Wichita Stealth game notes

April 13, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Wichita Stealth News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Wichita Stealth (2-0)
At Peoria Pirates (1-1)
Date: Friday, April 16, 2004
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. CST
Site: Peoria Civic Center (9,772)
National Anthem: TBA
Coin Toss: TBA
Officials: (Referee),
(Umpire), (Head Linesman), (Line Judge), (Back Judge)
Radio: All Stealth games can be heard live on 96.3 KRZZ FM. Jay Sanderson & C.J. will be calling the action all season long for the Stealth.
Series Record: Peoria leads the series 3-2
Last Meeting: Wichita 33, Peoria 13 on April 3, 2004
Streaks: Wichita W-2; Peoria W-1
Coaches: WIC: Sean Ponder (2-0, 2nd season) PEO: Bruce Cowdrey (1-1, 4th season)

TEAM WEBSITES: Wichita: www.wichitastealth.com; Peoria: www.peoriapirates.com

THE STAKES: This will be the last meeting of the regular season between these two teams.

THE SERIES: Peoria leads the series 3-2, but the Stealth have won the last two meetings.

THE IFs:
If Wichita defeats Peoria, it would ...
 Give Wichita a 3-3 series record with Peoria
 Give Wichita a 1-0 road record in 2004
 Give Sean Ponder a 7-5-1 career record as head coach
 Give Wichita a three game win streak
 Give Wichita the season series win, 2 games to none.
 Give Wichita three consecutive wins over the Pirates dating back to last season
 Give Wichita their first ever 3-0 start

WICHITA STEALTH (2-0, W-2)
Date Opponent Result Score
4/3 PEORIA W 33-13
4/10 LAREDO W 44-22
Date Opponent Time Streak Series
4/16 @ Peoria 7:00 W-1 PEO 3-2
4/24 GREEN BAY 7:00 W-1 WIC 2-0
5/8 @ Rio Grande 7:30 L-1 First Meeting
5/15 @ Quad City 7:30 W-2 QUA 4-1
5/22 @ Oklahoma City 7:30 W-2 First Meeting
5/29 LAREDO 7:00 L-2 WIC 1-0
6/5 @ Tulsa 7:30 W-1 TUL 5-1
6/12 OKLAHOMA CITY 7:00 W-2 --
6/19 TULSA 7:00 W-1 --
7/3 @ Rio Grande 7:30 L-1 --
7/10 @ Tulsa 7:30 W-1 --
7/17 OKLAHOMA CITY 7:00 W-2 --
7/24 @ Laredo 7:30 L-2 WIC 1-0
7/31 RIO GRANDE 7:00 L-1 --

PEORIA (1-1, W-1)
Date Opponent Result Score
4/3 @ Wichita 7:00 L 13-33
4/10 ARKANSAS W 22-13
Date Opponent Time Streak Series
4/16 WICHITA 7:00 W-2 PEO 3-1
4/23 @ Tulsa 7:30 W-1 TUL 4-0
5/1 @ Central Valley 9:30 L-2 PEO 2-1
5/7 QUAD CITY 7:00 W-2 QUA 4-2
5/15 Wilkes-Barre 7:00 L-1 First Meeting
5/29 ALBANY 7:00 L-1 First Meeting
6/5 @ Green Bay 7:30 W-1 PEO 2-0
6/12 LOUISVILLE 7:00 W-1 LOU 4-2
6/19 @ Louisville 6:30 W-1 --
7/2 @ Quad City 7:30 W-2 --
7/9 @ Bossier City 7:00 L-1 BOS 3-0
7/17 COLUMBUS 7:00 W-1 PEO 2-0
7/24 @ Birmingham 6:30 W-1 BIR 2-1
7/31 GREEN BAY 7:00 W-1 --
STEALTH HEAD COACH AT A GLANCE: Sean Ponder begins his second season in arena football. He took over the Stealth last season after seven games. Ponder led the Stealth to their second consecutive playoff berth in af2. He brings over five years of college coaching experience to Wichita. He previously served as the offensive coordinator at Orange Coast Community College in California. At Orange Coast, he helped turn around a program that had not won over two games the past three seasons into a junior college powerhouse.
PEORIA HEAD COACH AT A GLANCE: Pirates' coach Bruce Cowdrey returns for his 3rd season as head coach of the Pirates and his 4th in af2. In 2002, Cowdrey led the Pirates to an 11-5 record and a 4-0 postseason record to claim the 2002 ArenaCup championship. Prior to the af2, Cowdrey spent time as head coach for the Pirates when they were in the Indoor Football League and led them to a 17-0 record and the IFL's Gold Cup championship

THE LAST TIME WE MET (A recap of the last meeting): These two teams met two weeks ago on April 3rd in Wichita. Wichita played stellar defense and held the Pirates to 127 total yards of offense. The Stealth were led by Cliff Holloman. Holloman had two sacks on the night to pace the Wichita defense. Defensive Specialist Ty Ardoin had one interception.

HEY, DON'T I KNOW YOU? (A look at some familiar faces in this week's game)
Stealth wide receiver/defensive back Anthony Griffin played in five games with Peoria during the 2003 season...Peoria wide receiver/defensive back Xavier Patterson spent the 2002 season with the Wichita Stealth...Peoria offensive/defensive lineman Jerry Samuels also was a teammate of Patterson's during the 2002 season in Wichita.

LEAGUE TOP 10s: Players from this week's matchup who ranked among af2's statistical leaders in 2003:
STEALTH
Player Rank Category Stat
Dylan Pohlman 8th Scoring (Kick) 11
Aaron Sparrow 9th Pass Rating 105.0
Carl Richardson 9th Rushing 34 yards
Anthony Griffin 6th Kickoff Return Avg 25.0
Jonathan Jackson 7th MFG Returns 4
Aaron Sparrow 8th Total Offense 400
Dylan Pohlman T-6th PAT Kicking 8-11
Cliff Holloman T-2nd Fumbles Forced 1
Marc Bacote T-2nd Fumbles Forced 1
Daren Williams 3rd Tackles For Loss 3
Marc Bacote T-6th Tackles For Loss 1.5
David Hurst T-6th Tackles For Loss 1.5
Brian Livingston T-6th Tackles 10.5
Cliff Holloman T-3rd Sacks 2.0
David Hurst T-4th Sacks 1.5
Marc Bacote T-4th Sacks 1.5
Christopher Highshaw T-5th Sacks 1.0
Markevius Woods T-5th Sacks 1.0
Daren Williams T-5th Sacks 1.0
PIRATES
Player Rank Category Stat
Lawrence Matthews 4th MFG Returns 20.7
Antoine Worthman 3rd Tackles 12.5
Frank West T-7th Tackles 10.0
Tony Pryor 11th Tackles 8.0
Casey Urlacher T-4th Sacks 1.5

LOOKING BACK: The Stealth were once again on top of their game defensively. They held the Laredo Law scoreless for the first half and only gave up 197 yards of total offense on the night. The Stealth defense punished the Laredo offensive line getting through to quarterback Josh Rogers for eight sacks on the night.
Stealth quarterback Aaron Sparrow was 113-of-24 for 199 yards and four touchdowns. Wide receiver/defensive back Anthony Griffin caught three passes for 42 yards and rushed the ball three times for 10 yards and two touchdowns on his way to earning Baby Ruth Real Deal Player of the Game honors. He also returned three kicks for 75 yards.

TALE OF THE TAPE: Here's how WICHITA and PEORIA stack up:
Statistical STEALTH PIRATES
Category Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense 16th 38.5 22nd 17.5
Scoring Defense 1st 17.5 2nd 23.0
Total Offense 16th 230.5 25th 150.0
Total Defense 2nd 162.0 6th 190.0
Pass Offense 17th 200.0 24th 127.5
Pass Defense 4th 148.0 7th 171.0
Rushing Offense 10th 30.5 12th 22.5
Rushing Defense 8th 14.0 10th 19.0
Scoring T-9th 66 T-17th 30
Scoring (Kicking) T-5th 11 T-10th 5
Pass Rating 13th 95.6 21st 72.6
Pass Def. Rating 1st 75.4 4th 80.9
Kickoff Returns 2nd 25.0 8th 20.4
MFG Returns 8th 14.2 10th 13.8
Turnover Margin 12th -2 T-6th +1
Field Goals T-5th 1-3 10th 1-8
PAT Kicking 10th 8-11 14th 2-4
Sacks By T-2nd 10 T-7th 2
Sacks Against T-3rd 2 5th 4
First Downs T-7th 25 T-12th 19
Opp. First Downs T-4th 16 8th 23
Penalties 15th 48.0 8th 34.0
Opp. Penalties 12th 40.5 20th 63.5


WICHITA STEALTH INJURY REPORT:
Pos. Name Injury Status
OS Jonathan Jackson Shoulder Short Term IR
WR/LB Christopher Highshaw Ankle Short Term IR
OL/DL Ervin Holloman Concussion Short Term IR
QB Heath Ridenour Shoulder Long Term IR
DS Antoine Williams Ankle Long Term IR
WR/DB Alan Jones Long Term IR

WHAT THE'RE SAYING: (Notable quotes):
SEAN PONDER, On the victory over Laredo: "We played three great quarters of defensive football."

"We are making some big plays, but we need to eliminate the small mistakes."

On the rematch with Peoria: "It is tough to play a team twice in three weeks." "We need our defense to play as well as they have been and our offense needs to step it up."

On the return of Michael Dritlein: "We are very excited to see him back this week." "We are all expecting big things from him."

REACHING FOR RECORDS: (A look at upcoming milestones): Stealth quarterback Aaron Sparrow is only 35 attempts shy of 1,000 career attempts. He is also only 2,588 yards away from 10,000 career yards. He is also only 64 touchdown passes short of 200. There are only two other af2 quarterbacks who have thrown for 10,000 yards and 200 touchdowns. (Ricky Hebert and Craig Strickland). Cape Fear's Bryan Snyder is expected to pass the plateau as well this season.

ADVANCE BOOKING: (A look at upcoming Stealth games): The Stealth will return home next week to face the Green Bay Blizzard. The Stealth have a 2-0 record all-time versus the Blizzard. Stealth head coach Sean Ponder made his home head coaching debut last season versus the Blizzard on May 31, 2003. The Stealth defeated the Blizzard by a score of 57-36 to improve to 6-3 after that game.

FLY-BY's: (A look at team trends and tidbits):

STEALTH RETURNERS: The Stealth return only eight members from a team that recorded the franchise record for wins last season. They return defensive specialist Ty Ardoin, offensive/defensive lineman Dustin Fish, offensive/defensive lineman Cliff Holloman, wide receiver/defensive back Brian Livingston, fullback/linebacker Jeff Macrea, fullback/linebacker Daren Williams, offensive/defensive lineman Markevius Woods, and offensive specialist Michael Dritlein.

GETTING DEFENSIVE: After finishing the 2003 season ranked near the middle of the af2 in almost every defensive category, the Stealth have started the 2004 season off with a bang on the defensive side of the ball. Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator Troy Biladeau has his defense near the top of every defensive category. The Stealth rank 1st in scoring defense (only allowing 17.5 points per game), 2nd in total defense (162.0 yards per game), 4th in pass defense (148.0 yards per game), 8th in rushing defense (14.0 yards per game), and 1st in pass defense rating (75.4 rating).

DEFENSIVE BATTLE: Not only are the Stealth a good defensive team, the Pirates rank in the top of the league defensively as well. Peoria comes into the game ranked 2nd in scoring defense (23 points per game), 6th in total defense (190.0 yards per game), 7th in pass defense (171.0 yards per game), 10th in rushing defense (19.0 yards per game), and 4th in pass defense rating (80.9 rating). Last week in Peoria's victory over Arkansas, they only gave up 152 yards of total offense to the Twisters in a 22-13 victory.

SHUTTING THEM DOWN: So far this season the Stealth have shut out their opponents in five of the eight quarters they have played. Last season, they only had four quarters of shut out football all season long.

TOP GUNS: (A look at players and match-ups to watch):
Stealth QB Aaron Sparrow: Sparrow brings two years of af2 experience to Wichita and looks to break the 10,000 yards passing mark for his career this season. Sparrow has also thrown for 136 touchdowns in his 34 game af2 career. Sparrow was named the offensive player of the year in 2000 as well as All-af2 quarterback.

Stealth OS Michael Dritlein: This week marks the return of Stealth offensive specialist Michael Dritlein. Dritlein played in nine games with the stealth last season before tearing an ACL in his knee. Dritlein was at the top of almost every offensive category last season before the injury and he is known as one of the most exciting players in the af2.

Stealth WR/DB Brian Livingston: Livingston returns to Wichita for his second straight year. Last year, Livingston led the Stealth in tackles, interceptions, and forced fumbles. Along with Sparrow, Livingston was also named to the 2000 All-af2 team as a defensive specialist.
STEALTH FLIGHT PLAN: (A look at the Stealth schedule this week)
Wednesday: Practice 6:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. (Sports Zone)
Depart for Peoria, Illinois 11:30 p.m.
Thursday: Practice 5:00 p.m. (Peoria Civic Center) – Peoria, Illinois
Friday: KICKOFF!!! 7:00 p.m.

RECENT STEALTH ROSTER MOVES (most recent first):
Date Action Player
4/12 ACTIVATED FROM SHORT TERM IR Michael Dritlein
4/12 ACTIVATED FROM SHORT TERM IR Herman Gordon
4/12 ACTIVATED FROM SHORT TERM IR Jimmy Hamilton
4/12 PLACED ON SHORT TERM IR Christopher Highshaw
4/12 PLACED ON SHORT TERM IR Ervin Holloman
4/12 PLACED ON SHORT TERM IR Jonathan Jackson

GAME AWARD WINNERS

BABY RUTH REAL DEAL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME (selected by media)
Week Opp. Player
1 Peoria Aaron Sparrow-Wichita
2 Laredo Anthony Griffin-Wichita

ARMY IRONMAN AWARD (selected by media)
Week Opp. Player
1 Peoria Daren Williams-Wichita
2 Laredo Marc Bacote-Wichita

ADT DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME
(selected by media)
Week Opp. Player
1 Peoria Cliff Holloman-Wichita
2 Laredo Cliff Holloman-Wichita


af2 WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
BABY RUTH REAL DEAL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Week Player Team
1 Jeff Hewitt Quad City
2 Randall Lane Green Bay

U.S. ARMY IRONMAN OF THE WEEK
Week Player Team
1 Jerrian James Tennessee Valley
2 Al Hunt Oklahoma City

ADT DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Week Player Team
1 Karleton Thomas Rio Grande Valley
2 Jerry Turner Birmingham



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