Islanders fall
on the roadLITTLE ROCK, Ark. >> The Hawaiian Islanders learned the hard way yesterday that slow starts don't cut it in arena football.
The Arkansas Twisters broke the Islanders' four-game winning streak with a 58-39 victory at Little Rock's AllTell Arena.
The 8,633 in attendance watched the Twisters take an early 21-0 lead and gain complete control with a 35-7 bulge at the half.
The Islanders made some adjustments at the break and got as close as 41-25 after three quarters, but they never found a way to slow the Twisters' offense.
"It's disappointing to go on a long road trip and lose," Islanders coach Cal Lee said. "Arkansas played awfully well and didn't make many mistakes. They came to play."
Despite the loss, the Islanders (7-3) remained on top of arenafootball2's National Conference Western Division because the second-place Wichita Stealth (6-4) lost 66-31 to the Tennessee Valley Vipers (9-0).
The Islanders' defensive backfield had problems defending Twisters quarterback Ricky Hebert, who completed 19 of 32 passes for 261 yards and four touchdowns. Two of the scores went to Prince Williams for 40 and 47 yards.
"He (the 6-foot-2, 202-pound Williams) is a pretty big receiver and he was going up and outjumping us, and sometimes we weren't in the right position," said 5-7, 165-pound defensive back Darrell Jones. "But Arkansas wasn't as good as the score makes them sound. We made a lot of mental mistakes, stuff that could have been prevented."
Hebert's aerials also set up four touchdown runs, including two 1-yard bursts by Reggie Cooley.
"It's tough for those guys in the defensive backfield because it's an offensive game," Lee said. "They (Twisters) made more big plays than we did."
Twice, the Islanders appeared to have Arkansas stopped inside the 10, but penalties on fourth down gave the Twisters (5-4) new life and they scored both times.
Overall, the Islanders were penalized 13 times for 86 yards, more than double the Twisters' totals of six for 36 yards.
Another mistake hurt the Islanders' second-half comeback. Jones intercepted an Hebert pass and returned it 18 yards, but he fumbled the ball away.
Jones also caught one of five Mike Tillis touchdown passes and made four tackles.
Tillis, making his second start in place of injured Darnell Arceneaux, was 12 of 23. Anthony Arceneaux, Darnell's brother, caught touchdown passes of 38 and 11 yards in the third quarter. He finished with five catches for 84 yards.
"We were trying to find some little openings that we could exploit," Anthony Arceneaux said. "It just so happened that I was the one to find a couple. I was just trying to do my part and give us some momentum and get a rally going."
Nian Taylor caught three passes for 50 yards and two touchdowns and added to team records for touchdowns (21) and receiving yards (809) in a season.
Eddie Klaneski led all Islanders tacklers with 12.
Lee was happy to see the Islanders come out hungry in the second half.
"I don't care what the lead is, you still have to play four quarters," he said. "I told them at halftime that they have to play harder if they want to win. And we started off real well in the second half, scoring real quick and getting some momentum, but we could never get close."
The Islanders host the Peoria Pirates on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Blaisdell Arena.
"It's a tough loss, but we've got more games," Lee said. "We'll move on, just like when we win a game, we move on. You can't dwell on it."
Hawaiian Islanders 0 7 18 14 -- 39 Arkansas Twisters 14 21 6 17 -- 58
First quarter
ARK -- Chris Robinson 4 pass from Ricky Hebert (Mark Norris kick)
ARK -- Prince Williams 40 pass from Hebert (Norris kick)
Second quarter
ARK -- Lennie Johnson 45 pass from Hebert (Norris kick)
HAW -- Darrell Jones 41 pass from Mike Tillis (Kimo Naehu kick)
ARK -- Reggie Cooley 1 run (Norris kick)
ARK -- Kevin Williams 1 run (Norris kick)
Third quarter
HAW -- Nian Taylor 16 pass from Tillis (kick failed)
ARK -- Johnson 4 run (kick failed)
HAW -- Anthony Arceneaux 38 pass from Tillis (dropkick failed)
HAW -- Arceneaux 11 pass from Tillis (dropkick failed)
Fourth quarter
ARK -- P. Williams 47 pass from Hebert (Norris kick)
ARK -- Cooley 1 run (Norris kick)
HAW -- Taylor 7 pass from Tillis (pass failed)
ARK -- Norris FG 24
HAW -- Vai Notoa 1 run (Notoa run)
RUSHING -- Haw: Tillis 3-5, Notoa 1-1. Ark: Cooley 9-16, Johnson 2-6, Hebert 2-4, K. Williams 2-3, Darron Collins 2-0.
PASSING -- Haw: Tillis 12-23-2-231. Ark: Hebert: 19-32-2-261, K. Williams 0-2-0-0, Team 0-0-0-(minus-8).
RECEIVING -- Haw: Arceneaux 5-84, Jones 2-51, Taylor 3-50, Isaac White 2-46. Ark: P. Williams 5-110, Johnson 5-79, Ted Alford 6-50, K. Williams 1-12, Bruce Bailey 1-6, Chris Robinson 1-4.