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Twisters Game Notes

July 3, 2007 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Arkansas Diamonds News Release


QUICK FACTS:

Bossier-Shreveport

Battle Wings (9-3)

Vs. Arkansas Twisters (8-3)

Date: Saturday, June 30

Kickoff: 7:05pm Central Time

Site: CenturyTel Center

Radio: KABZ 103.7 The BUZZ

Pre-Game show starts @ 6:45pm

(Jake Hatley, Dick McDonald)

Internet: www.1037thebuzz.com

Ticket Prices: (318) 746-8755

Series Record: Arkansas leads 9-2

Last Meeting: 5-12-07 - AR Won 64-50

(North Little Rock, AR) - All the talk leading up to Arkansas' game with the third ranked and undefeated Bossier- Shreveport seem to circle around the former NFL and current Battle Wings' quarterback Quincy Carter. The talk quickly turned to the Twisters quarterback Brian Villanueva, who led Arkansas to a 64-50 victory on an injured foot in front of 5348 fans at Allstate Field at Alltel Arena.

Villanueva was injured when a Bossier-Shreveport player fell on his foot early in the first quarter. The first year Twisters' starter limped noticeably throughout the rest of the game. Arkansas' defense sparked the offense when Jason Simpson intercepted Carter on the opening series. Villanueva found Robert Kilow on a 25 yard pass play and the extra point gave Arkansas a 7-0 lead. Kilow scored again on a 12 yard pass and the Twisters went up by 14 on the extra point.

Bossier-Shreveport scored 17 unaswered points after Brian Hazelwood kicked a 22 yard field goal to become the af2's all-time leading kicker. Then Jamaal Perry caught a 43 pass from Carter and Marc Bacote intercepted Villanueva and returned it 30 yards to give the Battle Wings a three point lead.

The scored was tied at halftime when David Carlton connected on a 28 yard field goal at the end of the first half. Villanueva limped out of the locker room in the second half and led the Twisters on scoring drives on every possession, outscoring Bossier-Shreveport 47-33 the rest of the way.

"I can't give the offensive line enough credit for what they did," explains Villanueva. "Stotland, Rodriguez, Big Mike, Freeney, and even Cardenas all allowed me to play."

The Twisters quarterback finished the game completing 26 of 43 passes for 355 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception. Only Jon Nielsen and Ricky Hebert have thrown for more yards in a game then Villanueva's 355 and Nielsen is the only quarterback to throw for more touchdowns. Robert Kilow also had a record setting night for the Twisters. He finished with 14 catches for a Twisters' record 184 yards receiving and a record tying six touchdowns. Kevin Williams finished with nine catches for 146 yards and two scores after relieving an injured Errick McCown. Jason Simpson finished with a game high 12.5 tackles and an interception.

Carter completed 21 of 38 passes for 273 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. Jamaal Perry caught nine passes for 158 and two touchdowns. Chris Ibezim led the defense with 11 total tackles and one pass breakup. Streaks: Arkansas has won three straight games and four of their last five. The Twisters also have an eight game win streak over the Battle Wings. Bossier hasn't beaten the Twisters since June 8, 2002. Bossier-Shreveport is coming off a 51-48 loss at Amarillo.

Coaches:

Twisters - John Gregory: 9-3 (24-17, 3rd Year)

Battle Wings - Jon Norris: 9-3, 1st Year

CONTACTS:

Twisters: Jake Hatley

Office: 501-907-2330 Cell: 501-247-8524

Fax: 501-907-2327 Email: jhatley@arkansastwisters.com

Battle Wings: Darrell Rebouche

Office: 318-746-8755 Cell: 318-422-5932

Fax: 318-746-8768 Email: drebouche@wkhs.com

PRACTICE, INTERVIEW & TRAVEL SCHEDULE:

PRACTICE: Tuesday - Thursday; 8am-10am Alltel Arena

Walk-Thru: Friday; 8am Alltel Arena

MEDIA LUNCHEON: Wednesday; 1pm Barebones

THE STAKES: Arkansas trails Central Division leader Tulsa by just one game. If Tulsa loses one game, and Arkansas wins its remaining games, then Arkansas will win its first division title. The Twisters also are tied with Bossier for the fourth seed in the playoffs, which would host a home playoff game in the first round. Bossier will need to beat Arkansas by 15 points or more to hold the tiebreaker, if needed.

THE IFs:

If Arkansas defeats Bossier, it would...

- be the 10th win of the '07 season

- be the 9th straight win over Bossier, most against any one team in Twisters history.

- give Coach Gregory his 25th win as Twisters coach

- Keep the Twisters in contention for their first division title in team history.

TWISTERS HEAD COACH:

John Gregory has seen just about everything a coach can see in one sport. His first job in football was back when Lyndon B. Johnson was President of the United States. Since then he has consistently taken over football programs that have struggled before his arrival and led them to success.

The former 2-time AFL Coach of the Year built the Twisters into a playoff contender in 2006. Gregory led Arkansas to its best start ever by winning his first three games. The Twisters won 10 regular season games for just the second time in franchise history and advanced to the National Conference Championship game. He coached the team to its first victories over Oklahoma City and Macon while beating rival Tulsa three times, the final time coming in the playoffs. The team set a franchise record for most total wins in a season with 12 and the 10 regular wins was the second most in franchise history.

The '06 Twisters also featured one of the best defenses in af2, tying a league record for sacks in a season with two Twisters players being named to the All-af2 first team for the first time ever.

Gregory started his coaching career as an assistant head coach and athletic director at Iowa Central Community College where he was charged with building a football program from the ground up. In just three years, the program had a 24-3-1 record and won the Wool Bowl in '69. Gregory's success at Iowa Central CC went on after he left. John Matusak was a Gregory recruit, and he went on to become the number one pick in the 1974 NFL Draft.

Gregory got his first college head coaching job at South Dakota State in 1971 and stayed for 10 years. To this day, Gregory is still second in school history in coaching victories and he led the team to a single season best of 9-2 in '79. SDSU didn't have a winning record the previous 11 seasons before Gregory's arrival.

After a one year stop as offensive coordinator at his alma mater of Northern Iowa, Gregory went further north to Canada and the Canadian Football League.

While in the CFL, Gregory won a CFL championship in ‘84 as the offensive line coach for Winnipeg. Gregory's offensive line helped the team set a CFL rushing record in ‘84 and Gregory was named CFL Outstanding Offensive Line Coach.

Saskatchewan noticed what Winnipeg had, and gave Gregory his first professional head coaching job and he didn't disappoint. Saskatchewan didn't have a winning season in the 11 years prior to Gregory's arrival, and they didn't win a Grey Cup (CFL Title) in 22 years. In 1989, Gregory led a Saskatchewan team that no one gave much of a chance of winning, and won the Grey Cup championship. In the process, Gregory was named CFL Coach of the Year, and he was elected to the Saskatchewan Hall of Fame in 1996. Gregory went on to coach for Hamilton of the CFL in '91, making the postseason four of the five years he was with the team before the founder of a new football league came calling.

Jim Foster invented Arena Football and needed a coach for a team he was starting in Des Moines, IA. Foster interviewed and hired Gregory to build the Iowa team from scratch. Gregory looked high and low for players; even recruiting a little known quarterback he heard was working at a local grocery store. Gregory gave Kurt Warner a tryout, and the rest is, as they say, history. Gregory coached the Barnstormers to five division titles in six years, led the team to two Arena Bowl title games, and the offense was the one of the most innovative offenses the sport had ever seen. Warner and his processor, Aaron Garcia were recently named as two of the greatest AFL players ever. Gregory earned AFL Coach of the Year honors in '95 and '96, the only coach in AFL history to do so, and nearly made it three in a row when he finished second '97.

The Barnstormers relocated to New York in 2000 and Gregory left the team in '03. After a brief stop at Carolina, Gregory decided to call it a career in coaching. Then Gregory got another call from Jim Foster. Foster told Gregory of a team that is the "Jewel of the af2" and needed his help. The team was successful early on, but had won just 4 of its last 20 games. Along with af2 President Jerry Kurz, and Jack Lankford, Gregory was convinced staying in retirement was the thing to do. Gregory took over the Arkansas Twisters four games into the 2005 season, going 5-7. The final four losses were by a combined score of 19 points, with two games being decided in the last minute of play.

WEEK 14 RE-CAP: 6-30-07

Twisters Beat Rival Tulsa in Overtime

(North Little Rock, AR) - The Arkansas Twisters/Tulsa Talons rivalry lived up to billing once again as the Twisters won a thriller against their arch rival 45-39 in front of 5572 at Allstate Field at Alltel Arena.

Arkansas (9-3) scored twice at the end of the first half to take a 27-14 lead. Brian Villanueva threw two first half touchdowns in his first start since breaking his foot six weeks before.

Tulsa started the second quarter with a 42 yard field goal by Luke Phillips. Don McGee intercepted Villanueva and returned it 37 yards for the touchdown and the extra point pulled the Talons within three.

The Twisters scored twice to start the fourth quarter when Michael Dansby caught a one yard pass from Davon Vinson. Arkansas scored again when Villanueva found Robert Kilow to put Arkansas up 39-24 with 5:53 left in the game.

The Talons drove down field on their next possession and scored when backup quarterback Justin Allgood found Steven Battle for a 12 yard score.

Tulsa booted the ensuing kickoff deep instead of an onside kick, and the Twisters began the drive with 1:44 left and hopes of running out the clock. Villanueva was intercepted by former Twisters player Delenell Reid and returned to the Arkansas seven. The Talons scored with no time left on the clock when Allgood pitched the ball to Jeff Hughley to pull within two points. Tulsa's two point try was good when Allgood found Andre Forde to tie the game at 39 at the end of regulation. Tulsa began overtime on offense and started the drive at their own three yard line. Allgood completed the first pass to Forde but was stripped of the ball by Reggie Cooley. Kevin Williams picked up the loose ball and returned six yards for the touchdown and the win.

Villanueva completed 17 of 33 passes for 207 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Vinson completed all three pass attempts for 18 yards and two total touchdowns. Kilow, Williams, Jon Schoonover, and Dansby all had one touchdown catch each.

Tulsa starting quarterback Josh Blankenship completed 13 of 28 for 105 yards and two total touchdowns. Allgood completed seven of 10 for 42 yards and one score. Forde caught a game high 10 passes for 86 yards and one score.



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