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Austin Wranglers game notes

February 24, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Austin Wranglers News Release


AUSTIN WRANGLERS (2-0) at COLORADO CRUSH (2-1)

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2004, 7 P.M., PEPSI CENTER

WRANGLERS TELEVISION

The Austin Wranglers' inaugural performance will be televised live in Austin on Time Warner Cable Channel 77. All the action will begin at 7 p.m. with News8Austin sports anchor Jeff Power calling the action, and The Zone's Erin Hogan providing color commentary. The game will then be available on Central Texas On-Demand Channel 1301, Monday, free to Time Warner Cable Digital subscribers.

WRANGLERS RADIO

All Austin Wranglers football games can be heard on Z102, 102.3 FM, with veteran sports radio announcer Bill Schoening calling the play-by-play and Wranglers assistant general manager and NFL veteran Glyn Milburn handling the color announcing. Head Coach Skip Foster will analyze Friday's game and take phone calls on The Zone 1300 AM with Bucky Godbolt Monday night, 7-8 p.m.

WRANGLERS DONATE TO UT STUDENT GOVERNMENT

This week the Austin Wranglers announced they will donate $10,000 to the University of Texas Student Government. The Wranglers are happy to partner with UT in an effort to enhance student programs and facilities on campus. The Frank Erwin Center is the premiere arena in Austin and the Wranglers are glad to share it with the UT students. The Wranglers are pleased to have this opportunity to support the UT students and hope this donation will help strengthen the relationship between the Wranglers and the University community.

HEAD COACHES

Skip Foster
Austin Wranglers
Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator

Skip Foster is making his AFL head coaching debut with the Austin Wranglers this season. Foster, deemed the second most winning coach in arenafootball2 history, will also act as the Wranglers offensive coordinator.

Prior to joining the Wranglers, Foster served as the head coach for the 2003 af2 Champion Tulsa Talons. Foster lead the team to a 13-3 regular season record while accumulating 3,995 yards in total offense, 3,679 yards passing and 316 yards rushing. This offensive effort also concluded with Tulsa outscoring their opponents 823-690 in regular season play. The Talons totaled 745 yards in offense and outscored their postseason opponents 179-130 on their way to winning the 2003 ArenaCup. During his three years with Tulsa, Foster made history when he led his team to the National Conference Central Division Championship for two straight seasons and won the ArenaCup in 2003. Foster was the only af2 coach to go undefeated at home over three consecutive regular seasons.

Foster compiled a record of 82-39-2 at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas before moving to the Talons. Foster played for six Conference Championships during his 12 seasons as the head coach of the Red Ravens. In 1990, Foster led Coffeyville to a National Championship and an undefeated season. He was selected as Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Coach of the Year in both 1990 and 1991.

After serving as an assistant to his father, Dick Foster, for four seasons at Coffeyville, Skip took over the head coaching duties where Dick won a National Championship in 1983. They are the only father/son pair in the National Junior College Athletic Association to win a national championship at the same school. Skip played football for his father from 1979-1980 at Coffeyville. A graduate of Missouri Western State College, Foster earned a Bachelor of Science in Education.

Mike Dailey
Colorado Crush
Head Coach

Mike Dailey joined the Crush on June 26, 2003, becoming the team's second head coach. He is one of the most successful coaches in the history of the Arena Football League and clearly one of the most knowledgeable about the indoor game.

Dailey joined the Crush after seven seasons as head coach of the Indiana Firebirds, where his teams compiled a 63-46 record, a winning percentage of 57.8. In 1999 Dailey led the Firebirds to their only ArenaBowl championship and a regular season-playoff record of 14-3, best in firebirds history. He was named AFL Coach of the Year following that standout campaign.

Dailey's experience in the AFL is unsurpassed. Before being named head coach of the Firebirds in 1997, Dailey served as an assistant for five seasons under then-head coach Mike Hohensee. He spent three seasons as the team's offensive coordinator, during which the firebirds led the league in scoring, with an average of 60.4 points per game.

Dailey also coached the other side of the ball, serving as Firebirds defensive coordinator in 1992 and 1993. During the 1993 season the Firebirds recorded 13 forced fumbles and recovered 14 fumbles and had 16 interceptions.

Starting his coaching career as offensive coordinator at Montgomery College-Rockville (Md.), Dailey also served as an assistant at Towson State University before beginning his AFL coaching career as an assistant with the Washington Commandos, whom he served as offensive and defensive line coach. He joined the Firebirds organization in 1991.

LAST WEEK

In what was a thrilling game filled with pure offense, the Frank Erwin Center has a new chant that will become all too familiar in the coming weeks, "Kalaaaayy-o!" John Kaleo, the quarterback of the 2-0 Austin Wranglers, orchestrated a victory today over his former team and defending ArenaBowl-Champion Tampa Bay Storm.

Early on, each team scored at will, moving the ball with relative ease as the scoring went back and forth throughout much of the first half. The Wranglers took their first lead after recovering a kickoff in which the ball bounced off the uprights and wound up in the hands of OL/DL Lucas Yarnell. On the following play, Kaleo threw a touchdown pass to WR/LB Darryl Hammond to give Austin their first lead of the game. The rest of the game looked like a shootout between Kaleo and Shane Stafford, as the opposing quarterbacks matched each other score-for-score.

In the most crucial point of the game, kicker Ian Howfield of the Storm missed a field goal that would have given his team the lead. On the ensuing possession, the Wranglers converted on a third-and-17 from their own 11, and Kaleo found WR/LB Jahine Arnold streaking across the middle for a 36 yard gain that set up a touchdown run by FB/LB Patrise Alexander. Tampa Bay had a chance to even the score, but Stafford's pass intended for WR/LB Lawrence Samuels was broken up by Wranglers DS DeRon Jenkins. The near-capacity crowd shook the Erwin Center as its team celebrated their perfect start to their inaugural season.

The Colorado Crush suffered their first loss to the Chicago Rush, 65-35.

CRUSH TO WATCH

QB John Dutton – This former Arena Bowl MVP of 2002 and four year AFL veteran has not lost his stuff this 2004 season. In Week Three, Dutton threw for 175 yards and another four touchdowns, which brings his season total to 643 yards for 10 touchdowns. This puts him just 13 places below the Wranglers' Kaleo in leading passers for the league. He was named Offensive Player of the Game in Week Two against the Rampage.

WR/DB Kevin McKenzie – Only in his third AFL season, McKenzie has proven he is one to watch out for. He led the Crush in receptions and kick returns in Week Three with five catches for 75 yards and one touchdown, and two kick returns for 34 yards. This put him at number 15 in the league for leaders in receptions. Defensively, he is ranked fourth in the league for leaders in interceptions with only one, but for a damaging 44 yards and a touchdown. His outstanding two-way effort has earned him the award for Army Ironman of the Game in Week One and Week Two this season.

WR/DB Rashad Floyd – As a two-way player he has made an impressive showing in defense with an outstanding game in Week Three where he led the Crush defensively by accumulating eight total tackles, five solo. He is one of the three Crush ranked fourth in the league for leaders in interceptions with one for 21 yards and a touchdown. Any more defensive touchdowns and Floyd will be looking at a career high record. He is also three interceptions away from tying his career high of four, which he registered in 2003 with the Orlando Predators.

WRANGLERS TO WATCH

QB John Kaleo – Are you experienced? Kaleo is, leading the Wranglers into an impressive start this season with a second win at home in Week Three. After being named Offensive Player of the Game in the first two games of the season, Kaleo ranks second in the league for passing. In Week Three, he passed for 263 yards, bringing his season total to 570 yards. He has already registered 11 passing touchdowns for the season which brings his career total to 356. As the season proceeds the Wranglers expect Kaleo to continue to lead them to victory.

FB/LB Patrise Alexander – This two-way player is proving his worth on both sides of the play this 2004 season. There is no stopping him on offense, as he has barreled through the line for three touchdowns on the season, including the two touchdowns in the inaugural homeopener for the Wranglers. Not only is he pounding them into the endzone on offense, but he is pounding into the opponents on defense as well. In Week Three he registered a sack for the loss of five yards against the Tampa Bay Storm.

WR/DB Charlie Davidson – This is another two-way player for the Wranglers who is definitely making an impact this season. He led the team in tackles in Week Three with a total of seven. He also recovered a fumble which he returned for 19 yards that stopped Tampa Bay's drive, which would have given the Storm the lead. In two games this season he has caught 15 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns, and also returned 6 kickoffs for 129 yards. With his impressive offensive and defensive numbers he is sure to make an impact in many games throughout the season.

WRANGLERS HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE

AUSTIN, Tex. - Amid the roar of motorcycle engines and the lingering smoke of pregame fireworks, the Austin Wranglers took the field Sunday and in doing so, took their place in the local sports history books. Quarterback John Kaleo led the Wranglers to victory in the team's first-ever game at the Frank Erwin Center, beating the team he led to the ArenaBowl Championship last season, the Tampa Bay Storm, in the process.

As the game progressed, the fans became more and more captured by action and the decibel level grew with each Wrangler score. As Tampa attempted to mount one last effort to tie the game with under a minute to play, the crowd rose to their feet to help the Wranglers—now their team—come up with one more big play. When DS DeRon Jenkins batted away Tampa quarterback Shane Stafford's fourth down pass in the endzone, it was hard to tell who was happier: the players or their fans.

After the game, the Wranglers players and ownership joined their fans on the concourses of the Erwin Center. The Arena Football League bills itself as the most fan-friendly league in professional sports, and the postgame performance by the team was a perfect illustration. Nearly 90 minutes after the game's final whistle, Wranglers players were still in the arena concourse shaking hands, signing autographs and taking pictures until the last fan went home, which is rare even in the AFL.

In an era when many professional athletes are showered and in their cars before the locker room doors open to the media, seeing a team go out of its way to meet the people who support it is a refreshing change of pace. In the process of winning Sunday's game, the Austin Wranglers won the hearts of thousands of Austinites.

WRANGLERS ROSTER NOTES

TRIUMVERATE—For the second-straight game, the threesome of OS Shannon Culver, WR/DB Charlie Davidson and WR/LB Darryl Hammond combined for 15 catches, 219 yards and five touchdowns. In the Wranglers two games this season, there are two 100+-yard receiving games between them and all are ranked among the AFL's receiving yardage leaders. Against Tampa Bay, Hammond caught eight passes for 59 yards and three touchdowns, Culver hauled in five for 113 yards and two touchdowns, and Davidson rounded out the performance with two catches for 37 yards on offense and made an impact on special teams by returning four kicks for 78 yards.

LONG FIELD—The Wranglers continue to control their opponents by giving them a long field to work with after a kickoff. Of 17 kickoffs, Tony Dodson has hit five touchbacks, which brings the ball back to the opponent's five-yard line. The coverage team has held the opponent within their own 10-yard line 10 times, limiting them to an average start on their own 8.5.

THE VIEW FROM ABOVE—Averaging 298 total yards in their first two games, the Wranglers continue to lead the AFL in total offense. QB John Kaleo's passing effort has posted the second highest average in the league with 278.0 yards per game.

UNDER PRESSURE—The Wranglers offense also gets the job done on third and fourth down. Kaleo leads the AFL in third-down passing, completing nine of 13 attempts, with five touchdowns. The Wranglers are tied for the most effective offense in the red-zone, scoring all 11 times they have reached their opponent's side of the field.

ROUND 2—Two Wranglers players are having their second-straight expansion season. Both WR/DB Charlie Davidson and QB Bobby Pesavento played for the Crush in their inaugural season in 2003.

CRUCIAL BALANCE—Head Coach Skip Foster's squad boasts 99 years of AFL experience among the 24-man roster. Seven members of the team are rookies, eight are AFL veterans with 1-3 years of experience and nine have played in the league for more than four years.

AUSTIN WRANGLERS SINGLE-GAME AND SEASON TICKETS

The Austin Wranglers have released single-game tickets for the team's 2004 inaugural season. Tickets are available for as little as $8 through Texas Box Office by calling 477.6060, logging on to www.texasboxoffice.com, visiting the Frank Erwin Center's Red River box office Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., or visiting any HEB grocery store.

Season tickets and group tickets are still available through the Wranglers ticket office by calling 233.7800. All fans that purchased a season ticket package after that date can pick their tickets up at the Erwin Center Red River box office with photo identification after February 10.

Week Date Opponent Time/Results
1 BYE
2 Friday, February 13 @ Orlando Predators W 49-48
3 Sunday, February 22 TAMPA BAY STORM W 56-48
4 Friday, February 27 @ Colorado Crush 8:00 p.m.
5 Sunday, March 7 CAROLINA COBRAS 2:00 p.m.
6 Sunday, March 14 INDIANA FIREBIRDS 2:00 p.m.
7 Thursday, March 18 @ Detroit Fury 6:30 p.m.
8 Sunday, March 28 PHILADELPHIA SOUL 2:00 p.m.
9 Saturday, April 3 @ Los Angeles Avengers 9:30 p.m.
10 Sunday, April 11 GEORGIA FORCE 2:00 p.m.
11 Sunday, April 18 @ Tampa Bay Storm 2:00 p.m.
12 Sunday, April 25 NEW ORLEANS VOODOO 2:00 p.m.
13 Saturday, May 1 @ Grand Rapids Rampage 6:30 p.m.
14 Sunday, May 9 DALLAS DESPERADOS 2:00 p.m.
15 Sunday, May 16 ORLANDO PREDATORS 2:00 p.m.
16 Sunday, May 23 @ Georgia Force 2:00 p.m.
17 Sunday, May 30 @ New Orleans Voodoo 3:00 p.m.

GAMES IN ALL CAPS ARE HOME GAMES PLAYED AT THE FRANK ERWIN CENTER

All game times and locations are subject to change

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from February 24, 2004


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