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Hawaiian Islanders Game Notes

July 3, 2003 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Hawaiian Islanders News Release


QUICK FACTS: HAWAIIAN ISLANDERS (9-4) vs. TULSA TALONS (10-3)
Date: Saturday, July 12, 2003
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. HST (7:30 p.m. CDT)
Site: Tulsa Convention Center (7,098)
Officials: Joe Pester (Referee), Major Williams (Umpire), Chad Bowers (Head Linesman), Richard Brown (Linesman), Scott Gasaway (Back Judge)
Radio: Live on KUMU2 AM 1500 (John Miro, Tom Yoshida)
Internet: Live on www.hawaiianislanders.com
Series Record: Tulsa leads series 2-0 Streaks: Hawaii: Lost 1; Tulsa: Lost 1
Coaches: Islanders – Cal Lee (9-4, first season) Talons – Skip Foster (38-10, third season)

HOME GAME TICKET INFORMATION:

Walk Up Sales: Neal Blaisdell Arena, Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. On game day, the Box Office will open from 4:30 p.m. through halftime.
Ticketmaster Outlets including: UH Manoa Campus Center, MWR Naval Base Kunia, Brigham Young University Hawaii Campus, and selected Foodland/Sack N Save locations during their normal business hours.
Phone Sales: Ticketmaster (808) 526-4400.
Internet Sales: www.ticketmaster.com
Ticket Prices: (Lower level and Loge are sold out)
$10 Upper level adult
$7 Upper level Children (Age 4-17)
(Convenience fees apply at all outlets)

THE STAKES: For the second straight game, the Islanders will meet another division leading opponent in a battle for playoff positions. This game matches Hawaii against the Central division leading Tulsa Talons.

This is the only meeting of the year between these teams. Hawaii is 3-3 on the road while Tulsa is a perfect 7-0 at home and winners of 25 straight home games, an af2 record.

THE SERIES: This will be the third all-time meeting between the two teams with Tulsa owning a 2-0 advantage. In Tulsa, the Talons lead the series 1-0.

THE IFs:

If the Islanders defeat the Talons, it would …
• Give the ISLANDERS a 1-2 record with Tulsa
• Give the ISLANDERS an all time record of 5-10 on the road.
• Give the ISLANDERS an all time record of 3-1 record in the month of July.
• Give Hawaii Head Coach Cal Lee a 10-4 record
• Give Hawaii a two game road winning streak on the road.

HEAD COACHES: Cal Lee was named head coach of the Hawaiian Islanders on October 23, 2002 giving fans across Hawaii an added excitement for the upcoming season. Lee is the most prolific football coach in Hawaii high school history. In 21 years as a head coach at St. Louis High School (Honolulu), his teams have compiled a 241-32-5 record, which include 18 league titles and 15 state championships. Tulsa Talons Coach Skip Foster is 38-10 overall and 37-8 in regular season games in his third season. Foster’s regular season winning percentage of 83.7% is the best among active af2 coaches. Coming to Tulsa from Coffeyville (KS) Community College, Foster has led the Talons to the ArenaCup Playoffs the past two seasons, going 13-3 in 2001 and winning the National Conference Central Division title last year going 14-2.

THIS WEEK’S QUOTES:

Head Coach Cal Lee on Tulsa: “The rest was good for our players. Now we have to fix some of the mistakes we made (against Quad City) because Tulsa is a great team.”

ISLANDERS’ WEEKLY:

Join host Alema Harrington for Islanders Weekly, an informative 30-minute look behind the scenes at the Hawaiian Islanders, the only professional franchise in the state. See highlights from last week’s game as well as a preview of upcoming opponents. You’ll also see interesting interviews with coaches, players and items that make the Islanders your only team in town.

The show airs Tuesday through Friday at 8:30 p.m. on Oceanic Cable 16.

KEY DATES IN TEAM HISTORY:

September 6, 2001 – The league offices of arenafootball2 announces Honolulu will be awarded a franchise for the 2002 season. Charles Wang and his daughter Kimberly will be the operators of the team. Hawaii becomes the ninth (of 10) expansion team named for the 2002 season.

January 7, 2002 – Former all-state quarterback Darnell Arceneaux is assigned to the Islanders making him the first player in team history.

January 19, 2002 - The Hawaiian Islanders hosts an open tryout at Central Oahu Regional Park. Over 30 players endured the soggy conditions and participated in the three-hour workout

February 4, 2002 – Islanders host Pacific Rim Training Camp where over 180 participants from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Samoa, and Fiji attended.

March 30, 2002 - Islanders defeat the Fresno Frenzy 50-47 before 4,376 fans at the Blaisdell Arena marking the first game, the first win and the first home win in team history.

June 14, 2002 – After suffering through a nine game losing streak, the Islanders defeat San Diego 53-34 as Darnell Arceneaux threw for three touchdowns and rushed for three more.

June 22, 2002 – Despite losing 56-48 at Bakersfield, quarterback Darnell Arceneaux rushes for an af2 record-tying five touchdowns.

July 20, 2002 – Hawaii rallies from a 21-0 deficit to upset the two-time defending af2 champion Quad City Steamwheelers 56-55 before 5,185 fans. Two days later, Nian Taylor was named National Ironman for the second consecutive week. Combined with his National Built Ford Tough award three weeks earlier, he becomes the first player to win three national awards in a four-week period.

July 27, 2002 – The Islanders defeat Fresno 46-36 for their first road win of the season. It was Hawaii’s first two game winning streak and four wins in their final six games.

October 23, 2002 – The Islanders announce that Cal Lee will become their new coach for the 2003 season.

March 12, 2003 – Training camp opens with 16 veterans making the 35-man squad. Islanders announced they sold nearly 1,200 season tickets compared to only 16 from last year.

March 30, 2003 – Exactly one year following the Islanders’ first season and first win against Fresno, Hawaii opens the 2003 with a 48-37 win over Green Bay and gives head coach Cal Lee is first win as an af2 coach.

FORWARD MOTION: The Islanders go on a bye in week 15 then travel to meet the Central Division leading Tulsa Talons on Saturday, July 12 in week 16.

LAST SERIES MEETING: TULSA 73, HAWAII 48

(Saturday, May 18, 2002 – Convention Center, Tulsa, OK) – A decisive 30-point second quarter gave the Tulsa Talons the breathing room they needed to send the Hawaiian Islanders to their sixth straight loss 73-48 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Hawaii led 9-7 in the first quarter thanks to a 30-yard field goal by Jake Huggins and a 4-yard touchdown run by Morrie Roe.

After a touchdown by Tulsa to give the Talons a 15-9 lead, Hawaii rallied for a 16-15 lead on Derek Zoller’s one-yard run.

Tulsa came right back to take a 22-16 lead but Hawaii lost the ball on downs giving Tulsa another opportunity to score. Tulsa quarterback Joe Phears connected with Kareem Wise for a 22-yard touchdown giving the Talons a 30-16 lead.

Following an excellent kickoff return, Hawaii quarterback Darnell Arceneaux completed a 6-yard pass to newcomer Mike Tillis but Tulsa’s Larry Hollinquest stripped the ball and recovered by teammate Itis Atkinson. Five plays later Phears hooked up with Keonta Golson for a seven-yard touchdown pass and a commanding 37-16 lead.

Tulsa’s quarterback tandem of Phears and Anthony Buich threw for 302 yards and eight touchdowns in the win. Phears tossed three of his five touchdowns to Golson who caught seven passes for 81 yards and four touchdowns. Teammate Sean Love caught six for 101 yards and two touchdowns while Mitch Allner caught six for 82 yards and a touchdown.

Allner, who was Hawaii’s nemesis when the two teams met on May 4 in Honolulu, was voted by the media as the game’s MVP. Allner returned three kickoffs for 85 yards and two missed field goal returns for 40 yards.

Love was selected as the Iron Man award as he also recorded two solo tackles and two pass breakups.

DROPBACK: QUAD CITY 54, HAWAII 36

(Saturday, June 28, 2003, Neal Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu) – HONOLULU – Turnabout is fair play and with a playoff berth on the line, the Quad City Steamwheelers avenged their week two loss with a 54-36 win over the Hawaiian Islanders before 4,596 fans at the Neal Blaisdell Arena.

With the win, Quad City (10-2) extended their winning streak to 10 games and clinched the Midwest Division. Hawaii, who had a nine game home winning streak dating back to last year, fell to 9-4.

The Steamwheelers’ Tony Zimmerman completed 19 of his 43 passes for 237 yards and five touchdowns and one interception. His favorite receiver was Tim Dodge, hauling in 10 receptions for 118 yards and three touchdowns. Jeff Hewitt added a pair of scores on seven receptions for 78 yards. Dodge earned Game MVP honors.

Hawaii managed just 191 total offensive yards on 20 less plays from scrimmage than Quad City. The Steamwheelers reeled off 20 first downs to Hawaii’s nine.

Islander quarterback Mike Tillis completed just 9-of-20 passes for 170 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Isaac White caught two touchdowns on two receptions for 62 yards. Anthony Arceneaux also caught 62 yards through the air in the loss.

“I thought we were right in there but we made some very crucial mistakes during the game and that cost us the game,” said Islanders’ head coach, Cal Lee.

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