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Dorados Week Eight Game Preview

May 19, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Rio Grande Valley Dorados News Release


Rio Grande Valley Dorados (4-3) vs. Amarillo Dusters (4-1)

Date: Saturday, May 20, 2006

Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. CST

Site: Cal Farley Coliseum

National Anthem: TBA

Coin Toss: Head Official

Dorados Radio: ESPN Radio 1240 (KSOX); free online audio at doradosfootball.com

TV: none

Series Record: First ever meeting

Last Meeting: NA

Streaks: AMA won 3

RGV Head Coach: Marty Hammond (1st Season)

DORADOS MEDIA CONTACT:

Dorados: Rich Bocchini (O: 956-843-7825, C: 956-227-4940), media@doradosfootball.com

THE SCENARIO: The Dorados and Dusters meet for the first time ever...Rio lost 53-45 last week at Bakersfield and is in the midst of a three-game road swing...Rio is without starting QB Josh Kellett...Tonight's game should feature a matchup of two Canadian-born QB's; RGV's Josh Kellett and Amarillo's Steve Panella The Dusters have won three in a row, defeating Oklahoma City, Arkansas and Bossier-Shreveport.

THE SERIES: This is the first ever meeting between the teams.

CANADIAN QBS SQUARE OFF: This Saturday night's af2 game in Amarillo, Texas between the Rio Grande Valley Dorados and Amarillo Dusters will be a historic affair. For the first time in league history, the contest will feature two international quarterbacks starting under center for their respective teams - J.R. DAVIES for Rio Grande Valley and STEVE PANELLA for Amarillo. Both signal callers are from Canada. This won't be the first time that they have played against each other, however. On November 15, 2003, Panella led his St. Mary's Huskies against Davies and his Simon Fraser Clan in the National Semi-Finals of Canadian College Football. Panella got the upper hand that night, going 10-of-14 for 149 yards and two touchdowns in a lop-sided 60-9 victory. Davies finished 14-of-29 for 178 yards and one touchdown. Both Panella and Davies earned All-Canadian honors that season. Davies was elevated to the starting role after veteran Josh Kellett suffered a broken thumb at Bakersfield last week. He began his af2 career in 2005 with the Dorados as Kellett's understudy. He started one game last season, a 66-52 win at Bossier-Shreveport in which he threw for 263 yards and five touchdowns. In two games of action this season, he has passed for 246 yards with five touchdowns and one interception. Panella was an af2 rookie as well in 2005 and saw action in nine contests. Serving duty behind starter Julian Reese, Panella completed 53-of-87 passes for 606 yards and eight touchdowns with two interceptions. This year as the full-time starter, Panella has completed 108-of-197 passes for 22 touchdowns and no interceptions.

OFF THE NET

- RGV QB Josh Kellett was injured early in the 2nd quarter of Week 7's game at Bakersfield.

- JR Davies took over for Kellett and threw five TD passes, including a 37 yard toss to Mel Long and a 25-yard TD to Chris Canty.

- The Dorados have lost three of four road games this season. The only road win was at Birmingham in Week 3, a 44-43 OT decision.

THE IFs:

If the Dorados beat the Dusters it would...

- Give the Dorados a 5-3 season record

- Give the Dorados a 4-1 divisional season record vs. the Midwest.

- Give the Dorados a 1-0 season record vs. Amarillo.

DORADOS DROPBACK: MAY 21, 2005

HIDALGO, Texas - Norman Mason, playing in his first game with the Rio Grande Valley Dorados, registered his second interception of the game in his own endzone with just under ten-seconds remaining in the contest to preserve a 52-49 victory over the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Pioneers Saturday night in front of 4,392 fans at Chase Field / Dodge Arena. The win over the #6 ranked Pioneers, which was the Dorados first ever (1-7) against a non-division opponent, gives the Dorados a 4-3 record and also places them with a franchise best three-game winning streak. The contest was the first ever match-up in arenafootball2 history between recipients of the af2's Coach of the Year honor, as Dorados Head Coach Kevin Guy was a previous winner and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Les Moss won the honor last season.

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES courtesy of themonitor.com

Josh Kellett on his injury

"The season was going well. It's very disappointing," Kellett said. "The only thing I'm worried about is it's not a rehab thing. I just have to let the bone heal. That's the only thing."

Marty Hammond on JR Davies taking over for Kellett

"It'll pretty much stay the same," Dorados coach Marty Hammond said of Davies taking over. "(Davies) knows everything that's been going on. He's already been exposed to the things we do. I don't see any problem with it."

WEEK 8 COACHES POLL

The Florida Firecats have taken over the top ranking of the weekly Coaches Poll, the arenafootball2 league office announced today. The Firecats collected 254 of a possible 264 points and 17-of-23 first place votes in securing the top position. Florida defeated the Birmingham Steeldogs this past Saturday at home, 62-44, to improve to 5-1. The Firecats, winners of five consecutive games, are just the third team of the 2006 season to obtain the No. 1 spot.

The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz (5-1, 210 points, 2 first place votes) moved up two spots this week from No. 4 to No. 2 on the strength of their recent road win against Midwest Division rival Arkansas, 56-44. The W-B/Scranton Pioneers (5-1, 207 points, 1 first place vote), previously the top-ranked team for the past three weeks, slipped two spots to No. 3. The Pioneers lost their first game of the season this past Saturday at home to the Tulsa Talons, 53-37.

Rounding out the top five in this week's poll are the Bakersfield Blitz (5-1, 205 points, 3 first place votes) and Spokane Shock (5-1, 164 points), both of the West Division. The Week 8 schedule features two matchups of Top 12 teams. On Saturday night, No. 11 Rio Grande Valley plays at No. 12 Amarillo and No. 5 Spokane plays at No. 9 Central Valley.

Each week during the season af2 coaches will vote for the Top 12 teams in the league by ranking them one through 12 on a ballot. Teams ranked first receive 12 points with the point value decreasing by one for each place below first, meaning a team ranked 12th would receive one point. Total points will determine the Top 12 list. In the event of a tie in total points, the team with the greater number of first-place votes will be ranked higher. The af2 Coaches Poll will be announced every Wednesday during the regular season. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team and the poll results have no bearing on postseason qualification.

The complete Top 12 is listed below. The number in parentheses indicates the number of first place votes the team received.

WEEK 8 TOP 12 RANK TEAM PTS 1 Florida 254 (17) 2 Oklahoma City 210 (2) 3 W-B/Scranton 207 (1) 4 Bakersfield 205 (3) 5 Spokane 164 6 Memphis 158 7 Tulsa 120 8 Albany 110 9 Central Valley 95 10 Arkansas 85 11 Rio Grande Valley 82 12 Amarillo 35 Other teams receiving significant votes this week include the Manchester Wolves (28).

DORADOS QB REPORT

Josh Kellett is out 4-6 weeks with an injured right throwing hand. He was among the leaders in af2 stats at the time of his injury. Kellett was first in pass attempts (261), 8th in pass TD's (32), and 3rd in completions (142).

JR Davies saw his first action of the season in the second half of Week 6 vs. Bossier-Shreveport. He was 7-for-10 with one interception and no TD's. He entered Week 7 at Bakersfield in the second quarter and threw for five TD's and 183 yards, going 11-for-20 with no picks.

DORADOS RECEIVING LEADERS

Dwight Counter leads the team with 49 receptions and is among af2 leaders in that category. His 14 TD's are also a team high. Mel Long is right on Counter's tail 37 receptions and 10 TD's. Chris Canty stepped up in Week 7 at Bakersfield and corralled eight catches for 96 yards and two TD's.

DORADOS DEFENSIVE LEADERS

Brent Withers leads the team with 43 tackles, 36 of which are solo. He and Mel Long lead the team with two interceptions. Corl Bucknor's seven pass breakups lead the team.

SECOND HALF BLUES

The Dorados have been outscored in the second half 176-133 including a 91-68 margin in the fourth quarter. By comparison, they've outscored opponents 196-159 the first half and 128-96 in the 2nd quarter.

BIG GAME FOR BRODY VS. BOSSIER

Linebacker Landrick Brody led an RGV defense that held Bossier-Shreveport to 184 yards, had two sacks and forced three turnovers. Brody himself had a pair of scores within a 4:34 span of the third quarter. The first came on a safety when he sacked JJ Raterink, then he bolted for a 6-yard TD run for a 36-13 RGV with 8:18 left in the third. John Bradley also had a sack vs. Bossier.

CANTY LEADS AF2 RUSHERS IN WEEK 6

Chris Canty led the af2 in rushing with two carries for 43 yards in Week 6 vs. Bossier. One of his two runs was a 35-yard gain to the Bossier 5-yard line that set up a Josh Kellett touchdown pass to Mel Long. Canty also contributed with two pass breakups vs. the Battle Wings, and leads the Dorados in rushing for the season. His 43-yard game was a yard short of the franchise record set by Chris Robinson on April 22, 2005.

His 43-yard game

DECEIVING KICKING STATS

Dustin Bell is 3-for-8 on field goal attempts this season, but four of those chances have been from 50 yards out or more. Four of his misses came from 62 (thrice) and 57 yards out. Bell is 2-for-2 from 20-29 yards, while his longest field goal was a 47-yard boot in Week 7 at Bakersfield that was three yards short of tying Eric Houle's 50-yard record on July 9, 2005. Bell's average of .375 is in the league's top 10. Bell is 33-for-44 (.750) on PAT attempts.

WELLS RETURNS TO DORADOS LINEUP

WR/DB Donte Wells returned to the Dorados lineup in Week 4 vs. Arkansas and contributed with two carries for 15 yards and one TD. He also added five kick returns for 85 yards. Wells played nine games for RGV in 2004 and averaged 25.6 receiving yards per game with three TD's. He moved on to Albany last season, playing in nine games for the Conquest. There, he took on a defensive role, finishing seventh on the team with 22.5 tackles (19UA) while also making six catches for 54 yards.

COUNTER FALLS JUST SHORT OF TYING FRANCHISE MARK

Dwight Counter's three TD receptions vs. Arkansas in Week 4 was one short of tying his own franchise record. He hauled in four TD's on June 11, 2005 vs. Tulsa, a feat duplicated by teammate Mel Long in Week 2 of this season vs. Tulsa.

KELLET THROWS FOR 345 YARDS VS. ARKANSAS

Josh Kellett went 27-for-44 vs. Arkansas in Week, throwing for 345 yards and six TD's. He nearly tied two of his own franchise single-game records (390 yards, eight TD's).

DORADOS FAIL TO TIE FRANCHISE WINNING STREAK WITH LOSS AT TULSA

The Dorados could have tied a franchise record for wins in a row at Tulsa. The franchise has strung together four wins a total of two times in the past. Both four-game win streaks came during the 2005 season (Week 5-8, Week 10-13). It was a 58-49 loss at Tulsa in Week 14 of last year that ended the team's second four-game run.

AMARILLO WEEK 7 RECAP

Amarillo Dusters 53, BOSSIER-SHREVEPORT BATTLE WINGS 34 (2,902)

BOSSIER CITY, La. - The Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings started strong against Amarillo, but second half turnovers doomed the team's quest for its first win of the 2006 season. The Dusters prevailed, 53-34, to earn their third consecutive victory. Amarillo outscored Bossier-Shreveport 31-12 in the final two periods of play. Bossier-Shreveport was also handicapped in the second half by the absence of K Brian Hazelwood, who suffered a deep hip bruise while making a tackle on an Amarillo kick-off return in the first half. Coming out of halftime tied at 22-22, the Battle Wings turned the ball over on downs in their own territory with their first possession of the third quarter. The Dusters capitalized with a touchdown, giving Amarillo its first lead of the game. The Battle Wings pulled to within five points (39-34) with 12:38 remaining in the game when QB Brian Zbydniewski connected with Anthony Rozier for a 27-yard TD. Panella found Jarrod Rouanzoin on Amarillo's next possession for a six-yard touchdown, giving the Dusters a 46-34 lead. The Battle Wings' chances officially faded on their ensuing possession as Rozier gave the ball back to Amarillo on a fumble. The Dusters capitalized with another TD strike to Donta Bright that put the game out of reach. Dusters' QB Steve Panella had a solid overall outing with five touchdown passes and no interceptions. His top target was Schutt Offensive Player of the Game John Roberson, III. Roberson hauled in seven passes for 112 yards, including three scores. Amarillo's Terrell Mingo was named ADT Defensive Player of the Game with 5.5 total tackles and an interception. Teammate Kert Turner earned US Army Ironman of the Game honors. Rozier stood out for Bossier-Shreveport with 10 catches for 134 yards and three touchdowns. The Battle Wings featured two quarterbacks in the game, J.J. Raterink and Brian Zbydniewski. Zbydniewski, acquired in a trade from the Spokane Shock, had two touchdown passes, but also threw two interceptions in his first game in a Battle Wings uniform.

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