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Islanders in a The Fresno Frenzy arrived in Hawaii on Wednesday, but patches of football frenzy have been here and in California awhile.
frenzy to start
first season
The season opens tonight for
the new indoor-football teamBy Nick Abramo
nabramo@starbulletin.comThe Hawaiian Islanders and the Frenzy -- two new arenafootball2 league teams -- have been frantically preparing the past few weeks for tonight's season opener.
"We only had three weeks to get ready, so who knows what's going to go on," Islanders coach Guy Benjamin said. "I think it's going to be anything goes. Any advantage should come by making the least amount of mistakes and, conversely, being able to capitalize."
As of Thursday, just under 3,000 tickets had been issued for the 7 p.m. game at the Blaisdell Arena, which holds about 6,400. Team officials also expect a big attendance boost from walk-up fans.
Fresno's Eddie Klaneski, the former Hawaii wonderboy safety, is looking forward to playing in his home state again.
"I'm kind of excited and I'm kind of wondering what's going to happen," said Klaneski, who is a starting wide receiver and defensive back. "I'm not playing for Hawaii, so I'm a little nervous about what people are going to think and say about me, but I'm happy about it."
One of the Islanders' drawing cards is quarterback Darnell Arceneaux, who starred at St. Louis School and the University of Utah. He's satisfied with the team's progress.
"We're way ahead of where I thought we'd be," he said. "Everybody has done a great job getting in shape and learning both the offense and the defense. We're jelling at the right time for our first game.
"The biggest thing about this game is that there's two brand-new teams that have never played together as a whole. There will be first-game jitters and first-game mistakes and lots of guys getting used to arena rules. But, we're all professionals, and we'll adapt."
The Islanders will wear their home red jerseys with yellow and black trim, while the Frenzy will be in white with blue and black trim.
The Islanders' road jerseys are white with red, yellow and black trim, and they'll be put to use on April 20 when they visit the defending af2 champion Quad City Steamwheelers in Iowa. The Islanders have a bye next Saturday, before hosting the Bakersfield Blitz on April 13.
Fresno coach Rick Worman said it's hard to assess the Frenzy's progress.
"We've been playing against ourselves, so the true test is against the Islanders," he said. "The guys genuinely respect each other and are trying to build team chemistry. They've been banging on each other for 2 1/2 weeks, so it's going to be nice to be banging on someone else."
Coach Benjamin offered some insights into the arena game, which is much more offense-oriented than the NFL.
"You want the other team to hurry up and score so you can get the ball back and score," he said. "I've seen coaches use clock management to have the ball last, like in basketball when you want to have the ball to take the final shot.
"Sometimes the team that stops the other team once or twice gets a big advantage," Benjamin added. "For this game, we don't know if it's going to be high scoring because of a lot of mistakes or low scoring because of a lot of mistakes."
Arceneaux's main targets to start with are offensive specialist Darrell Jones and wide receivers Isaac White and Robert Kemfort. Derek Zoller is the fullback and Morrie Roe is the tight end, with Miles Garner at center and Olen Rosehill at guard.
Katsuhiro Motono of Japan is a starting defensive specialist along with Kenny Harper. Chris Paogofie starts at linebacker and Tiki Sagapolutele is the nose tackle.
Kemfort (DB), Zoller (LB), Garner and Roe (DEs) are two-way starters.
Klaneski, a two-time All-WAC defensive back, said he and the Frenzy are ready.
"The arena game works around exactly what I do," he said. "I was on offense for two years at UH and on defense for two. I can play both sides, and that works to my advantage.
"We've been practicing for several weeks now, bonding together as a team, and we're pretty strong at playing together and are good at doing what we're doing."
Ricky Ray, who played at Sacramento State, is Fresno's starting quarterback, while Eric Mahanke (WR/LB), Blake Eagal (FB/LB), Jeremy Dominguez (OL/DL) and Derrick Jinks (C/NT) are two-way starters.
Notes: Benjamin was asked to rate some categories on a scale of 1 percent to 100 percent. He said the Islanders' excitement level for the first game ranges from 90 percent to 100 percent. Other categories were preparedness despite short camp and starting from scratch (75 percent), offensive execution (75 percent), defensive execution (75 percent) and commitment (100 percent).
"If we had another four or five days to prepare, we'd be closer to 100 percent," Benjamin said. "The players have given up a lot in terms of families and jobs. They're working all day and coming out to three-hour practices at night. That's admirable." ... Worman's ratings were similar: excitement (100 percent), preparedness (80 percent), offensive execution (60 percent), defensive execution (60 percent) and commitment (100 percent). ... Quad City went 18-1 en route to the title last year. The Steamwheelers beat the Richmond Speed 55-51 in the championship game. ... af2 has 34 teams, up from 28 last year. Ten teams are new and four teams from a year ago are gone. ... The league is divided into two conferences and eight divisions. The Islanders are in the National Conference West Division along with Fresno, Bakersfield and the San Diego Riptide, and all four expansion teams meet each other three times during their 16-game schedules. ... Gov. Ben Cayetano has proclaimed today "Hawaiian Islanders' Day." ... The game will be shown live on Oceanic Cable's pay-per-view Channel 77, and it will also be broadcast on a tape-delayed basis on KCCN 1420-AM at approximately 9 p.m. after the Hawaii vs. Hawaii-Hilo baseball game.
Starting lineup
Offense
No. Pos. Name Ht. Wt. 14 QB Darnell Arceneaux 6-2 220 1 OS Darrell Jones 5-7 165 40 WR Isaac White 6-2 235 26 WR Robert Kemfort 6-2 230 42 FB Derek Zoller 6-2 280 44 TE Morrie Roe 6-2 285 74 C Miles Garner 6-2 300 45 G Olen Rosehill 6-2 290 Defense
No. Pos. Name Ht. Wt. 18 DS Katsuhiro Motono 5-9 185 3 DS Kenny Harper 5-10 180 24 DB Robert Kemfort 6-2 230 22 LB Chris Paogofie 6-0 220 42 LB Derek Zoller 6-2 280 44 DE Morrie Roe 6-2 285 50 NT Tiki Sagapolutele 6-4 270 74 DE Miles Garner 6-2 300 Specialists
No. Pos. Name Ht. Wt. 17 K Jake Huggins 5-9 175 1 H Darrell Jones 5-7 165 22 LS Chris Paogofie 6-0 220 Coaches: Guy Benjamin, head coach; Al Noga, defensive coordinator, defensive line; Chad Carlson, offensive coordinator, wide receivers, player personnel director; Doug Semones, special teams coordinator, defensive backs; Jon Dia, offensive line; Darren Hernandez, fullbacks, linebackers.
Schedule
Games at Blaisdell Arena unless otherwise noted
All home games on pay-per-view
Date, opponent, time (Hawaii time)
March 30, Fresno, 7 p.m.; April 13, Bakersfield, 7 p.m.; April 20, at Quad City, 2 p.m.; April 27, at Wichita, 2:30 p.m.; May 4, Tulsa, 7 p.m.;
May 11, San Diego, 7 p.m.; May 18, at Tulsa, 2:30 p.m.; May 25, at Fresno, 4:30 pm.; June 1, at San Diego, 4 p.m.; June 8, Peoria, 7 p.m.;
June 15, San Diego, 7 p.m.; June 22, at Bakersfield, 4 p.m.; June 29, Bakersfield, 7 p.m.; July 12, at Arkansas, 2 p.m.; July 20, Quad City, 7 p.m.; July 27, at Fresno, 4:30 p.m.
How af2 is different
>> The indoor field is 50 yards long and 85 feet wide and is surrounded by padded boards. >> Rebound nets at the end of the end zone are 30 feet wide and 32 feet high. >> A pass that hits the net is considered in play until it touches the ground. >> Teams have 20-man active rosters, and eight players per team are on the field at one time. >> Players play both offense and defense with the exception of the kicker, quarterback, offensive specialist and two defensive specialists. >> Only one substitution for all nonspecialists is allowed per 15-minute quarter. >> Four offensive players must line up on the line of scrimmage. Three defensive players must be down linemen. >> One linebacker can blitz. >> Players line up 2 yards or more off the line of scrimmage. >> A receiver can go in forward motion, but not across the line of scrimmage before the snap. >> Punting is illegal. On fourth down, a team can go for a first down, a touchdown or a field goal. >> Field goals are worth four points. Field goals after a touchdown are worth two points. >> Kickoffs are made from the goal line. >> Receiving teams can return any kickoff or missed field goal that bounces off the net.