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Austin Wranglers game notes

May 26, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Austin Wranglers News Release


AUSTIN WRANGLERS (8-7) vs. NEW ORLEANS VOODOO (10-5)
SUNDAY, MAY 30, 2004, 3 P.M. CENTRAL, NEW ORLEANS ARENA

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 Sunday's game and take phone calls on The Zone 1300 AM with Bucky Godbolt Thursday night, 7-8 p.m.

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 Neu
New Orleans VooDoo
Head Coach

Mike Neu is the first head coach of the New Orleans VooDoo. Neu is a six-year Arena Football coaching veteran, coming to the New Orleans after serving as head coach of the Carolina Cobras in 2002. Neu guided the Cobras to a 5-2 record on the road and their second-straight postseason berth. Carolina also posted the first playoff victory in club history (a 72-64 win at Grand Rapids) in 2002 as the club featured the AFL's fourthranked defense.

As offensive coordinator with the Cobras in 2001, before being promoted to head coach prior to the team's first round playoff game, the Cobras averaged over 56 points a game (fifth in the league) and finished 7-7 (improving from a 3-13 record the year before).

Prior to coming to Carolina, Neu served as head coach and director of football operations for the Augusta Stallions of af2
in 2000. In his only season, Neu led Augusta to a 14-4 record, the American Conference title and was named the league's Coach of the Year. Augusta finished in the top four in every major offensive and defensive category.

Neu began his coaching career in 1994 as a graduate assistant at Ball State. His professional playing career started with a stint with the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders in 1995 before joining the Arena Football League's Orlando Predators in 1996 and moving on to the Nashville Kats in 1997.

Neu started his Arena Football League coaching career with the Nashville Kats in 1998, when he served as quarterbacks coach for the Kats and handled all play-calling responsibilities for the offense, and he was later promoted to offensive coordinator. The team also set franchise highs in six offensive categories, including scoring and total offense.

Neu played four seasons at Ball State, where he was named the MAC Most Valuable Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 1993. Neu guided Ball State to the conference championship his final year and holds school career passing records in passing yardage, passing attempts, completions and touchdown passes.


LAST WEEK

DULUTH, GA. – The Georgia Force won in convincing fashion as they handed the Austin Wranglers a 51-34 defeat. In only their second home win of the season, QB Leon Murray, the Baby Ruth Offensive Player of the Game, threw for 216 yards on 25-of-26 passing and five touchdowns and added 15 yards rushing on four carries plus a score. Wranglers QB John Kaleo finished the game 22-40 with 253 yards passing for five touchdowns and no interceptions. The Wranglers receivers were led by Dameon Porter, who moved into the offensive specialist role following an injury to Tacoma Fontaine, and had 2004 single game-highs with 100 yards receiving on eight receptions.

The Wranglers took an early 0-2 lead when TE/DE Aaron Humphrey sacked Murray in the end zone on the game's second play. Georgia responded scoring the next 13 points on touchdowns passes from Murray to Markeith Cooper and Robert Thomas of 10 and 20 yards respectively. The Austin offense was kept in check for most of the first half as the Force defense came up strong as Austin went 0-4 on fourth down attempts, including one from the Georgia one-yardline. QB John Kaleo then cut the Force lead to five at 13-8 hitting Aleric Clark for a 24-yard score. The Wranglers fought to keep it close in the second half with Kaleo hitting Porter, WR/LBs Darrin Chiaverini and Brandon Daniels for four touchdowns, but the Force defense held tight as their offense put four touchdowns and a field goal on the board to come away with the win.

Box Score 1 2 3 4 Final
Austin 2 6 13 13 34
Georgia 7 20 14 10 51

2004 STATISTICAL COMPARISON

AUS NVD
First Downs 306 266
Total Yards Gained 4,148 3,758
Average per Game 276.5 250.5
Net Rushing Yards 352 433
Average per Game 23.5 28.9
Net Passing Yards 3,796 3,325
Average per Game 253.1 221.7
Kickoff Returns 86 79
Average Yards per Return 16.2 17.7
Time of Possession 32:03 29:13
Touchdowns 104 96
Points Scored 743 685

THE WRANGLERS ARE...
Record
5-3 At home
3-4 On the road

3-0 Against Eastern Division
2-2 Against Central Division
3-4 Against Southern Division
0-1 Against Western Division

5-4 With a spread of seven or more points
3-3 With a spread of six or fewer points

8-5 When Kaleo throws one or fewer INTs
0-2 When Kaleo throws two or more INTs

WRANGLERS DEFENSIVE STOPS

Stops on 4th down 9
Stops in Red Zone 14
Interceptions 7
Fumble recoveries 18
Field Goals 11
MFG 7
End of Half Stops 8
Safeties 1
Total Stops on the Season 75
Average Stops/Game 5.0

WRANGLERS SCORING

Touchdowns No. # of players
Total Touchdowns 104 19
Receiving touchdowns 80 12
Rushing touchdowns 21 8
Return touchdowns 3 3

Miscellaneous scoring________________________
Field Goals 8/18 1
K-PATs 81/94 1
Two-point Attempts 6/11 4
Safeties 1 1

WRANGLERS OFFENSE vs. AFL

2004 2004 AFL Week 16 AFL
Stat Average Rank Current Rank

Total yards per game 276.5 1.6 3
Passing yards per game 253.1 2.8 7
First downs per game 20.4 4.5 3
Third down efficiency 60/116 4.6 4
Fourth down efficiency 20/38 5.0 9
Points per game 49.5 6.7 9

WRANGLERS TO WATCH


WR/DB ALERIC CLARK – An AFL rookie, and after spending most the season on the Wranglers' 24-man roster, this two-way player finally had his breakout game in the 2004 season. In Week 16, Clark grabbed three passes for 69 yards, the second most yards in the game, and one touchdown on offensive. Defensively, he led the team in tackles with three solo stops and he made one interception for 29 yards. He rounded out his 150 all-purpose yards with three kickoff returns for 52 yards. This player could be seen stepping-up this last regular season game to make some great plays for the Wranglers in Week 17.


TE/DE AARON HUMPHREY – This two-way lineman has been playing progressively better as the season rolls on. In his first year with the AFL, he has already started accumulating impressive stats. He is one of three rookies in the top 25 in the league for most sacks with three total. And when this guy hits, he hits hard; he is in the top 20 in the league for combined tackles for loss. In Week 16 he made two tackles, one for a one-yard loss, and a sack for a loss of three yards.


FB/LB DANE KRAGER – As a rookie, this player has proven himself to be an asset to the Wranglers offense and defense. In Week 16, he racked up two tackles, including one sack for a loss of two yards, and two passes defensed. On the season he has a total of 19.5 tackles, 12 solo. He has become one of the Wranglers leading rushers with a season total of 39 carries for 146 yards and five touchdowns. He is one of the six AFL rookies in the league that are in the top ten for leading rushers with the numbers he has posted.

VOODOO TO WATCH

OS AARON BAILEY – This offensive player is not only a team leader, but a League leader as well. In Week 16 he made four catches for 53 yards and two touchdowns. He is the offensive leader for the VooDoo with a season total of 91 receptions for 1,364 yards and 32 receiving touchdowns. He has also run two kickoff returns back for touchdowns, making him the fourth leading scorer in the league with 34 touchdowns. He is a top-ten AFL receiver with 1,364 receiving yards and 91 receptions. He is the third-ranked leader in the League for all-purpose yards with a total of 2,340.

FB/LB DAN CURRAN – This two-way players is a major asset to the VooDoo offense. Though they are weak in passing, the VooDoo offensive strength lies in Curran's rushing. In Week 16 he two carries for 20 yards, bringing his season total to 320 yards. This makes him the leading rusher in the league with a season total of 79 attempts, raking in 21 touchdowns. Spending that much time in the end zone has made him one of only four players in AFL history to record more than 20 rushing touchdowns on a season, and he is only five touchdowns away from breaking the AFL record of 26 recorded by Bernard Hall in 1996.

DS MONTY MONTGOMERY – As an AFL rookie this defensive player has made a huge impact on the league and on his team. In Week 16 he led the VooDoo in tackles with 5.5 total, five solo, and one forced fumble. He is currently tied for fourth in the league for most interceptions with five for 39 yards. On the season he has racked up 80.5 total tackles and 77 solo tackles, which ranks him in the top five in the league for most combined tackles and in number of solo tackles. Though he is new to Arena Football, he has become a strong addition to the New Orleans defense this 2004 season.

ATTAINABLE MILESTONES
* Denotes Rookie

OL/DL TOM BRIGGS
· 4 sacks from 40 total career
· 4.5 tackles from 170 total career

WR/LB DARRIN CHIAVERINI*
· 4 receptions from 60 career receptions
· 38 yards from 550 career receiving yards
· 1 touchdowns from 15 career touchdowns
· 5.0 tackles from 25 career tackles

DS-WR/LB BRANDON DANIELS
· 2 receptions from 20 receptions on the season
· 3 yards from 200 receiving yards on the season
· 1.5 tackles from 20 tackles on the season

WR/DB CHARLIE DAVIDSON
· 4 receiving touchdowns from 100 career receiving touchdowns
· 1.0 tackles from 310 career tackles
· 3.5 tackles from 35 tackles on the season

WR/DB TACOMA FONTAINE*
· 4 touchdowns from 25 career receiving touchdowns
· 47 yards from 1,100 career receiving yards
· 2 catches from 75 career receptions

WR/LB DARRYL HAMMOND
· 4 receptions from 725 career receptions
· 2 receptions from 45 receptions on the season
· 10 yards from 400 receiving yards on the season

QB JOHN KALEO
· 67 passing yards from 26,000 career yards
· 23 touchdown passes from 450 career touchdowns
· 19 completions from 350 completions on the season
· 193 yards from 4,000 passing yards this season

DS CEDRIC WALKER
· 3 tackles from 535 career tackles
· 2 pass breakups from 80 career breakups
· 1 tackles from 65 tackles on the season

WRANGLERS ROSTER NOTES


PLAYOFF PICTURE—The Austin Wranglers are currently in a three-way tie for the final spot in the AFL playoffs. In order to pick up the eighth seed, the Wranglers will have to beat New Orleans as the Tampa Bay Storm (at Dallas) and New York Dragons (vs. Philadelphia) check-in losses in their Week 17 contests. The New Orleans VooDoo is playing for a top-four seed, securing home field advantage in the first round of the AFL playoffs. New Orleans squandered an opportunity to secure an 11th win, and a top-four seed, last week in their loss to the Tampa Bay Storm.

LAST TIME—The Wranglers must keep the New Orleans VooDoo from sweeping the 2004 home-home National Southern Division series this week at the New Orleans Arena. New Orleans beat the Wranglers at home in the final seconds during their first meeting of the 2004 season. QB John Kaleo's day was spectacular as he threw five touchdowns and surpassed 25,000 passing yards on his career. With just over a minute remaining in the game, Austin had their largest margin of the game at 59-48. New Orleans attacked the Wranglers in those final minutes, scoring two touchdowns, completing one two-point conversion. Austin's last chance for a victory fell short as Kaleo threw a prayer in the end zone that was intercepted by New Orleans DS Monty Montgomery.

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT—The Wrangler picked-up two interceptions off of Force QB Leon Murray. WR/DB Aleric Clark and WR/LB Darrin Chiaverini both made their first-AFL career interceptions at the Gwinnett Arena. With those take-aways, the Wranglers are tied for the seventh-best turnover ratio in the AFL at +6.

BLASTING OPEN—The Wranglers are leading the League in defensive fumble recoveries with 21, as 14 different Wrangler players have come up with at least one defensive fumble recovery this season. The defensive unit's aggressive play is helping the team's stats, as the Wranglers are tied with the Indiana Firebirds and the Tampa Bay Storm for the most forced fumbles in the AFL at 17 a piece. TE/DE Aaron Humphrey leads the Wranglers, and is tied for second in the AFL with four forced fumbles this season.

LASTING IMPRESSIONS—WR/DB Charlie Davidson and OS Tacoma Fontaine together account for 3,148 all-purpose yards (rushing, receiving, kickoff returns, interception returns). That is more than half of the Wranglers 5,687 total all-purpose yards in the 2004 season. As the top scorer for the Wranglers, Fontaine accounts for 21 of the Wranglers 101 offensive touchdowns, the former af2 Tulsa Talon is the only rookie OS in the AFL's top-20 scorers.

KICK STATS—Wranglers kicker Tony Dodson is ranked 10th in scoring among all AFL kickers. Dodson has kicked the ball into the stands 44 times, as he is second in the AFL in touchbacks. The Wranglers kickoff team has improved over the past several weeks, now ranked fourth in the AFL in coverage, forcing an average start at the opponent's 12.4-yard line. Of the Wranglers 126 kickoffs, 75 returners have been stopped inside their own 10-yard line this season.

BATTING THE PASS—The Wranglers have broken-up 46 pass attempts by opponents this season. Led by DS DeRon Jenkins with 14 passes defensed, 12 other players have been able to get in the way of an opposing quarterback's pass. Three different linebackers have been able to break up passes, four linemen and six different defensive backs have been able to read the quarterback in the secondary.

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.

2004 AUSTIN WRANGLERS SCHEDULE

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 L 37-35
5 Sunday, March 7 CAROLINA COBRAS W 56-55
6 Sunday, March 14 INDIANA FIREBIRDS L 64-41
7 Thursday, March 18 @ Detroit Fury W 70-58
8 Sunday, March 28 PHILADELPHIA SOUL W 65-60
9 Saturday, April 3 @ Los Angeles Avengers L 81-70
10 Sunday, April 11 GEORGIA FORCE W 42-26
11 Sunday, April 18 @ Tampa Bay Storm L 58-52
12 Sunday, April 25 NEW ORLEANS VOODOO L 63-59
13 Saturday, May 1 @ Grand Rapids Rampage W 40-27
14 Sunday, May 9 DALLAS DESPERADOS W 48-36
15 Sunday, May 16 ORLANDO PREDATORS L 43-26
16 Sunday, May 23 @ Georgia Force L 51-34
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 May 26, 2004


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