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It's rematch time for the Hawaiian Islanders tonight and for most of the final 10 games of their inaugural season. Islanders want to
‘kick’ losing habitBy Nick Abramo
nabramo@starbulletin.comOnly two of their remaining games are against opponents they haven't already faced.
The Islanders are in Tulsa for another shot at beating the Talons, who are in the top echelon of arenafootball2. Kickoff is 2:30 p.m. Hawaii time and the game can be heard on tape delay on KCCN 1420-AM at 6 p.m.
Two weeks ago, the Talons (5-1) handed Hawaii (1-5) a 70-42 loss at the Blaisdell Arena.
Part of the Islanders' game plan for tonight is devoted to slowing down Mitch Allner, who scored on three touchdown passes and two kickoff returns in the previous meeting.
"Defensively, we've got to rise to the challenge and stop Allner," Hawaii coach Chad Carlson said. "We've got to do the things we know we can do to stop him.
"We've got to read and recognize this second time around. We know what play is coming at us --there's only so much you can do in arena ball --so I think we'll have a better feel for what he can do."
Tulsa, the af2 National Conference Central Division leader, is coming off an 85-42 victory over division rival Arkansas. According to Carlson, the Talons nearly had 100 points, but two scores were called back because of penalties.
"In the last game (in Hawaii), Tulsa brought an aggressive, fast-paced team," Carlson said. "And we were hanging tough with them and leading the game, but this is our chance to see the result of putting four good quarters together."
Carlson also thinks Tulsa's field, which is about 13 yards longer from end boards to end boards than the Blaisdell field, will allow Darrell Jones to give Hawaii better field position with his trademark kickoff returns. Two weeks ago, the Talons' Tony Dodson boomed nearly all of his kickoffs over the end-zone net, leaving Jones no opportunity to do his stuff.
"I honestly think that should be a big plus for us," Carlson said. "Darrell is the most electrifying kick returner in the league, and we've got to capitalize on every drive."
Kickers have caused the Islanders a lot of pain in the past two weeks. Dodson also drilled what was originally thought to be a league-record 63-yard field goal against the Islanders, but the kick lost some luster overnight when the Star-Bulletin found the field to be smaller than advertised.
Then, last week in a thrilling finish, San Diego's Ryan Geisler knocked home a 40-yard field goal as time ran out to edge Hawaii 52-50. The kick wiped out the Islanders' comeback effort and outdid what almost every fan in the Blaisdell thought was going to end up as the winning touchdown --Darnell Arceneaux's 9-yard TD pass to Robert Kemfort with 7.3 seconds left.
"The only bad feeling I had was for the guys, who gave it everything they had," Carlson said.
There's one thing about the San Diego game that Carlson will never forget.
"We watched film of that game on Monday, and after we scored that TD, the fans were going crazy," he said. "There was no volume on our film, but you could almost feel the emotion through the TV screen. Some of the fans were dancing, and our guys were in awe that these people came out to cheer for them.
"We stopped the film right there because it was an all-time high and I wanted the guys to remember it, so we didn't bother to watch the field goal."
Notes: After the Tulsa game, the Islanders play at division rivals Fresno and San Diego the next two weeks. ... Hawaii, which has lost five in a row, is tied with Fresno for third place in the four-team National Conference West Division. Bakersfield (4-1) leads the division, followed by San Diego (3-3). ... The Islanders play the Blitz, Riptide and Frenzy twice more this season, and they've also got a rematch with defending league champion Quad City (4-2). Peoria (4-2) and Arkansas (3-3) are the other teams on the Islanders' schedule. Peoria defeated Quad City 81-56 last weekend. ... After this trip, Hawaii will have traveled 25,166 miles on three trips.
Hawaiian Islanders