Birmingham Steeldogs Game Notes
June 7, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Alabama Steeldogs News Release
STEELDOGS HOPE TO EXTINGUISH THE FIRE
The Steeldogs dropped their eighth game of the season in Estero, Fla., this past weekend, falling 56-40 to the third-ranked Florida Firecats, the af2Â’s defending champion. This week, the Louisville Fire will make their way down to the BJCC Arena, losers of four of their last five games. Last weekend, the Fire fell 47-41 at Quad City.
Birmingham dropped their first game against the Fire in Week 4, 48-46 at Freedom Hall in Louisville. Steeldogs Head Coach Bobby Humphrey has never beaten LouisvilleÂ’s Tommy Johnson since Johnson took the FireÂ’s head job in 2003.
COACHES
BOBBY HUMPHREY, BIRMINGHAM STEELDOGS
YEARS IN THE AF2: 6 YEARS AT BIR: 6
OVERALL RECORD: 50-44 (.532) RECORD AT BIR: 50-44
REGULAR SEASON: 48-41 (.539)
POSTSEASON: 2-3 (.400)
RECORD VS LOUISVILLE: 3-2 (.600)
Coach Humphrey returns for his sixth season as the head coach of the Birmingham Steeldogs. He is the longest-tenured coach in af2 football, as well as the all-time winningest. In 2004, Humphrey surpassed friend and long-time rival Kevin Porter as the leagueÂ’s most victorious head man with his 46th win.
Bobby is a 2004 inductee into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. He currently resides in Birmingham with his wife Barbara and their five children.
TOMMY JOHNSON, LOUISVILLE FIRE
YEARS IN THE AF2: 3 YEARS AT LOU: 3
OVERALL RECORD: 20-22 (.476) RECORD AT FLA: 20-22
REGULAR SEASON: 19-21 (.475)
POSTSEASON: 1-1 (.500)
RECORD VS STEELDOGS: 2-0 (1.000)
In 2001, Johnson began his coaching career with the Fire as defensive coordinator. After two seasons as defensive coordinator Johnson was named head coach three games into the 2003 season, when the Fire made the late run winning two of those three games. In 2004, Johnson led the Fire to its first winning season (9-7).
He then attended the University of Alabama where he played Defensive Back. His senior class at U of A was known for having the most wins in a four year time period with a record of 45 wins and 5 losses. Johnson played for Alabama in the 1992 National Championship game. He played with two different AFL teams before moving into coaching: the Albany Firebirds and the Carolina Cobras.
2005 STEELDOGS SCHEDULE
REGULAR SEASON: 1-8
DATE OPPONANT TIME SERIES/RES.
4/9 San Diego 7:00 L, 57-58
4/14 at Macon 6:30 L, 50-67
4/23 Memphis 7:00 L, 24-60
4/30 at Louisville 6:30 L, 46-48
5/7 South Georgia 7:00 L, 49-69
5/14 at San Diego 9:00 L, 44-77
5/21 at Arkansas 7:00 L, 60-61
5/28 Green Bay 7:00 W, 55-26
6/4 at Florida 6:30 L, 40-56
6/11 Louisville 7:00 BIR Leads 3-2
6/18 at Memphis 7:00 BIR Leads 3-1
6/24 at Green Bay 7:00 BIR Leads 2-0
7/9 Macon 7:00 BIR Leads 4-3
7/16 at South Georgia 6:30 SGA Leads 2-0
7/23 Arkansas 7:00 Series Tied 4-4
7/30 Florida 7:00 Series Tied 3-3
GAME INFORMATION:
Date: Saturday, June 11
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m.
Arena: BJCC Arena
Capacity: 16,000
Television: None
Steeldogs Radio Network:
Flagship: WJOX AM-690
Play-By-Play: Matt Coulter
Color: Roger Shultz
Series Records: BIR leads 3-2
Officials: R: Larry Mallam, U: Conrad Carney, HL:
Abdullah Salaam, LJ: Larry Neal, BJ: Wayne Gautney
STEELDOGS-FIRE SERIES
The Steeldogs and Fire have faced off five times since the Northern Kentucky-based franchise began af2 play in 2001.
April 14, 2001: Birmingham 39 Louisville 21
At Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky., the Fire opened Freedom Hall on a melancholy note, falling 39-21 to the Birmingham Steeldogs. Steeldogs QB Chris Windsor completed 14 of 24 passes for 176 yards while BirminghamÂ’s defense picked off three Fire passes.
June 7, 2002: Birmingham 45 Louisville 32
At the BJCC Arena, for the second time in the series, both teams fought to a low scoring end as the Steeldogs picked up their first series home win, 45-32. OS Wayne Thomas caught nine passes for 116 yards, all but 42 of the teamÂ’s total passing output. Anthony Payton paced the Fire with six catches for 127 yards.
July 27, 2002: Birmingham 77 Louisville 44
At Freedom Hall, BirminghamÂ’s last series win was also their most lop-sided road victory in team history, 77-44. Louisville committed four turnovers in the 33 point loss, while Steeldogs QB Montressa Kirby and OS Herman Bell could do no wrong. Kirby connected on 17 of 24 pass attempts for 234 yards. Bell caught seven passes for 116 yards.
May 10, 2003: Louisville 40 Birmingham 37
At the BJCC Arena, Louisville picked up their first victory over the Steeldogs, 40-37, as Marc Samuel nailed a 26-yard field goal at the end of the fourth quarter. The FireÂ’s Josh Rogers completed 22 of 34 pass attempts for 221 yards.
April 30, 2005: Louisville 48 Birmingham 46
At Freedom Hall, missed red zone opportunities cost the Steeldogs a victory at Freedom Hall earlier this season. Steeldogs QB Ray Nelson completed 20 of 34 pass attempts for 291 yards and Detronn Harris caught seven passes for 100 yards to lead the Steeldogs offensively.
SERIES BY THE NUMBERS
Record vs. Louisville: 3-2
Last regular season game: Louisville, 48-46 at LOU (4/30/05)
SteeldogsÂ’ largest margin of victory: 33 (77-44 at LOU (7/27/02))
LouisvilleÂ’s largest margin of victory: 3 (37-40 at BIR (5/10/03))
Current streak: Louisville has won the last two meetings
SteeldogsÂ’ longest win streak vs. Louisville: 3 (4/14/01 to 5/10/03)
LouisvilleÂ’s longest win streak vs Steeldogs: 2 (5/10/03 to present)
Most points, Steeldogs: 77 (77-44 at LOU (7/27/02))
Most points, Louisville: 48 (46-48 at LOU (4/30/05))
Most points, both teams: 121 (BIR, 77-44 at LOU (7/27/02))
Fewest points, Steeldogs: 39 (39-21 at LOU (4/14/01))
Fewest points, Louisville: 21 (39-21 at LOU (4/14/01))
Fewest points, both teams: 60 (BIR, 39-21 at LOU (4/14/01))
STEELDOGS BESTS VS. LOUISVILLE
Most rushing yards: 31, Chris Windsor (4/14/01 at LOU)
Most receiving yards: 116, Wayne Thomas (6/7/02 at BIR)
Herman Bell (7/27/02 at LOU)
Most passing yards: 291, Ray Nelson (4/30/05 at LOU)
LAST SERIES GAME
4/30/2005 - Steeldogs Run Out of Time
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The awkward bounce of the football was all that separated the Steeldogs from a shot at defeating the No. 4 team in the af2. Unfortunately for Birmingham, the ball bounced in favor of the Louisville Fire.
The Fire improved their record to 4-0 with a 48-46 victory over the Birmingham Steeldogs in front of 9,151 fans at Freedom Hall Arena. The Steeldogs dropped to 0-4.
Down by as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter and nine with less than one minute left in the game, Ray Nelson found Dre Fulgham from16-yards-out to pull the Steeldogs to within two points with 11 seconds remaining. Vinny Cirrincione's ensuing onsides kick attempt landed in the arms of the Fire's Rob Mager at the Birmingham 15. From there, Louisville drained the final seconds off the game clock.
The Steeldogs got on the board early in the second quarter after a Larry Paul three-yard touchdown run. Tony Stallings answered with a two-yard touchdown rush of his own. On the ensuing Birmingham possession, Demetrius Forney, US Army Ironman of the Game, sacked Ray Nelson in the end zone for a safety. The Steeldogs cut the lead to 22-12 at halftime after Nelson found Miles Randle on a 14-yard strike.
The second half got underway with Louisville QB Matt Sauk hitting Mager on a 48-yard strike to put the Fire up 28-12 with 13:19 left in the third. After Larry Paul found the end zone twice more on the ground, Louisville's WR/DB Cesare Manning snagged a four-yard touchdown reception to give the Fire a 35-32 lead after three.
The scoring continued into the fourth quarter when Herman Bell scored the fourth of the Steeldogs' fifth rushing touchdowns. The Fire's James Scott answered, keeping the Fire on top, 42-32, with 12:37 left in the game. The teams traded touchdowns with Sauk hitting Mager on a 20-yard touchdown reception to put the Fire up 48-39 and give the quarterback his fifth touchdown pass of the evening.
The Steeldogs return home to face the South Georgia Wildcats on Saturday, May 7 at 7 p.m. at the BJCC Arena. The game marks the first home division tilt for the Steeldogs this season. Both teams are tied with Arkansas for third place in the American Conference South Division and are just two games back of division runner-up Macon.
The Fire's Adam Luken contributed to this report.
LAST WEEK: BIRMINGHAM
6/4/2005 – Steeldogs Fall at Florida
ESTERO, Fla. - Detronn Harris caught 12 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns, but it was not enough to overcome the defending af2 champion Florida Firecats, who defeated the Steeldogs, 56-40, at the Germain Arena in Estero, Fla.
With the loss, the Steeldogs fall to 1-8 on the season, while Florida improves to 8-1. Birmingham has not won a road game since July 31, 2004, when they defeated the Macon Knights, 50-31, at the Macon Coliseum.
Birmingham began the second half with an eight play, 31-yard touchdown drive. Herman Bell's one-yard touchdown plunge tied the game at 28-28. The Firecats responded on their next possession as QB Chris Wallace connected with OS Magic Benton on a 14-yard touchdown pass, Benton's first of the evening, to give the Firecats a 55-38 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Detronn Harris raced 54 yards down the right sideline to pull Birmingham to within one point. But Alex Walls' missed point-after try kept Florida on top. They would never look back.
Magic Benton put the game away with three late touchdown catches of 32, 5 and 45 yards.
Wallace completed 18 of 32 passes for 230 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception. Benton caught six passes for 106 yards and four touchdowns, all of which were scored in the second half.
Linn finished 20 of 38 for 255 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He was also the Steeldogs leading rusher with nine yards on four carries and a touchdown.
LAST WEEK: LOUISVILLE (from af2.com)
6/4/05 – Quad City Drops Louisville
MOLINE, Ill. — The Quad City Steamwheelers gained a level of revenge on a Louisville Fire team that knocked them out of the playoffs a year ago by securing a 47-41 win in front of 5,523 fans at OS Field at The MARK of the Quad Cities. Jeff Hewitt had a team-high eight catches for 75 yards and two scores and Jack Walker Jr. clinched the win with a late interception to give Quad City its first win since April 30 against the Memphis Xploers, its opponent next week. With the win, the ‘Wheelers snapped a franchise-long four game losing streak and improved to 4-5 on the season.
The ‘Wheelers took control of the game in the third quarter when they outscored the Fire 21-0. Hewitt began the quarter win a two-yard touchdown grab that cut the Louisville lead to 14-13. On the very next play from scrimmage, Fire quarterback Matt Sauk was picked off by Matt Forbes who took the ball 24 yards for a score, giving Quad City its first lead of the contest at 20-14. They stretched that lead to 27-14 at the halftime intermission when Pat Hughes returned a Nick Gatto missed field goal four yards for another score just before the half.
Things got even better for the Steamwheelers at the start of the third quarter as Tim Dodge pulled in a five-yard scoring toss from Sam Clemons (22-35, 197 yards, 3TDÂ’s) to give his team a 34-14 advantage.
The Fire slowly chipped away at that lead and got it down to as little as five late in the third quarter, but the ‘Wheelers were able to hold on thanks to some tough fourth quarter defense. In the game’s closing minutes, the Fire were marching downfield in search of a game-winning score, but after being unable to come up with a key defensive play late each of in the past four games, the Steamwheeler defense was able to seal a victory with a Jack Walker Jr. interception at the Quad City six yard line with 35 seconds remaining on the clock.
Clemons and Co. were able to run out the rest of the clock to grab their first win in over a month and remain in the chase for a National Conference playoff berth.
COMPARISON STATS AND AWARDS
HOOPÂ’S STAT OÂ’ THE WEEK: Steeldogs in the Top 10Â…
Player Category Stat (Rank)
Detronn Harris All-Purpose Yds. 181.9 p/gm (2)
Detronn Harris Receiving Yards 763 (9)
Detronn Harris Receptions 62 (T-8)
Detronn Harris Kick Return Yds. 816 (2)
Detronn Harris Kick Return TDs 4 (1)
Detronn Harris Kick Returns 40-816-4 (1)
Dre Fulgham Fumbles Recov. 2 (T-4)
Devlon Holmes Yards Per Catch 15.5 (8)
Roger Linn Yards Per Pass 12.2 (10)
George Williams Int. Return TDs 1 (T-4)
George Williams Tackles For Loss 3.5 (T-3)
TALE OF THE TAPE: HereÂ’s how the Fire and Steeldogs match-up statisticallyÂ…
OFFENSIVE MVP AWARD (selected by media)
Game Opp. Player
1 San Diego Anthony Buich (San Diego)
2 Macon Chris Johnson (Macon)
3 Memphis Kevin Prentiss (Memphis)
4 Louisville James Scott (Louisville)
6 South Georgia Matt Burstein (S. Georgia)
7 San Diego Kane Claunch (San Diego)
8 Arkansas Robert Kilow (Arkansas)
9 Green Bay Detronn Harris (Birmingham)
10 Florida Magic Benton (Florida)
11 Louisville
12 Memphis
13 Green Bay
14 Macon
15 South Georgia
16 Florida
ADT DEFENSIVE MVP AWARD (selected by media)
Game Opp. Player
1 San Diego Eldrick Hill (Birmingham)
2 Macon Anthony Collins (Macon)
3 Memphis Dahnel Singfield (Memphis)
4 Louisville Terrance Harris (Birmingham)
6 South Georgia Ron Keefe (S. Georgia)
7 San Diego George Williams (Bham)
8 Arkansas George Williams (Bham)
9 Green Bay Keon Mainor (Birmingham)
10 Florida Kelly Snell (Florida)
11 Louisville
12 Memphis
13 Green Bay
14 Macon
15 South Georgia
16 Florida
Statistical BIRMINGHAM LOUISVILLE
Category Stat Rank Stat Rank
Scoring Offense 47.2 9th 49.1 11th
Scoring Defense 58.0 18th 49.3 12th
Total Offense 261.1 9th 281.7 2nd
Total Defense 244.2 7th 272.1 16th
Pass Offense 232.9 11th 267.1 1st
Pass Defense 232.7 9th 272.1 11th
Rushing Offense 28.2 3rd 14.6 14th
Rushing Defense 11.6 2nd 24.6 16th
Scoring (Kicking) 5.0 t-16th 7.1 t-6th
Pass Rating 84.9 17th 108.7 7th
Pass Def. Rating 111.9 16th 98.4 8th
Kickoff Returns 60-1080 t-14th 48-813 17th
MFG Returns 3-52 9th 4-33 18th
Turnover Margin -14 t-20th +2 t-7th
Field Goals 3-11 10th 6-15 8th
PAT Kicking 36-54 18th 46-58 9th
Sacks By 12 7th 5 t-19th
Sacks Against 19 19th 4 3rd
First Downs 167 10th 197 1st
Opp. First Downs 153 t-5th 174 t-16th
Penalties 70-491 9th 71-424 4th
Opp. Penalties 93-605 6th 92-480 15th
U.S. ARMY IRONMAN AWARD (selected by media)
Game Opp. Player
1 San Diego Anthony Griffin (San Diego)
2 Macon Matt Jackson (Macon)
3 Memphis Scott Cunningham (Memphis)
4 Louisville Demetrius Forney (Louisville)
6 South Georgia Herman Bell (Birmingham)
7 San Diego Nian Taylor (San Diego)
8 Arkansas Robert Kilow (Arkansas)
9 Green Bay Herman Bell (Birmingham)
10 Florida Comone Fisher (Florida)
11 Louisville
12 Memphis
13 Green Bay
14 Macon
15 South Georgia
16 Florida
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