Rio Grande Valley Dorados game notes

Published on March 31, 2006 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Rio Grande Valley Dorados News Release


Rio Grande Valley Dorados (0-0) at Central Valley Coyotes (0-0)
Date: Saturday, April 1, 2006
Kickoff: 9:30 p.m. CST
Site: Selland Arena (8,911)
Dorados TV: none
Series Record: Dorados lead 2-1
Last Meeting: 6/18/05 at RGV (RGV 55, CEN 36)
Streaks: RGV (0-0) LOU (0-0)
Coaches:
RGV - Marty Hammond (0-0, 1st year) - West Alabama
LOU - Fred Biletnikoff

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Coyotes: Chris Catanzaro (O: 559-263-9780, C: 559-994-2410, chris@centralvalleycoyotes.com

Dorados: Rich Bocchini (O: 956-843-7825, C: 956-227-4940), media@doradosfootball.com

THE SCENARIO: The Rio Grande Valley Dorados open up their third season on the road at central Valley. Head Coach Mart Hammond and his staff take last season's success one step further. The Dorados lost in the National Conference Championship game to Memphis, the eventual ArenaCup champions.

THE SERIES: This is the fourth all-time meeting between the clubs. Central Valley took the first ever meeting 42-25 on 5/15/04. The Dorados swept the 2005 series 2-0, winning 61-51 on the road (5/15/05) and 55-36 at home (6/18/05).

2006 SEASON SCHEDULE:
RIO GRANDE VALLEY DORADOS (0-0)
Date Opponent CST Time Streak Series
4/1 At Central Valley 9:30 - 0-0
4/8 TULSA 7:30 0-0
4/14 At Birmingham 8:00 0-0
4/22 ARKANSAS 7:30 0-0
4/29 At Tulsa 8:00 0-0
5/6 BOSSIER 7:30 0-0
5/13 At Bakersfield 9:00 0-0
5/20 At Amarillo 8:00 0-0
6/3 @ Oklahoma City 9:00 0-0
6/10 AMARILLO 7:30 0-0
6/17 At Arkansas 8:00 0-0
6/24 OKLAHOMA CITY 7:30 0-0
7/1 @ Bossier-Shrev. 8:00 0-0
7/8 BIRMINGHAM 7:30 0-0
7/22 S. GEORGIA 7:30 0-0
7/29 SPOKANE 7:30 0-0

2005 SEASON RECAP
Date Opponent Result Score
4/9 LOUISVILLE L 56-42
4/16 @ Florida L 63-30
4/22 @ Bakersfield W 40-32
5/2 BOSSIER-SHREV L 77-69
5/7 SAN DIEGO W 51-45
5/14 @ Central Valley W 61-51
5/21 WB/SCRANTON W 52-49
5/28 @ South Georgia W 39-37
6/4 @ Oklahoma City L 59-35
6/11 TULSA W 65-64
6/18 CENTRAL VALLEY W 55-36
6/25 @ San Diego W 65-58
7/9 @ Bossier-Shrev. W 66-52
7/16 @ Tulsa L 58-49
7/23 OKLAHOMA CITY L 71-40
7/30 BAKERSFIELD W 38-27
PLAYOFFS
8/7 QUAD CITY W 56-38
8/13 @ Tulsa W 65-42
8/19 @ Memphis L 64-49

DORADOS COACHES:
Marty Hammond -- Head Coach, Director of Football Operations
Hammond enters his first season as Head Coach of the Dorados and comes to the team after serving as the Offensive Coordinator/Receivers Coach for Tennessee Valley from 2003-04 and receivers coach in 2002. He played wide receiver at the University of West Alabama from 1992-95 and was a teammate of former Dorados coach Kevin Guy. Hammond graduated in 1996 with a degree in computer science. As a freshman, he was named the Gulf Coast Conference Rookie of the Year after catching 39 passes for 339 and two touchdowns. A native of Lexington, Ala., he was an All-State pick and MVP for Lexington High School. Hammond is familiar with the Dorados, having served as a training camp coach for the Dorados during the 2005 preseason. In 1998 he served as an Assistant Coach at Spanish River High School in Boca Raton, Fla., then moved on as an Assistant Offensive Coordinator at Santaluces High School in Lantana, Fla., in 1999.

Brett Clark -- Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator/ Player Personnel
Clark is a native of Bakersfield, Ca., who enters his first season with the Dorados. He worked the last two seasons in Bakersfield as an Offensive and Defensive Line Coach and Defensive Coordinator for the Blitz. He spent the previous four seasons (2000-03) playing in the AFL and af2. He played two years at center and nose guard for the Los Angeles Avengers in the AFL in 2000 and 2001. In 2002, he played with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers and he spent the 2003 season with the Cape Fear Wildcats. A graduate of Bakersfield High in 1995, Clark played center and defensive line on the Drillers Central Valley Championship team during his senior year in 1994. He went on to play two seasons at center with Bakersfield College in 1995 and 1996, after which he transferred to Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he graduated with a degree in History. During his junior season, Southern University won a Black College National Title, going 11-1 in 1997. He also serves as an assistant coach on the Bakersfield College wrestling team, which won the California Junior College State Championship in 2003 and 2004. He and his wife Sherrina are expecting their first child in July.

Frank Franz -- Assistant to the Offensive Coordinator/Strength & Conditioning
Franz returns to the Dorados for his second season with the Dorados after serving last season as an assistant coach and director of strength and conditioning. Franz attended McMurry University in Abilene where he excelled in football as an All-Conference quarterback and graduated with a BS in Education in 1998. In the spring of 1999, he began work at Texas State University as a Strength and Conditioning Coach and earned a Masters Degree in Exercise Science from Texas State in 2000. While there, Frank was responsible for designing and implementing strength and conditioning program for a variety of men's and women's NCAA Division I sports. During his time as a strength coach he helped to produce three NFL draft picks, a 1st round NBA selection, a 1st round MLB selection, and a National Championship Cheerleading Squad. In the fall of 2002 he began work as a varsity Football and Track Coach at Sharyland High School and helped guide the football team to a District Championship. Frank is currently the Director of Strength and Conditioning at Elite Performance in McAllen.

Spencer Conley -- Fullback/Linebacker Coach
Conley returns to the Dorados in a coaching role following his playing career. He played the majority of last season with the Tulsa Talons, then returned to the Dorados in late July but was injured before seeing any game action. He was a member of the first Dorados team in 2004 after spending the previous season with the af2's Albany Conquest. He set the af2 single game sack record in 2001 as a member of the Norfolk Nighthawks (later broken in 2004) and led every team he played for in sacks in three full seasons, finishing in the in top 10 in af2. In 2004, he was named to the Al-af2 Team and was a finalist for Lineman of the Year. He remains among all time leaders in af2 sacks. The 33-year-old Conley attended Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas, but left early to take his game to the pro level. He turned pro in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the San Antonio Texans in 1998 season, which was their only season in the CFL. Conley also appeared in one game in the Arena Football League during the 1994 season with the Fort Worth Cavalry. In 1998, Conley not only attended training camp with the San Francisco 49ers, but he won a Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) championship with the Louisiana Bayou Beast.

Kelly Snell -- Defensive Backs Coach
Snell enters the coaching ranks after a successful playing career at the college and pro level. He won a Grey Cup with the CFL's B.C. Lions in 2000 and was a member of the AFL champion Grand Rapids Rampage in 2001. As a senior at Ferris State he was named one of ESPN's top 100 college players. As a sophomore in 1996 he was a first team All American and was a second team All American as a junior. The native of White Cloud, Michigan, won the af2 Defensive Player of the Year with 15 INT's in 2002 with Tennessee Valley. His playing career also included stints with the Detroit Fury & Georgia Force (AFL) and Florida Firecats (af2).

THE IFs:
If the Dorados defeat the Coyotes it would ...
- Give the Dorados a 3-1 series record vs. the Coyotes
- Give the Dorados a 1-0 road record in 2006
- Give the Dorados an 8-9 record all time on the road
- Give the Dorados a 1-0 non-division season record
- Give the Dorados a 2-1 record on season openers

DORADOS DROPBACK: This is the first game of the season for the Rio Grande Valley Dorados. They went 10-6 last season and lost to Memphis in the National Conference finals.

SERIES NOTABLES: Rio Grande Valley is 3-9 all-time against non-division opponents... This is the only meeting between the Dorados and Central Valley this season.

LEAGUE TOP 10s:
DORADOS
Player Rank Category Stat


COYOTES
Player Rank Category Stat



TALE OF THE TAPE: Here's how the Dorados and Coyotes stack up:
Statistical RGV COYOTES
Category Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense
Scoring Defense
Total Offense
Total Defense
Pass Offense
Pass Defense
Rushing Offense
Rushing Defense
Scoring (Non-Kick)
Scoring (Kicking)
Pass Rating
Pass Def. Rating
Kickoff Returns
MFG Returns
Turnover Margin
Field Goals
PAT Kicking
Sacks By
Sacks Against
First Downs
Opp. First Downs
Penalties
Opp. Penalties

DORADOS INJURY REPORT:
Pos. Name Injury Status
WR/DB Jasper Hankins Undisclosed Short term
DS Joe McClendon Undisclosed Long Term



THIS WEEK'S QUOTES courtesy of themonitor.com

Marty Hammond on Josh Kellett
"I told him before he signed you have to come in here and earn your job. You've got to compete for it," Hammond said. "I'm not giving anybody a job, even though he was the starter here last year. I told the other guys that, too. There's not a free pass just because you were here last year."
Josh Kellett
"I'm just going to do what I can do. I'm not going to worry about what I can control. I'm just going to go out and play my game."
John Bradley on Marty Hammond
"I think he'll be a success," said lineman John Bradley, who played at Tennessee Valley in 2004 and with the Dorados last season. "He's a real smart guy, and he's knowledgeable about what he's doing. He's a different breed than Coach Guy, but he was the brains behind some of our workings at Tennessee Valley. He knows his stuff. Coach Hammond, he can be hell if you trigger him," Bradley said. "You do anything wrong, he turns into another Kevin Guy. He's kind of laid back until that happens."

MILESTONES:

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME AWARD
(selected by media)
Week Opp. Player




IRONMAN OF THE GAME AWARD
(selected by media)
Week Opp. Player


DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME AWARD
(selected by media)
Week Opp. Player


RECENT ROSTER MOVES (most recent first):
Date Action Player
3/29 Add to active roster John Bradley
3/29 Activate from Refused to Report Landrick Brody
3/29 Place on Refused to Report Charles Allgood
3/28 Reassigned Paddyson Chaidi, Rico Gardner
3/28 Acquired Charles Allgood from Memphis for futures
3/28 Place of Team Suspension Linnis Smith
3/27 Place on reassisgnment Anthony George, brad Sarna, Ray Denson
3/27 Place on recallable reassignment Marvin Jones, Brian Tracy
3/27 Place on Long Term IR Joe McClendon
3/27 Place on Short Term IR

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