Second Place Home to Blitz After Loss to Memphis

May 24, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Bakersfield Blitz News Release


The Bakersfield Blitz will make the 110-mile trek up Highway 99 to battle their West Division foes, the Central Valley Coyotes, this Saturday, May 29th at 7:30pm. The Blitz is 1-0 on the season against the Coyotes and 3-1 against the West Division.

Last week Memphis 72 vs. BLITZ 51 Attendance: 4,240 The Memphis Xplorers took the lead early in the second quarter and never relinquished the advantage, cruising to a 72-51 victory over the Bakersfield Blitz on Saturday night. The loss snapped a perfect 3-0 record at home for Bakersfield, and coupled with a Hawai'i victory over Central Valley later that night, left the Blitz in second place at 4-3 on the season. Memphis QB Brian Jones was 22-for-27 with 298 yards in the win. He threw six touchdowns and rushed for three more as the Xplorers improved to 4-3.

In the huddle

· Despite having just three running plays and eight total yards on the ground last weekend, all three rushes were for touchdowns by FB/LB Nick Onaindia.

· The Blitz trailed at the half last weekend for the first time all season. In the team's first two losses, they were tied at the half against Tennessee Valley and leading at halftime in Hawai'i.

· Memphis, which entered the game 5th in af2 in pass defense, held Blitz QB Chad Elliott to a season-low 17 completions and 177 yards passing. It was also the first time all season the Blitz didn't have a passing play of more than 30 yards.

· K Brian Walker booted a career-high 52-yard field goal in the second quarter of Saturday's game.

· The Xplorers had four touchdown drives consisting of one play and a fifth that took just two plays. The average length of those five drives was over 25 yards.

Quotes of the Week "We gave them, like, 30 points off missed tackles and guys catching 3-yard passes and going to the house." – Blitz OL/DL Kevin Carroll, in Sunday's Bakersfield Californian, regarding the loss to Memphis.

Practice
The following is the Blitz practice schedule for this week:
Tuesday 5:30 – 7:00pm Centennial Garden
Wednesday 5:30 – 7:00pm PAL field
Thursday 4:30 – 6:00pm PAL field
Friday 5:00 – 6:00pm PAL field

Radio and Television Tune in each and every Thursday night from the Holiday Inn Select for the "Indoor War Report" with Head Coach Rick Van Horne. The IWR is a weekly live talk show that discusses news and notes from the Blitz and the af2, and airs exclusively on KGEO AM 1230 with the "Voice of the Blitz" Kevin Bartl. Each show features a visit from Blitz players, prizes, and specials from the Holiday Inn Select, which is located next door to Centennial Garden.

All games, home and away, can be heard on KGEO AM 1230 with "Countdown to Kickoff" starting at 6:45pm. All home games as well are televised live on Bright House Networks Ch. 21, with a replay of the game starting at 1:00pm the following Sunday afternoon.

af2 Individual leader board
Player Stat Rank Category
Brian Walker 6 FG t-1st field goals made 46 pts t-6th kicking points
Delvin Myles 3 t-1st forced fumbles
Chad Elliott 258.7 yd/gm 3rd passing yards per game 259.9 yd/gm 5th offensive yards per game 111.5 7th QB Rating
Eric Mahanke 53 t-6th receptions
Kevin Carroll 2 t-6th forced fumbles 4.5 t-9th tackles for a loss
Ahmad Bhatti 4.5 t-9th tackles for a loss

This week's matchup: The Blitz slipped a bit in league rankings after last week, but are in the Top 5 in two categories, Field Goal % and Sacks. The Coyotes rank in the top five in three categories, while they rank in the bottom five (21st in the league or worse) in seven categories.

Blitz Coyotes Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense 14th 48.0 pts/gm 21st 38.7 pts/gm
Scoring Defense 15th 48.0 pts/gm 16th 51.6 pts/gm
Total Offense 11th 259.3 yd/gm 19th 237.7 yd/gm
Total Defense 20th 272.9 yd/gm 18th 267.3 yd/gm
Pass Offense 8th 252.3 yd/gm 17th 221.4 yd/gm
Pass Defense 18th 246.1 yd/gm 19th 251.0 yd/gm
Rushing Offense 24th 7.0 yd/gm 16th 16.3 yd/gm
Rushing Defense 21st 26.7 yd/gm 11th 16.3 yd/gm
Scoring (Non-kick) 15th 286 pts 21st 238 pts
Scoring (Kicking) t-8th 46 pts t-22nd 32 pts
Pass Rating 7th 111.5 19th 100.2
Pass Def. Rating 23rd 116.5 24th 118.4
Kickoff Returns 13th 18.9 yd/ret. 2nd 22.9 yd/ret.
MFG Returns 14th 17.7 yd/ret. 3rd 29.5 yd/ret
Turnover Margin t-22nd - .86 23rd - 1.00
Field Goals 4th 42.9% 18th 23.5%
PAT Kicking 19th 71.8% 24th 64.5%
Sacks By 5th 14 t-19th 6
Sacks Against t-11th 7 t-14th 9
First Downs 15th 102 t-13th 104
Opp. First Downs t-13th 104 t-16th 108
Penalties 17th 446 yds 4th 336 yds
Opp. Penalties 19th 467 yds 20th 471 yds
Red Zone Offense 6th 77.8% 18th 71.1%
Red Zone Defense 18th 79.1% 21st 81.0%

Pro-rated season tickets and group outings for the Blitz are on sale now by contacting the Blitz office at 716-BLITZ (2548) or by stopping by the Bakersfield Sports Entertainment office located at Centennial Garden. The Garden box office is open Monday through Friday 10:00am – 5:00pm and opens at noon this Saturday. For up-to-date information on the Blitz, log on to www.bakersfieldblitz.com.



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