Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz game notes
July 12, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz News Release
THE STAKES: The Yard Dawgz are trying to continue their winning ways and notch their seventh win in eight tries as well as trying to keep pace with the Memphis Xplorers in the Midwest Division. The Yard Dawgz are only two games back of the Xplorers with three to play.
THE SERIES: This will be the first meeting ever between the two teams.
THE Ifs:
If Oklahoma City defeats Louisville, it would ...
-Give Oklahoma City a 1-0 series record with Louisville
-Give Oklahoma City a 6-1 home record in 2005
-Give Jeff Jarnigan a 9-5 career record as head coach
-Give Oklahoma City a three-game win streak
-Give Oklahoma City a five-game home 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.
LOUISVILLE HEAD COACH AT A GLANCE: Tommy Johnson began his coaching career in 2001 as defensive coordinator for the Louisville Fire and became the head coach in the 2003 season. Johnson has led the Fire to their only playoff appearance, and first ever playoff win.
LOOKING BACK: The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz continued their hot streak as they defeated the Amarillo Dusters 77-52 in front of 4,529 fans at the Amarillo Civic Center on Sunday afternoon. The Dawgz swept the season series with the Dusters 2-0 and have now won six out of their last seven games.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: (Notable quotes):
JEFF JARNIGAN, On the win over Amarillo: "We went into the game thinking we had to take their field advantage and play it into our advantage."
On the remaining three games of the regular season: "We have to take it one game at a time and we hope to see our team peak in the playoffs."
ADVANCE BOOKING: (A look at upcoming Yard Dawgz games): The Dawgz 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 thirteen times.
TALE OF TWO HALVES: This season, the Yard Dawgz have been outscored by their opponents 315-327 in the first half and they have outscored their opponents in the second half 380-293.
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 #3 ranked rushing defense in af2. They have only given up 188 yards rushing this season for an average of 14.5 yards per game.
MANY HAPPY RETURNS: The Yard Dawgz kick return team is ranked #1 in af2 with a kickoff return average of 22.6 yards per return. They currently rank 2nd in the league in kickoff return yards with 1673.
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 2nd in the af2 in pass yards per catch with 12.8.
ANOTHER AWARD FOR THE DAWGZ: B.J. Barre was named U.S. Army Ironman of the Week for his performance against the Amarillo Dusters in week 15.
Barre finished the night with six catches for 103 yards and three touchdowns, rushed three times for 14 yards, and recorded an interception on defense. This marks the second time in his career that Barre has been named Ironman of the Week. Last season, he won the award in week 4 as a member of the Tulsa Talons.
af2 AWARD WINNERS: 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 seven games for the Dawgz and has compiled 31.5 tackles, two interceptions, and seven pass defenses.
DUSTING AWAY THE DUSTERS: The Dawgz completed the season sweep of the Amarillo Dusters last weekend as they defeated them for the second time this year. The Dawgz outscored the Dusters 151-119 this season. The Dawgz added the Dusters to the list of winless opponents against the Dawgz. The list includes Arkansas (0-2 versus OKC), and Central Valley (0-2 versus OKC).
KEY MATCH-UPS AND PLAYERS TO WATCH THIS WEEK: Yard Dawgz offense and the Louisville offense: These two teams come into the game tied for third in scoring offense averaging 53.5 points per game, and they are both in the top four of the af2 in total offense. The Dawgz average 285.1 yards per game and Louisville average 294.2 yards 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.
Last week in the first half against Amarillo, Jackson caught seven passes to reach the 100-reception mark on the season and become the only player in Yard Dawgz history to achieve this feat. In week 13 against Memphis Jackson broke the single season reception record by catching nine passes to reach 93 on the season. The previous record was held by Kris Peters, who caught 92 passes in 2004.
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