Daytona Beach Thunder Pre-Game Notes
March 23, 2006 - American Indoor Football Association (AIFA)
Daytona Beach Thunder News Release
DAYTONA BEACH THUNDER
GAME #4
THUNDER VS. AUGUSTA SPARTANS
Friday, March 24, 2006 7 P.M.
Augusta Civic Center, Augusta, Ga.
RADIO/TV/ONLINE: WSBB (1230 AM) and streamed online through teamline.cc at dbthunder.net. TALENT: Dan Ryan (play-by-play), Calvin Thomas (color), David Kearse (color)
COACHES: Daytona Beach , Ervin Bryson; Augusta, Bubba Diggs.
RECORDS: Daytona Beach 0-3, Augusta 2-0
KEY PLAYERS: Daytona Beach : RB Brad Lee, OL Tommy Moody, WR Lucas Greene, WR Robert Bailey, DB Nick Allison
Augusta : QB Anthony Young, WR Mark Meyers, WR Marvin Stone
WEB SITES:
www.dbthunder.net -- thunder stats
www.augustaspartans.com -- spartans stats
www.americanindoorfootballleague.com
PRE-GAME NOTES
MASTERING AUGUSTA: After a week off to recoup and regroup, the Daytona Beach Thunder looks to break into the win column Friday night against the undefeated Augusta Spartans. This is the Thunder's third road game in four outings, while the Spartans are the middle of a three-game homestand.
MEET THE COACHES
ERVIN BRYSON: In his fourth season of indoor football, Bryson has had stint in Winston-Salem (N.C.), an interim gig in Sioux City (S.D.) and Daytona Beach in the National Indoor Football League. He is 17-16 overall. He guided last year's Daytona Beach NIFL team to a 7-3 mark and the verge of a division title.
BUSTER DIGGS: A p roduct of Augusta's Butler High and a member of Clemson's 1981 championship team, Buster Diggs was named the American Indoor Football League expansion team's first coach
Diggs played tight end for the Tigers as they defeated Nebraska 22-15 in the 1982 Orange Bowl for the title. He still proudly wears that championship ring on his pinky finger because that is the only place it will fit.
He would go on to play for the USFL's Washington Federals for two seasons before heading the San Diego for a stint with the NFL's Chargers. Diggs was an assistant coach for the Augusta Stallions of af2.
LAST TIME OUT
BANDITS 50, THUNDER 46
RICHMOND , Va. - Brandon Isiah's 11-yard run with 37 seconds left helped the Richmond Bandits erase a 10-point fourth quarter deficit and defeat the Daytona Beach Thunder 50-46 Sunday evening.
Daytona Beach moved to the Richmond 3-yard in the game's final seconds, but two pass attempts fell incomplete.
The Thunder (0-3) erased a 29-13 second quarter deficit with four unanswered scores to take leads of 39-29 and 46-36 before the defending league champion Bandits (2-1) made their run.
Making his first appearance of the season, Oscar Davenport threw for 205 yards and four touchdowns.
Lucas Greene had five catches for 107 yards and three scores, while Tarion Hubbard registered six catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Brad Lee rushed for 76 yards and two scores. Nick Allison had two interceptions.
SPARTANS 37, PHANTOMS 27
AUGUSTA , Ga. - Anthony Young threw for three touchdowns and rushed for two more as the Augusta Spartans made a successful home debut by downing the Florence Phantoms before 2,512 at the Augusta Civic Center.
Young finished with 51 yards rushing and 149 in the air, with Marvin Stone catching 10 passes for 69 yards and two scores to help the Spartans remain undefeated.
The Spartans pulled away from a 7-6 lead with a 36-yard Young to Stone score and Marion Ware's 7-yard fumble return to make it 19-6.
Steven Chester threw for 112 yards and two touchdowns for the Phantoms.
NEVER BEEN HERE AND DON'T WANNA BE EITHER: Thunder coach Ervin Bryson has never been 0-4 in his coaching career and has never lost four consecutive games.
STRONG STARTING SCHEDULE: The Thunder's first three opponents have a combined record of 7-2 as of this week. Here's the good news: The next three are a combined 2-5. By comparison, Augusta's first two opponents weree a combined 0-5.
AUGUST AUGUSTA DEFENSE: The Spartans enter Friday's game with the stingiest defense in the AIFL's Southern Conference, giving up just 25 points a game. Here's some good news: The Spartans offense is averaging only 35 a game, 6th best in the South.
In case if you're wondering: Daytona Beach is 5th (41.3) in scoring offense and dead last (54.3) in scoring defense.
THAT'S MISLEADING BECAUSE: Raleigh scored on two interception returns in its win over the Thunder and the Thunder "D" played well against Richmond, containing an offense that scored 81 points the week before against Florence.
PRODUCTIVE RESULTS: Lucas Greene has scored a touchdown on 58 percent of his catches - 7 touchdowns in 12 receptions.
THE JET: Robert Bailey lived up to his nickname in the Thunder's first two game with a kickoff return for a score in each one. Bailey leads the AIFL in kickoff returns
PRODUCTIVE GREENE: Scoring a touchdown on 58.3 percent of the times you touch the ball is very productive and that is what Lucas Greene has done seven times in 12 receptions.
NICK THE PICK: Nick Allison has registered consecutive two-interception games.
DEBUT OF DAVENPORT: Oscar Davenport registered a solid debut in the Thunder's loss at Richmond, his completion percentage (46.2) and touchdown passes (4) were the most for a Thunder QB this season.
VERSATILITY: Two members of the Thunder are showing their versatility so far this season. Marcus Walker, originally the team's backup quarterback, is now seeing time as a defensive back. Kwasie Kwaku is making a mark on special teams and as a third receiver, registering 107 all-purpose yards and three special teams tackles at Richmond.
SUBER SIGNS: Allen Suber, a two-time Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference offensive player of the year who guided Bethune-Cookman to the 2002 conference championship and consecutive NCAA Division I-AA playoff appearances, has signed with the Thunder.
Dubbed "Suberman," Suber still owns the school's all-time rushing yards (2,897) rushing touchdowns (39) records and is fourth on the all-time passing yards (4,917) and touchdowns (40) lists.
Since leaving B-CC in 2003, Suber signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars and spent time on the Tampa Bay Bucs and Houston Texans practice squads as he attempts to convert from college quarterback to professional wide receiver. He comes back to Daytona Beach looking to gain some game film and experience as well as the opportunity to play with many of his former teammates and give back to the community.
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