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Admirals Travel to Frankfurt in Hopes of a Sweep

May 14, 2003 - National Football League Europa (NFLE)
Amsterdam Admirals News Release


As the Admirals head off for their fourth road game of the season, they are looking to get their third win of the year and some find themselves on the verge of breaking records.

For the second time this season, Amsterdam will be facing off against Frankfurt and they hope to match the win they had on April 26 when they came away with a dramatic 20-16 victory. Quarterback Shaun Hill had his most impressive game of the season against Frankfurt, earning him Offensive Player of the Week honors. One of his favorite targets is wide receiver Matthew Hatchette who is on the verge of putting his name in the record books for his performance this season.

Hatchette has 39 receptions after six weeks of competition, putting him on pace for 64 for the season. That would blow away the previous Admirals record of 51 set by Chris Coleman in 2001. Last week marked Hatchette's second consecutive 100-yard receiving game. The NFL Europe record for 100-yard receiving games is currently three, held by three wide receivers, Eddie Brown of Sacramento in 1992, Bobby Olive of Frankfurt in 1995 and Jeremaine Copeland of Barcelona in 2000.

In addition to Hatchette's outstanding marks this year, the Admirals are also finding success in other receivers. Four of the league's top six receivers come from Amsterdam. Hatchette leads the league with 39 catches, with Justin Skaggs right behind him with 26. Running back Raymonn Adams and tight end Kirk McMullen are tied for fifth in the league with 24 catches a piece.

Defensively, the Admirals are topping the charts with sacks, leading the league with 18. Two of their defensive linemen, Jonathan Brown and Mike Cecere, have 4.5 sacks each, second best in the league.

LAST WEEK: ANOTHER LAST MINUTE FINALE ATTEMPT For the second week in a row, the Admirals' last minute heroics came up short when trying to dig themselves out of a hole. This past week at home against the Rhein Fire, the Admirals found themselves in the middle of an old-fashioned offensive shoot-out in the first half. Six of the first eight possessions ended up in touchdowns, making the score at halftime tied at 21. It was an impressive half for the Admirals offense. Previously, the Admirals had only scored more than 20 points in one game, let alone, one half.

Although there were no punts in the first half of the game, the defense did their part by getting the ball back once. On a long pass from Rhein QB Nick Rolovich in the second quarter, WR Todd Elstrom fumbled the ball and Amsterdam defender Glenn Sumter came up with the ball. This allowed the Admirals to dominate the second quarter's clock, maintaining the ball for over 10 minutes.

In the second half, the Admirals sputtered out of the gate, failing to get a first down during the entire third quarter. Defensively, it was equally frustrating, as Amsterdam gave up a field goal and a touchdown before the third quarter was over. In the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Fire scored another field goal, which would be the last points the Amsterdam defense would surrender.

With 11 minutes left in the game, the Admirals got the ball back and were down by 13 points. The offense could not score, and were forced to count on the defense to hold Rhein so that they could get another chance. The defense held strong, getting off the field with just over six minutes remaining. Reserve quarterback David Priestley took over the offense and led them down the field, finding Kirk McMullen in the end zone from one yard out with three and a half minutes to go.

The defense again proved their strength and pushed the Rhein offense back two yards before forcing them to punt. Priestley and the Admirals got the ball back on the Rhein 17-yard line and it looked like they had a chance to pull out a great comeback. But the offense was unable to get the ball in the end zone, and turned the ball over on downs after a succession of four incomplete passes.

After the game, head coach Bart Andrus was disappointed in the play of his defense, but proud of the way they fought back in the end.

"I thought the kids came back in the fourth and gave it a go, but we came up short," Andrus admitted. "If you're a defensive player or a defensive coach in this game, you're frustrated. We're certainly frustrated right now defensively."

TEAM NOTES

· Just before last week's game against Rhein, TE Taman Bryant returned to the active roster from Injured Reserve. Bryant suffered a knee injury against Rhein in Week 1 and has been in Birmingham, Alabama since then.

· OG Mike Collins injured his quad last week against Rhein, placing him on Injured Reserve for the second time this season. Collins had only been in Amsterdam for three weeks, after recovering from a knee injury suffered in training camp.

· Offensive lineman Bennitte Waddell was moved up from the practice squad this week to take the place left open by Collins.

· A group of Admirals fans took some players on a trip on their day off. The players were given a tour of Volendam, a fishing village and Zaanse Schans, a traditional Dutch village.

PROFILE

TELLIS REDMON: COMING INTO HIS OWN RUNNING BACK HAS GAME OF SEASON AGAINST RHEIN

Last week against the Rhein Fire, running back Tellis Redmon had more yards than he had accumulated all five previous games. He entered the game with 68 yards on the ground and carried the ball 11 times last Saturday, gaining 77 yards and proving to opponents and coaches alike that Amsterdam can rush the ball.

After posting the best game of his season, Redmon did not take praise for his performance, instead he credited the coaches for allowing him to perform with a solid game plan.

"I think we came with a game plan that thought we had a good chance of running the ball," Redmon stated. "We have three good running backs. They gave us the opportunity to run the ball last week (against Berlin) and we made the best of it, so they gave us the chance to run the ball even more this week."

Amsterdam has been known for passing the ball, and this season is no different. They pass the ball 68 percent of the time, which could leave a running back feeling frustrated. But Tellis Redmon welcomes the offensive scheme and is using it to make him a better football player.

"It's been cool because I've played on passing teams before," Redmon said. "I can do a lot of things out of the backfield to help the offense. It helps me with my pass blocking, definitely. That was something that I was lacking in."

He credits a lot of his improvement to his running backs coach, former NFL running back, Amp Lee.

"Amp Lee is teaching us all the little details so that has helped me a lot," Redmon admitted. "Amp Lee is teaching all of us running backs about the defense."

Redmon feels that his strength as a running back comes from his vision downfield and he knows that learning from a former success in the league will help him improve, especially reading defenses.

Working with on of his heroes growing up is only one of the things that has been new to Redmon this season. This was his first trip to Holland, and his first time to Europe. He has enjoyed the experience, especially meeting new friends and spending time with them, but it was not what he thought it would be.

"It wasn't what I expected," Redmon revealed. "I thought it would be more like the United States. Things that we need are harder to find. And the people are different here but it's been a positive experience."

Although Redmon found some things more difficult in Amsterdam, he did find that being in such a laid-back culture was different than he expected.

"I was shocked, coming to a different country where there were hardly any laws," he stated. "You can do anything you want here. That shocked me."

As Redmon is shocked by his new surroundings, he is beginning to shock those around him as well, becoming a stand-out running back.

INJURY REPORT

OUT: QB David Rivers (knee) (IR), S Than Merrill (knee) (IR), OL Michael Jonsson (knee) (IR), G Mike Collins (quad) (IR), RB Sandino Octobre (head)

DOUBTFUL:

QUESTIONABLE:

PROBABLE: DE Maurice Anderson (wrist), QB Shaun Hill (ankle), DB Keon Moore (hamstring)

TELEVISION

Saturday's contest will be broadcast in the United States on DirectTV live at 1pm EST. In the broadcast booth with play-by-play announcer ARI WOLFE is current Carolina Panthers wide receiver MUHSIN MUHAMMAD.



National Football League Europa Stories from May 14, 2003


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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