for safety 23-0
GBS- :31-Manny Johnson 10 yd pass from Mike Carubba
(2pt conv. failed) 23-6
Third Quarter
GBS-14:03-Johnson 29 pass from Carubba (Dan Giancola PAT failed) 23-12
Fourth Quarter
Mad- 5:15-Wilson 14 yd run (Nelson PAT failed) 29-12
Mad- 52- Keehan 15 yd pass from Borich (Beach PAT) 29-27
Team Stats Madison Spartans
First Downs 9 3
Rushing 7 1
Passing 2 1
Penalty 0 1
Rushing Attempts 27 11
Yards Rushing 155 28
Passing Yards 49 73
Passes Attempted 23 26
Passes Completed 7 9
Had Intercepted 0 2
Total Offensive Plays 54 40
Total net Yards 204 101
Fumbles: Number-Lost 2-1 2-1
Penalties: Number-Lost 18-50 9-12
Kickoff Returns: No.-Yards 3-58 4-48
Possession Time
3rd Down Conversions 1-8
4th Down Conversions 1-6
Sacks by: Number-Yards 2 2
Interception Returns: 2-20 0-0
Fumble Returns: 1-5 1-8
Individual Stats
Rushing-M-Wilson 11-88-2, Knuckles 12-57-1, Henderson 3-14, Martinez 1-(-4);
G- Dan McAlonan 5-25, Johnson 2-10, Carubba 4-(-7)
Passing-M-Wilson 6-20-40-1-0, Mark Martinez 1-3-9-0-0;
G-Carubba 9-26-73-2-2
Pass Receiving-M-Williams 4-30, Johnson 2-10-1, Schaefer 1-9;
G-Johnson 5-59-2, Steve Lalonde 2-7, McAlonon 2-7
Field Goals-M-Nelson 0-3
PATS-M-Nelson 3-4
Interceptions-M-Shelley Barnett 2-20
Attendance 2400
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