Riptide-Blitz Game Preview
Published on May 11, 2004 under arenafootball2 (af2)
San Diego Riptide News Release
2004 RECORDS:
San Diego Riptide (1-4, 3rd National West)
Bakersfield Blitz (3-2, 2nd National West)
SERIES HISTORY: 1 Game (Bak 1, SDG 0)
The Riptide dropped a heart-breaker to the Blitz in Week 3, losing on a Steve Wofford kick return for a touchdown with less than a minute to play. San Diego led late in the fourth quarter after Ryan Smith returned an interception for a score, but Wofford ran back the ensuing kickoff and the Riptide dropped their third straight.
2004 SEASON: The Riptide dropped their first and only meeting of the season against Bakersfield but will play them two more times, both at home, after this weekends matchup. The two games in San Diego will take place on June 26 and July 24.
GAME NOTES: The good news for Riptide fans is that San Diego is probably the best 1-4 team in football. The bad news is, they're still 1-4, after dropping another heart-breaker last week, 55-54 to the division-leading Hawaiian Islanders.
Its getting to be a familiar theme for the âTide, whose last two losses have come by a combined four points. They've even been close in their first two losses, entering the forth quarter with a chance to take the lead against both Arkansas and Green Bay. As the old sports cliché goes, though, good teams find a way to win the close ones, and San Diego still hasn't found the right combination to do so.
It would be tough to put too much blame on the offense. The Riptide scored touchdowns on each of their first seven drives and QB Kane Claunch threw for five touchdowns for the fifth straight game. He finished 21-of-34 passes for 263 yards and just one late interception, completing passes to six different receivers. Offensive Specialist Dwight Carter continued to shine as well, catching a game-high seven passes while adding three more touchdowns, including one in overtime.
The defense had its troubles, however, giving up several big plays to Hawaii, including three touchdown passes of 25 yards or more. They also couldn't get pressure on Islander QB Darnell Arceneaux, failing to record a single sack and eventually losing the game in OT on a QB-keeper on a two-point conversion attempt.
All is far from lost for San Diego, however. A win this week against Bakersfield would still have the âTide just one game out of a playoff spot, with five more games coming against the teams ahead of them, plus three more matchups against the still-winless Central Valley Coyotes.
The defense will definitely have to tighten up to slow down Bakersfield's high-flying offense, which ranks fourth in the league, averaging 281.4 yards per game. The Blitz attack is keyed by QB Chad Elliot, who torched the San Diego secondary in their first meeting to the tune of seven TD passes.
Wofford, who had two first-half scores in addition to his game-winning kick return will not be active for Week 7's game.
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