Twister making noise.(THE PLAYING FIELD)(Brief article)

If you're looking for the next potential Arkansas-connected superstar in the making, then check out the Arkansas Twisters' Rod Harper.

NFL scouts already know about the arena football 2 league newcomer, who is on pace to shatter a Twisters team record that was seemingly untouchable. Through seven games and with nine more to go, Harper had 31 touchdown catches, with the team mark being set last year at 43 by Chris Denny. He's two short of the 33 caught in one season by Reggie Swinton, who turned his af2 stint into a career as a returner and receiver in the NFL. Before Denny (who also has had an NFL look) came along for the Twisters, Swinton's 33 scores topped the all-time list. Other numbers that put Harper's recent feats in perspective are the 29 TDs by fan favorite Lennie Johnson in 2002; the 27 by John Dollar in the team's first year, 2000; and former Arkansas State star Robert Kilow's 23 and 26 catches for TDs in the 2006 and '07 seasons.

In Bossier City in Week 6, Harper caught a 2009 af2 single-game best 22 passes for 251 yards and six touchdowns, the fourth best receiving night in league history and a Twisters record in catches and yards. He tied the team's single game TD mark.

Harper, a product of Bradenton, Fla., played at MurrayState in 2005-2007, where his best season was his last: 55 catches for 703 yards and 10 touchdowns.

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