Copperheads Host Battle Wings
April 12, 2008 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Texas Copperheads News Release
Houston, Texas - The Texas Copperheads (0-2) will host the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings (1-1) at the Richard E. Berry Center in Northwest Houston on Saturday April 12, 2008. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30pm CST.
In week 2 of the young af2 season, the Copperheads dropped their second consecutive home game at the Berry Center as Florida handed Texas a 56-14 defeat. In week one, the Copperheads fell to Rio Grande Valley 66-40.
Copperheads Head Coach Ollie Guidry believes his young team has hurt themselves more than Rio Grande Valley or Florida. "We have to correct the problems", said Guidry. "None of the teams we faced ultimately caused our execution problems; it was of our own doing. I don't want to take anything away from Rio Grande Valley or Florida, but ultimately it was us. We have to protect the ball. We have to do better on third downs. Our conversion rate is not very good. We can't give up big plays."
The Texas offense has had success moving the ball. Entering tonight's game against Bossier-Shreveport, Copperheads QB Rudy Carlton ranks 6th in af2 passing yards averaging 263 per game. Shaun Rochon leads the league in catches with 26 grabs. Rochon also ranks 6th in receiving yards averaging 129.5 per game. But, as Guidry said, turnovers and poor conversion ratio have hurt Texas. In spite of Carlton and Rochon's impressive personal stats, the Texas offense ranks just 28th in scoring (27ppg). Against Rio Grande Valley and Florida, the Copperheads have given up four interceptions, one returned for a TD by Rio Grande Valley. The Copperheads offense also gave up a fumble return for a TD against Florida. The Copperheads offense ranks 25th converting on third down making 5 of their 20 chances this season. On 4th down, the Copperheads have converted just 1 in 11 opportunities.
Defensively, the Copperheads, who rank 25th in scoring defense (61 ppg); have been prone to the big play. Texas' defense has given up 6 TD passes of 25 yards or more. The Copperheads defense has also given up 4 one play scoring drives.
Tonight, Guidry sees a "good football team" lining up against his Copperheads at the Berry Center. "They (Bossier-Shreveport) have some experienced players on both sides of the ball. They have a decent QB who gets the ball to his playmakers...and those guys have been making some good plays. Defensively, they are skilled in the secondary. They like to put pressure on the QB. Not so much for the sake of knocking him down or sacking him, though obviously that's the goal, but they try to pressure the QB and force him to make decisions relatively quickly."
Guidry vowed that his team would improve against the Battle Wings. "We refuse to play like that two weeks in a row. I won't allow it to happen. We're going to see a better football team out there this week."
Tickets
It's not too late to get tickets for tonight's game. Single game seats start at just ten dollars. Group tickets begin at five dollars. You can purchase tickets by calling the Copperheads front office at 281-807-6000 or at www.ticketmaster.com. On game day, tickets are available at the Berry Center box office. You can also visit our new website at www.txcopperheads.com for more details.
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