Rio Grande Valley Dorados game notes
June 29, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Rio Grande Valley Dorados News Release
Rio Grande Valley Dorados (5-7) vs. Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings (2-9)
Date: Saturday, July 1, 2006
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. CST
Site: Century-Tel Center
Coin Toss: Head Official
Dorados Radio: ESPN Radio 1240 (KSOX); free online audio at doradosfootball.com
TV: none
Season Series Record: 1-0 RGV
Streaks: RGV lost 2, BOS lost 1
RGV Head Coach: Marty Hammond (1st Season)
THE SCENARIO: The Dorados continue to fight for a playoff spot and their first road win since April 14 at Birmingham...Rio has lost two in a row and five of its last six...Starting QB Josh Kellett is scheduled to make his return this week after missing the last five games and six weeks with a hand injury...Also set to return for RGV is John Bradley, who sat out last week with a knee injury suffered at Arkansas and Brent Withers, who has missed the last three games...Bossier is playing for pride at this point...Both of their wins have come at home, and both were three point margins...They upset OKC 53-50 on May 27 and edged Tennessee Valley 43-40 on June 17.
THE SERIES: This is the fifth all time meeting...The Dorados are 2-2 all time and 1-1 at Bossier.
LAST MEETING: The Dorados defeated the Bossier-Shreveport Battlewings 43-28 in front of a crowd of 4,954 at Obra Homes Field at Dodge Arena on May 6. Second-year Dorado Travis McAlpine contributed on both sides of the ball with five receptions for 44 yards and two fumbles recovered for nine yards with one fumble returned for a touchdown.
OFF THE NET
- The Dorados loss last week was the most lopsided defeat in frnachise history. The 42-point difference eclipsed a 38-point loss to OKC in 2004.
- Dustin Bell set a franchise record with a 52-yard field goal at Arkansas on June 17.
- Dwight Counter needs 28 receptions in the next four games to set a season-high for catches. Marquis Floyd holds the record with 101.
- Curtis Jeter needs four sacks to tie Spencer Conley's season record of eight set in 2004.
THIS WEEK'S QUOTES courtesy of themonitor.com
Marty Hammond on the team's road struggles
"I don't think being on the road had that much to do with it. Some of those games we lost on the road we would have lost at home. We just need to execute."
Dwight Counter on last week's loss
"The same thing happens every week," Counter said. "We always make the same mistakes. We don't make plays. We just have a lot of problems that have to get cleared up, and they haven't been cleared up yet. We're having the same problems every game, and they don't seem to be getting corrected."
It's been frustrating the past month and a half to see an offense that's supposed to be one of the best in the league that's terrible. We get stopped numerous amounts of times a game. We don't score. We don't convert on crucial situations. We're just not a good offense right now from top to bottom. I don't know. I don't know what we can do."
Marty Hammond on last week's loss
"It's not all (Porter's) fault," Hammond said. "They kicked our (expletive) in all phases of the game. And I think that goes back to the team's (lack of) confidence and waiting for bad things to happen."
FLORIDA MAINTAINS TOP SPOT IN WEEK 14 COACHES POLL
CHICAGO - The Florida Firecats have maintained their No. 1 ranking in the Weekly Coaches Poll, the arenafootball2 (af2) league office announced today.
Florida collected 260 of a possible 264 points and 18-of-23 first place votes in securing the top position. The Firecats defeated the Birmingham Steeldogs in impressive fashion this past Saturday on the road, 60-27, to improve to 9-2. Florida has won four straight games and currently leads the South Division.
The Memphis Xplorers (9-3, 228 points, 1 first place vote) moved up two spots this week from No. 4 to No. 2. The Xplorers, who are currently a half-game behind Florida in the South, are coming off an 81-53 home win against South Georgia. The Spokane Shock (9-2, 207 points, 2 first place votes), last week's No. 2 team, slipped two spots despite the team's 49-46 home win against Albany. Filling out the top five in this week's poll are the No. 3-ranked Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz (9-3, 218 points) and No. 5-ranked Arkansas Twisters (8-4, 153 points). The No. 9-ranked Louisville Fire (7-5), who have won three straight games, also earned two first-place votes this week.
The Week 14 schedule features two matchups of Top 12 teams. Both games are on Saturday as No. 10 Green Bay plays at No. 1 Florida and No. 4 Spokane plays at No. 5 Arkansas.
Each week during the season af2 coaches will vote for the Top 12 teams in the league by ranking them one through 12 on a ballot. Teams ranked first receive 12 points with the point value decreasing by one for each place below first, meaning a team ranked 12th would receive one point. Total points will determine the Top 12 list. In the event of a tie in total points, the team with the greater number of first-place votes will be ranked higher. The af2 Coaches Poll will be announced every Wednesday during the regular season. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team and the poll results have no bearing on postseason qualification.
The complete Top 12 is listed below. The number in parentheses indicates the number of first place votes the team received.
WEEK 14 TOP 12
RANK TEAM PTS
1 Florida 260 (18)
2 Memphis 228 (1)
3 Oklahoma City 218
4 Spokane 207 (2)
5 Arkansas 153
6 Tulsa 132
7 Central Valley 122
8 W-B/Scranton 120
9 Louisville 114 (2)
10 Green Bay 98
11 Bakersfield 88
12 Birmingham 27
IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY - af2 PLAYOFF PICTURE: AMERICAN CONFERENCE STANDINGS
1. Florida (9-2) - Current South Division Leader
2. W-B/Scranton (8-4) - Current East Division Leader
3. Memphis (9-3)
4. Louisville (7-5) - Currently holds HTH advantage over GBB
5. Green Bay (7-5)
6. Birmingham (6-6)
7. Quad City (5-7) - Currently has better win % in HTH with MAN and ALB
8. Manchester (5-7) - Currently has point differential advantage in HTH with ALB
9. Albany (5-7)
10. Macon (4-7)
11. Tennessee Valley (2-10)
12. South Georgia (1-11)
NATIONAL CONFERENCE STANDINGS
1. Spokane (9-2) - Current West Division Leader
2. Oklahoma City (9-3) - Current Midwest Division Leader
3. Central Valley (8-4) - Currently has better win % over common opponents than TUL and ARK (AMA, BOS, RGV)
4. Arkansas (8-4) - Currently has HTH advantage over TUL
5. Tulsa (8-4)
6. Bakersfield (7-5)
7. Stockton (5-7) - Currently has better win % over common opponents than RGV (BAK, BOS, CVC, OKC)
8. Rio Grande Valley (5-7)
9. Amarillo (4-8)
10. Everett (3-9)
11. Bossier-Shreveport (2-9)
NEW FACES
The Dorados had FB/LB RJ Luke assigned to the lineup prior to Week 13's game. He met up with the team in Little Rock after Week 12's loss and accompanied the team on the bus back to the RGV....OL/DL Ahmad Bhatti and Frank Henson prior to Week 11's game vs. Amarillo, and released Will Goodloe and Tony Agee...Goodloe was re-assigned to the Dorados prior to Week 12's game at Arkansas after Landrick Brody was released. Bhatti is in his fifth af2 season and has spent time with Bakersfield and Fresno. Henson is a rookie out of Georgia Military and began the season with Everett.
DORADOS QB REPORT
Josh Kellett had his cast removed last week and may be available July 1. He has been out since injuring his right throwing hand at Bakersfield on May 13. He was among the leaders in af2 stats at the time of his injury. Kellett was first in pass attempts (261), 8th in pass TD's (32), and 3rd in completions (142).
Ryan Porter made his first pro start vs. OKC in Week 13.
JR Davies matched Josh Kellett's Week 3 performance with 27 completions vs. Amarillo in Week 11. Davies threw seven TD passes, including a 37-yard bomb to Chris Canty to win the game with 53 seconds left in regulation. Davies is 88-for-142 with 15 TD's and seven INTs.
DORADOS RECEIVING LEADERS
Dwight Counter leads the team with 83 receptions and is among af2 leaders in that category. His 19 TD's are also a team high. Mel Long is right on Counter's tail 63 receptions and 15 TD's. Travis McAlpine has 50 receptions and 12 TD's.
DORADOS DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Brent Withers leads the team with 49 tackles, 42 of which are solo...Mel Long leads the team with three interceptions...Corl Bucknor's seven pass breakups lead the team. Bucknor sat out Games 8 and 9, but suited up for Game 10 due to Withers being out with a bruised knee...Curtis Jeter has 4.5 sacks.
DECEIVING KICKING STATS
Dustin Bell is 4-for-15 on field goal attempts this season...Eight of those chances have been from 50 yards out or more...Bell has missed from 62 yards three times, in addition to missing from 57, 56 and 53... He set a team record with a 52-yard kick at Arkansas on June 17, 2006...He also hit a 47-yard field goal at Bakersfield on May 13, 2006.
SECOND HALF BLUES
The Dorados have been outscored in the second half 284-185, including a 149-89 margin in the fourth quarter...They were outscored 29-0 in the second half in Week 10 at OKC...The Dorados were shut down 28-0 in the second half vs. OKC in Week 13...Their biggest comeback of the season, however, happened in the second half vs. Amarillo in Week 11. The Dorados outscored the Dusters 21-10 after coming back from a 28-7 deficit in the second quarter. The Dorados won 49-45.
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