Riptide-Coyotes Game Preview
July 6, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
San Diego Riptide News Release
2004 RECORDS:
San Diego Riptide (5-7, 3rd National West)
Central Valley Coyotes (1-11,4th National West)
SERIES HISTORY: 9 games (SDG 6, CEN 3) The Coyotes, in its first season in Fresno, are the only team that the Riptide has an all-time winning record against. In the Riptide's only playoff appearance, they pulled off a win against the Coyotes.
2004 SEASON: 2 games (SDG 2, CEN 0) In Week 10, the Riptide continued their winning ways against the Coyotes defeating them, 45-24. Former Riptide Coach Cree Morris stepped down from the head coaching position with Central Valley three days after the loss. San Diego's defense has held Central Valley to just 392 total offensive yards in the series. However, Kane Claunch has not performed too well against the Coyotes completing just 25-of-45 passes, scoring eight touchdowns, and throwing three interceptions. San Diego needs a win to snap their losing streak and take the series.
GAME NOTES: The Riptide suffered a heartbreaking loss against the Islanders when Hawaii scored with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter to win, 40-37. San Diego has lost two straight games by a margin of only seven points. But this week's game looks promising as the âTide takes on the National West Division's bottom ranked team, Central Valley Coyotes.
Despite San Diego's two straight losses, they still manage to be ranked in the af2 top five for scoring offense and in the top three for passing offense and total offense. Quarterback Kane Claunch has struggled in his last two starts, completing only 50% of his passes for 508 yards and nine touchdowns. Regardless of his poor performance in those two games, he still manages to have a 110.7 passer rating, averages 262.9 passing yards per game, and has 3,165 total offensive yards on the season. He ranks in the top ten for all three categories. Dwight Carter also ranks in the top ten for receptions and receiving yards even though he only managed to haul in three catches for 19 yards in last weeks game.
While the Riptide offense has struggled, the defensive squad has consistently carried the team, boasting a +9 turnover margin after forcing three turnovers in last week's game. The defense ranks in the top ten rushing defense allowing just 16.2 yards per game. The team has forced 18 fumbles and intercepted 16 passes on the season. Rico Curtis has managed to recover seven fumbles on the season to lead the af2 in fumble recoveries. Ryan Smith, who recorded an interception in the two recent loses, has broken his single season record with six interceptions so far. Quincy LeJay has also recorded 64 tackles, on the season having only five games where he made three or less tackles.
The Riptide are a heavy favorite in the match up. In the Coyotes-Riptide series, San Diego's defense has recorded 69 tackles, four sacks, three forced fumbles, five recovered fumbles, and five interceptions. The Coyotes defense has recorded only 45 tackles, a sack, a fumble, a fumble recovery, and intercepted three passes. The Riptide's defense has also held Central Valley to just 14 total rushing yards, including -12 yards in their first game of the series. On offense, the Riptide managed to find the end zone 14 times with five rushing touchdowns and nine receiving touchdowns. The Coyotes have only scored seven touchdowns, two on the ground and five through the air.
Even though the Coyotes are the worst team in the league, they rank 11th in rushing offense and 12th in passing defense. After going through three quarterback changes in the past four games, newly acquired Justin Wood has settled into the position. Wood threw four touchdowns, an interception, and ran in for one score in a losing effort against the Yard Dawgz in Week 14.
With all the changes at the quarterback position, the rest of the team will need to compensate. Kenyatte Morgan, who leads the Coyotes in receptions, is one of the top receivers in the league, ranking in the top ten with 1042 receiving yards. Against the âTide, Morgan has 16 receptions for 180 yards. On defense, VonKeith Spencer has broken up 13 passes and chipped in six interceptions on the season, ranking him as one of the top pass defenders in the league.
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