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National Conference Championship preview

August 18, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


RIO GRANDE VALLEY DORADOS (12-6) AT MEMPHIS XPLORERS (14-3) FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 2005 - DESOTO CENTER (8,444) 8:30 P.M. ET On Friday night the Memphis Xplorers host the Rio Grande Valley Dorados for the National Conference Championship and the right to play in the 2005 ArenaCup in Bossier-Shreveport, Louisiana. It will be a battle of two teams hitting their stride at just the right time of the season.

Memphis is enjoying their best season in franchise history. Their only hiccup in their 13-3 season was a two game losing streak near the end of the year. But they won their final three games of the season and won their first ever playoff game last week 71-30 over the Amarillo Dusters. Their average margin of victory in these last four wins has been 30 points. Now they play in their first ever Conference Championship game.

The Dorados are in only their second year of existence but have the personnel of a veteran team. After losing two of their final three games of the regular season the Dorados have found success in the playoffs. They advanced to the postseason for the first time in team history and won a home playoff game 56-38 over Quad City in the First Round. Last week they won their first road postseason game in franchise history in a 65-42 upset over the Tulsa Talons. Tulsa beat out the Dorados for the West Division Championship but the Dorados won when it mattered most.

Rio Grande Valley wins in a variety of ways. Like most successful Arena Football teams they have a strong air attack. Quarterback JOSH KELLETT, who is having his most successful postseason, has thrown for 531 yards and nine touchdowns with only one interception in the playoffs so far. Six of his touchdowns have gone to DWIGHT COUNTER with the other three going to MARQUIS FLOYD. On the ground the Dorados hand the ball off to CHRIS ROBINSON. During the regular season he rushed for 236 yards and 11 touchdowns. In two playoff games Robinson has rushed for 42 and 44 yards. His performances rank second and third best all-time for single game rushing performances in the postseason. With 17 more yards he can tie the record for career postseason rushing yards. CASEY URLACHER currently holds this record with 127.

The Dorados defense can come up with big plays also. Last week Rio Grande Valley jumped out to a 14-0 lead thanks to a Floyd interception and a JOHN BRADLEY fumble recovery for a touchdown. Chris Robinson can step up with a crucial play on defense also as he recorded 4.0 sacks along and 37.5 tackles (31UA-13AT) during the regular season.

The Memphis defense is the best in the league and they have the stats and star players to prove it. They allowed only 601 points (37.6 per game) to lead the league in fewest points allowed. The Xplorers defense starts up front with KHREEM SMITH. The lineman of the year, Smith led the league in sacks with 17.0. He also forced six fumbles and recovered three fumbles. Last week Smith recorded one tackle for a loss and an assisted on a sack. The Memphis team recovered four fumbles as they held the high scoring Dusters offense to just 30 points last week. If Smith can't breakthrough into the backfield to put pressure on Kellett look for DAHNEL SINGFIELD to make plays in the secondary. The second year man out of Buffalo led the league in passes defended during the regular season with 62. His 12 interceptions was tops in the league. Singfield also led the team in tackles with 73.0 (52UA-30AT).

Memphis' two-way threat is TERRELL ADAMS. From Mississippi Valley State, Adams broke up 13 and picked off five passes during the regular season. On defense Adams caught 15 touchdowns and rushed for five other scores. In Memphis' playoff game last week Adams rushed for two scores, caught two touchdown passes, threw a touchdown pass and recovered a fumble for a touchdown. Adams' teammate OS KEVIN PRENTISS is a threat to score anytime he touches the ball. He caught 103 passes for 1,627 yards and 40 touchdowns during the regular season while returning 54 kickoffs for 1,419 yards and four touchdowns. He is one of the most exciting players in the league and can change the momentum of a game in one play. Quarterback BRIAN JONES gets the ball to Prentiss and Adams to make plays, but also knows when to make plays on his own and went to throw the ball away. Jones threw 69 touchdowns while tossing only seven interceptions. He also rushed for 23 touchdowns, second best during the regular season. A good example of his style of play is his stats last week. The Xplorers put up 71 points but Jones attempted only 15 passes, completing seven of them for 116 yards and four touchdowns. Four of these seven completions went to Prentiss who turned them into three touchdowns.

For the Dorados to slow down Memphis they will need to limit the Xplorers' short scoring drives as the Xplorers are masters of scoring drives of two or three plays. Last week the Dorados attempted an onside kick on their first kickoff of the game to try to gain an edge on the Talons. It worked as Marquis Floyd picked off a pass on Tulsa's second play. The Dorados could try this tactic again to make the Xplorers start on a short field and not give Prentiss and Adams space to get open and run after the catch.

This matchup is the first time in league history two af2 Coaches of the Year will face each other. Memphis' DANTON BARTO earned the honor this season while KEVIN GUY was named Coach of the Year in 2003 as head coach of the Tennessee Valley Vipers. Over the last two seasons no head coaches have won more games than Barto and Guy. Barto has posted 23-9 record and Guy has a 22-10 mark over the last two regular seasons. Barto has been a stable with the Xplorers over the past four seasons. He has improved Memphis each season he has been the head coach. Last season the Xplorers earned their first playoff berth in franchise history. This season they've won their first division and playoff game. Guy is a newcomer to the Dorados but not af2. As head coach of the Vipers from 2002 to 2004 he took the Vipers to the playoffs each season and posted 12 wins or more each year. He brought many of his former Vipers players, like Kellett, Floyd and TRAVIS MCALPINE to the Dorados and has found similar success in the Valley. This is the first season Guy has won two playoff games and could advance to the ArenaCup for the first time with a win on Friday. His Vipers lost in the Conference Championship in 2003 and lost in the Semifinals in 2002 and 2004.

This is the first ever meeting between the Xplorers and Dorados. Last season the Xplorers and Guy's Vipers team split their two regular season meetings.

REGULAR SEASON STATISTICS
DORADOS /// XPLORERS
SERIES LEADER: First meeting
LAST MEETING: NA
LAST FIVE GAMES: 3-2 /// 4-1
LAST GAME: Won at Tulsa 65-42 /// Won vs. Amarillo 71-30
PASSING: Kellett: 533-303-14; 3627; 63 TDs /// Jones: 388-245-7; 3384; 69 TDs
RECEIVING: Floyd: 101-1452; 29 TDs /// Prentiss: 103-1627; 40 TDs
RUSHING: Robinson: 57-236; 11 TDs /// Jones: 75-229; 23 TDs
TACKLES: Brown: 60.0 /// Singfield: 73.0
SACKS: McGinnis: 4.5 /// Smith: 17.0
INTERCEPTIONS: Floyd: 9 /// Singfield: 12
KICKING: Houle: 72-84 PAT; 17-43 FG 123 Pts /// Azar: 57-72 PAT; 8-16 FG 81 Pts
TEAM OFFENSE: 49.8 PPG (11th); 265.7 YPG (9th) /// 55.8 PPG (1st); 248.1 YPG (15th)
TEAM DEFENSE: 52.2 PPG (14th); 262.4 YPG (13th) /// 37.6 PPG (1st); 243.1 YPG (4th)



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