Riptide Look to Turn Things Around vs. Former Coach
Published on April 20, 2004 under arenafootball2 (af2)
San Diego Riptide News Release
An 0-3 start is certainly not what Riptide Head Coach Mouse Davis had in mind when he took over the team this off-season. After a back-and-forth game last week in Bakersfield in which the âTide held a 3-point lead with just minutes to play, but lost the game when Bakersfield's Steve Wofford returned a kickoff for a touchdown with under a minute remaining, the team is more desperate than ever for a âW'. This week's game against the 0-2 Central Valley Coyotes may be their best chance.
The Riptide offense has looked good so far this season, improving their point total in each of their three games and ranking third overall in the league in offensive touchdowns. Those numbers should only improve this week against a woeful Coyotes defense that ranks last in af2 in yards-per-game and points allowed. QB Kane Claunch is coming off back-to-back 5 TD games and OS Dwight Carter (7 TD's) has teamed with WR's Ryan Smith (6 TD's) and Jesus Reyes (4 TD's) to give Claunch plenty of downfield options.
The problem for the âTide so far has been their defense and turnovers. While their âD' is in the middle of the pack in yards-per-game, they have allowed 21 touchdowns on the season â second-most in af2 - have given up nearly seven yards per play, and are allowing 57.3 points per game (20th in af2).
The bigger problem, however, has been turnovers. San Diego has turned the ball over 12 times so far in 2004, the most of any af2 team. In addition, they have recovered four of their own fumbles, but those mistakes have led to broken plays at key moments in the game. Conversely, they've only managed to takeaway four opponent turnovers. They'll need to turn that trend around if they hope to remain in the hunt for the National West crown.
The Riptide's head coach during their first two seasons, Cree Morris, now heads the Coyotes. He's seen Central Valley struggle mightily on defense thus far, allowing an average of 314 yards and 66.5 points per game. On offense, QB's Jose Fuentes and former âTide backup Wesley Phillips have each played in one game and combining to throw five INT's. They'll need to exploit the San Diego secondary and minimize the turnovers if they hope to keep pace with the Riptide offense.
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