Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz game notes

Published on May 28, 2004 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Arkansas Twisters vs.
Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz
Date: Saturday May 29, 2004
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CT
Site: Ford Center
Radio: WWLS 104.9fm, 640am Robert Allen and Jack Mildren
Series Record: First Meeting
Last Meeting: None
Streaks: Yard Dawgz W1, Stealth L5

Coaches: Gary Reasons(4-2, First season)
Gary Anderson(27-28, Third season)


THE STAKES: After the Dawgz take over first place in the Southwest Division, the non-conference Twisters come to Oklahoma City to attempt to end their 5 game losing skid.


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


THE IFs:
If Oklahoma City defeats Arkansas, it would ...
· Give OKC a 6-2 in the Southwest Division
· Keep Oklahoma City in 1st place in Division
· Give OKC first win against the Twisters
· Extend the Dawgz home winning streak to 5


Oklahoma City (5-2)
Date Opponent Result Score
4/03 @ Tulsa 7:30 W 70-63
4/10 Rio Grande Valley 7:30 W 55-17
4/24 @Rio Grande Valley 7:30 L 41-44
5/01 Tulsa 7:30 W 62-60
5/08 Laredo 7:30 W 79-48
5/14 @Green Bay 7:30 L 71-53
5/22 Wichita 7:30 W 53-25
5/29 Arkansas 7:30
6/05 @Laredo 7:30
6/12 @Wichita 7:30
6/19 Laredo 7:30
6/26 @Columbus 6:30
7/03 Fresno 7:30
7/10 @Rio Grande Valley 7:30
7/17 @Wichita 7:00
7/24 Tulsa 7:30

Arkansas (1-6)
Date Opponent Time Result Score
4/3 San Diego 8:00 W 48-38
4/10 Peoria 8:00 L 13-22
4/16 Birmingham 8:00 L 40-56
4/24 Bakersfield 8:30 L 21-49
5/8 Tenn Valley 8:30 L 34-53
5/14 Memphis 8:30 L 35-37
5/22 Tulsa 8:30 L 53-61
5/28 OKC 7:30 - 0-0
6/5 Tenn Valley 8:30 - 0-0
6/12 Albany 8:30 - 0-0
6/18 Quad City 8:30 - 0-0
6/25 Bossier City 7:30 - 0-0
7/9 Laredo 8:30 - 0-0
7/17 Memphis 8:30 - 0-0
7/24 Rio Grande 7:30 - 0-0
7/31 Bossier City 8:00 - 0-0

HEAD COACHES:

Dawgz Head Coach Gary Reasons

In his first season as a head coach, Gary Reasons looks to take the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz to victory road in their inaugural season. The former Super Bowl champion linebacker is excited about the squad he is leading out on the field.
In 1984, Reasons was a fourth round draft pick by the New York Giants. Throughout his eight seasons
(1984-91) with the Giants, Reasons became known as a member of one of the greatest linebacker corps in NFL history. He earned personal recognition for his smart and hard-hitting style of play being selected to the NFL All Rookie Team, All NFL, and to the All Madden Team. His final NFL season was spent with the Cincinnati Bengals in 1992.

Reasons attended Northwestern State from (1980-84) where he recorded 394 career tackles, was a three-time First Team All-Conference performer (1981-83) and was named "Most Valuable Collegiate Defensive Player" for the state of Louisiana in his senior season. He was the first player in Division I-AA history to earn First Team All-America honors in three consecutive seasons (1981-83). Northwestern State retired Reasons' No. 34 jersey following his senior season. Reasons graduated with a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Northwestern State in 1984.

In 1996, Reasons was among the inaugural class of small college players to be inducted into the National College Football Hall of Fame. In 1998, Reasons was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

Twister Head Coach Gary Anderson

Former Arkansas Razorback great Gary Anderson enters his third season as the Head Coach of the Arkansas Twisters. Anderson, 40, was promoted to head coach prior to the 2001 after spending the inuagural Twisters season as an assistant coach in charge of special teams and running backs.

Anderson starred at running back and wide receiver for the University of Arkansas from 1979-82 and is regarded as one of the best athletes to ever play for the Razorbacks. He finished his college career with 392 rushes for 1999 yards and 94 receptions for 1075 yards. Anderson was voted as a member of the Razorback's All-Decade team for the 1980's.

In 1983, Anderson was a first-round draft pick in both the NFL and USFL draft. He played for the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL his first three seasons as a professional and gained over 1,000 yards two of the three years. After the demise of the USFL in 1985, Gary moved on to play for the San Diego Chargers of the NFL from 1985-90. In his five seasons with the Chargers, Gary gained 3409 yards on 321 carries and had 302 receptions for 2,999 yards. He was named the Chargers MVP twice and was selected to the NFL All-Pro team once during his stay in San Diego. Gary returned to Tampa Bay in 1991, this time with the NFL's Buccaneers. From 1991 to 1993, he carried the ball 321 times for 1159 yards. He finished his NFL career in 1993 with the Detroit Lions.

Anderson and his wife, Ollie, live in Little Rock and have five children: daughters Akia. Antisha, Adeeja and Asia and son, Gary, Jr.

A Look Back:

5/22/04:
Dawgz Drop Stealth, 53-25

DAWGZ DEFENSE DOMINATES AS OKC CLAIMS FIRST PLACE
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – The Ford Center crowd of 7,554 people saw the Yard Dawgz dominate Wichita 53-25 Saturday to force a first-place tie with the visiting Stealth at 5-2 in arenafootball2's Southwest Division. The Yard Dawgz now are 4-0 at home with the Arkansas Twisters coming to Oklahoma City next Saturday.

"This is a big win to put us on top of the division," Oklahoma City head coach Gary Reasons said. "The credit has to go to the players. Each and every one of them stepped up their game tonight. There were some exceptional performances out there. I think some big things are ahead for this team."

Wichita entered the contest with the third-best scoring defense in af2, holding opponents to just 36 points per game. But the Yard Dawgz defense stole the spotlight, holding the Stealth to its two lowest-scoring halves and lowest overall point total of the season. Oklahoma City's offense, meanwhile, rolled to 21 fourth-quarter points to top the half-century mark for the sixth time in seven games.

A third-quarter shutout gave the Yard Dawgz a 32-12 lead entering the final period, breaking open a game in which the Stealth never really threatened. U.S. Army Ironman of the Game Al Hunt caught two of his four touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, totaling 137 yards on six receptions overall. Quarterback Craig Strickland also hit Timon Marshall with a fourth-quarter touchdown pass of six yards to answer a late Wichita score by Marc Bacote. Strickland completed 17-of-29 passes for 240 yards and seven touchdowns to earn Baby Ruth Player of the Game honors for the fourth time in as many home games.

Aaron Sparrow passed for 227 yards and just one touchdown for the Stealth, which lost its second straight game. Sparrow also was sacked six times as Oklahoma City built its league-leading sack total to 28. Damon Thompson caught eight passes for 98 yards for the visitors.

The first half featured two unusually long drives by Wichita that produced points, but didn't allow much time for either team to do much scoring. The Yard Dawgz struck quickly to take a 13-0 lead on touchdown passes of 29 yards and 9 yards from Strickland to Kris Peters. The Stealth then marched 45 yards in nine plays, eating up the last 7:51 of the first quarter and cutting the deficit to 13-6 on Anthony Griffin's 2-yard TD run.

After a spectacular play by Hunt, on which he broke five Wichita tackles for a 19-yard touchdown catch and a 20-6 Oklahoma City lead, the Stealth plodded 47 yards in 12 plays, making the score 20-12 on Daren Williams' 2-yard run. Oklahoma City's Peter Martinez added a 20-yard field goal to give the Yard Dawgz a 23-12 halftime edge. It was Wichita's lowest scoring half of the season.

The Dawgz third-quarter shutout included an Oklahoma City defensive score when James Landers sacked Sparrow in the end zone for a safety. Landers was tabbed as the ADT Defensive Player of the Game, making three tackles and recovering a fumble in addition to his sack. Hunt caught a 23-yard touchdown pass for a 32-12 Oklahoma City lead, then made it 39-18 with his diving 44-yard TD catch after Griffin had scored on a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter.

The final period also featured the first two point-after-touchdown dropkick attempts in Yard Dawgz history. Martinez made his first attempt for two points and missed his second with the outcome no longer in doubt.

Twisters Hauled in by TalonsMay 23, 2004 - The Arkansas Twisters' offense looked like the offense of old in the first half of Saturday's game against Tulsa, but in the end, Arkansas was unable to end its franchise record losing streak. Arkansas took just three plays on the opening drive to find the endzone when Kevin Williams found Ted Alford for a 17 yard touchdown pass. Tulsa needed just one play to answer when Bob Bees hooked up with Robert Reed for a 38 yard strike. Both teams scored on every possession in the first quarter, but the Twisters were able to take advantage of a Bees interception in the second quarter. Williams found Arthur Abston for one of his five first half touchdown passes to extend Arkansas' lead, and the Twisters went into the locker room with a 32-28 lead. But Tulsa began the second half with another big touchdown play when Bees found Reed again for a 31 yard touchdown pass to give Tulsa the lead. The same two Talons hooked up again after a Twisters turnover, and Tulsa never trailed again. Tulsa won its second straight game, including last year's playoffs, by winning 61-53. Kevin Williams had his best day as quarterback throwing for 290 yards and six touchdowns. Ted Alford had 142 yards receiving and five total touchdowns. Bees finished with 277 yards passing, 2 interceptions, and 7 touchdowns. Mitch Allner, af2's leading touchdown receiver had two td catches to bring his total to 21 on the year. Arkansas dropped its record to 1-6 on the year, while Tulsa improved to 3-3. The Twisters hit the road next weekend to face expansion Oklahoma City.


PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Dawgz QB Craig Strickland
Strickland was back to his old self after the devastating loss in Green Bay. Strick led the Dawgz to dominate the top ranked Stealth in a 53-25 victory at the Ford Center. Strickland completed 17-for-29 with for 240 yards and seven touchdowns. Strickland leads all af2 passers in pass rating

Twisters WR/DB Ted Alford
Alford (5-9, 175, Langston) leads the Twisters in receiving with 41 catches for over 500 yards. The former Langston reciever has been both a player and an assistant coach with the team, and also has experience in the Canadian Football League. In his Twisters' career, Alford has caught 63 passes for 875 yards and 12 touchdowns. On defense, Alford has 5 career interceptions totaling 69 yards.

______________________________________________________
Strick-ly Business
QB Craig Strickland is one of the premier quarterbacks in the af2. He is chasing Sherard Poteete of Bossier City for the leading spot of All-time af2 passers. Poteete is in front with 12,292 yards passing and still going. Strick is currently in second trailing with 12,125. Listed below are the top 5 af2 passers of all-time.
All-time af2 Passers
Sherard Poteete Bossier City 12,292
Craig Strickland Oklahoma City 12,125
Bryan Snyder Tenn. Valley 11,647
Ricky Hebert 10,779
Bob Bees Tulsa 9,864
*bold are active players


Good Al Hunt-ing
WR/LB Al Hunt continues to dominate the opponents in the af2. Hunt hauled in 6 catches for 139 yards against the Stealth last week and was honored with his fourth Ironman of the Game award this season. He is tied for 4th in the af2 in scoring and in touchdowns.

There's No Place Like Home
The Dawgz are very comfortable at the Dawg Pound. The Dawgz are undefeated at home with a 4-0 record at the Ford Center. On the road however, the Dawgz struggle going 1-3 with the only road win in Tulsa, the first game of the season. The Dawgz play at home against the Arkansas Twisters on the 29th, but, here is the bad news. The Dawgz only have one home game in the entire month of June against the Laredo Law. In June, they travel to Laredo on the 5th, Wichita on the 12th and Columbus on the 26th. Hopefully, the Dawgz can pull out some wins away from OKC.

The Top Spot
The Yard Dawgz now own the top spot in the Southwest Division after the domination against the Stealth last Saturday night. The Dawgz are now in a first place tie with the Stealth and the two teams will meet two more times this season.

Gary Reasons Live!
You can hear Dawgz Head Coach Gary Reasons on his coach's show on WKY 930am on Monday nights from 6:30-7:00. Along side Dawgz General Manager Ben Buckland, Reasons addresses questions from previous and upcoming games as well as inside information you can only hear from the coach.

Big Guys Need Love Too
The defensive line of the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz leads af2 with 28 sacks on the season and are on pace to challenge the all-time single season team sack record of 52 by the 2001 Carolina Rhinos.

Currently averaging over three and a half sacks each game, the Yard Dawgz are on pace for 58 by season's end. Since linemen in Arena Football play both ways, it is interesting to note that this same group is tied for first in the league with only two sacks allowed, giving them the best sack margin in the league. In fact, the next closest team in sack ratio (Cape Fear) is 11 behind.

Many Reasons to be Smiling

Dawgz Head Coach Gary Reasons has plenty things to be happy about. His Dawgz are 5-2 and in first place in the Southwest Division in Reasons first stint as a head coach. His offense is ranked in the top 5 in the af2 in seven categories and the defense has the most sacks (28) in the league and is headed for the single season sack record of 52. It's good to be the Dawgz!

Sack Attack
Dawgz OL/DL James Landers should go by the "Sack Attack." Landers leads the af2 with 8 sacks and the closest one to him has 6. When Landers isn't taking down the QB, he rocks the ball carrier and knocks the ball loose. Landers is atop the forced fumbles category with 3. Landers puts fear in the opposing offenses when he explodes through the o-line and creates big plays.


TALE OF THE TAPE
Here's how Wichita and OKC stack up:
Statistical Arkansas OKC
Category Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense 24 35.1 2 59.0
Scoring Defense 10 45.1 12 46.9
Total Offense 23 196.6 3 286.9
Total Defense 11 252.7 12 253
Pass Offense 23 177.4 3 273.1
Pass Defense 13 235.6 15 238.4
Rushing Offense 13 19.1 19 13.7
Rushing Defense 12 17.1 5 14.6
Scoring (Non-Kick) 22 212 4 348
Scoring (Kicking) 23 32 2 57
Pass Rating 24 84.4 1 119.7
Pass Def. Rating 10 101.3 19 114.9
Kickoff Returns 15 18.5 18 18.2
MFG Returns 10 19.7 16 15
Turnover Margin 11 .14 7 .57
Field Goals 24 3-19 10 3-8
PAT Kicking 7 23-29 4 47-54
Sacks By 7 13 1 28
Sacks Against 24 22 1 2
First Downs 17 99 3 118
Opp. First Downs 14 104 14 104
Penalties 11 54.4 14 58.9
Opp. Penalties 16 60.7 8 55.4


LEAGUE TOP 10s:
OKC Yard Dawgz
Player Rank Category Stat
Strickland, Craig 1 Pass Rating 119.5
Strickland, Craig 2 Passing Yards 271.0
Strickland, Craig 2 Pass Offense 276.0
Strickland, Craig 3 Total Offense 270.9
Hunt, Al 4 Scoring 114
Hunt, Al 10 Rec. yards/game 99.1
Marshall, Timon 4 Scoring TDs 16
Jones, Johnell 4 Fumbles Rcvd 2
Jones, Johnell 5 Sacks 4.0
Mitchell, Drew 3 Tackles for Loss 6.0
Mitchell, Drew 2 Sacks 6.0
Mitchell, Drew 2 Fumbles Forced 2
Richardson, Daryl 8 Sacks 2.5
Landers, James 1 Forced Fumbles 3
Landers, James 1 Sacks 8.0
Bell, Ryan 10 Tackles for Loss 4.0
Martinez, Peter 2 Scoring(Kicking) 57
Martinez, Peter 2 PAT Scoring 47-54


Weekly Game Awards

Game 1 (@Tulsa)
Baby Ruth Real Deal Player of the Game-
Talons QB Michael Wall
US Army Ironman of the Game-
Talons WR/DB Mitch Allner
ADT Defensive Player of the Game-
Dawgz DS Daron Franklin

Game 2 (vs. Rio Grande Valley)
Baby Ruth Real Deal Player of the Game-
Dawgz QB Craig Strickland
US Army Ironman of the Game-
Dawgz WR/DB Al Hunt
ADT Defensive Player of the Game-
Dawgz OL/DL Drew Mitchell


Game 3 (vs. Rio Grande Valley)
Baby Ruth Real Deal Player of the Game-
Dorados QB Will Burch
US Army Ironman of the Game-
Dawgz WR/DB Al Hunt
ADT Defensive Player of the Game-
Dorados WR/LB Preston Hartfield


Game 4 (vs. Tulsa Talons)
Baby Ruth Real Deal Player of the Game-
Dawgz QB Craig Strickland
US Army Ironman of the Game-
Dawgz WR/DB Al Hunt
ADT Defensive Player of the Game-
Dawgz OL/DL James Landers


Game 5 (vs. Laredo)
Baby Ruth Real Deal Player of the Game-
Dawgz QB Craig Strickland
US Army Ironman of the Game-
Dawgz WR/DB Timon Marshall
ADT Defensive Player of the Game-
Dawgz WR/LB Chris Archie

Game 6 (vs. Green Bay)
Baby Ruth Real Deal Player of the Game-
Blizzard QB Chris Greisen
US Army Ironman of the Game-
Blizzard WR/DB DeRonn Finley
ADT Defensive Player of the Game-
Blizzard DS Roosevelt Williams


Game 7 (vs. Wichita)
Baby Ruth Real Deal Player of the Game-
Dawgz QB Craig Strickland
US Army Ironman of the Game-
Dawgz WR/DB Al Hunt
ADT Defensive Player of the Game-
Dawgz OL/DL James Landers

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