Post by rkb on Mar 29, 2008 10:36:53 GMT -5
www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=270730&pub=1&div=Sports
MudCats making 'special' effort
3/29/2008 4:36:12 AM
Daily Journal
BY JOHN L. PITTS
Daily Journal
TUPELO - The Mississippi MudCats were counting on an upgrade in their special teams this season and they certainly delivered last weekend.
Josh Smith averaged 24.8 yards on five kick returns and also toted a missed field goal 37 yards in the MudCats' 82-34 win against the Fayetteville Guard.
And remember, that's on a 50-yard field.
"Josh was able to give us great field position all night," said head coach Brian Brents, whose team takes on the Florida Stingrays (0-2) tonight at 7 on the turf at BancorpSouth arena.
The MudCats has 14 offensive drives last Saturday and six of them started inside the Fayetteville 20. Smith's returns put the MudCats in business twice in the third quarter on the Guard's 4 and 5.
Meanwhile, the visiting team's average drive started at its own 14 -five times at or inside its own 5. And that helped set up three safeties for the MudCats.
New kicker Trey Crum, from Delta State, hit a pair of 37-yard field goals, three one-point kickoffs, and benefited from downfield kickoff coverage that ranks No. 1 in the American Indoor Football Association this week.
Add it all up, and the home team easily improved to 10-0 in games played on the BCS Arena turf.
It'll be a tall order for the winless visitors.
The Stingrays, based in Fort Myers, Fla., opened the season with a 56-9 loss at Huntington on March 14, then opened their home season last weekend with a 49-35 loss to Augusta.
"They got better from the first half to the second half of their first game and improved a lot from the first game to the second," Brents said.
In the second half of that Augusta game, backup QB Antone Gadsden came on to throw five touchdowns in relief. The Stingrays' most productive receiver this season has been Rich Washington, with six catches for 88 yards and three TDs.
The Stingrays' roster includes some players and coaches from AIFA Gulf Coast Raiders franchise that visited the MudCats last season, losing 74-45.
Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 3/29/2008, section D , page 3
MudCats making 'special' effort
3/29/2008 4:36:12 AM
Daily Journal
BY JOHN L. PITTS
Daily Journal
TUPELO - The Mississippi MudCats were counting on an upgrade in their special teams this season and they certainly delivered last weekend.
Josh Smith averaged 24.8 yards on five kick returns and also toted a missed field goal 37 yards in the MudCats' 82-34 win against the Fayetteville Guard.
And remember, that's on a 50-yard field.
"Josh was able to give us great field position all night," said head coach Brian Brents, whose team takes on the Florida Stingrays (0-2) tonight at 7 on the turf at BancorpSouth arena.
The MudCats has 14 offensive drives last Saturday and six of them started inside the Fayetteville 20. Smith's returns put the MudCats in business twice in the third quarter on the Guard's 4 and 5.
Meanwhile, the visiting team's average drive started at its own 14 -five times at or inside its own 5. And that helped set up three safeties for the MudCats.
New kicker Trey Crum, from Delta State, hit a pair of 37-yard field goals, three one-point kickoffs, and benefited from downfield kickoff coverage that ranks No. 1 in the American Indoor Football Association this week.
Add it all up, and the home team easily improved to 10-0 in games played on the BCS Arena turf.
It'll be a tall order for the winless visitors.
The Stingrays, based in Fort Myers, Fla., opened the season with a 56-9 loss at Huntington on March 14, then opened their home season last weekend with a 49-35 loss to Augusta.
"They got better from the first half to the second half of their first game and improved a lot from the first game to the second," Brents said.
In the second half of that Augusta game, backup QB Antone Gadsden came on to throw five touchdowns in relief. The Stingrays' most productive receiver this season has been Rich Washington, with six catches for 88 yards and three TDs.
The Stingrays' roster includes some players and coaches from AIFA Gulf Coast Raiders franchise that visited the MudCats last season, losing 74-45.
Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 3/29/2008, section D , page 3
I agree - John Pitts has done a wonderful job of covering the MudCats this year. I think we've been in the paper 9 days running now.......