Dorados Drop Defensive Battle with Stealth 35-28
May 9, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Rio Grande Valley Dorados News Release
HIDALGO, TX: The Rio Grande Valley Dorados had an opportunity to jump into a first place tie with a win over the unbeaten Wichita Stealth at the sold out Dodge Arena (5,600), but it slipped away in the fourth quarter and the Stealth leave Hidalgo with a 35-28 victory, knocking the Dorados record to 3-2 and placing them in a third place tie in the af2 National Conference's Southwest Division with the Tulsa Talons.
Statistics showed coming into the contest this would be a low scoring affair as the Dorados had the third best ranked scoring defense in the league and the Stealth lead the league in the category. It was as advertised in the start, as neither team produced points in the game's opening quarter. Wichita's opening drive spanned 11:05 and the Stealth ran 14 plays resulting in progress of 32 yards but without points. Dylan Pohlman's 26-yard field goal attempt was blocked and the Dorados were able to start their first offensive possession. The opening possession for the Dorados would end up needing eight plays (most of any Dorados drive on the night) and 48-seconds into the second quarter, Dorados quarterback Will Burch threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to the corner of the endzone to newly acquired McKinley Bowie.
It would be back and forth for the remainder of the first half. Wichita responded with an 11-yard touchdown completion to Brian Livingston from Aaron Sparrow. Jason Null broke the 7-7 tie by collecting his first rushing touchdown of the season, stumbling into the endzone from one yard out to cap off a six play 35-yard drive to extend the Dorados lead to 14-7. Wichita again responded on the following drive, but this time Sparrow found Marc Bacote for the touchdown. Pohlman's extra-point attempt hit the upright and the Dorados remained with the lead 14-13 with 26-seconds remaining in the half. Burch tried to hurry the Dorados downfield for a quick score but his toss to the endzone was intercepted by Livingston.
The Dorados extended their lead in the opening drive of the first half with an 11-yard touchdown reception by Manwell Talbert from Burch to push the lead to 21-13. Sparrow, who was 11 of 12 passing in the second half, found Livingston again for an 11-yard score on the ensuing drive. Livingston also also converted on the two-point conversion with another reception from Sparrow to tie the game up 21-21.
Rio Grande Valley had their opportunities to regain the lead, but ran into problems. After three straight incompletions to intended receiver Manwell Talbert on goal-to-go on the 10-yard line, Dorados kicker Eric Houle had his 25-yard field goal attempt blocked by Ervin Hollaman. Wichita'a Anthony Griffin fumbled on the very next play for the Stealth and the Dorados regained possession on their own 19-yard line. The Dorados drive was stalled by a holding penalty on the Wichita 9-yard line pushing them back and eventually forcing Houle to attempt a 34 field goal. The kicks just sailed wide right and was no good.
The Stealth would then take their first lead of the game with 9:05 remaining in the game. The 25-second play clock hit zero, but it went unnoticed and Sparrow hit Damon Thompson for a three yard touchdown completion to give the Stealth a 28-21 advantage. The Dorados opened the ensuing drive with a quick toss to Talbert for eight yards, but the Dorados could not get the first down. Burch missed Talbert twice and then fumbled the snap on fourth down, giving the Stealth the ball on the Dorados 13-yard line. Griffin rushed in his sixth rushing touchdown of the season with 4:18 remaining to extend the lead to 35-21. Kendall Williams returned the Stealth kickoff 36-yards and a Stealth penalty spotted the ball on the Wichita 17-yard line. Form there, Burch hit Mike Duncan on the drive's first play to cut the Wichita lead to 35-28 with 2:18 remaining. The Dorados tried to hold the Stealth defensively, but Sparrow was bale to manufacture a first down and run out the clock to hand the Dorados their first loss and extend the Stealth record to 5-0. They are now the only unbeaten team in the league.
Livingston was named the Baby Ruth Real Deal Offensive Player of the Game with 7 catches for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns. Stealth Marc Bacote was awarded the ADT Security Defensive Player of the Game with 3 tackles (6 assisted tackles) and a pass break-up. Talbert received recognition for the Dorados, receiving the US Army Ironman of the Game with a team leading 8 receptions (most of which were acrobatic) and 78 yards receiving. Sparrow finished the night 25 of 34 passing for 218 yards and 4 touchdowns, while Burch finished 21 of 33 for 227 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Dorados were only two of four in the red zone in scoring chances.
With Oklahoma City improving their record to 4-1 with a 79-48 win over 0-5 Laredo, the 3-2 Dorados fall into a third place tie with Tulsa, who won 65-59 over Bossier-Shreveport. The Dorados now prepare for their longest road trip of the season as they battle the Central Valley Coyotes next Saturday in Fresno, California.
Box Score (Final) Wichita Stealth vs Rio Grande Valley Do (May 08, 2004 at Hidalgo, Texas)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score ----------------- -- -- -- -- ----- Wichita Stealth..... 0 13 8 14 - 35 Record: (5-0) Rio Grande Valley Do 0 14 7 7 - 28 Record: (3-2)
Scoring Summary: 2nd 14:12 R - McKINLEY, Bowie 18 yd pass from BURCH,WILL (HOULE,ERIC kick), 8-45 4:43, W 0 - R 7 08:23 W - LIVINGSTON, Bri 11 yd pass from SPARROW, Aaron (POHLMAN, Dylan kick), 7-40 4:17, W 7 - R 7 03:48 R - NULL, JASON 1 yd run (HOULE,ERIC kick), 6-35 3:08, W 7 - R 14 00:26 W - BACOTE, Marc 9 yd pass from SPARROW, Aaron (POHLMAN, Dylan kick failed), 8-37 2:03, W 13 - R 14 3rd 11:27 R - TALBERT,MANWELL 11 yd pass from BURCH,WILL (HOULE,ERIC kick), 6-45 3:27, W 13 - R 21 09:55 W - LIVINGSTON, Bri 7 yd pass from SPARROW, Aaron (LIVINGSTON, Bri pass), 2-28 0:20, W 21 - R 21 4th 09:05 W - THOMPSON, Damon 3 yd pass from SPARROW, Aaron (POHLMAN, Dylan kick), 8-45 4:05, W 28 - R 21 04:18 W - GRIFFIN, Anthon 5 yd run (POHLMAN, Dylan kick), 2-13 0:34, W 35 - R 21 02:18 R - DUNCAN,MIKE 17 yd pass from BURCH,WILL (HOULE,ERIC kick), 1-17 0:51, W 35 - R 28
W R FIRST DOWNS................... 19 15 RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 12-9 5-0 PASSING YDS (NET)............. 213 223 Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 34-25-0 33-21-1 TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 47-222 39-223 Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 1-4 Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 5-93 3-79 Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-0 0-0 Fumbles-Lost.................. 2-1 2-1 Penalties-Yards............... 7-34 6-45 Third-Down Conversions........ 5 of 8 4 of 7 Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 1 0 of 1 Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 4-5 2-4 Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-4 1-5
RUSHING: Wichita Stealth-SPARROW, Aaron 3-14; WILLIAMS, Daren 4-9; GRIFFIN, Anthon 4-minus 1; THOMPSON, Damon 1-minus 13. Rio Grande Valley Do-WILLIAMS, Kenda 2-3; NULL, JASON 1-1; BURCH,WILL 2-minus 4.
PASSING: Wichita Stealth-SPARROW, Aaron 25-34-0-218; TEAM 0-0-0-minus 5. Rio Grande Valley Do-BURCH,WILL 21-33-1-227; TEAM 0-0-0-minus 4.
RECEIVING: Wichita Stealth-GRIFFIN, Anthon 8-67; LIVINGSTON, Bri 7-82; BACOTE, Marc 4-28; THOMPSON, Damon 4-27; GORDON, Herman 1-8; HURST, David 1-6. Rio Grande Valley Do-TALBERT,MANWELL 8-78; DUNCAN,MIKE 5-59; WELLS,DONTE 3-38; WILLIAMS, Kenda 3-18; McKINLEY, Bowie 2-34.
INTERCEPTIONS: Wichita Stealth-LIVINGSTON, Bri 1-0. Rio Grande Valley Do-None.
FUMBLES: Wichita Stealth-THOMPSON, Damon 1-0; GRIFFIN, Anthon 1-1. Rio Grande Valley Do-BURCH,WILL 2-1.
Stadium: Dodge Arena Attendance: 5600 Kickoff time: End of Game: Total elapsed time: Officials: Referee: David Malone; Umpire: Al Granado; Linesman: Bradford Edward; Line judge: Wayne Winkler; Back judge: Frank LeBlanc; Scorer: Stew McKee;
BABY RUTH REAL DEAL PLAYER OF THE GAME-Brian Livingston-WIC ADT DEFENSIVE-Marc Bacote-WIC US ARMY IRONMAN OF THE GAME-Manwell Talbert-RGV
Wichita Stealth vs Rio Grande Valley Do (May 08, 2004 at Hidalgo, Texas)
SACKS (UA-A): Wichita Stealth-MACREA, Jeff 1-0. Rio Grande Valley Do-CONLEY,SPENCER 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): Wichita Stealth-ARDOIN, Ty 2-4; JOHNSON, Charle 2-4; LIVINGSTON, Bri 1-5; BACOTE, Marc 0-6; HOLLOMAN, Cliff 1-2; MACREA, Jeff 1-2; GORDON, Herman 0-4; WILLIAMS, Daren 0-3; GRIFFIN, Anthon 0-3; CONLEY, Tim 0-1. Rio Grande Valley Do-WILLIAMS, Kenda 4-5; BRADLEY, Marcus 4-3; NULL, JASON 2-2; DAVIS,NICK 2-2; DUNCAN,MIKE 1-5; McKINLEY, Bowie 2-1; JAMES, RAYMOND 2-1; CONLEY,SPENCER 2-0; COFER,JIMEL 1-3; THOMAS, KARLETO 1-2; CLAY, Mike 1-0; COOK, TIM 0-2; COLE,CRAIG 0-1; 30 0-1.
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