Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz game notes
Published on July 5, 2005 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz News Release
THE STAKES: Both teams are battling for position in the 2005 af2 playoffs. Amarillo is sitting in the third spot while the Yard Dawgz are in the fifth spot one game behind the Dusters. This matchup is also a battle for second place in the Midwest Division.
THE SERIES: The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz lead the all-time series 1-0 winning the only meeting between these two teams on June 11th, 74-67 at the Ford Center.
THE Ifs: If Oklahoma City defeats Amarillo, it would ... -Give Oklahoma City a 2-0 series record with Amarillo; -Clinch the regular season series for the Yard Dawgz; -Move Oklahoma City into 2nd place in the Midwest Division; -Give Oklahoma City a 3-4 road record in 2005; -Give Jeff Jarnigan a 8-5 career record as head coach; -Give Oklahoma City a two-game win streak;
YARD DAWGZ HEAD COACH AT A GLANCE: Jeff Jarnigan served as the Defensive Coordinator in 2004 with the Austin Wranglers of the Arena Football League. The Wranglers were one of three expansion teams for the AFL and they finished their inaugural season at 8-8. Defensively, the Wranglers tallied 4.1 stops per game and finished 3rd in the AFL in sacks, 3rd in third downs allowed, 8th in turnover margin and 12th in total defense. After a slow start, the Wrangler pass defense held their opponents to an average of 210 passing yards over the final eight games of the season.
Jarnigan spent the 2001 -2003 seasons as the defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach for the Tulsa Talons of af2. While with Tulsa, Jarnigan's defense was known for its hard-hitting, high-pressure defense that traditionally finished in the top third of the league in several defensive categories. During Jarnigan's three seasons with the Talons, they accumulated a 44-10 record, won two National Conference Central Division championships and won the ArenaCup in 2003.
AMARILLO HEAD COACH AT A GLANCE: Steve Perdue took over the head coaching spot earlier this season, when Don Carthel resigned to accept the head coaching position at West Texas A&M. Perdue, 28, becomes the youngest head coach in af2.
LOOKING BACK: The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz defeated the Memphis Xplorers 50-47 in front of 6,883 fans at the Ford Center. The Yard Dawgz trailed 47-43 with 5:02 left in the game and went ahead on a 43-yard pass from Strickland to Al Hunt giving them the 50-47 lead. The Xplorers would not rest as they forced a fumble and regained possession on the Yard Dawgz three-yard line with less than one minute to play, but the Yard Dawgz defense came up huge with two big defensive stands to clinch the victory.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: (Notable quotes):
JEFF JARNIGAN, On the win over Memphis: "The crowd really got into the game and into the heads of Memphis. It was a classic arena football game."
On the remaining four games of the regular season: "We have a tough four game stretch coming up against playoff caliber teams, we could see any of these four teams in the playoffs."
CRAIG STRICKLAND, On the win over Memphis: "Our biggest win of the season. We took advantage of their turnovers and minimized ours."
ADVANCE BOOKING: (A look at upcoming Yard Dawgz games): The Dawgz will return home on July 16th to face the Louisville Fire, then they will go on the road for the final time in the 2005 regular season on July 23rd when they travel to take on the Rio Grande Valley Dorados, before returning home for the regular season finale on July 30th to face the Tulsa Talons.
DAWG BONES: (A look at team trends and tidbits): FIRST DRIVE OF THE GAME: This season the Yard Dawgz have taken their first drive of the game and scored eight out of twelve times. Below is a chart detailing how the Yard Dawgz have fared on their first drive in each game thus far this season.
TALE OF TWO HALVES: This season, the Yard Dawgz have been outscored by their opponents 272-301 in the first half and they have outscored their opponents in the second half 346-267. The chart below details the point differential of the Yard Dawgz in each half of every game compared to their opponents.
MAKING HISTORY: Beginning the 2005 season, Yard Dawgz quarterback Craig Strickland had 14,415 yards in his af2 career. In week two versus the Arkansas Twisters Strickland eclipsed the 15,000 yard mark, becoming the first af2 player ever to throw for over 15,000 yards.
TEAMS NOT RUNNING WITH THESE DAWGZ: Coming into this week's game versus the Amarillo Dusters, the Yard Dawgz are the #1 ranked rushing defense in af2. They have only given up 139 yards rushing this season for an average of 11.6 yards per game.
MANY HAPPY RETURNS: The Yard Dawgz kick return team is ranked #1 in af2 with a kickoff return average of 23.4 yards per return. They currently rank 2nd in the league in kickoff return yards with 1589.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Yard Dawgz have won their last three home games and are now 12-2 all-time (regular season) in the friendly confines of the Ford Center.
Three out of the top five highest scoring outputs by the Dawgz have been at the Ford Center, including the franchise record of 79 points versus the Laredo Law on May 8, 2004.
CATCH AND RUN: The Yard Dawgz make sure that after they catch the ball they get as many yards as possible. This season, the Yard Dawgz rank 4th in the af2 in pass yards per catch with 12.7. Amarillo is right behind the Dawgz in this category averaging 12.6 yards per catch.
af2 AWARD WINNER: Jeromy Flowers became the first Yard Dawg player of 2005 to earn a league award this season as he was named af2 ADT Defensive Player of the Week for his week 10 performance against the Rio Grande Valley Dorados on June 4, 2005. Flowers had two interceptions and three pass defenses to go along with his six tackles in the victory over the Dorados.
Flowers (6-0, 200, Arkansas) has played in six games for the Dawgz and has compiled 28 tackles, two interceptions, and six pass defenses.
KEY MATCH-UPS AND PLAYERS TO WATCH THIS WEEK:
Yard Dawgz offense and the Amarillo offense: These two teams are both ranked in the top ten in the league in scoring offense. Oklahoma City comes into the game ranked 7th averaging 51.5 points per game and Amarillo comes in ranked 1st averaging 60.0 points per game.
Yard Dawgz offensive specialist Jarrail Jackson: In week #11, Jackson surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season, becoming only the fourth receiver in Yard Dawgz history to achieve this mark.
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