Arkansas Twisters game notes
April 9, 2007 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Arkansas Diamonds News Release
QUICK FACTS:
Lubbock Renegades (0-1)
Vs. Arkansas Twisters (0-1)
Date: 4-15-07
Kickoff: 3:05pm Central Time
Site: Laredo Entertainment Center
Officials:
Radio: KABZ 103.7 The BUZZ
Pre-Game show starts @ 2:45PM
(Jake Hatley, Dick "Mackie" McDonald)
Internet: www.1037thebuzz.com
Series Record: 0-0
Last Meeting: First Meeting
Streaks: Arkansas lost its opener to South Georgia 47-31. The Twisters lead as much as 24-7 and led 24-13 at halftime, but couldn't hold on to the lead.
Lubbock opened the season with a loss to Amarillo, 61-26.
Coaches:
Twisters - John Gregory: 0-1 (15-15, 3rd Year)
Renegades - Rodney Blackshear: 0-1, First Year
THE STAKES: First Win - Both teams are looking for their first wins of the new season.
THE IFs:
If Arkansas defeats Lubbock, it would...
- be the first win of the '07 season
- be the first win against Lubbock
- even Arkansas' record at 1-1
- give Coach Gregory his 16th win as Twisters coach
2007 ARKANSAS TWISTERS SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Result Score Record
3-31 @ South Georgia L 31-47 0-1
Date Opponent Time Streak Series
4-15 @ Lubbock 3:05 --- ---
4-20 @ Amarillo 7:30 L1 2-1
4-28 CORPUS CHRISTI 7:00 --- ---
5-5 @ Laredo 7:05 L1 0-1
5-12 BOSSIER-SHREVEPORT 7:05 W7 8-2
5-20 SOUTH GEORGIA 7:05 W1 1-1
5-26 @ Tulsa 7:05 W4 7-8
6-2 LUBBOCK 7:05 --- ---
BYE
6-16 OKLAHOMA CITY 7:05 W1 1-4
6-23 @ Everett 7:05 --- ---
6-30 TULSA 7:05 W4 7-8
7-7 @ Bossier-Shreveport 7:05 W7 8-2
7-14 LAREDO 7:05 L1 0-1
7-21 @ Oklahoma City 7:05 W1 1-4
7-28 AMARILLO 7:05 L1 2-1
TWISTERS HEAD COACH:
John Gregory has seen just about everything a coach can see in one sport. His first job in football was back when Lyndon B. Johnson was President of the United States. Since then he has consistently taken over football programs that have struggled before his arrival and led them to success.
The former 2-time AFL Coach of the Year built the Twisters into a playoff contender in 2006. Gregory led Arkansas to its best start ever by winning his first three games. The Twisters won 10 regular season games for just the second time in franchise history and advanced to the National Conference Championship game. He coached the team to its first victories over Oklahoma City and Macon while beating rival Tulsa three times, the final time coming in the playoffs. The team set a franchise record for most total wins in a season with 12 and the 10 regular wins was the second most in franchise history.
The '06 Twisters also featured one of the best defenses in af2, tying a league record for sacks in a season with two Twisters players being named to the All-af2 first team for the first time ever.
Gregory started his coaching career as an assistant head coach and athletic director at Iowa Central Community College where he was charged with building a football program from the ground up. In just three years, the program had a 24-3-1 record and won the Wool Bowl in '69. Gregory's success at Iowa Central CC went on after he left. John Matusak was a Gregory recruit, and he went on to become the number one pick in the 1974 NFL Draft.
Gregory got his first college head coaching job at South Dakota State in 1971 and stayed for 10 years. To this day, Gregory is still second in school history in coaching victories and he led the team to a single season best of 9-2 in '79. SDSU didn't have a winning record the previous 11 seasons before Gregory's arrival.
After a one year stop as offensive coordinator at his alma mater of Northern Iowa, Gregory went further north to Canada and the Canadian Football League.
While in the CFL, Gregory won a CFL championship in '84 as the offensive line coach for Winnipeg. Gregory's offensive line helped the team set a CFL rushing record in '84 and Gregory was named CFL Outstanding Offensive Line Coach.
Saskatchewan noticed what Winnipeg had, and gave Gregory his first professional head coaching job and he didn't disappoint. Saskatchewan didn't have a winning season in the 11 years prior to Gregory's arrival, and they didn't win a Grey Cup (CFL Title) in 22 years. In 1989, Gregory led a Saskatchewan team that no one gave much of a chance of winning, and won the Grey Cup championship. In the process, Gregory was named CFL Coach of the Year, and he was elected to the Saskatchewan Hall of Fame in 1996.
Gregory went on to coach for Hamilton of the CFL in '91, making the postseason four of the five years he was with the team before the founder of a new football league came calling.
Jim Foster invented Arena Football and needed a coach for a team he was starting in Des Moines, IA. Foster interviewed and hired Gregory to build the Iowa team from scratch. Gregory looked high and low for players; even recruiting a little known quarterback he heard was working at a local grocery store. Gregory gave Kurt Warner a tryout, and the rest is, as they say, history. Gregory coached the Barnstormers to five division titles in six years, led the team to two Arena Bowl title games, and the offense was the one of the most innovative offenses the sport had ever seen. Warner and his processor, Aaron Garcia were recently named as two of the greatest AFL players ever. Gregory earned AFL Coach of the Year honors in '95 and '96, the only coach in AFL history to do so, and nearly made it three in a row when he finished second '97.
The Barnstormers relocated to New York in 2000 and Gregory left the team in '03. After a brief stop at Carolina, Gregory decided to call it a career in coaching.
Then Gregory got another call from Jim Foster.
Foster told Gregory of a team that is the "Jewel of the af2" and needed his help. The team was successful early on, but had won just 4 of its last 20 games. Along with af2 President Jerry Kurz, and Jack Lankford, Gregory was convinced staying in retirement was the thing to do.
Gregory took over the Arkansas Twisters four games into the 2005 season, going 5-7. The final four losses were by a combined score of 19 points, with two games being decided in the last minute of play.
WEEK ONE RE-CAP: 3-31-07
TWISTERS LOSE TOUGH ONE
(Albany, GA) - The Arkansas Twisters came out like a ball of fire in the first half of their season opener against South Georgia, but it was a controversial call in the third quarter that derailed the Twisters chances of winning their season debut, losing 47-31.
The Twisters trailed 7-0 when quarterback Brian Villanueva found Terrance Freeney for a short touchdown. Arkansas scored three more times, all Villanueva touchdown passes to lead 24-7 late in the first half.
South Georgia scored just before halftime on a long pass play from Jullian Reese to Tavaris Caspers and Arkansas led 24-13 at the break.
The Wildcat cut the lead to 31-27 in the third quarter when the Twisters got the ball back. The Twisters were threatening to score at the South Georgia 11 yard line when Villanueva's pass was ruled an interception after it appeared to have touchdown someone on the South Georgia bench.
"I was trying to throwing it away and get it out of bounds," says Villanueva. "I hit one of their players in the head and it bounced back onto the field."
Officials ruled the ball bounced off the wall in the air keeping the ball alive and Derrick Lloyd caught it on the fly. Wildcats scored shortly there after and the Twisters never recovered.
"There wasn't any question everyone saw it except the officials," Head Coach John Gregory said. "That was the major turning point in the game. If we had scored there, we would have been fine."
The Wildcats scored three more times and won the game 47-31. The Twisters drop their record to 0-1 while South Georgia gets their first win of the year. The Wildcats won just three games in 2006 and changed coaches in the off-season.
Villanueva completed 28 of 43 passes for 301 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions. Errick McCown caught 11 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown in his professional debut. Robert Kilow added eight catches for 103 yards and one score. Pierre Thomas had two interceptions and rookie Jason Simpson finished with a game high 10 tackles.
Arkansas has an off week then returns to play Lubbock on a rare Sunday game on April 15th.
"Every game, win or lose, you never know what to expect, especially the new guys. When you get in those buildings, the dehydration is different thatn practicing outside. It's a long trip, all that adds up. Everybody learned something, I saw a lot of good things, but I also saw a lot of average things in the fourth quarter," Coach Gregory explained.
BOX SCORE:
Arkansas Twisters vs S. Georgia Wildcats
(Mar 31, 2007 at Albany, GA)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Arkansas Twisters... 6 18 7 0 - 31 Record: (0-1)
S. Georgia Wildcats. 7 6 14 20 - 47 Record: (1-0)
Scoring Summary:
1st 07:52 SGW - LLOYD, Derrick 4 yd run (YOON, Byungwoo kick), 4-43 2:31, ARK 0 - SGW 7
03:40 ARK - FREENEY, Terran 7 yd pass from VILLANUEVA, Bri (CARLTON, David kick failed), 5-45 4:12, ARK 6 - SGW 7
2nd 09:56 ARK - KILOW, Robert 40 yd pass from VILLANUEVA, Bri (CARLTON, David kick failed), 2-47 1:51, ARK 12 - SGW 7
07:41 ARK - MCCOWN, Errick 38 yd pass from VILLANUEVA, Bri (CARLTON, David kick failed), 2-42 1:12, ARK 18 - SGW 7
00:33 ARK - WILLIAMS, Kevin 4 yd pass from VILLANUEVA, Bri (CARLTON, David kick failed), 4-35 1:45, ARK 24 - SGW 7
00:06 SGW - CAPERS, Tavaris 25 yd pass from RESSE, Julian (RESSE, Julian kick failed), 3-41 0:27, ARK 24 - SGW 13
3rd 10:37 SGW - CAPERS, Tavaris 7 yd pass from BRYANT, D. (YOON, Byungwoo kick), 6-45 4:23, ARK 24 - SGW 20
07:45 ARK - WILLIAMS, Kevin 6 yd pass from VILLANUEVA, Bri (CARLTON, David kick), 4-45 2:52, ARK 31 - SGW 20
02:25 SGW - CLOMAN, Scott 12 yd pass from BRYANT, D. (YOON, Byungwoo kick), 7-45 5:20, ARK 31 - SGW 27
4th 11:29 SGW - CLOMAN, Scott 30 yd pass from BRYANT, D. (YOON, Byungwoo kick failed), 6-48 4:16, ARK 31 - SGW 33
08:41 SGW - CAPERS, Tavaris 10 yd pass from BRYANT, D. (YOON, Byungwoo kick), 1-10 0:58, ARK 31 - SGW 40
04:01 SGW - LLOYD, Derrick 2 yd run (YOON, Byungwoo kick), 2-2 1:38, ARK 31 - SGW 47
ARK SGW
FIRST DOWNS................... 19 20
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 5-27 9-33
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 293 232
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 43-28-2 38-27-3
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 50-320 48-265
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 2-26 4-39
Interception Returns-Yards.... 3-11 2-10
Fumbles-Lost.................. 2-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards............... 12-69 6-39
Possession Time............... 28:36 31:24
Third-Down Conversions........ 2 of 6 1 of 6
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 3 3 of 5
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 3-4 4-5
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-3 2-8
RUSHING: Arkansas Twisters-FREENEY, Terran 5-27. S. Georgia
Wildcats-RESSE, Julian 4-22; LLOYD, Derrick 4-9; HARRIS, James 1-2.
PASSING: Arkansas Twisters-VILLANUEVA, Bri 28-43-2-301; TEAM 0-0-0-minus
8. S. Georgia Wildcats-BRYANT, D. 18-26-2-162; RESSE, Julian 9-12-1-73; TEAM
0-0-0-minus 3.
RECEIVING: Arkansas Twisters-MCCOWN, Errick 11-114; KILOW, Robert 8-103;
SCHOONOVER, Jon 5-59; FREENEY, Terran 2-15; WILLIAMS, Kevin 2-10. S. Georgia
Wildcats-CLOMAN, Scott 11-104; MCCOLLISTER, Ch 9-56; CAPERS, Tavaris 3-42;
ROBINSON, James 3-27; HARRIS, James 1-6.
INTERCEPTIONS: Arkansas Twisters-THOMAS, Pierre 2-17; VARNER, Tanner
1-minus 6. S. Georgia Wildcats-GOLDEN, Greg 1-10; LLOYD, Derrick 1-0.
FUMBLES: Arkansas Twisters-FREENEY, Terran 1-1; MCCOWN, Errick 1-0. S.
Georgia Wildcats-RESSE, Julian 1-0.
SACKS (UA-A): Arkansas Twisters-ANDERSON, Eric 1-0. S. Georgia
Wildcats-WOOLRIDGE, Joe 1-0; WANGLER, Ed 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): Arkansas Twisters-SIMPSON, Jason 10-0; WILLIAMS, Kevin
5-0; VARNER, Tanner 5-0; ANDERSON, Eric 4-0; THOMAS, Pierre 2-0; SCHOONOVER, Jon
1-0; CARDEUAS, James 1-0; DALLMEYER, Barr 1-0; CLARK, Colby 1-0. S. Georgia
Wildcats-GOLDEN, Greg 5-1; COLA, Roland 5-0; LLOYD, Derrick 4-0; HARRIS, James
3-0; BARNES, John 3-0; BRUTLEY, Daryon 2-0; WANGLER, Ed 2-0; NULL, Jason 1-0;
WASHINGTON, Bra 1-0; WOOLRIDGE, Joe 1-0; ROBINSON, James 0-1.
FORWARD MOTION: Arkansas plays Amarillo on the road. The Twisters will stay in Texas the week leading up to the game because it is only five days after the Lubbock game.
TWISTERS' INJURY REPORT:
Pos. Name Injury Status
3-27 Sam Witcher Hamstring IR
3-27 Ben Witcher Turf Toe IR
3-30 Jimi Holden Knee IR
IR- Injured Reserve, min 4 games missed
RECENT ROSTER MOVES:
Date Action Player
3-27 Re-Assignment Wesley Thibault
3-27 Suspension Tobias Brown
3-27 Suspension Scott Dutile
3-27 Suspension Ray Goodson
2007 AWARDS
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME AWARD
Week Opp. Player
1 SGA Brian Villanueva, QB
2 Bye
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
IRONMAN OF THE GAME AWARD
Week Opp. Player
1 SGA Kevin Williams, LB/WR
2 Bye
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME AWARD
Week Opp. Player
1 SGA Jason Simpson, DB
2 Bye
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
CUTTERS CATCH OF THE WEEK
Week Opp. Player
1 SGA Tavaris Caspers, SGA
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
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