Arkansas Twisters game notes
April 25, 2007 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Arkansas Diamonds News Release
QUICK FACTS:
Corpus Christi (0-3)
Vs. Arkansas Twisters (2-1)
Date: Saturday, 4-28-07
Kickoff: 7:05pm Central Time
Site: Alltel Arena
Officials:
Radio: KABZ 103.7 The BUZZ
Pre-Game show starts @ 2:45PM
(Jake Hatley, Ray Tucker)
Internet: www.1037thebuzz.com
Series Record: First Meeting
Last Meeting: n/a
Streaks: Arkansas is playing its home opener after spending the first month of the season on the road. The team is looking for its third straight win of the season.
Corpus Christi is trying to snap a three game losing streak.
Coaches:
Twisters - John Gregory: 2-1 (17-15, 3rd Year)
Sharks - Mike Trigg: 0-3, 1st Year
THE STAKES: The Twisters need a win to keep pace or tie Central Division leading Tulsa at the top of the standings. The Sharks are trying to win their first game of the season after dropping their first three games.
THE IFs:
If Arkansas defeats Amarillo, it would...
- be the third win of the '07 season
- be the first win ever against Corpus Christi
- give Coach Gregory his 18th win as Twisters coach
2007 ARKANSAS TWISTERS SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Result Score Record
3-31 @ South Georgia L 31-47 0-1
4-15 @ Lubbock W 51-48 1-1
4-20 @ Amarillo W 63-55 2-1
Date Opponent Time Streak Series
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 THREE RE-CAP: 4-15-07
TWISTERS SCORE WIN AT LUBBOCK
(Amarillo, TX) - When Arkansas looked at the schedule during the off-season, many had their doubts whether could win one or even both games on the road in Texas. The Twisters proved all doubters wrong and finished their two game road trip by beating Amarillo 63-55 in Amarillo, TX.
The Twisters started the week by beating Lubbock 51-48 just six days ago. The team traveled to Amarillo on Monday and praticed in the Dusters' Arena for the remainder of the week.
Brian Villanueva led the Twisters by completing 20 of 29 passes for 254 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. Kevin Williams scored three times, while Jon Schoonover led all players with nine catches for 137 yards.
Defensively, Arkansas was led by Pierre Thomas with seven tackles, while Williams intercepted a pass.
The Twisters (2-1) will make their home debut on Saturday, April 28th at Allstate Field at Alltel Arena at 7:05pm.
BOX SCORE:
Arkansas Twisters vs Amarillo Dusters
(Apr 20, 2007 at Amarillo, TX)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Arkansas Twisters... 7 21 7 28 - 63 Record: (1-1)
Amarillo Dusters.... 14 7 13 21 - 55 Record: (1-1)
Schutt Offensive: Schoonover ARK
ADT Defensive: Varner ARK
US Army Ironman: Willaims ARK
Cutters Catch: Russell AMR
Scoring Summary:
1st 13:03 AMR - PANELLA, Steve 9 yd run (FELTON, Jacob kick), 3-32 1:57, ARK 0 - AMR 7
08:42 ARK - WILLIAMS, Kevin 9 yd pass from VILLANUEVA, Bri (CARLTON, David kick), 5-45 3:35, ARK 7 - AMR 7
03:33 AMR - WILLIAMS, Aaron 46 yd interception return (FELTON, Jacob kick), , ARK 7 - AMR 14
2nd 14:10 ARK - WILLIAMS, Kevin 6 yd pass from VILLANUEVA, Bri (CARLTON, David kick), 4-44 3:27, ARK 14 - AMR 14
08:28 AMR - FULTON, Craig J 3 yd run (FELTON, Jacob kick), 7-45 5:05, ARK 14 - AMR 21
03:52 ARK - KILOW, Robert 5 yd pass from VILLANUEVA, Bri (CARLTON, David kick), 6-35 3:45, ARK 21 - AMR 21
00:03 ARK - STOTLAND, Derik 0 yd net recovery (CARLTON, David kick), , ARK 28 - AMR 21
3rd 10:27 AMR - FELTON, Jacob 24 yd field goal, 4-5 2:45, ARK 28 - AMR 24
07:46 AMR - FELTON, Jacob 39 yd field goal, 4-0 2:13, ARK 28 - AMR 27
05:35 ARK - WILLIAMS, Kevin 6 yd pass from VILLANUEVA, Bri (CARLTON, David kick), 4-30 1:58, ARK 35 - AMR 27
01:39 AMR - PANELLA, Steve 3 yd run (FELTON, Jacob kick), 5-33 3:03, ARK 35 - AMR 34
4th 14:09 ARK - SCHOONOVER, Jon 38 yd pass from VILLANUEVA, Bri (CARLTON, David kick), 3-38 1:45, ARK 42 - AMR 34
07:28 AMR - PANELLA, Steve 6 yd run (FELTON, Jacob kick), 7-45 5:52, ARK 42 - AMR 41
04:34 ARK - KILOW, Robert 4 yd run (CARLTON, David kick), 4-45 2:13, ARK 49 - AMR 41
00:30 ARK - MCCOWN, Errick 20 yd pass from VILLANUEVA, Bri (CARLTON, David kick), 2-20 0:15, ARK 56 - AMR 41
00:09 AMR - PANELLA, Steve 4 yd run (FELTON, Jacob kick), 2-23 0:14, ARK 56 - AMR 48
00:09 ARK - MCCOWN, Errick 1 yd kickoff return (CARLTON, David kick), , ARK 63 - AMR 48
00:01 AMR - BERGESKI, Steve 27 yd pass from PANELLA, Steve (FELTON, Jacob kick), 2-27 0:07, ARK 63 - AMR 55
ARK AMR
FIRST DOWNS................... 19 19
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 7-21 11-17
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 254 231
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 30-20-2 38-20-2
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 37-275 50-248
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 1-0 0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 5-53 8-138
Interception Returns-Yards.... 2-41 2-55
Fumbles-Lost.................. 1-0 2-2
Penalties-Yards............... 8-44 4-21
Possession Time............... 27:09 32:51
Third-Down Conversions........ 1 of 3 3 of 9
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 0 1 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 5-5 6-6
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-7 0-0
RUSHING: Arkansas Twisters-FREENEY, Terran 5-17; KILOW, Robert 1-4;
SCHOONOVER, Jon 1-0. Amarillo Dusters-PANELLA, Steve 7-20; FULTON, Craig J 1-3;
SESSLER, Jon 1-0; BELLINA, Rich 2-minus 6.
PASSING: Arkansas Twisters-VILLANUEVA, Bri 20-29-2-254; THOMAS, Pierre
0-1-0-0. Amarillo Dusters-PANELLA, Steve 20-38-2-238; TEAM 0-0-0-minus 7.
RECEIVING: Arkansas Twisters-SCHOONOVER, Jon 9-137; KILOW, Robert 4-42;
WILLIAMS, Kevin 4-34; MCCOWN, Errick 2-29; FREENEY, Terran 1-12. Amarillo
Dusters-BERGESKI, Steve 8-99; FULTON, Craig J 5-65; RUSSELL, Jonah 4-39;
WILKINS, Timoth 3-35.
INTERCEPTIONS: Arkansas Twisters-WILLIAMS, Kevin 1-19; SIMPSON, Jason
1-22. Amarillo Dusters-LINDSEY, Pat 1-9; WILLIAMS, Aaron 1-46.
FUMBLES: Arkansas Twisters-FREENEY, Terran 1-0. Amarillo Dusters-PANELLA,
Steve 1-1.
SACKS (UA-A): Arkansas Twisters-FREENEY, Terran 1-0. Amarillo
Dusters-None.
TACKLES (UA-A): Arkansas Twisters-THOMAS, Pierre 6-2; SIMPSON, Jason 5-0;
VARNER, Tanner 5-0; WILLIAMS, Kevin 3-1; DALLMEYER, Barr 3-1; VINSON, Davon 2-1;
COOLEY, Reggie 2-0; CARDEUAS, James 2-0; MCCOWN, Errick 1-0; FREENEY, Terran
1-0; SCHOONOVER, Jon 0-1. Amarillo Dusters-IHEDIGBO, David 3-4; FENNER, Jahmal
4-0; MINGO, Terrell 3-0; WILLIAMS, Aaron 2-2; LINDSEY, Pat 2-0; HENDRICKS, Gary
1-0; BELLINA, Rich 1-0; SALUNI, Nala 1-0; FULTON, Craig J 1-0; BERGESKI, Steve
1-0; WILKINS, Timoth 1-0; SESSLER, Jon 0-2; WATSON, Derek 0-1; DEYON, Scott 0-1.
FORWARD MOTION: Arkansas will be back on the road to play Laredo.
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 LUB Jon Schoonover, WR
4 AMR Jon Schoonover, WR
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 LUB Kevin Williams, LB/WR
4 AMR Kevin Williams, LB/WR
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 LUB Pierre Thomas, DB
4 AMR Tanner Varner, DB
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 BYE
3 LUB Alvance Robinson, Lubbock
4 AMR Jonah Russell, Amarillo
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
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