Dorados Weekly

July 18, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Rio Grande Valley Dorados News Release


DORADOS LOOK FOR SOONER STATE REVENGE THIS WEEK

GAME #15 SATURDAY CHASE FIELD AT DODGE ARENA 7:30 PM VS OK. CITY YARD DAWGZ (8-6)

BROADCASTS: TV: TELEVISA RADIO: ESPN RADIO 1240 AM WEBCAST VIDEO: af2TV.com

The Rio Grande Valley Dorados will finally return home to the confines of Chase Field/Dodge Arena Saturday after a 34-day absence, which included three consecutive road games. The Dorados almost escaped the road swing unharmed, but a 58-49 loss this past week not only ended the Dorados four-game winning streak and perfect division record, but it pushed the Dorados out of first place and dropped their record to 9-5. They will seek to avenge their loss against Tulsa with their Sooner State neighbors to the west, the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz. The Yard Dawgz throttled the Dorados 59-35 on June 4th in Oklahoma City and have outscored them 114-52 all-time in Oklahoma, so the Dorados are happy to bring the Dawgz to Hidalgo, where they are 2-0 all-time against them. Rio Grande Valley needs a win or a loss by Central Valley to clinch a playoff spot. It is still possible to claim the West Division, but they need to win their two remaining games and have Tulsa lose their two remaining games. If the Dorados win and either Amarillo (at Tulsa) or Quad City (at Bossier/Shreveport) loses, then the Dorados will host at least one playoff game.

DORADOS DROPBACK

The Rio Grande Valley Dorados have been able to overcome many first half deficits this season, but Saturday night in front of 5,980 fans at the Tulsa Convention Center, the Dorados were unable to rebound from a 27-0 deficit and were defeated by the Tulsa Talons 58-49. The loss not only drops the Dorados overall record to 9-5, but it places the Talons in sole possession of first place, dropping the Dorados to second in the National Conference's West Division, and prevents the Dorados from clinching a playoff spot this week and ends a four-game winning streak.

The Talons built their 27-0 lead by four touchdown passes from Josh Blankenship, who found Donovan Morgan for six yards, Robert Reed for 16, Aleric Clark for three yards and Morgan once again for 15 yard scores. The Dorados, who were held scoreless in their first three drives due to a fumble and a pair of turnover-on-downs, were finally able to get on the board with 10:47 remaining in the second quarter with a two-yard touchdown run by quarterback Josh Kellett. David Carlton missed a 33-yard field goal on the ensuing drive for the Talons, giving the Dorados their first defensive stop of the game, and they were able to take advantage of the stop by garnering a 12-yard touchdown reception from Deorrick Henry. The touchdown by Henry, with 2:41 remaining in the first half, was one of four touchdowns scored between the two teams in the final three minutes of the first half. The Dorados attempted onside kick was unsuccessful, leading Tulsa to convert a short offensive drive with a five-yard touchdown catch by Morgan with 1:09 remaining to build a 34-14 lead. Rio Grande Valley responded with a one-play drive on the next offensive play with a 39-yard pass from Kellett to Counter with 35-seconds remaining, but an unsuccessful two-point conversion kept the Tulsa lead to 34-20. The Dorados needed a defensive stop in the closing moments of the half, but Tulsa was able to score in two plays with Morgan catching a 23-yard pass for his fourth touchdown of the half. It left 14-seconds on the clock and the Dorados couldn't muster up any additional points in the half and trailed 41-20 at the half.

Coming in with a 7-2 record when trailing at the half, the Dorados attempted a comeback as they have many times this season. Marquis Floyd caught an 18-yard touchdown catch on the Dorados opening second half possession and then Dorados lineman Gathan McGinnis forced his af2 co-leading fifth forced fumble of the season with a hit on Blankenship, giving the Dorados the ball. Floyd hauled in a 39-yard touchdown catch on the next play from Kellett to cut the Tulsa lead to 41-34 with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Dorados held Tulsa to a 41-yard field goal by Carlton on their next drive and then Kellett registered his second two-yard rushing touchdown of the game to cut the deficit to 44-41 with 11:45 remaining in the game. Blankenship found Morgan for a fifth touchdown on the ensuing drive with an eight yard catch with 7:31 remaining to extend the lead to 51-41. Clark intercepted Kellett to stop the Dorados on their following drive, but the Dorados were able to get the ball back without any damage as McGinnis collected his second sack of the game by tackling Blankenship on fourth down. Kellett went to Floyd for his third touchdown of the game by completing a 16-yard strike with 56-seconds remaining. McAlpine's two-point conversion run cut the Talons lead to 51-49. Eric Houle's onside kick attempt went out of bounds and the Talons took over with a possession beginning from the Dorados 12 yard line. Blankenship ran three consecutive times, converting a first down by inches on third down, and then plunged in the endzone from two-yards out with nine-seconds remaining to give the Talons a 58-49 lead. Rio Grande Valley received the ball for the final nine seconds needing at least eight points to force a third tie breaker (for playoff purposes if the two clubs happen to end the season with identical records) since the Dorados won by one point in the previous meeting of the season, but incomplete passes closed out the game and the Dorados dropped to 0-5 all-time in the Sooner State.

Morgan claimed Offensive Player of the Game honors with ten receptions for 125 yards and five touchdowns. His ten catches were over half of the 17 thrown by Blankenship in the game. Blankenship was 17 of 32 for 224 yards and seven touchdowns. His counterpart, Kellett, was 25 of 37 (67.6%) in passing for 327 yards and five touchdowns. Three of his touchdowns were to Floyd, who caught ten passes for 158 yards. A pair of Texas A&M/Kingsville products claimed the additional game awards, as Clark earned US Army Ironman of the game accolades and former Dorado Nick Davis was awarded the ADT Defensive Player of the Game.

PLAYOFF PICTURE

With two games remaining, we take a look at the playoff picture in the af2's National Conference. In the af2, the top six teams in the conference qualify for the playoffs, with division-leading teams receiving first round byes.

1. Memphis 10-3
2. Tulsa 10-4
3. Rio Grande Valley 9-5
4. Oklahoma City 8-6
5. Amarillo 8-6
6. Quad Cities 8-6

Dorados Playoff Scenarios -

The Dorados can claim a Playoff Spot if: They win over Oklahoma City or Central Valley loses (vs. Memphis)

What if the Dorados and Tulsa have an even record at the end of the regular season?: Tulsa owns the tiebreaker due to point differential in the head-to-head series.

What if a team has a better record than the Dorados, but the Dorados are first in the division?: They still receive a bye week and would serve as the number 2 seed in the conference.

What if the Dorados and Memphis have an even record at the end of the regular season (this scenario would also depend on the Dorados division leading status)?: Since the two clubs do not play each other, the tiebreaker of record verses common opponent will be used. Memphis currently leads the category since they are 2-2 against common opponents and Rio Grande Valley is 2-3 against common opponents. Memphis still has Central Valley and Bossier-Shreveport remaining on their schedule, while the Dorados still have common opponents Oklahoma City left on theirs.

What if the Dorados and Oklahoma City have an even record at the end of the regular season (and the Dorados are not division champs)?: With one game remaining between the two clubs, the Rio Grande Valley Dorados would have to win the game and defeat the Yard Dawgz by 24 points. If they win by 25 or more, then they claim the tiebreaker, but if they win by 24, the tiebreaker leans to record verses common opponents.

What if the Dorados and Central Valley have an even record at the end of the regular season?: Rio Grande Valley owns the advantage of the tiebreaker with a 2-0 head to head record against Central Valley

What if the Dorados and Amarillo have an even record at the end of the regular season (this scenario would also depend on the Dorados division leading status?: The only two Texas teams do not meet in the regular season so in records against common opponents, Amarillo holds a 7-3 (70%) record advantage over the Dorados's 8-4 (67%) record, but the Dorados two remaining games (Oklahoma City and Bakersfield) are all against common opponents while Amarillo has one remaining game (Tulsa) against a common opponent.

What if the Dorados and Quad City have an even record at the end of the regular season? Since these two teams do not play each other, the winning percentage against common opponents is used as the tiebreaker. Currently, Quad City is 3-3 (50%) against common opponents with two games remaining (Louisville and Bossier-Shreveport) and the Dorados are 2-3 (40%) against common opponents with one game remaining against a common opponent (Oklahoma City).

af2 WEEK 16 REVIEW

Friday, July 15
ALBANY 88, Green Bay 82 OT (5,796)
BAKERSFIELD 56, Bos-Shreve 33 (4,829)
Saturday, July 16
FLORIDA 48, W-B/Scranton 47 OT (6,018)
Birmingham 23, SOUTH GEORGIA 20 (6,283)
TULSA 58, Rio Grande Valley 49 (5,980)
Macon 48, ARKANSAS 44 (6,432)
MEMPHIS 83, Manchester 26 (2,712)
QUAD CITY 52, Amarillo 46 (6,468)
Louisville 47, OKLAHOMA CITY 45 (7,633)
SAN DIEGO 51, Central Valley 50 (3,468)

af2 WEEK 17 PREVIEW

Saturday, July 23
Albany at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 6:30 p.m.
Manchester at Louisville 6:30 p.m.
South Georgia at Macon 6:30 p.m.
Amarillo at Tulsa 7:00 p.m.
Quad City at Bossier-Shreveport 7:00 p.m.
Arkansas at Birmingham 7:00 p.m.
Florida at Green Bay 7:00 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Rio Grande Val. 7:30 p.m.
Bakersfield at San Diego 9:00 p.m.
Memphis at Central Valley 9:30 p.m.

NEXT HOME GAME

The Dorados next home game is Saturday, July 23, as the Dorados host the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz at Chase Field inside the Dodge Arena. Individual tickets for the game and all other home games are already on sale. Season ticket packages and advertising opportunities are still available by contacting the Dorados offices at 956-843-7825. Additional info can also be found by visiting the Dorados online at www.doradosfootball.com.



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