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Twisters Game Notes

July 18, 2007 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Arkansas Diamonds News Release


ARKANSAS TWISTERS NEWS & NOTES

Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz (7-7) vs. Arkansas Twisters (10-4)

Week 17 - Saturday, July 21, 7:05pm

Ford Center (17,884) - Oklahoma City, OK

QUICK FACTS:

Oklahoma City (7-7) Vs. Arkansas Twisters (10-4)

Date: Saturday, July 21

Kickoff: 7:05pm Central Time

Site: Ford Center

Radio: KABZ 103.7 The BUZZ

Pre-Game show starts @ 6:45pm (Jake Hatley, Dick "Mackie" McDonald)

Internet: www.1037thebuzz.com

Ticket Prices: 405-228-3294

Playoffs: The Twisters have earned a spot in the 2007 ArenaCup Playoffs. It's the fourth time in the last six years the Twisters will be playing in the postseason.

Series Record: OKC leads 4-2

Last Meeting: 6-16-07 - AR Won 51-39

(North Little Rock, AR) - The Arkansas Twisters came into its game with Oklahoma City tied for second in the Central Division and each needed a win to keep pace with leader Tulsa. Arkansas came away with the win after beating Oklahoma City 51-39 in front of 4660 at Allstate Field at Alltel Arena. The Twisters (7-3) jumped out to a 19-0 lead in the first quarter. Jon Schoonover caught a one yard touchdown throw from Davon Vinson to start the scoring run. Arkansas used the running game to add to their lead. Robert Kilow ran 10 yards for a score after Oklahoma City couldn't convert on fourth down. The Yard Dawgs fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Arkansas recovered on the one yard line and Terrance Freeney ran it the rest of the way for the touchdown.

Oklahoma City (6-4) threatened at the end of the first half when the Yard Dawgs had first and goal at the four yard line, but they couldn't cash in when Hill's pass was intercepted by Pierre Thomas to end the half with Arkansas leading 25-13.

The Yard Dawgs started the second half with the ball and turned it over again when Hill was intercepted by Tanner Varner. Oklahoma City was unable to get any closer than eight points after the interception.

Vinson finished the game by completing 19 of 24 pass attempts for 206 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. Kevin Williams caught nine passes for 69 yards and two scores. He also became the second player in af2 history to surpass 900 points in a career. Kilow had a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown. Pierre Thomas and Jason Simpson finished with 12 and 10 total tackles each to lead all players. Thomas also added his team leading eighth interception of the season.

Al Hunt finished with a game high 14 catches for 157 yards, three touchdowns and 257 all-purpose yards. Hill completed 31 of 52 pass attempts for 341 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Streaks: Arkansas is coming off a loss against Bossier- Shreveport. Laredo has lost 11 of their 12 games this season.

Coaches:

Twisters - John Gregory: 10-4 (25-17, 3rd Year)

Yard Dawgz: John Fitzgerald

CONTACTS:

Twisters: Jake Hatley

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

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

Yard Dawgz: Wendy Johnson

Office: 405-228-3294

Fax: 405-231-5425 Email: wjohnson@okcyarddawgz.com

PRACTICE, INTERVIEW & TRAVEL SCHEDULE:

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

THE STAKES: Arkansas has clinched their fourth playoffs birth in six years, and still is trying to secure a home playoff game. A win would help Arkansas to keep pace with South Georgia and Bossier for a home playoff game. (Please see Playoff Picture) OKC is trying to secure its fourth straight playoff birth. The Yard Dawgz could clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win over the Twisters and losses by TN Valley and Lubbock.

THE IFs:

If Arkansas defeats OKC, it would...

- be the 11th win of the '07 season, tying the franchise record for most wins in the regular season.

- give Coach Gregory his 26th win as Twisters coach

- the third straight win over OKC

- give Arkansas a chance to clinch a home game in the playoffs.

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 16 RE-CAP: 7-14-07

Twisters Earn 10th Win of the Season

(North Little Rock, AR) - The Arkansas Twisters won its 10th game of the season by defeating a pesky Laredo Lobos team 41-21 in front of 5612 fans at Alltel Arena. The game was far from perfect for the Twisters (10-4) as they were tied 7-7 after one quarter. Robert Kilow put the Twisters in front with an eight yard touchdown catch and the extra point gave the Twisters a 14-7 lead. Rookie receiver Jamie Goodwin hauled in a 35 yard scoring catch from Brian Villanueva to put Arkansas up by two scores.

Laredo quarterback Daniel Forrest fumbled on the next drive and Michael Dansby recovered the football in the endzone to put the Twisters up 27-7. Goodwin made it four scores in a row when he caught a 32 yard strike from Villanueva to give the Twisters a 34-7 lead at half time.

The second half was marred by turnovers by both teams. Villanueva threw three of his career high four interceptions in the second half.

The Lobos (1-13) scored twice in the third quarter when Mike McCullum scored from one yard out and Glen Thomas caught a 20 yard pass from Forrest to pull Laredo within 13 points.

The Twisters closed out the game with their lone score in the second half when Kilow caught his second touchdown of the game and the extra point set the final score at 41-21. Kilow returned the game's first kickoff 17 yards to eclipse 2000 All-Purpose yards for the season. It's the second time in Kilow's career that he as surpassed 2000 yards in a season. Villanueva completed 16 of 32 passes for 188 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions. Goodwin caught five passes for 84 yards and two touchdowns in his Twisters debut.

Defensive back Jason Simpson had a game high 13.0 tackles and three pass breakups. He upped his season tackles to 120.5 for the season, just one tackle from tying the league record of 121.5. The Twisters were able to put pressure on Laredo's quarterback. Reggie Cooley and Mike Matthes had one sack each and Pierre Thomas and Tanner Varner combined to intercept three passes. Laredo's Shawn Terry and Mike McCullum caught seven passes each. Terry and Thomas caught one touchdown apiece. Forrest completed 21 of 37 passes for 169 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.

The Twisters hit the road to play Oklahoma City and return to Central Arkansas for the regular season finale in two weeks against Amarillo.



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