Tennessee Valley Vipers Game Notes
Published on June 30, 2003 under United Indoor Football Association (UIF)
Tennessee Valley Raptors News Release
QUICK FACTS:
Tennessee Valley Vipers (12-0) at Memphis Xplorers (5-7)
Date: July 5, 2003
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. CST
Site: DeSoto Civic Center (8,444)
National Anthem: TBA
Coin Toss: TBA
Officials: Drew Myers (Referee), Darryl Keckler (Umpire), Chris Jamison (Head Linesman), Trip Campbell (Line Judge), Lee Midgett (Back Judge)
Radio: WUMP 730 (Doug Franz & Art Clarkson)
TV: None
Series Record: Vipers lead 4-0
Last Meeting: The Vipers beat the Xplorers 81-31 in Huntsville on July 20, 2002.
Streaks: Vipers W12, Xplorers W2
Coaches: Kevin Guy (24-3; 0-1 playoffs, Second season) Danton Barto (9-18, Second Season)
THE STAKES: The Vipers have a chance to go 13-0 on the season for the first time in team history and go 7-0 at home. They can remain the only undefeated team in af2 and secure a first-round bye in the playoffs.
THE SERIES: The Vipers lead the all-time series 4-0. They are 2-0 in Memphis
THE IFs:
If Tennessee Valley defeats Memphis, it would ...
· Give Tennessee Valley an 5-0 record vs Memphis
· Give Tennessee Valley a 6-0 road record in 2003
· Give the Vipers their 21st road win in their past 22 games
· Give Tennessee Valley a 13-0 record for the first time in team history
· Extend the Vipers longest winning streak in team history to 13 games
HEAD COACHES: Viper head coach Kevin Guy is in his second season and the helm. He has led the Vipers to a 24-3 regular season record. He is 12-1 on the road and 12-2 at home. Memphis's Danton Barto is 10-18 in his second season with the Xplorers.
LAST SERIES MEETING: Jermaine Alfred completed 22-31 passes for 291 yards and six touchdowns as the Vipers broke the team record for points in a game with an 81-31 win over the Xplorers in Huntsville on July 20, 2002. Rodney Brown caught 10 passes for 156 yards and three touchdowns, rushed for a touchdown and returned a kickoff for a touchdown. Todd Latourette set a Viper record by converting 11-11 extra points. Andy Fuller recorded two sacks and two safeties.
SERIES NOTABLES: The Vipers are 4-0 vs Memphis and are 2-0 in Memphis.
TENNESSEE VALLEY INJURY REPORT:
Pos. Name Injury Status
FB/LB Marvin Strong Right Hamstring Out
THIS WEEK'S QUOTES:
Kevin Guy, on Vipers receivers: "We have a very athletic group and all of them are capable of making big plays. They work well together as a team. We have a balanced offense and Matt does a good job of keeping them all involved."
MILESTONES:
Reggie Worthy needs seven yards rushing to reach 200 yards for his career. He reached the 1,000 yard receiving mark at Louisville. When he gets 200 yards rushing, he will become the first Viper to have 1,000 yards receiving and 200 yards rushing and just the third player in af2 history to reach both marks.
Matt Sauk is 17 completions away from 600 and 465 yards away from 8,000 in his career
Calvin Hall is 117 yards receiving away from 1,000 in his career.
Jerrian James is 15 receptions away from 100.
DROPBACK: Matt Sauk completed 17-28 passes for 303 yards and seven touchdowns as the Vipers beat the Steeldogs 60-58 in Huntsville last week. Ronney Daniels, Jerrian James and Reggie Worthy all caught two touchdowns and Xavier Patterson caught one. Patterson also rushed for a score. Wes Stephens recorded two sacks.
FORWARD MOTION: The Vipers will host the Florida Firecats on July 12 and travel to Quad City on July 19 to battle the Steamwheelers.
RECENT ROSTER MOVES (most recent first):
Date Action Player
6/18 Assigned Corey Bridges, OS
6/18 Assigned Joe Todd, DS
6/19 Placed on Short-Term IR Marvin Strong, FB/LB
6/19 Placed on Reassignment Corey Bridges, OS
TEAM NOTES/TRENDS:
AFL Experience: Nine members of the 2003 Vipers have experience in Arena Football League, either in a game, in training camp or on the practice squad.
Touchdown Matt: Viper quarterback, Matt Sauk, has picked up where he left off the 2001 season when he threw an af2 record 86 touchdown passes. Through 12 games he has thrown 67 and has a completion percentage of 62.2. He has a 113.1 quarterback rating. He is just one touchdown pass behind Quad Cities, Tony Zimmerman, and Tulsa's Craig Strickland for the league lead.
We're Not Worthy: WR/DB Reggie Worthy has not had a sophomore slump in his second season with the Vipers. Despite missing three games, he has 193 yards rushing, 1,364 yards receiving and is now second in Viper history with 27 touchdown receptions. He needs just seven yards rushing to become the first Viper to have 200 yards rushing and 1,000 receiving.
Sauk not Sack: Viper quarterback, Matt Sauk, was only sacked only five times in 2001 and two of those he tripped and fell. He has only been sacked two times this season.
JJ is "Dynamite": James has done a little bit of everything in his first season with the Vipers. He has rushed for 30 yards and four touchdowns, caught 37 passes for 612 yards and 15 touchdowns, returned 23 kickoffs for 529 yards and a touchdown. He has thrown two passes, both to Andy Fuller for touchdowns. He has recorded 38.0 tackles, one interception, eight pass break ups, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble.
FB/LB Production: The Tennessee Valley Vipers are getting plenty of production from the fullback/linebacker position. The trio of Jimmy Freeman, Marvin Strong and Dedric Maffet has rushed for 85 yards and four touchdowns, caught six passes for 65 yards and a touchdown, recorded 28.0 tackles, 5.5 sacks, five pass break ups, 10 quarterback hits, five fumble recoveries and six forced fumbles.
Welcome back Bailey: After missing the first three games with a broke foot, Bailey has recorded 34.5 tackles, three interceptions, eight pass break ups and one forced fumble in his last four games. He has returned two of the interceptions for touchdowns.
Ronney is dandy: Wide Receiver/Linebacker, Ronney Daniels has been impressive in his first season in af2. He has 40 receptions for 706 yards and leads the team with 19 touchdowns. He has recorded 14.5 tackles, two interceptions, three pass break ups, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He has recorded an interception in every game except one.
"X" Factor: After not being much of a factor in the early part of the season, Xavier "X-Man" Patterson has come alive the last three weeks. He has caught 13 passes for 148 yards and three touchdowns. Defensive Specialist: DS Ernest Ross continues to improve each week. He is fourth in af2 in interceptions with six and seventh in pass break ups with 24.
Yo Joe!: In his Viper debut, defensive specialist Joe Todd intercepted a pass and broke one at Birmingham. The former Mississippi Valley State star started in the secondary for the Grand Rapids Rampage on their championship team in 2001 before missing all of last season with a wrist injury.
Road Sweet Road: The Tennessee Valley Vipers have only lost one road game in the past three seasons compiling a 20-1 record over that time. Matt Sauk is a perfect 13-0 on the road as the Vipers quarterback, 8-0 in 2001and 5-0 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. Both recorded sacks vs Wichita that forced fumbles that the Vipers recovered.
Hall's Career Year: Calvin Hall is in his third season with the Vipers and has already had a career year. He currently has 40 receptions for 547 yards and 12 touchdowns. He has already passed his career highs in receptions 31(2002), yards (293-2002) and touchdowns (6-2002).
Playmaker is back: Andy "Playmaker" Fuller has lived up to his nickname over the past four games. He has caught five passes for 77 yards and three touchdowns.
Lewis having record year: In his first season with the Vipers, Mark Lewis has tied or broken two Viper kicking records. He tied the record for field goals made in a game with three at Bossier City. The record was set by Michael Proctor on April 7, 2000 against the Norfolk Nighthawks in the first ever home game for the Vipers. He also broke Proctor's record of consecutive extra points made. Proctor set the mark in 2000 when he made 27 straight. Lewis broke the record last week and extended in to 32 before his next miss. He has made 32 of his last 33. He leads af2 in scoring for kickers and extra points made.
Turnover: After being in the negative numbers for much of the season in turnovers, the Vipers broke into the positive side when they forced 15 turnovers the last three weeks. They are +10 for the season.
Third Down: Here is a break down of third and fourth down on the season:
Player Third Down Fourth Down
Vipers 32-68 (47%) 9-21 (43%)
Opponents 29-88 (33%) 15-31 (48%)
Spreading the Ball Around: Six different receivers have caught 30 or more passes for the Vipers this season making them the first team in af2 history to have six receivers with 30 receptions. The Vipers had five in 2000 and 2001 and four in 2002 that caught more that 20. There are also three receivers that have double figures in touchdown receptions and another that has seven. The team only had one in 2000, three in 2001 and two in 2002. They have a great shot at having six with 40 receptions by the end of the season. The Red Zone: The Vipers have converted 63-79 opportunities will 56 touchdowns and seven field goals. They turned the ball over on downs six times, threw four interceptions and fumbled four times. They have held their opponents to 46-76, giving up 41 touchdowns and four field goals, intercepting 10 passes, recovering four fumbles, and holding on downs eight times.
Sack Record: Three Vipers are chasing the current Viper sack leader Eugene Phillips:
Player Sacks
Eugene Phillips 16.0
Wes Stephens 13.5
Curtis Jeter 13.0
Heath Springer 12.5
Andy Fuller 12.5
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. At Louisville he completed his 400th pass, went over the 5,000-yard mark in passing and went over the 100 touchdown mark.
Defense: Despite being ranked 24th in af2 in total defense, the Vipers are not giving up many points. In seven of the 12 games the Vipers have held their opponents to 36 points or under.
Turnover Streak: The Tennessee Valley Vipers have forced a turnover in 32 consecutive games. The last time the Vipers failed to forced a turnover was on June 23, 2001 vs the Roanoke Steam.
Auburn vs Alabama: Five members of the Vipers played in one of the most intense college rivalries in the country, Auburn vs Alabama. Calvin Hall and Michael James played at Alabama while Reggie Worthy, Ronney Daniels and Andy Fuller played for the Tigers. The Bama group has 75 receptions for 934 yards and 14 touchdowns, while the Auburn group has 84 receptions for 1,252 yards and 25 touchdowns. Watch for this rivalry to be as intense as the college game.
No Turnovers: After going 14 consecutive games with a turnover, the Vipers went back-to-back games without giving the ball up on June 14 and 21. They turned the ball over three times vs Birmingham last week.
PLAYERS/MATCHUPS TO WATCH:
Viper QB, Matt Sauk: Sauk continues to pile up the touchdown passes. He now has 67 on the season and is one behind the league leader. He set the af2 record for touchdown passes in a season with 86 in 2001.
Viper Secondary vs Rod Robinson: Robinson has been a great pickup for the Xplorers. He is third in af2 in pass rating and has completed 157-253 passes for 2,009 yards and 44 touchdowns in just 10 games. He has only thrown six interceptions. The Viper secondary gave up over 400 yards passing last week vs Birmingham.
Vipers FB/LB, Jimmy Freeman: Freeman currently leads the league in fumbles forced with five and fumble recovered with five. He has also added 3.0 sacks.
United Indoor Football Association Stories from June 30, 2003
- Tennessee Valley Vipers Game Notes - Tennessee Valley Raptors
- Hoops to be Inactive in 2003-04 - Ohio Valley Greyhounds
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