New York Dragons game notes
February 22, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
New York Dragons News Release
New York Dragons (2-2)
at Orlando Predators (3-1)
Date: Sunday ▪ February 26, 2006
Kickoff: 1:00 PM (EST)
Site: Nassau Coliseum (11,985)
Web cast: Peter Schwartz (play-by-play) and Wayne Morris (analyst)
Regular Season Series Record: 7-2
Regular Season Series Streak: New York -5
Last Regular Season Meeting:
New York 60, Orlando 72
TD Waterhouse Centre ▪ Orlando, FL
April 15, 2005
Coaches Record:
Dragons ▪ Weylan Harding (11-8, 2nd year)
Orlando ▪ Jay Gruden (58-34, 7th year)
Officials: Referee: David Cutaia (67), Umpire: Doug Wilson (77), Head Linesman: Greg Shields (72), Line Judge: Dave Chesney (32), Back Judge: James Cole (81), Supervisor: Ed Manning
ABOUT THE GAME
The Dragons come home after wrapping up the longest road portion of their 2006 schedule to face the Orlando Predators on Sunday afternoon. After taking two of the three wins from their road series, the Dragons have a record of 2-2. Orlando is 1-1 on the road this season and 3-1 overall. This will be the 15th all-time meeting between the clubs and Orlando leads the all-time series 11-3 with a regular season record of 7-2 against the Dragons. Including the playoffs, the Predators have defeated the Dragons in the last ten consecutive contests. The Dragons are currently 0-1 at home and the Dragons will be looking for their first home win of the season. The game will take place at the Nassau Coliseum.
NEXT WEEK'S PREVIEW
The Dragons remain home in Week Six when they face another Eastern Division Rival, the Columbus Destroyers on Friday, March 3. The Dragons lead the series 3-1 against the Destroyers and won both games against them at home. The Destroyers record is currently 1-3 this season.
IF THE DRAGONS WIN, IT WOULD GIVE...
- The team a 3-2 record for the season and a 1-1 record at home.
- The Dragons their 96th regular season victory and their 102nd of all-time.
- The team their 41st victory since moving to Long Island in 2001.
- QB Aaron Garcia his 63rd victory with the team.
- The Dragons an all-time record of 12-4 and regular season record of 8-2 versus Orlando.
DRAGONS BACK AT HOME
After concluding the longest road portion of their 2006 schedule in Philadelphia last weekend, the Dragons return home for two consecutive games at the Coliseum. After Orlando this weekend, the Dragons will meet Columbus on Friday, March 3 at 7:30 pm.
DEFENDING THE EAST
After their loss to Philadelphia in Week Three, the Dragons will look towards winning their next division game when they face Columbus in Week Six. The Dragons will also have another chance at Philadelphia when the Soul come to the Coliseum in Week 14. Last season, the Dragons won the Eastern Division for the third consecutive season (2003-2005). The Dragons swept all of their Eastern foes (Columbus, Dallas and Philadelphia) with a perfect 6-0 record in divisional play.
GARCIA LEADS THE LEAGUE
After four weeks, Aaron Garcia leads the league in passing touchdowns, pass completions and overall pass rating this season. He has completed 105 of 138 passes attempted for 28 touchdowns, three more than Dallas QB Clint Dolezel who currently has 25. Garcia has a pass rating of 130.1 that Dolezel is also second to with 127.3.
DRAGONS' DS'S ARE ON TOP
DS Dahnel Singfield and DS DaShane Dennis currently hold the top two spots in the league for most tackles with 31.0 and 30.5 respectively. Just four weeks into his rookie season, Singfield has recorded 29 solo tackles with 4 assists. Dennis has recorded 28 solo tackles with 5 assists. Both are ahead of the game at this point in the season and should continue to improve and remain on top.
DRAGONS OFFENSE IS ON THE BALL
After Week Four, the Dragons have shown that their offense is competitive and even top of the league as they currently lead in average total offensive yards with 7.8 per play. This total comes from 153 plays for 1187 yards. New York is trailed by Dallas with an average of 7.2. With 29 touchdowns this season, New York is tied with Tampa and Dallas who only trail Colorado who, recorded 30.
The Dragons also lead the league in kick return touchdowns as they did last season. With 28 returns for 467 yards, New York is averaging 16.7 yards per return.
GARCIA HAS BIG GAME AT UTAH IN WEEK THREE
For his performance versus the Utah Blaze in Week Three, QB Aaron Garcia was named the AFL Offensive Player of the Week . In the game, he completed 24 of 26 passes for ten touchdowns and 354 yards with no interceptions. He also had a perfect passer rating of 158.3. Garcia was just one shy of his record of 11 touchdowns scored on July 7, 2001, when the dragons defeated Carolina 99-68.
Garcia along with Blaze QB Joe Germaine also set a new AFL record for most combined touchdowns in a game. With ten touchdowns apiece, both quarterbacks set a new high of 20, topping the previous record of 19 set on June 20, 1997 when New Jersey (10) faced Texas (9).
DRAGONS AND BLAZE SET NEW AFL RECORD
Garcia and Germaine also greatly added to the 24-combined touchdown total, breaking the old record of 23 combined touchdowns in a game. The four remaining touchdowns were scored by Utah's Kevin Moffett on a net recovery with :03 left in the second quarter, Utah's Justin Skaggs on a one-yard run with 2:48 left in the third quarter, Dragons OS Kevin Swayne with a 54-yard kickoff return with 1:53 remaining in the third quarter, followed by FB/LB Bruce Blue scoring on a one-yard run with :00 left in the third. The previous records of 23 touchdowns was set on April 13, 2003 when Arizona (12) faced Los Angles (11) as well as on April 3, 2004 when Los Angeles (12) faced Austin (11).
GARCIA AN ALL-TIME GREAT
It was already known by most, but QB Aaron Garcia is now enshrined as one of the top-20 all-time great players in AFL history. During training camp, the league came out with their top-20 players from the first 20 years of the AFL. Garcia ranked 11th, one spot ahead of fellow former Iowa Barnstormer QB Kurt Warner. After Warner left the franchise, Garcia supplanted him as the franchise's star quarterback and the Dragons - or Barnstormers - have never looked back.
IN SEARCH OF No. 800
Entering this week, QB Aaron Garcia has 753 touchdowns after throwing for ten more in Week Three against Utah, one short of his record of 11 touchdowns in one game and another 8 touchdowns in Week Four's defeat against Philadelphia. He started the season with 725. If he keeps on his pace of 5.7 touchdowns per game (based on his last two seasons touchdown totals), then Garcia will reach the 800-touchdown plateau in Week 13. His current average is 7.0 touchdowns per game, where at the current pace he would reach 800 in week 11.
In 2005, Garcia became the first player in professional football history to record 700-or-more career passing touchdowns. The score came on a 37-yard toss to OS Kevin Swayne in week Fourteen at Dallas.
RETURNING DRAGONS
The Dragons have 11 players on their roster from their final 2005 roster. QB Aaron Garcia is the longest tenured Dragon at eight seasons. The complete list includes: WR/LB Chris Anthony, OL/DL Jamaal Cherry, DS DaShane Dennis, WR/DB Angel Estrada, OL/DL Stacy Evans, WR/LB Mike Horacek, WR/DB Will Holder, OL/DL Joe Laudano, OL/DL Marcus "Snowball" Owen, OL/DL Steve Scifres and OS Kevin Swayne along with Garcia.
DRAGONS WITH af2 EXPERIENCE
The Dragons have 10 players on their roster who have played in af2 at one point in their career. The list includes: WR/LB Chris Anthony, WR/LB Maurice Brown, OL/DL Jamaal Cherry, WR/DB DaShane Dennis, OL/DL Jon Hall, OL/DL Joe Laudano, FB/LB Richard McCleskey, K Jesse Obert, DS Dahnel Singfield, OL/DL Andrew Tippins, OL/DL Paul White and QB Juston Wood.
SITUATIONAL RECORDS
At Home 0-1 Opponents Scored First 0-1
On The Road 2-1 Ahead At Half 1-0
Friday Games 1-0 Tied At Half 0-0
Saturday Games 1-1 Behind At Half 1-2
February 2-2 Ahead After Three Quarters 0-0
National Conference 0-1 Tied After Three Quarters 1-0
Eastern Division 0-1 Behind After Three Quarters 1-2
Southern Division 0-0 Outcome 6 pts or Less 1-0
American Conference 2-1 Outcome 3 pts or Less 1-0
Central Division 1-1 Outcome 7 pts or More 0-2
Western Division 1-0 Outcome 4 pts or More 0-0
Garcia Throws Fewer Than 5 TD's 0-1 Overtime 0-0
Garcia Throws 5 TD's 0-0 Plus Turnover Margin 2-0
Garcia Throws 6 TD's 1-0 Even Turnover Margin 0-0
Garcia Throws 7 TD's 0-0 Minus Turnover Margin 0-2
Garcia Throws 7+ TD's 1-1
INSIDE THE HEADSET:
Every week, Dragons head coach Weylan Harding lets the fans get inside his headset in an open question and answer forum. Here's this week's journal.
Coach, in retrospect, what are your thoughts on the three-game road segment that the Dragons recently completed?
We were expecting to come out 3-0 on the road trip. A more realistic result occurred in that we won two of the three, which is still positive. I just hate that the one loss was a divisional game. This thing looks like it may come down to the wire in the Eastern division.
How have your defensive specialists (DaShane Dennis and
Dahnel Singfield) faired this season?
I have to give them a passing grade at this point. They've made plays but
haven't been consistent enough all around. Playing the hardest position in
football has a steep learning curve to say the least. I anticipate that they'll
have their break out game as soon as they keep maturing as a unit.
Coach, is there any noticeable anticipation from the team about returning home this week?
Yes! We get to play in front of our home crowd. There is a definite advantage in receiving the energy from a group who is for our team. There's no place like home.
After the first quarter of the season, what has been the biggest surprise for you so far?
The resilience of the team has been a pleasant surprise. You can't coach toughness and heart. Those things have to be in you from birth. We have a good base to get better from. They have the fight in them but now we have to get that plus consistent execution. We are making the mistakes of a young team, up front and in the secondary. Once this is corrected we will be as good as the best of them.
Coach, PLEASE tell me the Dragons are finally going to beat Orlando this week?!
We plan for and prepare to beat each team we face every week. If you are the die-hard fan then you already know the answer.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ 2006 TRANSACTIONS ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
02/09/06 ▪ Activated from Injured Reserve: WR/DB Matthew Thomas... Placed on Injured Reserve: OL/DL Troy Pelshak, WR/LB Latrez Harrison.
02/06/06 ▪ Released: WR/LB George Williams, FB/LB Michael Blair and OL/DL Ralph Horton.
01/30/06 ▪ Signed: OL/DL Steve Scifres... Released: WR/LB Derrick Tatum and OL/DL Tyronn Johnson.
01/26/06 ▪ Signed to Practice Squad: WR/LB Latrez Harrison.
01/25/06 ▪ Signed: WR/LB Maurice Brown... Placed on Injured Reserve: WR/LB Chris Anthony.
01/23/06 ▪ Signed to Practice Squad: WR/DB Tom Anthony, DS Atcheson Conway, OL/DL Ralph Horton... Placed on Other League Exempt: DS Billy Parker.
1/22/06 ▪ Placed on Injured Reserve: DS Derrick Tatum, WR/DB Matthew Thomas.
1/21/06 ▪ Waived Injured: OL/DL Damien Bauman... Waived: WR/DB Tom Anthony, QB Ian Butler, WR/DB Atcheson Conway, WR/DB Golden Goodwin, WR/LB Latrez Harrison, OL/DL Ralph Horton, OL/DL David Hurst, FB/LB Joe Massey, WR/DB Taqiy Muhammad... Released: OL/DL Steve Scifres.
NY-ORLANDO CONNECTIONS:
There are no current team connections between players from the Dragons and Predators.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
GARCIA FIRST IN TD'S, SECOND IN COMPLETIONS AND YARDS:
Dragons QB Aaron Garcia is in his 12th AFL season and remains one of the league's top passers. He's first all-time with 753 touchdowns and is second in all-time passing yards with 35,885 and in completions with 3,046.
The All-Arena QB became the first player to reach the 700-touchdown plateau last season on April 29 at Dallas.
GARCIA'S ALL-TIME RANKINGS
Rank Touchdowns
1st Aaron Garcia (NYD) - 753
2nd Andy Kelly (KCB) - 731
3rd Sherdrick Bonner (ARI) - 675
Rank Yardage
1st Andy Kelly (KCB) - 37,811
2nd Aaron Garcia (NYD) - 35,885
3rd Sherdrick Bonner (ARI) - 33,773
Rank Completions
1st Andy Kelly (KCB) - 3,440
2nd Aaron Garcia (NYD) - 3,046
3rd Clint Dolezel (DAL) - 2,796
TOUCHDOWN MACHINE:
QB Aaron Garcia refuses to slow down, now passing Philadelphia QB Tony Graziani after gaining ten touchdowns in Week Three. Graziani has recorded 198 over the past three seasons (2004-2006). In last week's game when the quarterbacks faced off, Garcia recorded eight touchdowns to Graziani âs six.
TOUCHDOWN LEADERS
Player Touchdowns
Aaron Garcia (NYD) 209
Tony Graziani (PHI) 198
Andy Kelly (KCB) 184
Clint Dolezel (DAL) 176
John Kaleo (CMB) 169
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
LIVING YOUNG:
The Dragons are led by one of the great defensive coaches in the AFL and he also happens to be the youngest in professional football. Weylan Harding enters the 2006 season at 34 years old -- 14 months and 13 days younger than the second-youngest head coach - Los Angeles' Ed Hodgkiss. However, Harding does not hold the distinction of being the youngest coach in league history. That honor goes to Kevin Guy of the 2000 New Jersey Red Dogs, who was 27 years old.
Team Coach DOB Age
NYD Harding 1/5/1972 34
LAA Hodgkiss 10/23/1970 35
PHI Munsey 8/19/68 37
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
ARENA-BRED COACHES
The Dragons are the only team in the league to have their entire coaching staff comprised of former AFL players. In total, the Dragons' coaching staff has a combined 22 years of AFL playing experience and another combined 18-plus years as coaches.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
SWITCHING POSITIONS
DaShane Dennis and Jamaal Cherry have switched positions from 2005 and will now line up at DS and OL/DL, respectively. Bruce Blue began training camp as a lineman and has since converted to FB/LB. Although Cherry was listed at FB/LB last season, he played primarily as a defensive lineman in his rookie season.
FOUR DRAGONS TO WATCH:
QB Aaron Garcia: One of the most prolific passers in the history of the AFL always gives his team a chance to win. He currently has 745 career touchdowns and started the 2006 season with 725.
OL/DL Marcus "Snowball" Owen: An All-Ironman selection in 2005, Owen will once again anchor the offensive and defensive line of the Dragon. Linemen sometimes go unnoticed, but watch out for Owen's contributions on the offensive side.
OS Kevin Swayne: When he remains healthy, Swayne is one of the best receivers in the league. He's a big target for Garcia and one of his favorites, too. In Week One, Swayne caught three of the four touchdowns thrown by Garcia.
DS Dahnel Singfield: Singfield is off to a strong start in his rookie season. He has recorded 31.0 tackles in the first four games with 11 solo tackles in Week Two vs. Chicago. He also recorded an interception in Week Four vs. Philadelphia.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
ORIGINAL DRAGONS
QB Aaron Garcia is a New York Dragon through thick and thin. He is the only player to be a part of the team for each of its first five seasons on Long Island. Garcia made the move when the Iowa Barnstormers relocated to New York prior to the 2001 season. Garcia was traded to Iowa from New Jersey on June 2, 1998 for WR/DB Chris Spencer and OL/DL John Dixon. This is Garcia's 12th AFL season and ninth with the franchise.
OS Kevin Swayne has been the property of the Dragons for all six seasons, however he spent two seasons on the exempt list from 2002-2004. After a successful 2001 campaign, he was signed by the NFL's New York Jets and stayed there for three seasons. He returned to the Dragons mid-way through the 2004 season. Swayne also suited up for the Barnstormers from 1998-1999.
WR/LB Mike Horacek is the only other player to have played for both the Barnstormers and the Dragons. From 1997 to 2000, Horacek split time as a WR/DB and an OS with Iowa. He was the AFL's Offensive Player of the Year in 2000, his last with the team until he was selected in 2004 Dispersal Draft. The 2006 season is his second with the Dragons, but sixth with the franchise.
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from February 22, 2006
- Two Kats Heartbreaks Among AFL's 20 Greatest Games - Nashville Kats
- Rumble in the House in Philadelphia - AFL I
- ArenaBowl X Named Greatest Game - Tampa Bay Storm
- 20 greatest games in AFL history revealed - AFL I
- AFL week five injury report - AFL I
- New York Dragons game notes - New York Dragons
- AFL Collectable Player of the Week - AFL I
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
