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June 22, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


af2 WEEK 13: QUICK HITTERS

MORGAN LEADS TRIO: Tulsa's DONOVAN MORGAN, Manchester's J.J. MCKELVEY, and Memphis' KEVIN PRENTISS are all on pace to break or tie both the receiving touchdowns in a season record and overall points scored in a season record. JACK WALKER currently holds the receiving touchdowns in a season record with 45 in 2003. SHON KING's 284 points in 2000 as a member of the Quad City Steamwheelers holds the mark for points in a season. Donovan Morgan leads this pack, averaging 3.45 touchdown catches a game and 22.54 total points per game.

MAKE SURE YOU ATTEND THIS WEEK: For the first time in league history af2 will observe a league wide bye week for the July 4th week. The bye week provides teams with an opportunity to rest and gear up for the final four weeks of the season before the 2005 ArenaCup Playoff start August 5-7.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING: The Manchester Wolves current win streak of ten games is the longest in arenafootball2 this season. It is tied for the fourth longest single season win streak in league history. The 2004 Tulsa Talons, 2002 Cape Fear Wildcats and 2001 Quad City Steamwheelers all won ten games in a row as well. A win over Quad City on Friday would vault Manchester to the third best regular season win streak in af2 history. All the more impressive is the Wolves have won by an average of 15.9 points, winning by two possessions or more in eight of the 10 games.

BLIZZARD BOUNCE BACK: It's amazing how quickly the Arena Football world can change. Last week the Green Bay Blizzard found themselves in a three game losing streak. They had seen their lead for second in the East Division disappear and were now tied with Wilkes-Barre/Scanton and Louisville at 6-4. But last week they went down to Louisville and beat the Fire 56-49. On top of that, the Pioneers lost to Macon. Now Green Bay holds a 7-4 record, third best in the American Conference and the tiebreaker with Louisville should it come to that.

af2.com TO FEATURE FAN PHOTOS: The league is inviting fans to send in pictures to be featured on af2.com. Each week af2.com will display pictures of fans enjoying af2 football. From pictures of kids dressed head to toe in team colors to fans tailgating before the game, af2.com is looking for pictures of how ever fans enjoy the af2. A different fan photo will be featured each week. Check out the "Weekly Fan Pictures" icon on af2.com for more information and how to submit a photo.

MACON A CHARGE: In the five games DEREK STINGLEY has been the head coach of the Macon Knights, the offense has averaged 53.0 points per game. In the Knights' six previous games Macon was averaging only 33.5 points per game. A nice improvement for a first time coach, especially considering Stingley played defensive specialist in the AFL.

RUSHIN' REESE: Amarillo Duster's quarterback JULIAN REESE is on pace to set the record for rushing touchdowns in a season. He currently has 22 rushing scores, with a pace of two per game. If he continues to score two rushing touchdowns a game, he would rack up 32 rushing scores on the season. This would beat WILMONT PERRY's record of 28 rushing touchdowns as a member of the Cape Fear Wildcats in 2003.

EFFICIENT EATON: Manchester Wolves' quarterback JAKE EATON is on pace to be af2's most efficient quarterback of all-time. His 74.3 completion percentage is 2.8 points better than Quad City's JAY MCDONAGH's 71.5 in 2001 which currently stands as the best single season completion percentage. McDonagh also holds the record for highest passer rating, at 131.9. Eaton is also on track to beat this record, as his passer rating is currently 132.3. Eaton's 10-1 record with the Manchester Wolves isn't too bad either. The Wolves host the Quad City Steamwheelers on Friday night.

KIBBLE SIGNS WITH PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers' kicker JIMMIE KIBBLE was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles last week. Kibble kicked in NFL Europe for the Cologne Centurions this spring. Kibble was Cologne's leading scorer, connecting on 17-of-19 extra points and 15-of-22 field goals for 62 total points.

FLORIDA CAN CLINCH DIVISION THIS WEEK: With a win against Macon, the Florida Firecats can clinch their second straight division title. In the history of af2, only six other teams have won two or more consecutive division titles. They are Quad City (2000-01 and 2003-04), Tallahassee (2001-02), Tennessee Valley (2001-04), Tulsa (2002-04), Cape Fear (2002-03) and Albany (2002-03).

PLAYOFF SPOTS AVAILABLE: The Green Bay Blizzard can clinch their first ever playoff berth on Friday with a victory over Birmingham combined with an Albany loss to Louisville. Memphis can earn their second playoff berth in franchise history with a victory over Oklahoma City or either a Central Valley or Quad City loss. Central Valley plays at Bakersfield and Quad City plays at Manchester on Friday.

MEMPHIS-OKLAHOMA CITY DATE CHANGED: Just a reminder, the Memphis Xplorers and Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz will play on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. eastern at the Ford Center. The game was originally scheduled to be played on Saturday, but instead the game will now be played on Friday night.

IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY: In 2005 six teams from each the American and National Conference qualify for the playoffs. The six qualifying teams in each conference consist of the two division champions and four Wild Cards, determined by best overall record. Seeding in each conference is based on overall record, with the top two seeds in each conference reserved for the division champions, regardless of record. In the First Round (August 5-7), the two division winners in each conference receive a bye. The top-seeded Wild Card team hosts the lowest-seeded Wild Card team, while the No. 2 seeded Wild Card team hosts the No. 3 seeded Wild Card team. In the Second Round (August 12-14), the division winners who had byes in the First Round host the winners from the First Round. The top seeded division champion plays the lowest seeded team advancing from the First Round, while the second-seeded division winner plays the other winner from the First Round. The winners of the Second Round will meet for the Conference Championships on the weekend of August 19-21. For this round seeding no longer matters, meaning the team with the better overall record hosts the Conference Championship game. The winners of the Conference Championships face off in the 2005 ArenaCup on August 27 at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City, Louisiana televised on FOX Sports Net.

AMERICAN CONFERENCE 1. Manchester (10-1) - y 2. Florida (9-2) - y 3. Green Bay (7-4) 4. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (6-5) - Currently holds HTH advantage over LOU 5. Louisville (6-5) 6. Macon (5-6) --------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Albany (3-8) 8. Arkansas (2-9) - Currently holds point differential tiebreaker 9. South Georgia (2-9) 10. Birmingham (1-10) First Round games would be: MAC @ GBB; LOU @ WBS; MAN, FLO receive bye

NATIONAL CONFERENCE 1. Memphis (10-1) 2. Tulsa (8-3) 3. Amarillo (7-4) - Currently holds better win% over common opponents 4. Rio Grande Valley (7-4) 5. Oklahoma City (6-5) 6. Quad City (5-6) - Currently holds better win% over common opponents ---------------------------------------------------------- 7. Central Valley (5-6) 8. Bakersfield (4-7) - Currently holds HTH advantage over SAN 9. San Diego (4-7) 10. Bossier-Shreveport (3-8) First Round games would be: QUA @ AMA; OKC @ RGV; MEM, TUL receive bye

y - clinched playoff spot *Teams in bold currently lead their respective division; SOS = Strength of schedule; HTH = Head-to-head

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