Wide receivers form potent combination for Dorados

HIDALGO – There’s more to the Dorados’ offense than just quarterback Nick Hill and wide receiver Rod Windsor.

Yes, Hill and Windsor combined to set both team and af2 records. Hill, in 15 starts, passed for 4,517 yards and 93 TDs, both team records. Windsor meanwhile set league records in receptions (184) plus TDs and receiving TDs (59), and points (374).

Receivers Bret Smith and Ramonce Taylor, however, add more than just depth at the position. With Windsor, Smith and Taylor playing together since the first week of the season, the Dorados offense tied the team record for points in a game during their 78-51 win over Corpus Christi. The three combined for 22 catches, 324 yards, and 8 TD receptions, not to mention Taylor’s 53-yard second-quarter kickoff return for a score.

“If we keep playing like that, we’ll end up in Las Vegas,” Taylor said, referencing the site of the Arena Cup. “The chemistry is there. We’re helping each other out with the spacing on the field and everything.” 

CLEANING UP

Unless they’re getting sacks or causing fumbles, most defensive linemen don’t get too much spotlight. So, when a Dorados lineman does sack the quarterback, recently they’ve been making sure to grab just a little bit more attention and have some fun while they’re doing it.

After each sack since the Dorados’ July 3 win over Oklahoma City, they’ve celebrated by mimicking a shoe-shine, with the player who recorded the sack putting one of his feet on the knee of a kneeling teammate.

“We were out here pre-game warming up and me and the rest of the guys got to throwing some stuff around,” defensive end Quinton Staton said. “We just came up with that.”

The Dorados tied for sixth in the league with 28 sacks, including nine over their last two games. Valentin Chude’s 10.5 sacks were good for a tie for sixth overall, while Staton finished with 10, which was eighth-best.

GOOD VIBES

The Dorados’ win last week did more than just give them a two-game winning streak and a winning record heading into the playoffs. It gave them momentum, something they wouldn’t have if they had repeated their performance from one week earlier, a surprisingly tough 44-37 win over Tri-Cities.

Instead of limping into the playoffs after another struggle with a poor team, they routed the 2-14 Sharks.

“I thought we played better overall,” coach Marty Hammond said. “The defense came out a little sluggish but we picked it up. It was good to get a win like that going into the playoffs.”

Hammond also didn’t discount the importance of winning the way the Dorados did heading into the postseason.

“I think it makes the guys feel better about what they’re doing, getting a convincing win like that,” Hammond said. “I don’t think we struggled, maybe we did a bit early, but finishing them off and winning by a large margin helps your psyche and how you’re feeling.”

’CATS FIRED

Though their 7-9 record was good enough to get them into the American Conference playoffs, the Florida Firecats will not be participating in the postseason. The league announced on Tuesday that the Firecats, who would have been the conference’s No. 7 seed, are ineligible for postseason play because of their failure to pay more than $100,000 owed to the af2.

“It's this simple: while the Florida Firecats qualified for playoffs on the field, their ownership disqualified them by not paying their bills,” Paul Ross, owner of the Tulsa Talons and the Chairman of af2’s Finance Committee, said in a statement.

The Firecats’ disqualification allowed Albany, which finished ninth in the American Conference, to advance to the postseason to face top-seeded Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, while Manchester, which would have been No. 8, moved up to No. 7 to play Iowa.

Brian Sandalow covers the Rio Grande Valley Dorados for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.