Turnpike rivalry resumes for Talons Saturday night.

Justin Allgood may become the Talons all-time pass leader Saturday. 

TULSA, OK--It's a yearly classic in arena football.  Played out twice a season since 2004, the rivalry between the Tulsa Talons (3-3) and the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz (2-3) is slowly becoming legend in the annals of arena football history.  It will all come to a head on Saturday night in the amazing BOK Center.

In the 2010 chapter a record may be set by Talons QB Justin Allgood.  Earlier this season the general of the Talons offense became the Talons all time leader in touchdown passes and on Saturday night, if he passes for more than 262 yards he will pass former Talons QB and assistant coach Craig Strickland to become the Talons all time leading passer.  Allgood is 4th all time in the AFL in total passing.

Donovan "Spiderman" Morgan is one of Allgood's favorite targets this season.  The 6-3, 220-pound wide receiver currently ranks second in the AFL in total scoring (132 points) and fourth in receiving yards per game at 125.8.  And wideout Jeff Hughley currently ranks second in the league in all purpose yards with 1,092.

Add this to Odie Armstrong ranking third in the league in rushing with 101 yards, including a record setting 37-yard touchdown sprint in the Talons last home game against Alabama and you see why the Talons offense currently ranks second in total scoring. 

The 2-4 OKC squad will be no pushover, however.

Tulsa’s pass defense will again be challenged just one week after allowing nine touchdown passes to Cleveland. The Yard Dawgz rank third in the AFL in pass efficiency at 121.6, thanks to former University of Oklahoma and Utah quarterback Tommy Grady.
Grady has completed 150-of-225 passes for 1,816 yards and 35 TDs and five interceptions.

Grady’s favorite targets are wide receivers Anthony Hines and Al Hunt. The duo has combined for 66 catches for 889 yards and 21 TDs. Timon Marshall is third in the league with 964 all purpose yards.  Tulsa leads the all-time series 9-5 in the regular season and 2-0 in the postseason against OKC. But this is the first battle between rivals in the new AFL.

Talons players and cheerleaders visit local elementary school to promote fitness.

A few of the Talons players cheerleaders and their mascot Swoop visited the students at John Burroughs Elementary on Tuesday, May 19th to help motivate kids to stay physically fit and to help combat childhood obesity.

They conducted morning and afternoon camp sessions that included ring toss games, a hula hoop contest and a parachute game that gave every student at the school an opportunity to interact with the Talons players and cheerleaders.  The Talons cheerleaders even taught the students some cheers they could use when attending future Talons games.

The kids enjoyed having Swoop there most of all.  Every student had a chance to get a hug or a picture with the famous Talons mascot.

John Burroughs Elementary is the adopted school of ONEOK Inc., corporate sponsor of the Talons.This event was the kickoff of the 2010 Corporate Care Initiative, a campaign to motivate kids to make positive life decisions, as part of the Corporate Care partnership of the Talons and ONEOK Inc.

As part of the program, all of the Burroughs students and their parents received tickets to the upcoming home game against the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz on Saturday, May 22nd and the BOK Center.

The Tulsa Talons and ONEOK will continue to offer the game ticket rewards system for such organizations as the Tulsa Boys Home, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Laura Dester Shelter/Youth Services and YMCA of Greater Tulsa in the near future.

Tickets for Saturday nights game and all remaining Talons home games can be purchased at the BOK Center box office, tulsatalons.com or by phone at 294-1000.  All Talons games are carried live on the radio at am740 and fm102.3 KRMG with Rick Couri providing the play-by-play call.  The Talons can also be seen live via the internet by clicking the Nifty TV icon on the Talons website.