DALLAS, TX- With two days left to prepare, the Dallas Vigilantes feel confident going into their Saturday, noon battle with Tulsa Talons at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. There will be much more than just home pride in this match-up of neighboring states, as a win for either team is crucial in the race for the Central Division crown.
Still formulating Saturday’s game plan, Vigilante head coach Clint Dolezel vows that his players will be focused and ready to go by the opening kickoff.
“We’re not where we want to be yet, but we will be once we’re finished breaking down the film,” Dolezel said. “We kind of had a late start this week, but we’ll be fine come Saturday. It’s certainly an added bonus to have the scrimmage film on Tulsa, along with their game against Georgia last week. They’ve been doing some similar things, but we know that their personnel is going to be different from when we faced them in the preseason. They will be a much better team this time around, but we will as well. It’s going to be a great game.”
Currently, the Talons will come to Dallas boasting the League’s number one rushing attack, as well as the number one rush defense. Vigilante fullback Derrick Ross, who led the Vigilantes rushing game last week with 15 carries for 69 yards and four touchdowns in the win over Kansas City, knows that to be successful, he has to throw the stats out the window and just play football.
“I’m just going to go out there and do my thing,” Ross said. “I know they have some good players on the defensive side of the ball, so I’m definitely going to have to step it up, and I will. If the offensive line does their part and I do my part, it all turns into six points.”
Not having faced a rushing attempt so far this season, the Vigilante defense knows the challenge ahead of them on Saturday, the main one in keeping Tulsa’s elusive quarterback Bobby Reid in front of them and, preferably, on the ground.
Vigilante All-Arena linebacker and former Tulsa Talon Steve Watson, knows the Dallas defense will be up for the challenge.
“Coach Allner is a phenomenal coach,” Watson said. “But for any coach and for any team, there are always going to be tendencies and weaknesses to exploit. Tulsa is a young team, and we are familiar with some of their blocking schemes and play calling, so we are definitely going to try and take advantage of that. That being said, I’m sure Coach Allner will throw a couple of different wrinkles in there.”
“We are not intimidated [by their offense]. They do have Bobby Reid at quarterback, who’s a heck of a player, and we know he can run. We’ll have to be mindful of our rushing lanes going into this game, because he has the ability to burn you on the ground. We know that they’ll have some quarterback draws up their sleeve, but Coach Dolezel has done a great job preparing us for them. We’ll be ready.”
Tickets for the week two matinee are still available, with single-game tickets starting as low as $8. For ticket information, call 877-554-3668 or visit DallasVigilantes.com
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