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Talons Defeat Battle Wings, 49-28

May 17, 2003 - Arena Football League (AFL)
Tulsa Talons News Release


By Elven Lindblad

For the second straight week, a strong second half performance lifted the Tulsa Talons to victory.

Tulsa stopped the Bossier City Battle Wings on downs four times in the second half while scoring 21 unanswered points en route to a 49-28 victory before 4,122 fans on Saturday at the Tulsa Convention Center. The victory extended the Talons'arenafootball2 record for consecutive regular season home victories to 22.

Tulsa (6-1) has won three of four meetings with Bossier City (2-5), which has lost four in a row after a 2-1 start. They will meet in the regular season finale for both teams on July 25 in Bossier City.

The game was tied 21-21 at halftime, then Tulsa gained 160 of its season-high 304 yards of total offense while holding Bossier City to 100 yards of total offense.

Talons quarterback Craig Strickland was the game's Most Valuable Player, accounting for 288 yards of total offense along with five touchdown passes and a pair of touchdown runs.

Strickland put the Talons ahead for good in the third quarter. A five-yard pass to Al Hunt with 12:48 left in the third quarter broke a 21-21 tie then he found Tacoma Fontaine on an eight-yard scoring strike.

Strickland also scored on a three-yard run in the second quarter and a four-yard scramble in the fourth.

For of Fontaine's five receptions went for touchdowns, highlighted by a tackle-breaking 27-yard play with 51 seconds left in the first half. Fontaine now has 15 TD catches for the season, 11 of them coming in four home games.

WR/LB Mitch Allner was the Ironman of the Game and had season highs in receiving with nine receptions for 100 yards.

FB/LB Corky Martin was the ADT Defensive Player of the Game. Martin had 3.5 tackles, three of those unassisted, along with a quarterback sack and a tackle for loss.

Battle Wings quarterback Sherrard Poteete, who played high school football for Tulsa's Union Redskins threw for 232 yards and four touchdowns but was sacked five times.

Bossier City appeared to be poised for an upset when Poteete found Bo Smith on a three-yard TD pass that tied the game, 21-21, with eight seconds left in the first half. But aside from Poteete's 48-yard bomb to Kevin Stevenson late in the fourth quarter, the Battle Wings' offense was rendered ineffective over the final two quarters.

Tulsa visits San Diego this Saturday in a rematch of the Talons' 65-38 home win against the Riptide last week. Bossier City returns home to host Columbus before embarking on a two-game road trip.



Arena Football League Stories from May 17, 2003


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