Daytona Beach Hawgs game notes

Published on March 31, 2005 under National Indoor Football League (NIFL)
Daytona Beach Hawgs News Release


HAWGS (1-1) VS. KREATURES (1-1)
Where: Silver Spurs Arena (7,451), Kissimmee
Kickoff: 7:05 p.m. EST
Officials:
Radio: WSBB (1230 AM New Smyrna Beach) Dr. Dan Ryan (PBP), TBA (color)
Online: http://www.daytonabeachhawgs.com (live scoring updates)
Series: First Meeting
Streaks: Both teams have won one.

COACHES
Daytona Beach: Ervin Bryson (3rd year in NIFL, 11-12, 11-12 overall)
Kissimmee: Marquette Smith (1st year, 1-1) (record n/a)

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: After an impressive 54-0 shutout — just the fifth in league history, the Daytona Beach Hawgs return to the virtual parking lot that is Interstate 4 to travel to face their sister team, the Kissimmee Kreatures in a pivotal early season Atlantic South Divisional game. Both teams are 1-1, but the Hawgs' loss was to Lakeland, a divisional foe. A second loss would put the Hawgs divisional title chances in jeopardy. Daytona Beach competes in the NIFL's Atlantic South Division along with the Lakeland Thunderbolts, Kissimmee Kreatures and the Miami Morays.

HAWGS 2005 SCHEDULE

DATE OPPONENT TIME
Sat. March 19 at Lakeland Thunderbolts L35-17
Thu, March 24 NEW JERSEY XTREME W54-0
Sat. April 2 at Kissimmee Kreatures 7 PM
Mon. April 11 BILLINGS OUTLAWS 7:05 PM
Mon. April 18 LAKELAND THUNDERBOLTS7:05 PM
Sun. Apr. 24. WYOMING CAVALRY 5 PM
Sun. May 1 at Miami Morays 3 PM
Sat. May 7 MIAMI MORAYS 7:05 PM
Sat. May 14 EVERETTE HAWKS 7:05 PM
Mon. May 23 KISSIMMEE KREATURES 7:05 PM
Fri. May 27 at Everette Hawks 9:05 PM
Sat. June 4 BYE
Sat. June 11 at Fayetteville Guard 7:05
Sat. June 18 at Lubbock LoneStars 8 PM
Sat. June 25 at Rome Renegades 7 PM

KREATURES 2005 SCHEDULE TIME

3/19 MONTGOMERY MAULERS L71-63
3/28 NEW JERSEY XTREME W64-20
4/2 DAYTONA BEACH HAWGS 7 PM
4/9 CORPUS CHRISTI HAMMERHEADS 7 PM
4/16 MIAMI MORAYS 7 PM
4/23 at New Jersey Xtreme 7 PM
4/29 @ Wyoming Cavalry 7 PM
5/8 @ Lakeland ThunderBolts 7 PM
5/13 FAYETTEVILLE GUARD 7 PM
5/21 @ Miami Morays 7 PM
5/23 @ Daytona Beach Hawgs 7:05 PM
6/4 @ Fayetteville Guard 7 PM
6/11 @ Rome Renegades 7 PM
6/18 LAKELAND THUNDERBOLTS 7 PM

THE BRYSON SOUND BITES

"To get a shutout in our home opener is incredible. We have to use it build a foundation for the rest of the season."

"Marquette Smith has been in every league known to man. I was flicking past Cartoon Network the other night and there he was in the Justice League with Batman and Wonder Woman."

THE HEAD COACHES

ERVIN BRYSON

A three-year National Indoor Football League veteran, Ervin Bryson begins the task of building a successful franchise in Daytona Beach.

The 35-year old Bryson comes to Florida after a year with the Sioux City Bandits, where he served the final six games of the 2004 regular season as interim coach with a 4-2 record. The Bandits lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Omaha Beef on a last-minute play where a fan deflectedwould would have been a game-winning catch.

A native of Abbeville, South Carolina, Bryson coached the Winston-Salem Energy in its inaugural year in 2002, guiding the team to a 6-8 record and garnering the league's coach of the year.

At Abbeville High School, Bryson was a four-year starter in football and earned All-State honors as a running back and defensive back. He was named the Class AA Player of the Year in football and track and also garnered all-conference baseball honors.

He had tryouts with Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Seattle in the NFL, and was on the preseason roster of the NFL-Europe's Frankfurt Galaxy before being released.

Playing semi-pro football in Concord, North Carolina, Bryson rushed for over 2,000 yards in a season.

He became the coach for the American Football Association's Greenwood Raiders from 1997-99, leading the team to a national championship and earning the league's 1997 general manager of the year award.

ERVIN BRYSON'S COACHING RECORD

REGULAR SEASON PLAYOFFS TOTAL
W L W L W L
2002 Winston-Salem 6 8 6 8
2004 Sioux City 4 2 0 1 4 3
2005 Daytona Beach 1 1 0 1
TOTAL 11 11 0 1 11 12

MARQUETTE SMITH

Well-traveled but firmly rooted in Central Florida, Marquette Smith embarks as the first head coach for the Kissimmee Kreatures.

His gridiron travels have taken him through two colleges, three countries and six leagues, but Smith has remained a part of the area, dating back to his high school days at Lake Howell High School, where he garnered USA Today's National Offensive Player of the Year in 1990.

The highly-recruited Smith opted to play for Bobby Bowden's storied program at Florida State University. He was a member of the Seminoles' 1993 national championship team, but transferred to nearby UCF following a knee injury in time for the 1994 season.

Smith helped the Golden Knights make the transition from Division I-AA to I-A in his two-year career, becoming the first UCF running back to gain 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons while earning an All-American nomination in 1995.

The Carolina Panthers drafted Smith in the fifth round in 1996. He earned the starting the tailback job before suffering a torn ACL during a 1997 preseason game.

Smith then began a sojurn to regain a spot in the NFL, beginning with NFL Europe's Rhein Fire in 1988. He also had a stint with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League that year and saw time in the Regional Football League the following year.

In 2000, Smith became the first player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in any indoor league, gaining 1,053 yards and scoring 53 touchdowns for the champion Green Bay Bombers of the Indoor Football League. He played in the XFL in 2001, and following two years out of football, he joined the LaCrosse Night Train and Myrtle Beach Stingrays in 2002 and 2003.

Smith received his bachelor's degree in Business Communications at UCF and a Masters of Business Administration from Wisconsin-Madison. He and his wife, Nicola, have three children, Whitney,15, Marquel ,6 and Marqueala, 3.

HAWGS PLAYERS TO WATCH

RB BRAD LEE: Has 222 rushing yards and 6 TD in two games.

OL TOMMY MOODY: Played with the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers.

DB MICAH SIMMONS: Leads the Hawgs with 5.5 tackles. Simmons, a baseball player in college, played with Evansville last season. Had two interceptions in New Jersey rout.

DB BOBBIE BASS: Played for Coach Bryson in Sioux City last season. Had an INT against New Jersey.

WR ROBERT BAILEY: NIFL all-star with five years experience, Bailey scored twice against New .

WR LUCAS GREEN: NIFL All Star joins the team this week.

QB OSCAR DAVENPORT: Completed his first six passes against New Jersey, but also threw three interceptions.

QB ISAAC HALL: Looked sharp in mop-up time, scoring two rushing touchdowns

WE DO KNOW WHAT WE'RE GOING TO GET: Bubba Gump's will host the Hawgs' pre-game meal before every game. "Bubba Gump has gone out of their way to accommodate and make us feel part of the community,'' Bryson said.

HOME ON THE RADIO: The Daytona Beach Hawgs have found a place on the radio dial for their inaugural National Indoor Football League season . WSBB (1230 AM) will serve as home of the Hawgs' gameday broadcasts and weekly coaches show beginning in March, hosting the TUI Business Machines Presents the Ervin Bryson Show at Daytona Lagoon and Daytona Beach Hawgs Game Day Presented By TUI Business Machines.

Dr. Pete Wakeman and Kerry Kramer will handle play-by-play and color, respectively. On Thursdays, listen in to the TUI Business Machines at Daytona Lagoon Coaches Show with Ervin Bryson hosted by Director of Communications Dan Ryan. The next show airs 3/30 at 7 p.m.

HAWGS TO GIVE AWAY FREE FUNERAL AT MAY 23 GAME: The Daytona Beach Hawgs have a promotion that's to die for. The National Indoor Football League team will offer fans a chance to win a free funeral -- including a burial plot - when they bury the Kissimmee Kreatures on Monday, May 23 at the Ocean Center.

LOCAL FLAVOR

BETHUNE-COOKMAN: Brad Lee, Joe Giddens, Micah Simmons, Tarion Hubbard, Robbie Reese

MAINLAND: Joe Giddens, Isaac Hall

PIERSON-TAYLOR: Tommy Moody, Robby Reese

SEABREEZE: Jon Xynidis

FIRST TRADE: Daytona Beach Hawgs Head Coach/General Manager Ervin Bryson announced Monday that he has traded quarterback Neal Sharma to the New Jersey Xtreme for future considerations.Sharma started the Hawgs' season opener at Lakeland, but threw three interceptions in the Hawgs' 35-17 loss. He was inactive for Daytona Beach's 54-0 blasting of the Xtreme Thursday night in the Ocean Center.

The Xtreme is in the middle of a three-game Florida road swing, playing Monday night at Kissimmee and Friday at Lakeland.

"This will give Neal much more playing experience,'' said Bryson. "With Oscar Davenport in town and Isaac Hall progressing, we're getting better at the quarterback spot."

REVIEWING LAST WEEK

HAWGS54, XTREME 0

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Brad Lee rushed for 98 yards and four touchdowns and the Daytona Beach Hawgs posted the fifth shutout in National Indoor Football League history as they blasted the New Jersey Xtreme 54-0 before 4,221 in the Ocean Center Thursday night.

Robert Bailey and Isaac Hall each added two scores for the Hawgs, who improved to 1-1 while the Xtreme fell to 0-2.

After a bad snap on a field goal attempt gave Daytona Beach the ball on the Xtreme 2, Oscar Davenport connected with Bailey on a two-yard touchdown pass with 11:59 remaining in the first quarter.

Two Lee runs and a team safety pushed the Hawg lead to 21-0 at halftime.

Bailey returned a missed field goal 40 yard in the second half, while Lee added runs of 3 and 2 yards. Hall had 41 yards rushing and histwo fourthquarter scores.

Davenport completed six of 10 passes for 73 yards, but was intercepted three times.

The Hawgs defense held the Xtreme to 97 total yards and forced four turnovers, including two interceptions from Micah Simmons, one from Bobby Bass and a fumble recovery by Marcus Washington.

Levar Simms led the team with 6.5 tackles.

KREATURES 64, XTREME 20

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Rob Harding threw for 140 yards and four touchdowns as the Kissimmee Kreatures capitalized on nine New Jersey Xtreme turnovers for a 64-20 National Indoor Football League victory Monday night at Silver Spurs Arena.

Harding threw a pair of touchdowns to T J Simmons and one more to James Panui, who grabbed seven catches for 103 yards.

La Fann Williams complemented the passing attack by rushing for 74 yards and two scores.

Kissimmee (1-1) pulled away from a 12-12 first quarter tie as they posted four interceptions and five fumble recoveries against the Xtreme, now 0-3. Tke Kreatures scored touchdowns on five consecutive possessions in the second half.

BRUSIN' BRAD LEE: It might be too early in the season, but if Brad Lee continues this pace, he'll finish the season with 1,484 yards, which would break what we've researched to be the NIFL singleseason rushing record of 1,355 set by Baron Dockery (This league has great names) of the Ohio Valley Greyhounds in 2002. Lee would also break Dockery's records for attempts (Lee's pace is 336, Dockery had 264), yards per game (Lee's pace is 106.0, Dockery had 104.2) and Lee would approach Dockery's 44 touchdown mark with his current pace of 42. Unfortunately, the NIFL does not have any official records, so we'll use our research until then.

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National Indoor Football League Stories from March 31, 2005


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