Dorados Blitz into Postseason With Full Steam
July 31, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Rio Grande Valley Dorados News Release
Hidalgo, TX - The Rio Grande Valley Dorados closed out the regular season by jumping out to a franchise best 17-0 lead and cruised to a 38-27 victory over the Bakersfield Blitz to end the regular season with a 10-6 record. With Oklahoma City defeating Tulsa 57-50 joined by losses by Quad City (70-56 at Louisville) and Amarillo (44-40 at Arkansas), the Dorados will enter the playoffs as the #4 seed and will host the #5 seeded Quad City Steamwheelers on Sunday, August 7th at 6 PM inside Chase Field/Dodge Arena.
The 5,153 fans in attendance were able to watch the Dorados lead from start to finish Saturday night. Rio Grande Valley produced their biggest margin to ever start a game as Marquis Floyd hauled in a 15-yard reception on the opening drive, Eric Houle nailed a 33-yard field goal and quarterback Josh Kellett scampered in with a four-yard rush to get the Dorados out to a 17-0 lead. The lead was directed by the Dorados play on defense. Bakersfield quarterback Neal Sharma, in for the suspended Jason Thomas, received the start under center, but could not get anything going early for the Blitz. The first eight plays on offense involved six incomplete passes and two lost fumbles. Their first play of positive yardage came in the second quarter, with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Sharma to Nathan Munson. The score would be the only marker in the second period and the Dorados held a 17-7 halftime lead.
The second half was a near carbon copy of the first half. After each team exchanged scores on opening possessions of the half, the Dorados began to capitalize off Blitz turnovers. The Dorados forced seven turnovers overall in the game, with four interceptions (split in a pair by Kevin Brown and the ADT Defensive Player of the Game Pierre Thomas) and three fumble recoveries. Floyd registered a pair of third quarter touchdowns, as he picked up a one-yard rushing touchdown and a 21-yard pass reception. Xavier Patterson also garnered a one-yard rushing touchdown in the quarter, which gave the Dorados their third rushing touchdown of the game to tie a single-game record.
Leading 38-14 heading into the fourth quarter, the Dorados suffered a turnover of their own. One play after Kevin Brown recorded his second interception of the game, the Dorados fumbled from their own one yard line and Nick Onaindia recovered the fumble and rolled into the endzone for the score. Bakersfield closed the game's scoring with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Sharma to Harbert Briscoe with 27-seconds remaining.
Josh Kellett closed out the regular season with an 18 for 37 passing performance for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The 182 yards places Kellett over the 8-K plateau with 8,029 career passing yards. 74 of the passing yards in the contest were directed to Floyd, who claimed the Offensive Player of the Game honor with a pair of receiving touchdowns and a rushing tally for a three-touchdown night. Stephan Lewis, playing in just his third game, filled in for Dwight Counter as the offensive specialist and filled in admirably with a game high eight receptions for 60 yards.
The Dorados record at home will end at 5-3 for the regular season and the division record in the West will come to a close at 7-1. Tickets for Rio Grande Valley's first ever playoff game will go on sale Monday at all Dodge Arena ticket outlets, beginning at 10 AM. Purchases may also be made by logging on to the Dorados official website (www.doradosfootball.com) or by calling 956-843-7825.
• Discuss this story on the arenafootball2 message board...
arenafootball2 Stories from July 31, 2005
- Blizzard to square off against Pioneers in first round - Green Bay Blizzard
- Dorados Blitz into Postseason With Full Steam - Rio Grande Valley Dorados
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
