Tennessee Valley Vipers Game Notes
April 14, 2003 - United Indoor Football Association (UIF)
Tennessee Valley Raptors News Release
QUICK FACTS:
Tennessee Valley Vipers (2-0) at Louisville Fire (1-1)
Date: Saturday, April 19, 2003
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CST
Site: Freedom Hall (16,154)
National Anthem: TBA
Coin Toss: TBA
Officials: TBA
Radio: WUMP 730 (Doug Franz)
TV: None
Series Record: Tennessee Valley leads 1-0
Last Meeting: The Vipers won the last meeting 48-34 in Louisville on July 6, 2002.
Streaks: Vipers W2, Fire L1
Coaches: Kevin Guy (15-3; 0-1 playoffs, Second season) Tommy Johnson (0-0, First Game)
THE STAKES: The Vipers have a chance to go 3-0 on the season and 2-0 on the road. They can stay tied for the lead in the South Division.
THE SERIES: This will be the second meeting between the two teams. The Vipers won 48-24 in Louisville on July 6, 2002. The Fire has never made the trip to Huntsville.
THE IFs:
If Tennessee Valley defeats Louisville, it would ...
· Give Tennessee Valley a 2-0 record vs Louisville
· Give Tennessee Valley a 2-0 road record in 2003
· Give Kevin Guy a 16-3 record as a coach
· Give Tennessee Valley their second win in Louisville
HEAD COACHES: Viper head coach Kevin Guy is in his second season and the helm. He has led the Vipers to a 15-3 regular season record. He is 8-1 on the road and 7-2 at home. Louisville's Tommy Johnson will be coaching his first game as head coach after being promoted from defensive coordinator last week.
LAST SERIES MEETING: The Vipers jumped out to an early 28-0 lead and held on for a 48-34 win over the Fire in Louisville on July 6, 2002. Jermaine Alfred completed 19-30 passes for 182 yards and four touchdowns. Kelly Fields caught 11 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown. Rodney Brown caught three passes for 48 yards and a touchdown, rushed for 19 yards on two carries and a touchdown and returned the opening kickoff 55 âyards for a touchdown.
SERIES NOTABLES: The Vipers are 1-0 against the Fire and 1-0 in Louisville. The Fire has never made the trip to Huntsville.
FAMILIAR FACES: Fire defensive specialist, Arkee Thompson spent the 2001 season as a member of the Vipers and wide receiver/defensive back, Norman Mason played in five games for the Vipers in 2000.
TENNESSEE VALLEY INJURY REPORT:
Pos. Name Injury Status
DS Kenny Bailey Broke Right Foot Out
OS Michael James Broke Finger Out
THIS WEEK'S QUOTES:
Kevin Guy, on playing Louisville with a new head coach: "This week we can only evaluate their personnel on offense. Tommy is going to come in and try to put some points up. He has coached the defense so we can evaluate them on that side of the ball. We are just going to have a lot of unknowns this week, but I am sure that they are going to come out with a lot of emotion."
Jerrian James, on the game winning reception against Matt Forbes from Quad City: "I was on my back. I was concentrating so much on the ball that I wasn't going to let him stop me from catching it. I out-muscled him for the ball and was fortunate enough to come up with it."
MILESTONES: With one win, head coach Kevin Guy will pass Bret Munsey as the Vipers all-time winningest coach in Viper history.
Reggie Worthy needs three yards rushing to reach 200 yards for his career and eight yards receiving to reach 1,000. When he gets both, he will become the first Viper to have 1,000 yards receiving and 200 yards rushing.
Xavier Patterson is one reception away from 100 in his career.
Matt Sauk needs four touchdown passes to reach 100 in his career, seven completions to reach 400 and 52 yards to reach 5,000 for his career. Jerrian James needs 126 yards receiving to reach 1,000 for his career.
Calvin Hall needs seven receptions to reach 50 and 19 yards receiving to reach 500 for his career. Xavier Patterson needs one reception to reach 100 for his career.
DROPBACK: Matt Sauk hit Jerrain James on a seven-yard touchdown pass with :16 left to beat the Quad City Steamwheelers 62-59 in Huntsville.
FORWARD MOTION: The Vipers are off next week and host the Bossier City Battle Wings on May 3.
RECENT ROSTER MOVES (most recent first):
Date Action Player
4/7 Assigned Kenyon Hambrick, OS
4/7 Reassigned Rob Green, DS
AFL Experience: Eleven members of the 2003 Vipers have experience in Arena Football League, either in a game, in training camp or on the practice squad.
We're Not Worthy: WR/DB Reggie Worthy pickup up where he left off in the 2002 season. He now has 197 yards rushing, 992 yards receiving and is tied for second in Viper history with 22 touchdown receptions. He needs just three yards rushing and 8 receiving to become the first Viper to have 200 yards rushing and 1,000 receiving.
Sack Prevention: Viper quarterback, Matt Sauk, was only sacked only five times in 2001 and two of those he tripped and fell. He has not been sacked this season.
JJ is "Dynamite": Wide Receiver/Defensive Back, Jerrian James has been dynamite in his first two games as a Viper. He has rushed for one touchdown, caught nine passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns and recorded 8.0 tackles and a fumble recovery.
Welcome Jimmy: Fullback/Linebacker, Jimmy Freeman, has recorded 4.0 tackles, one tackle for loss of one yard, one pass break up, one fumble recovery two forced fumbles and two quarterback hits in the first two games for the Vipers.
Ronney is dandy: Wide Receiver/Linebacker, Ronney Daniels caught six passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns. He has also recorded 2.5 tackles, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble in his Viper debut.
Secondary Experience: Both defensive backs currently on the Vipers roster, all have AFL experience. Chazz Moore (Los Angeles) and Ernest Ross (Detroit).
Road Sweet Road: The Tennessee Valley Vipers have only lost one road game in the past two seasons compiling a 15-1 record over that time. In 2001, Matt Sauk led the Vipers to a perfect 8-0 road record and is 1-0 so far this season.
Center of Attention: David Sucura and Chris Bell are the first Viper centers in three years to return although both almost didn't. Bell went to camp with the Carolina Cobras and Sucura went to camp with the Buffalo Destroyers earlier this season.
"X" Factor: Xavier Patterson is in his fourth year in af2 but will be in his first season playing the offensive specialist position. The former Steamwheeler and Stealth WR/DB has now caught 99 passes for 2,519 yards and 56 TDs and returned 24 missed field goals for 367 yards and 54 kickoffs for 1,114 yards and two touchdowns.
Hall's Career Day: Calvin Hall had a career day at Florida catching six passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns. The receptions and receiving yards are both career highs. He also broke the Viper record for the longest reception with a 49-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter. He caught five passes for 48 yards and one touchdown against Quad City.
Ross makes immediate impact: In his first two games with the Vipers, defensive specialist Ernest Ross made an immediate impact on the game. He has recorded 9.5 tackles and intercepted two passes. He returned an interception 49 yards for a touchdown last week against Quad City.
Playmaker is back: After almost deciding not to play in the 2003 season, Andy "Playmaker" Fuller changed his mind and joined the Vipers before the Florida game. The Vipers would have missed the following numbers, 39 receptions, 381 yards, 22 touchdowns, 55.0 tackles and 11.5 sacks. He has recorded 1.0 tackle, one pass break up and two quarterback hits in two games.
Big Shoes to Fill: Viper kicker, Mark Lewis has big shoes to fill in replacing all-af2 first team kicker, Todd Latourette. Lewis has converted 13-15 extra points in the season opener and missed his only field goal attempts all have been from over 50 yards.
Fumble!!!: The fumble bug has hit the Vipers once again as we start the 2003 season. The Vipers have lost three fumbles in two games.
Flag on the Play: After being penalized 12 times for 71 yards at Florida last week, the Vipers were only flagged four times for 21 yards last week.
Third Down: Here is a break down of third and fourth down on the season:
Player Third Down Fourth Down
Vipers 4/13 (31%) 3/6 (50%)
Opponents 7/12 (58%) 0/3 (0%)
The Red Zone: The Vipers converted 8-10 opportunities will all eight scores being touchdowns. They turned the ball over on downs and fumbled the other times. They held the opponents to 5-8, forcing a fumble and a turnover on downs.
Sack Record: Two Vipers are chasing the current Viper sack leader Eugene Phillips:
Player Sacks
Eugene Phillips 14.0
Heath Springer 12.5
Andy Fuller 11.5
Curtis Jeter 11.0
Completion Record: Matt Sauk broke the Viper career completions record at Florida. He now owns every Viper passing record including the longest completion, which he broke with a 49-yd touchdown pass to Calvin Hall. Sauk is just four touchdown passes away from 100 in his career.
Viper Records Broken in 2003:
Most Completions in a career: Matt Sauk 393. Old Record: Bryan Snyder 354.
Longest Completion: Matt Sauk 49-yards at Florida 4/5/03
Longest Reception: Calvin Hall 49-yards at Florida 4/5/03
PLAYERS/MATCHUPS TO WATCH:
Vipers Offense vs Fire Defense: The Viper offense is averaging 51.5 points per game but the Fire defense is only giving up 39.5. Matt Sauk is third in the league in passing yards while the Fire in sixth in the league in pass defense rating.
Vipers OL/DL Wes Stephens: Offensive/Defensive lineman, Wes Stephens, did not record a sack last week against Quad City, but he harassed quarterback Tony Zimmerman all night. He finished with three quarterback hits and forced the pass that Ernest Ross intercepted and returned for a touchdown.
Vipers WR/DB Jerrian James: Wide receiver/defensive back, Jerrian James, caught six passes for 116 yards and three touchdowns last week against Quad City including the game winner with :16 left.
KEY DATES IN VIPER HISTORY:
March 31, 2000: Vipers get first ever win with a 59-18 victory over Birmingham.
April 8, 2000: Vipers get their first home win over Norfolk 48-15.
August 10, 2000: Vipers fall 68-59 to the Quad City Steamwheelers in the ArenaCup Championship.
April 7, 2001: Vipers get their first win in the 2001 season with a 55-14 win over Memphis.
July 21, 2001: Vipers rally from a 34-point deficit in the 4th quarter to beat Arkansas 56-55.
July 30, 2001: Vipers beat Tallahassee 70-52 in the first round of the af2 playoffs.
August 4, 2001: Vipers fall 51-50 to the Richmond Speed in overtime in the af2 semifinals.
April 6, 2002: Vipers beat Arkansas 37-28 for their first win of the 2002 season.
April 11, 2002: Vipers win their 11th straight road game 57-46 at Memphis to break the af2 record.
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United Indoor Football Association Stories from April 14, 2003
- Tennessee Valley Vipers Game Notes - Tennessee Valley Raptors
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