Drillers travel to Houma
June 11, 2004 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL)
Beaumont Drillers News Release
BEAUMONT, TX -- The Beaumont Drillers will travel east to face the first place Houma Bayou Bucks Saturday at the Terrebone Civic Center at 7 p.m. The Drillers (7-4) enter the contest in second place in the Atlantic South and the Bucks sit atop of the division at 8-2.
This will be the third meeting this year between these two division rivals, with Houma winning both games. The first, 52-43 in Houma and the second in Beaumont 51-40. The Bayou Bucks have won the last three meetings.
LINE: Houma -8.5, over/under 82 points.
**HOUMA UPDATE**
- Were off last week.
- Defeated Tupelo on the road 60-58 on May 28.
- 3-1 at home, losing their last home game to Evansville 51-49
- Houma outscores opponents 52.5 to 42.9, and at home 57-40.5
- QB Doug Coleman (6'-180) is 22 of 45, .488, for 334 yards with 9 TDs and 2
INTs against Beaumont this year. Coleman is 10th in the NIFL in QB rating
with 101.4, 2nd in yards (1,596) and 3rd in TDs (40).
- WR Kevin Heard is 3rd in receiving yards per game (91.0).
- Ranked 9th in total defense, allowing 210.8 yards per contest.
- 3rd in pass defense with 123.8 yards.
- Roger Green leads the unit with 43.0 tackles.
- Sullivan Beard has 4 INTs.
**INJURY REPORT**
OUT: LB Eric Winchester (staff infection); RB Troy Sumrall (ankle).
- Nick Mitchell returns after missing one game due to a NFL combine workout.
He will start at linebacker and fullback.
- RB Rolland Hayes returns to split time at running back with Anthony
Johnson.
**Inside the Driller numbers**
- 3-2 on the road, winners of 3 straight road games. Average 46.8 points on
the road while giving up 46.2
- 3rd in the NIFL in scoring with 53 points per game.
- 5th in total offense with 254.8 yards per.
- 5th in red-zone scoring, 68 for 85 (80%).
- QB Marc Saldana is tied for 7th in QB rating (104.3).
- WR Chad Luttrull is 4th with 5.45 receptions per game, 7th with 60.9 yards
per game, 8th in all-purpose yards with 1,173, averaging 106.6 per game.
- 8th in total defense (199.2).
- Troy Esprit is 2nd with 7 INTs.
- Eric Winchester is 8th in tackles with 66.0
- T.J. Light had 2 sacks for minus-26 yards with 3 QB-hurries in the last
meeting with Houma.
**Coaches' Corner**
Coach Bryan Blake says...
- "Without a doubt, this is the biggest game of the year. Our players know
and we feel we should have won both of those games. A win, and we have a
shot at the Atlantic South Division title."
- "With the addition to coach Mackey, our offensive players are getting on
the same page. You can tell a major difference in the two weeks since he's
been
here. Our receivers are starting to run the right routes, which opens up the
field more for Marc (Saldana)."
- "We need to eliminate turnovers."
- "We need to put pressure on Coleman (Doug, quarterback). Their offensive
line dominated us the last two games. When he can sit back and have time to
throw, they'll hurt you. They score a lot of their touchdowns after they run
their routes."
**From the desk of General Manager Steven Reap**
- "We still have some holes in the secondary. We never should have went into
overtime against Utah. It was a 4-yard dump pass that was scored on us. We are
going to evaluate some players this weekend, especially with some defensive
backs and do what we have to do to get better. We have to be hard on our guys,
we can't have them slacking up. We are in playoff contention, but nowhere we
want to be. We are trying to win a championship."
**Atlantic South this week**
Beaumont (7-4) at Houma (8-2)
Waco (2-5) at Oklahoma (0-10)
Ohio Valley (9-2) at Lake Charles (3-7)
Tupelo (6-4) at Evansville (4-6)
• Discuss this story on the National Indoor Football League message board...
National Indoor Football League Stories from June 11, 2004
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- Drillers travel to Houma - Beaumont Drillers
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- FireAnts Take on BlueCats in Indiana - Tupelo FireAnts
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