Week one: Saturday/Sunday matchups

Published on April 1, 2005 under arenafootball2 (af2) News Release

CENTRAL VALLEY COYOTES (0-0) AT BAKERSFIELD BLITZ (0-0)

SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2005 - Robobank Arena (9,000) 10:00 P.M. ET These two teams met four times in 2004, with Bakersfield walking away each time victorious. In 2005, Central Valley will look to end that streak on opening night and re-ignite a West Division rivalry. The Blitz finished 2004 with a heartbreaking 38-36 loss to eventual ArenaCup runners up Peoria and will try and avoid a hangover from that loss as they begin a new season. Central Valley lost two key pieces of last season's team in DS VONKEITH SPENCER and OS KENYATTE MORGAN. Morgan had a monster year in '04 with 118 catches, 1472 yards and 27 touchdowns. His production will be sorely missed and QB JUSTON WOOD will need newcomer DERONN FINLEY to fill the void. Defensively, the Coyotes may have lost Spencer, but added veteran DS JOSH ROBINSON who had 105 tackles and seven interceptions for Hawaii. Bakersfield explosive trio of QB CHAD ELLIOTT, WR/LB ERIC MAHANKE, and OS STEVE WOFFORD remains intact and will be aiming to improve upon last year's playoff appearance. Elliott tossed for 3,859 yards and 67 scores in '04 of which 27 touchdowns were to Mahanke and 12 to Wofford.

COYOTES /// BLITZ
SERIES LEADER: Bakersfield leads series 4-0
LAST MEETING: Bakersfield won 45-19 on 7/17/2004
LAST FIVE GAMES: 2-3 /// 3-2
LAST GAME: Won vs. SDG 48-34 on 7/30/2004 /// Lost vs. PEO 38-36 on 8/14/2004 in the playoffs
2004 LEADERS
PASSING: Biggs: 167-105-7; 1072; 15 TDs /// Elliott: 510-326-22; 3859; 67 TDs
RECEIVING: Morgan: 118-1472; 27 TDs /// Mahanke: 110-1455; 27 TDs
RUSHING: Borba: 18-80; 3 TDs /// Onaindia: 42-75; 9 TDs
TACKLES: Spencer: 48.0 /// Haslip: 66.5
SACKS: Leung-Wai: 6.0 /// Carroll: 8.5
INTERCEPTIONS: Spencer: 8 /// Munson: 4.0
KICKING: Levine: 51-59 PAT; 8-27 FG 75 PTs /// Ball: 51-73 PAT; 11-27 FG 84 PTs
TEAM OFFENSE: 37.7 PPG; 237.6 YPG /// 45.4 PPG; 250.1 YPG
TEAM DEFENSE: 51.5 PPG; 246.2 YPG /// 42.3 PPG; 255.9 YPG

MEMPHIS XPLORERS (10-4) AT BOSSIER-SHREVEPORT BATTLE WINGS (5-9)

SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 2005 - CENTURY TEL CENTER (12,500) 4:00 P.M. ET Memphis and Bossier-Shreveport square off on opening day in a National Division match-up. In their last meeting, the Battle Wings had the upper hand in a 67-28 victory, but the Xplorers had the last laugh, making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Memphis has a slight edge in the series, having won four of the seven meetings between these two rivals. Both teams have questions at the quarterback position in 2005 with new faces expected to be under center. The Battle Wings have brought in QB BRENT RAWLS, a former Oklahoma Sooner, to lead their offense. Memphis brought SHANE FRANZER and BRIAN JONES to training camp to compete for the quarterback job, but the two combined have just one year of af2 experience. Who ever wins the battle in Memphis will have one of af2's most dangerous targets at his disposal in KEVIN PRENTISS. Prentiss racked up 1510 yards and 35 touchdowns in 2004. Bossier-Shreveport's SHADRICK MCAFEE and BO SMITH give Rawls experience at the receiver position to aim for. The Xplorers retained the services of their best defensive playmaker in DAHNEL SINGFIELD. Singfield recorded 68 tackles and seven interceptions last season and will look to add to those totals in 2005. OL/DL Joe Crear also returns, providing the Xplorers with a dependable lineman and a pass rusher who notched up 5.5 sacks last year. The Battle Wings have some holes to fill defensively with leading tackler WILLIE SHEPPARD departing. However, the Battle Wings did bring in 12 players with Division 1-A experience, seven of which come from BCS conference schools.

XPLORERS /// BATTLE WINGS
SERIES LEADER: Memphis leads series 4-3
LAST MEETING: Bossier-Shreveport won 67-28 at Memphis on 6/5/2004
LAST FIVE GAMES: 3-2 /// 1-4
LAST GAME: Lost at FLA 35-33 on 8/7/2004 in playoffs /// Lost at ARK 60-36 on 7/31/2004
2004 LEADERS
PASSING: Jones: 226-134-7; 1578; 22 TDs /// Poteete: 450-243-17; 2972; 65 TDs
RECEIVING: Prentiss: 103-1510; 35 TDs /// Smith: 70-1093; 29 TDs
RUSHING: Jones: 44-99; 12 TDs /// Poteete: 89-302; 16 TDs
TACKLES: Singfield: 68.0 /// Sheppard: 58.0
SACKS: Crear: 5.5 /// Pratt: 3.0
INTERCEPTIONS: Singfield: 7 /// Dill/Perkins/Sheppard/Tyner: 2.0
KICKING: Walls: 65-86 PAT; 13-29 FG 107 PTs /// Ball: 69-86 PAT; 11-28 FG 102 PTs
TEAM OFFENSE: 48.4 PPG; 229.4 YPG /// 49.3 PPG; 215.0 YPG
TEAM DEFENSE: 45.8 PPG; 235.0 YPG /// 54.2 PPG; 276.4 YPG

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