Nighthawks Game Notes
April 23, 2002 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Norfolk Nighthawks News Release
QUICK FACTS:
Norfolk Nighthawks (0-2)
at Richmond Speed (4-0) Date: Saturday, April 27, 2002
Kickoff: 7:00pm
Site: Richmond Coliseum
National Anthem:
Coin Toss:
Officials: Howard Brecthel(Referee), Mike Perry (Umpire), Ronnie Stwart (Head Linesman), George Santoro (Line Judge), Paul Wzontek(Back Judge)
Radio: 6:45pm on WTJZ AM 1270 w/ Andy Mashaw (Play-by-Play)
Series Record: 2-2
Last Meeting: Norfolk, 71-47
Streaks: Norfolk (Lost 2), Richmond (Won 4)
Coaches: NOR: Tony Missick (1st Year, 0-2)
RIC: Richard Davis (3rd Year, 26-8)
THE STAKES: Coming off a much-needed bye week in week four, the Nighthawks enter this weeks game against in-state rival Richmond as the only team in the American Atlantic Division without a victory. Richmond (4-0) is looking like dominant team in af2 in 2002 averaging over sixty points a game. If Norfolk can pull off the upset of the high-powered Speed, it would give them some very important momentum heading into the vital part of the schedule. Norfolk is 0-2 lifetime at the Richmond Coliseum. Atlantic Division; Richmond (4-0), Cape Fear (2-1), Greensboro (1-2), Roanoke (1-2), Norfolk (0-2)
THE SERIES: This is one of the most heated and competitive series in all of af2. Each team has won their respective home games against the other during the first two seasons. April 15, 2000: Norfolk defeats the Speed in their first-ever home game, 28-25 Sold-out crowd of 8,950 watch as OL/DL Silas Demary scores the first points on a safety July 7, 2000: In first game vs. Nighthawks, Richard Davis leads Speed to 49-28 win in Richmond April 14, 2001: Speed win second in a row vs. Nighthawks, 46-22 QB Bob Bees throws five TD and DS Tyrone Laster has two INT June 1, 2001: Nighthawks have highest scoring output in team history, evening series (2-2) with 71-47 victory over Speed OS Gary Briggs (8 catches, 116 yards and three TD) and QB Mickey Fein (23-for-33, 314 yards, 9 TD) lead the way.
THE IFs:
If NORFOLK defeats RICHMOND, it would
· Give NORFOLK 3-2 series record with RICHMOND
· Give NORFOLK 1-1 road record in 2002
· Give Tony Missick his first win as a head coach
· Give NORFOLK 5 wins in 18 career road games
· Give NORFOLK first division win of 2002
· Give NORFOLK first win at Richmond Coliseum
HEAD COACHES: Tony Missick was named the Nighthawks head coach on November 5, 2001. Missick held the position of defensive coordinator for the team in 2001 and led them to #4 in total defense in af2. Prior to coming to the Nighthawks, Missick held coaching positions with the Richmond Speed (2000), Virginia Union University and University of Kentucky. Missick played three years in the Arena Football League after spending the 1993 season with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Richard Davis returns to the Speed after leading the team to a 13-3 regular season record and a trip to the ArenaCup in 2001. Davis took over as head coach of Richmond on May 11, 2000. After inheriting a winless team, he guided them to a 7-9 record and is 26-8 since he began. Davis football background includes stops with the London Monarchs of NFL Europe, University of Connecticut, Langston (OK) University and College of the Desert (CA).
LAST SERIES MEETING: The Nighthawks (4-5) ended a one-game losing streak at home against the Northeast Division leading Richmond Speed (7-2), 71-47. They set franchise records for points (71), touchdowns (10) and touchdown passes (9). QB Mickey Fein completed 23-of-33 passes for 314 yards and nine TDs. Gary Briggs played his first game at OS and caught 8 passes for 116 yards and three touchdowns. He also returned 6 kickoffs for 135 yards, giving him 251 all-purpose yards in the game. Feins ex-UMaine teammate Ben Christopher also scored three times catching four passes for 88 yards. The Nighthawks scored on every possession except when they were running the clock out at the end of the first and second half. They never trailed at any point in the game. The score was 40-28 at halftime before Richmond got to within two in the third quarter, 43-41. Then, Fein found Briggs from 25-yards out for his second TD. Leading 50-41, the Nighthawks wasted no time putting the game away. DS Chris Pointer intercepted a Bob Bees pass with under two minutes to go in the third quarter. 16 seconds later, Briggs caught his third and final TD pass of the night. The fourth quarter was all FB Jasper Pendergrass controlling the ball on the ground. He finished with 20 yards rushing, and scored a late touchdown to give the Nighthawks their fourth win under Mike Buck. WR/DB Henry Shake Baker caught three passes, two of them for touchdowns and Jason Waters caught the other TD pass from Fein. Michael Blount had a game-high eight tackles and three pass deflections while Pointer finished with seven tackles, one INT and broke up one pass. WR/LB Jay Clarke had a solid Ironman performance catching five passes, grabbing one INT, one pass deflection and six tackles. Bees finished 23-for-41 for 299 yards and three touchdowns. George Williams caught seven passes for 122 yards and a touchdown. Af2 leading scorer, Jeff Townsley, was injured in the second quarter and did not return.
SERIES NOTABLES: NOR: OS Gary Briggs had eight receptions for 116 yards and three TD in last meeting WR/LB Jay Clarke has recorded 14 tackles, one INT, one pass breakup, 5 receptions for 34 yards in three games vs. Speed RIC: QB Bob Bees is 56-of-89 pass attempts for 755 yards in three games vs. Nighthawks OS Jeff Townsley has seven catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns was hurt in second game at Norfolk before halftime.
FAMILIAR FACES: Norfolk Head Coach Tony Missick was an assistant in Richmond during the 2000 season Norfolk FB/LB Farrel Payton played three games with Richmond during the 2000 season and totaled ten tackles Richmond DS Junior Scott spent part of the 2000 training camp with Norfolk.
MILESTONES:
· QB Will Burch needs five TD passes to give him 100 for his af2 career. He has 5,129 passing yards in two seasons.
· WR/LB Jay Clarke needs 4.5 tackles to move to #1 all-time in Nighthawks team history. He has amassed 83.5 tackles just over two seasons.
· DS Desmond Washington needs 6 tackles to become #1 in Nighthawks history. He led the team with 76 tackles in 2000. He reached 100 for his af2 career with five against Mohegan. Offensively, Washington surpassed the 1,500-yard mark in all-purpose yards with 29 return yards against Cape Fear.
DROPBACK: The Nighthawks dropped their second game of 2002, 47-29 to the Mohegan Wolves in Uncasville, CT. The Nighthawks spotted the Wolves 21 points and never got closer than twelve for the rest of the night. It is the second consecutive season the team has opened 0-2. Newly assigned QB Roy Johnson (Hampton U./Roanoke Steam) began the second quarter for the Nighthawks and marched the team downfield, finished by a 2-yard Farrel Payton TD run. Mohegan would answer right back when QB Cable Davis hit Melvin Phillips on a 24-yard toss and the Wolves maintained their 21 point advantage. Norfolk would be stopped on their next possession, but with 41 seconds to play in the half, WR/LB Jay Clarke intercepted a pass and ran 24 yards for the touchdown. Clarkes outstanding play brought the Nighthawks to within 12 heading into the half and with some much-needed momentum. The second half began promising as OL/DL Adrian Wideman blocked a Mohegan field goal attempt on their first drive. The Nighthawks were unable to put up any points following the block and gave it right back to the Wolves, who got a 1-yard TD run from Carl Wisniewski to go back up by 19. Still staying within striking distance, Johnson found OS Gary Briggs from 30 yards out for a touchdown, making the score 33-21 with a little over a quarter left to play in the game. After keeping the Burnside twins relatively in check for the majority of the game, Brandon made the biggest play of the game when he returned the ensuing kickoff 56 yards for a touchdown, ending the third quarter of play with the score 40-21, Mohegan leading. The Wolves finished with 47 points, fourteen coming off first quarter turnovers, and escaped with their first victory of the season. The Nighthawks had a few bright spots in the game, including; better offensive line play, strong debuts from QB Johnson (11-for-22, 153 yards, 2 TD) and WR/LB Jason Blevins (3 receptions, 40 yards, one tackle), and another solid game from WR/DB Dominic Banks (1 catch for 10 yards, 5 tackles (game-high), one INT, one recovered fumble, one pass breakup).
FORWARD MOTION: After this week five battle with Richmond, the Nighthawks return home to face the Mohegan Wolves. Norfolk lost to the Wolves two weeks ago 47-29. Mohegan (2-1) is currently in 2nd place in the Northeast Division behind (3-0) Albany. Following this week, the Nighthawks will play six-out of-nine at home, where they are 14-4 lifetime.
TEAM NOTES/TRENDS:
Improved O-Line Play
To be continued: After giving up five sacks in their home opener against Cape Fear, the Nighthawks line allowed only two against Mohegan the following week. While teams usually are not excited about giving up two sacks, the Nighthawks were looking for much needed improvement and got it. Both Mohegan sacks were at the end of the game and carried no real significance. Now they must face one of the most dominant lines in af2 over the past two years.
Hampton University Impact in 2002: The Hampton University Pirates won the MEAC championship in 1997 behind the play of three stars, QB Roy Johnson, DB Jay Clarke and TE Adrian Wideman. In the first game all three have played together since, there were signs of good plays ahead. Johnson jumped right into the Norfolk offense and completed 50 percent of his passes for 153 yards and two TDs. Clarke returned an interception 24 yards for a score and Wideman blocked a Mohegan field goal attempt to start the third quarter. Norfolk hopes these three HU-alum can spark a serious winning streak for the rest of the Nighthawks season.
PLAYERS/MATCHUPS TO WATCH:
Nighthawks WR/LB Jason Blevins: Blevins played in his first game with the Nighthawks against Mohegan. Blevins was injured and couldnt play in the opener, but caught three passes for 40 yards and had a tackle in week three against the Wolves. Blevins (65, 220) could cause problems for the Speed secondary with his size and speed.
Nighthawks DSs vs. Harvey and Townsley: WR/DB Kevin Harvey (2001 af2 IronMan of the Year) and WR/DB Jeff Townsley are in the league top ten in scoring, touchdowns, receptions and receiving yards. The Nighthawks DS combination of Desmond Washington and Tommie Dawson will need to be at the top of their game to try and limit the contributions of these two. Washington is the veteran of the two and led the team with two breakups against Mohegan. Dawson had one interception in week one vs. Cape Fear and a breakup against Mohegan.
KEY DATES IN TEAM/LEAGUE HISTORY:
April 22, 2000 Nighthawks kicker Lee McDonald hits 6-of-7 field goals in an overtime victory over the Charleston SwapFoxes. McDonalds six field goals are still an af2 all-time record and earned him Co-Player of the Week honors in the af2 for week four. WR/LB Doug Seidenstricker earned af2 IronMan of the Week for his performance against the SwampFoxes.
April 26, 2001 After beginning the season 0-4, the Nighthawks hold a press conference at the Radisson Hotel Norfolk to announce a change and introduce Mike Buck as the teams interim head coach for the remainder of 2001. Buck spent the 2000 season with the Pensacola Barracudas as the offensive coordinator.
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