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Riptide-Coyotes Game Preview

June 2, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
San Diego Riptide News Release


2004 RECORDS:

San Diego Riptide (3-5, 3rd National West)

Central Valley Coyotes (1-7, 4th National West)

SERIES HISTORY: 8 Games (SDG 5, CV 3) – The Coyotes, who moved to Fresno this season from Bakersfield, are the only one of the Riptide's 2004 opponents whom San Diego holds an all-time winning record against. The Riptide's lone franchise playoff victory also came against the Central Valley franchise.

2004 SEASON: The winning ways against the Coyotes franchise continued in Week four, as the Riptide garnered win #1 of 2004 with a 59-34 victory. The teams play each other twice more after this week's game, beginning July 10 in Fresno before closing out the regular season on July 30 at the Sports Arena.

GAME NOTES: After dropping to 1-5 with your last three losses coming by a combined seven points, a lot of teams would have lost hope and given up. Not the Riptide. San Diego has reeled off two straight wins against two of the toughest teams in af2, including a 91-point, record-setting performance last week in Hawaii. The ‘Tide could put up even bigger numbers in Week 10 as they travel to Fresno to take on the 1-7 Central Valley Coyotes.

San Diego now ranks fourth in af2 in scoring, averaging 55.4 points per game. The offense is keyed by the spectacular passing game – now ranked first in the league, averaging 283.4 yards per game through the air – is led by Kane Claunch. Claunch has 17 touchdowns in his last two games (15 passing, 2 rushing) and threw for a team record 379 yards in Week 9 against Hawaii.

His downfield targets have been the key to his success thus far. Reigning U.S. Army Ironman of the Week Nakoa McElrath has taken af2 by storm after missing the first three week's of the season with an injury. After a record-setting five-touchdown day against Quad City in Week 8 and another three TD catches last week, he's now totaled 12 touchdown receptions in just five games. In addition, Dwight Carter (13 TDs), Jesus Reyes (9 TDs) and Marty Graham (4 TDs) provide plenty of other targets, should McElrath be covered.

The biggest reason for the Riptide's turnaround, however, may be the improved play of the defense. McElrath forced two fumbles in last week's game, part of five Riptide takeaways, to lead the charge. After a dismal start that saw the team's turnover margin fall to a dreadful minus-eight after the first three weeks, its been the ‘Tide who've been creating the big plays on defense of late. They've boasted a stellar +9 turnover differential over their last five games, going 3-2 during that span.

Central Valley has suffered from similar problems as the ones that plagued the Riptide early on. They have struggled to a

league-worst 1-7 record, due in part to a minus-12 turnover differential, second worst in the league. Many of the mistakes can be directly attributed to the relative lack of experience on their roster – 16 members of their 21-man active roster are af2 rookies.

The Coyotes are led by former Riptide head coach Cree Morris, who is in his first season with the team after coaching San Diego through their first two years of existence. Morris has made several QB changes this season, most recently reassigning former Riptide signal caller Wes Phillips and choosing to go with rookie Kyle Biggs instead.

They're 15th ranked defense has given up an average of 50.2 points-per-game thus far, which should mean more big numbers in Week 10 for Claunch and company.



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