Ranked Dorados Look To Get First Place Share

Published on May 5, 2004 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Rio Grande Valley Dorados News Release


RANKED DORADOS COULD GRAB A SHARE OF SW DIVISON LEAD

58-38 WIN OVER LAW PLACES DORADOS IN af2 RANKINGS

HIDALGO, TX: May 5, 2004 – The arenafootball2's (af2) Rio Grande Valley Dorados will be hosting the Wichita Stealth this Saturday night at the Dodge Arena, and looking to knock off the 4-0 Stealth to share at least a tie of the Southwest Division lead. The Dorados improved their record to 3-1 with a 58-38 runaway victory over the Laredo Law Saturday night in Laredo. The af2 Coaches' Poll released their "Top 12" rankings today and the Dorados made their first appearance on the list, ranking 12th in the poll. This week's opponent, the Wichita Stealth, dropped with the bye week to #2 in the rankings, which are released every Wednesday by the af2.

The first half in Laredo featured four lead changes, with Laredo taking the initial lead on the opening drive with an eight-yard pass completion to Melvin Phillips and a missed Brian Hegnauer PAT to open the score 6-0. The Dorados responded on their opening drive with a 38-yard touchdown completion from Will Burch to Kendall Williams and an Eric Houle PAT to take a 7-6 lead. After a Hegnauer 23-yard field goal to give the Law a 9-7 lead to close out the first quarter scoring, Law back-up quarterback Rocky Perez tossed a 21-yard touchdown to P.J. Winston to extend the lead to 15-7. Perez stepped in after starter Josh Rogers was injured from a hit by Spencer Conley. The Dorados fought back with a Houle career long 43-yard field goal and then responded after a Law one-play touchdown drive, off of a 41-yard pass play from Perez to Ty Johnson, with a Will Burch 36-yard touchdown pass to Manwell Talbert to cut into the Laredo 21-16 lead. Dorados lineman Karleton Thomas came up with his second blocked kick in as many weeks on Hegnauer's 50-yard field goal attempt, which led to the Dorados starting their offensive drive on the Laredo 4 yard line. From their, Burch hit Talbert for a three-yard touchdown pass to take a brief 23-21 lead with 27.3-seconds remaining. Laredo closed out the half with a Hegnauer 35-yard field goal to take the 24-23 halftime lead. Hegnauer was 2 of 6 in the game in field goals, but faced a tough night in the PAT department, going 0 for 4.

It was all Dorados in the second half, as they took the lead for good with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kendall Williams for his second touchdown of the game marking the score 30-24. The Dorados defense shutdown the Law the whole third quarter, and then their offense exploded for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Two of which were by Talbert, who finished the night with four touchdown receptions. The Law attempted a late rally, scoring with a 17-yard touchdown completion to Winston with 13.4-seconds remaining, but the ensuing onside kick was recovered by Rio Grande Valley's Rico Gardner and rushed 12 yards for a Dorados touchdown with 7.9-seconds left in the game to conclude the game's scoring.

Will Burch threw a season high 7 touchdowns for the Dorados to earn the Baby Ruth Real Deal Offensive Player of the Game honor. He also went over the 6,000 yard plateau in career yards thrown in af2 action with his 38-yard touchdown pass in the Dorados opening offensive series. The Dorados line was solid, grabbing 4 sacks and allowing none. Lineman Raymond James earned ADT Defensive Player of the Game honors and Karleton Thomas claimed the US Army Ironman of the Game award.

Rio Grande Valley now sets their sites on a share of first place, hosting the undefeated Stealth. This is the first non-expansion team opponent for the Dorados to face this season. For the Stealth, this is their first contest against a team with a winning record and kicks off a three-game road trip. It's a tough road ahead for the Stealth, as their previous opponents have combined for a 5-14 record and upcoming opponents have combined for a 33-21 record so far.

Saturday night's broadcast can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1240 AM with Josh Bogorad calling the action or by logging onto www.doradosfootball.com to catch the online broadcast. The game will also be televised on Televisa's XERV channel 9 (19 for Time Warner Cable subscribers) with Chris Due handling the play-by-play and Hidalgo High School Head Coach Al Guerra providing commentary and A Nivel de Cancha host Jeffrey Salcedo conducting interviews. Internet televised broadcasts of af2 action is also available on www.af2tv.com.

HARTFIELD UPDATE: Dorados WR/LB Preston Hartfield did not play last weekend, as he was in mini-camp with the Baltimore Ravens. He felt he had a good camp performance and is now waiting to hear back from the Ravens. In the meantime, Hartfield will continue working out on his own and will not suit up with the Dorados until the Ravens make a decision.

Individual tickets are currently on sale for the Dorados next home game, which is scheduled for May 8th against the Wichita Stealth, and may be purchased by stopping by the Dodge Arena offices (2600 N. 10th St. in Hidalgo, Tx) or contacting them by phone at 956-843-7825. Additional ticket information and corporate opportunities are available by contacting the Dorados offices at 956-843-7825 or visit the Dorados online at www.doradosfootball.com.

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