AF2 Twisters win to set up showdown in finale

— The Arkansas Twisters did their part.

Going into Saturday's game, Arkansas had to defeat the Tulsa Talons and get a little help in order to clinch the Southwest Division of Arena Football 2's National Conference.

The Twisters (11-4) avenged a road loss earlier in the season to the Talons (12-3) with an 81-55 victory in front of an announced crowd of 4,621 at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.

It was the second-most points scored by the Twisters this season, falling just shy of the 82 they scored against Corpus Christi on May 30.

For the Twisters to wrap up the division title, they had to win and hope for a victory by the hapless Corpus Christi Sharks over the Bossier-Shreveport BattleWings. The Sharks lost 60-35 to fall to 2-13. That means that the Twisters' season finale at Bossier-Shreveport next week will be for the title and right to be a host team in the first round of the playoffs.

"This game was great, but nextweek is the key," Twisters Coach Chris Siegfried said. "You always want to beat Tulsa, but a chance to win the division is bigger."

Saturday's game did give Twisters receiver Aaron Fairooz another chance to shine. In his fourth game with the team, hefinished with six touchdown receptions against the Talons, including a 33-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Rowley in the second quarter that put the Twisters ahead for good.

Fairooz started in the backfield, took one cut at the line of scrimmage and raced past Tulsa defensive back Carlos Campbell as the Twisters went up 14-7. The former Central Arkansas receiver led the Twisters with 12 receptions for 118 yards, his fourth consecutive game with more than 100 yards receiving.

In the third quarter, another Twisters receiver, Xavier Lee, pulled an 8-yard pass out of the hands of a Talons defensive back as the Twisters increased their lead to 21-7. It was that kind of night for the Twisters.

Lee, a former quarterback at Florida State, finished with 7 receptions for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns.

"We've got a lot of talented receivers on this team," Fairooz said. "If they start keying on one of us, there's plenty more guys who can step up and make them pay."

Fairooz also showed off some footwork in the second quarter. The former Central Arkansas receiver caught a slant route from Rowley at the 11 near the left sideline and juked past three Talons defensive backs before walking into the end zone as the Twisters went up 34-14 with 3:24 left in the opening half.

The Talons were only outgained in total offense 290-253, but five turnovers proved to be too much for them to overcome.

Sports, Pages 25 on 07/19/2009

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