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Bossier/Shreveport Battle Wings game notes

April 13, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Bossier/Shreveport Battle Wings (0-2)
at Quad City Steamwheelers (0-1)
Date: Saturday, April 16, 2005
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CST
Site: The Mark (9,437)
National Anthem: TBA
Coin Toss: TBA
Officials: Referee - Gus Golembiewski
Umpire - Pat Bayers
Head Linesman - Donald Roger
Line Judge - Don Shouse
Back Judge - Larry Orrico
Radio: Bossier/Shreveport - KWKH 1130 AM (Charlie Chitwood)
Quad City - WFXN 1230 AM (Jim Albracht and John Furlong)
Local TV: None
Series Record: Quad City leads all-time series 2-1
Last Meeting: Bossier/Shreveport 54, Quad Cities 52 (6/29/02 @ Century Tel Center)
Streaks: Quad City owns a two-game home winning streak over the Battle Wings earned during the 2001-02 seasons. This will be the first meeting between the two clubs since they played last in June of 2002.
Coaches: Battle Wings - Keith Barefield (5-12, 2nd season)
Steamwheelers - Rick Frazier (8-9, 1st season with QC)

THE STAKES: The Battle Wings are staring in the face a first-ever three-game, season-opening losing streak that they'd just as soon not look at. On top of that, the 'Wings haven't won in their last six games, dating back to a June 18 overtime victory at home against Rio Grande Valley. On paper, this is a better Battle Wings squad than the last two seasons - on the ledger, they've yet to show that improvement on the field...Quad City has opened the season with two consecutive losses only once. In 2003, the 'Wheelers started 0-2, then won their next 14 games to wrap up a third division crown in their first four years. New QC head coach Rick Frazier is looking for his first victory at the af2 level since the 2003 season, when he was head coach of the now-defunct Norfolk Nighthawks.

THE SERIES: Quad City leads the all-time series between the two clubs, two games to one, with every win coming on the home team's turf. Everything about the Battle Wings' organization has changed since they last played in 2002, but 'Wheelers fans are perhaps looking for a little payback from a controversial 54-52 'Wings win at the Century Tel Center on June 29, 2002. That loss was costly - Quad Cities failed to make the playoffs that season by one victory after claiming the first two Arena Cup championships in 2000 and 2001.

THE IFs: A victory by the Battle Wings would:
· Give one team in this series a first-ever road victory over the other,
· Would stop Bossier's six-game losing streak, dating from last season,
· Would keep Bossier from losing first three games of season for the first time ever,
· Bring 'Wings home with a chance to reach .500 against expansion Amarillo next week,
· Be Battle Wings third road victory since a July 2002 victory at Peoria.

BOSSIER/SHREVEPORT (0-2)
Date Opponent Result Score
4/03 MEMPHIS* L 63-24
4/09 TULSA L 61-51
4/16 @ Quad City* 7:30
4/23 AMARILLO* 7:00
5/02 @ Rio Grande Val. 7:30
5/07 BAKERSFIELD 7:00
5/14 FLORIDA 7:00
5/21 @ Oklahoma City* 7:30
6/04 @ Albany 6:30
6/11 @ Macon 6:30
6/18 OKLAHOMA CITY* 7:00
6/25 @ Amarillo* 7:00
7/09 RIO GRANDE VAL. 7:00
7/15 @ Bakersfield 9:00
7/23 QUAD CITY* 7:00
7/30 @ Memphis* 7:00

QUAD CITY (0-1)
Date Opponent Time Result Score
4/10 @W-B/Scranton L 64-28
4/16 BOSSIER/SHREVE 7:30
4/23 @ Oklahoma City 6:00
4/30 MEMPHIS 7:30
5/7 @ Amarillo 7:00
5/14 W-B/SCRANTON 7:30
5/21 @ Green Bay 9:00
5/28 OKLAHOMA CITY 7:30
6/4 LOUISVILLE 6:30
6/11 @ Memphis 7:30
6/18 ALBANY 7:30
6/24 @ Manchester 7:30
7/9 GREEN BAY 7:30
7/16 AMARILLO 7:30
7/23 @ Bossier/Shreve 7:00
7/30 @ Louisville 7:30

HEAD COACHES: The Battle Wings' Keith Barefield is back at the drawing board after last week's disappointing loss to Memphis. With a brand-new staff, the work might not be so daunting. The winningest football coach in Missouri football history has re-tooled his team as well won't settle for less than success at the professional level.... Tulsa skipper David Alexander made the move from front office exec to sidelines, but like Barefield has a wealth of football experience under his belt. The 40-year-old Broken Bow, OK native played 10 years in the NFL for the Eagles and Jets, starting in 108 consecutive games during that timespan. As a first-year head coach at the professional level, Alexander's transition comes a little easier with a team that went 13-3 in 2004 before falling in the second round of the playoffs.

LAST SERIES MEETING: The Battle wings and Steamwheelers haven't met since the 2002 season, but 'Wheeler fans might have a long memory about the last time the two got together at the Century Tel Center. The two-time defending two Arena Cup champions champions, were struggling in their third year and found the going even tougher in Bossier City. Down 54-46 late in the game, Quad City scored late in the game and appeared to have converted a two-point conversion to tie the game. The duece was disallowed, however

TALE OF TWO CITIES: These two teams represent opposite ends of the af2 spectrum. Quad City is one of the premier franchises, having claimed the first two league championships with playoff appearances in four of the league's five seasons of existence. The Steamwheelers have won more games (65) and have a higher winning percentage (.813) than any other team in the league. Last year, they averaged 6,175 in attendance for their eight regular season contests, third-best in their five seasons of existence....Bossier City, in its fifth season of af2 competition, is aiming for the same type of stature within the league under new local ownership. The 'Wings, however, have a ways to go. since the start of the 2001 season, Bossier has won 24 of 66 games (.360) and remains the only team in the league for more than two years to not have made the post-season. The Battle Wings' attendance during 2004 averaged 3,834 per game, but that figure at least is a turnaround from the pre-Newman era when the franchise bottomed out at 3,383 in attendance per game.

TOP RETURNING PERFORMERS:
BATTLE WINGS
Player Rank Category Stat
Bo SmithBo SmithBo Smith 778 ScoringScoring (TD's)Receiving TD's 210 pts.210 pts.29
Bo SmithBo Smith 910 Kick Ret. YardsMFG Ret. Yds. 22.9 ypr22.9 ypr
Bo Smith T10 MFG TD Return 1
TALONS
Player Rank Category Stat
Jeff Hewitt 598 All-Purpose Yds.ScoringRec. Yds 172.9/gm199 pts.1,440
Matt Forbes T3T3T1T4 InterceptionsINT Ret. YardsINT Ret. TD'sTackles 9104282.5

TALE OF THE TAPE: Here's how BOSSIER and QUAD CITY stack up through the first two weeks of play:
Statistical 'WINGS 'WHEELERS
Category Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense 13 37.5 18 28.0
Scoring Defense 18 62.0 19 64.0
Total Offense 17 170.0 16 175.0
Total Defense 15 270.5 8 234.0
Pass Offense 16 163.5 17 161.0
Pass Defense 14 243.0 11 227.0
Rushing Offense 18 6.5 12 14.0
Rushing Defense 17 27.5 T4 7.0
Scoring (TD's) T5 10 T17 4
Scoring (Kicking) 7 13 T16 4
Pass Rating 16 91.2 8 117.1
Pass Def. Rating 14 114.3 16 120.2
Kickoff Returns 15 15.9 9 20.7
MFG Returns 2 20.5 T11 0.00
Turnover Margin 18 -3.00 T9 0.00
Field Goals T6 2 T10 0
PAT Kicking T10 .875 T1 1.000
Sacks By T3 4 T8 2
Sacks Against 20 8 19 5
First Downs 6 25 T14 14
Opp. First Downs T19 40 9 17
Penalties 19 21/117 10 12/66
Opp. Penalties 4 19/124 12 8/49

BATTLE WINGS INJURY REPORT:
Pos. Name Injury Status
WR/LB Schexnayder Infection ST-IR
OL/DL Phillips Left Knee LT-IR
WR/DB Parham Hamstring LT-IR
WR/DBDS HarrisRobinson Quad PullKnee LT-IRLT-IR

BAREFIELD BITES:

Battle Wings head coach Keith Barefield on playing Quad City: "Obviously we're fixing to go against one of the premier franchises in the league, both on the field and in the front office. They've been the most succesful franchise in the league since its inception. This is a big game for us and not just because we're looking for our first win. We're trying to build the same sort of success in Bossier City and Shreveport."

Barefield on the loss to Tulsa: "We were better than in our first game but we weren't good enough to finish off the game and get the win. We need to cut down on the type of foolish mistakes that helped Tulsa in that game-winning drive."

Barefield on the injuries to Heard Robinson and McKinley Bowie: Losing those two right there really hurt us defensively. They're two of our biggest guys off the line and their presence was missed. When we lost Kevin Washington too, it forced us to play guys out of position. This early in the season, that kind of handicap is hard to overcome."

Barefield on the play of Caleb Slover at quarterback: "We know what kind of QB Caleb is and he showed us a lot more of that on Saturday. We do need to get him some better protection, but he was able to spread the ball around to receivers and made some pretty good decisions out there. Not throwing any interceptions always helps."

The BOssier Bullet: The Battle Wings' OS Bo Smith started the season within reach of a number of career receiving and return records. Saturday against Tulsa, he climbed the all-time Battle Wing kick-return ladder another rung. with 90 return yards, he by-passed Kevin Stevenson for the #2 spot all-time in Battle wing history. This week, he has within reach one of the top spots - most career TD receptions. To continue stamping his mark, Bo needs:
· 3 TD receptions to move into 1st-place all-time in receiving TD's,
· 99 receiving yards to move into 2nd-place all-time in career receiving yards,
· 42 receptions to move into 2nd all-time in career receptions,
· 30 MFG return yards to move into 2nd-place all-time in career MFG return yardage and 60 MFG return yards to move into 1st-place all-time.

DROPBACK: Then Battle Wings had their second consecutive barnyard brawl with the Tulsa Talons, losing another close game to their Oklahoma rivals 61-51. Bossier led 51-48 after scoring a touchdown with 1:56 remaining in the game, but Tulsa worked its way 47 yards downfield and scored with 4.5 seconds remaining to steal the victory. The 'Wings fumbled the ball in their own end zone on their last-gasp attempt to get the ball downfield - Tulsa recovered to score a final TD with 0:00 showing on the clock for the final margin.

FORWARD MOTION: Bossier comes home after the Quad City game to prepare for the expansion Amarillo Dusters, who enter this week's action with a 1-1 mark. The Dusters knocked off Tulsa in their season opener, scoring the game-winning touchdown with 1.2 seconds remaining in the game, then lost to a hot-starting Memphis, 66-41. Amarillo is the lone expansion team in the 20-team af2 this season.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME:
Week Opp. Player
12 MEMTUL Brian Jones, MEMDonovan Morgan, TUL

ADT DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME:
Week Opp. Player
12 MEMTUL Joe Wesley, BOSKendal Shello, BOS

U.S. ARMY IRONMAN AWARD
Week Opp. Player
12 MEMTUL Terrence Quattlebaum, MEMAleric Clark, TUL

RECENT ROSTER MOVES (most recent first):
Date Action Player
4/12 Activating From Refused To ReportPlacing On Long-Term Injured Reserve FB/LB Kevin NelsonDS Heard Robinson

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