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af2 2008 South Division preview

March 27, 2008 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


CHICAGO - The af2's ninth season kicks off this Friday night (March 28) with an 11-game first week schedule. This week a special team-by-team preview is being presented for each division. The following is a profile for the American Conference's South Division, which includes four teams: Daytona Beach, Florida, South Georgia and Tennessee Valley.

SOUTH DIVISION

Daytona Beach ThunderBirds (2007: NA)

Home Field: Ocean Center (8,000)

Head Coach: Herkie Walls, first year in Daytona Beach, 0-0 career regular season record

Key Players Lost: NA

Key New Faces: QB Steven Moffett, OL/DL Adrian Wilson, OL/DL Jovon Bush, DB George Williams

Key Returners: NA

Burning Questions: Can Arena Football Hall-of-Famer Herkie Walls turn Daytona Beach into a winner right away?

Will rookie QB Steven Moffett or Scott Jefferies get the nod to start on opening night? Will Daytona Beach fans fly to ThunderBirds' home games?

Last Game: NA

Comments: The first-year ThunderBirds enter the af2 with Herkie Walls as their first head coach. Walls, one of the all-time greats in Arena Football, played six seasons in the AFL with Orlando and appeared in three ArenaBowls. As a WR/DB, Walls compiled 207 catches, 2,924 yards and 54 TDs along with more than 4,000 return yards during his career. Walls has put together a veteran group of assistants that should help to school this year's group that is heavy with Arena Football rookies. One of the more experienced players on the roster is OL/DL Jovon Bush. Bush has two years of background in the af2 in addition to spending a year with the AFL's New York Dragons in 2006. OL/DL Adrian Wilson is another veteran lineman who should make an immediate impact in Daytona Beach. Wilson led the Texas Copperheads with 6.5 tackles for loss and 6.0 sacks in 2007. The ThunderBirds defensive backfield will be bolstered by George Williams, who brings three years of af2 experience to the squad, most recently with Cincinnati in 2007. Last year Williams ranked third on the team in tackles with 59.0 overall. He also tied a team-high with three interceptions in 12 games with the Jungle Kats. Daytona Beach's offensive unit should be very talented, but also very new and inexperienced. Walls, however, lives in Florida and has a lot of local connections for recruiting in the deep Florida talent pool. Bethune-Cookman's Lamont Finnie (WR) and Louis Brown (WR/DB) are currently on the roster along with UCF's Steven Moffett (QB) and Demarcus Johnson (OL/DL). Moffett, a former standout with the Golden Knights from 2003-06, ranks among the school's all-time leaders in completions (4th-510), yards (5th-6,199), passer rating (4th-133.68) and touchdown passes (T5th - 41). He's been engaged in a QB competition with Scott Jefferies in the preseason to see who gets the opening night nod for the ThunderBirds. Jefferies saw action in four games with Cincinnati in 2007 and threw 14 TDs with four interceptions. If Walls and company can coach up this young group, a game against the ThunderBirds won't be a spring break for any af2 team in 2008.

Florida Firecats (2007: 11-5; 0-1 playoffs)

Home Field: Germain Arena (7,128)

Head Coach: Kevin Bouis, fourth year in Florida, 38-10 career regular season record

Key Players Lost: WR Magic Benton, DB Levy Brown, OL/DL Antonio Dingle, WR/DB Ethenic Sands

Key New Faces: WR Jim Jones, DB Greg Golden, DB Carlos Campbell

Key Returners: QB Chris Wallace, WR Chris McKinney, WR/DB Brent Burnside, OL/DL Antonio Dingle

Burning Questions: Do the Firecats have the firepower to claim the South again? Can Florida's veterans stay healthy in 2008? Can anyone replace af2 all-time leading scorer Magic Benton?

Last Game: Lost to South Georgia, 50-59, in first round of ArenaCup playoffs

Comments: The Firecats have been the model of consistent success for the past seven years. Last year the veteran squad led by Head Coach Kevin Bouis won their fourth straight South Division title with an 11-win regular season. Division rival South Georgia, however, was Florida's Achilles heel, defeating the Firecats three times, including a 59-50 triumph in the first round of the ArenaCup playoffs. This year the team again looks defined by a core group of veterans. Familiar faces that have returned to the Firecats in 2008 are QB Chris Wallace, WR Chris McKinney, OL/DL Antonio Dingle and WR/DB Brent Burnside, the only af2 player to compete in the league all eight seasons. Wallace is coming off another excellent year in which he completed 65.2 percent of his passes for 4,257 yards and 85 touchdowns against just seven interceptions. McKinney caught 95 Wallace passes for 1,067 yards and 19 scores. McKinney also recorded five rushing scores, one kick return TD and a fumble return TD to finish second on the squad in scoring with 156 points. Dingle (4.5 sacks) and Burnside (19.5 tackles, 5 INTs, 24 catches, 6 TDs) were strong two-way contributors as well. One glaring omission from this year's team is WR Magic Benton. Benton, the league's all-time leading scorer and receiver, looks to be unofficially retired at this point in time. His presence will be missed. Newcomers that should make an instant impact for Florida will be WR/KR Jim Jones, DB Carlos Campbell and DB Greg Golden. Jones is a four-year veteran who is dangerous in the passing game and is one of the league's top return men. In just 11 games played with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last year, he caught a team-high 86 passes for 1,044 yards and 21 TDs. Campbell comes to the Firecats from division rival Tennessee Valley where he led the Vipers with eight interceptions in 2007. Golden was also snared from a division rival. Last year with South Georgia, he recorded 36.5 tackles and four interceptions. With a solid mix of veterans and talented young players, the Firecats could be the class of the South for a fifth consecutive season.

South Georgia Wildcats (2007: 10-6; 1-1 playoffs)

Home Field: Albany Civic Center (8,034)

Head Coach: Derek Stingley, second year in South Georgia, 24-18 career regular season record

Key Players Lost: QB D. Bryant, WR Chavis McCollister, WR James Robinson, DB Daryon Brutley, WR Scott Cloman

Key New Faces: WR Antwone Savage, WR Buchie Ibeh, QB Cecil Lester, WR/DB Pete McBride, FB/LB Melvin Parris

Key Returners: FB/LB James Harris, DB Roland Cola, DB Cory Bailey, OL/DL Andre Slappey, FB/LB Derrick Lloyd

Burning Questions: How will former backup QB turned starter Cecil Lester perform for the Wildcats? Who will step up on the team's defensive front? Which playmakers will have the better 2008 season, Antwone Savage or Buchie Ibeh?

Last Game: Lost at Tulsa, 28-49, in second round of ArenaCup playoffs

Comments: Last year the Wildcats enjoyed their best season since moving to Albany, Ga. prior to the 2005 season. Head Coach Derek Stingley's crew posted a 10-win regular season and advanced to the second round of the 2007 playoffs. QB D. Bryant had a phenomenal season for the squad with 102 TD passes and a league-record 4,680 passing yards. Bryant moved up to the AFL in the offseason with Kansas City. Two of his receivers, James Robinson and Scott Cloman, also advanced to the AFL as well. Chavis McCollister, the team's best pass catcher who was a late AFL camp cut, has also moved on and will play for Bossier-Shreveport in '08. Replacing Bryant will be last year's backup Cecil Lester. Because of Bryant's prowess, Lester threw only one pass in 2007. To address the team's needs at receiver, Stingley went out and got two of the league's best, Antwone Savage and Buchie Ibeh. Savage had a banner year with Spokane in 2007 with 40 TD catches while Ibeh caught 77 passes for 916 yards and 20 TDs in just nine regular season games with ArenaCup runner-up Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The Wildcats have a good group of FB/LBs back from a year ago, led by James Harris and Derrick Lloyd. Harris had a team-best 11.5 tackles for loss and Lloyd led the squad with 146 yards rushing. The Wildcats defensive backfield is also a strong suit with the return of Cory Bailey and Roland Cola. Cola and Bailey's presence should cushion the departure of Daryon Brutley, who moved up to the AFL's Tampa Bay Storm after a stellar 2007 campaign in which he led the Wildcats in interceptions (9) and tackles (68.5). On paper, South Georgia has the talent to take out Florida for South supremacy, but with the quarterback position being so critical in Arena Football, Lester's play will be the difference. If he plays well, the Wildcats could claw their way to another historic season.

Tennessee Valley Vipers (2007: 7-9)

Home Field: Von Braun Center (6,642)

Head Coach: Dean Cokinos, first year in Tennessee Valley, 5-10 career regular season record

Key Players Lost: DL Farouk Adelekan, DB John Cousins, DB Quentin Burrell, QB Chris Gunn, WR/DB Henry Freeman

Key New Faces: QB Andy Hall, DB Demetrius Derico, WR Agim Shabaj, FB/LB Matt Webber

Key Returners: WR/DB Travis Blanchard, WR/DB Gary Elliott, OL/DL Calvin Ousby

Burning Questions: Can new Head Coach Dean Cokinos bring the Vipers back to the postseason? Will QB Andy Hall step up to be a real force for Tennessee Valley? Can WR/KR Travis Blanchard equal his all-around success from 2007?

Last Game: Lost at Louisville, 40-44, on July 28

Comments: The Vipers enter 2008 with high expectations after an offseason of exciting player additions brought on by new head coach Dean Cokinos. Cokinos has cultivated a number of connections thanks to a three-year term with the AFL's Nashville Kats as an assistant coach and player personnel executive. His starting QB will be af2 rookie Andy Hall, a 6-3, 228-pount product out of Delaware. Hall, a former sixth round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles, led Delaware to the 2003 NCAA Division I-AA championship. He was a two-year starter for the Fightin' Blue Hens after transferring from Georgia Tech. He set school records for completions in a game (28 against Massachusetts) and season (234), passing percentage in a career (.574), and total offense in a season (3,474). He's hoping a strong showing in Tennessee Valley will present him with an opportunity to move up to the AFL full-time next year. Hall will have a quality group of receivers to spread the ball around to. In addition to having the team's top receiver and return man back from 2007 in Travis Blanchard, the Vipers also recently acquired two-year AFL veteran Maurice Brown. Brown, who can also play the jack linebacker position, was with Nashville last season with Cokinos. Rookie Agim Shabaj from Michigan State could also play a factor in the passing game. Defensively, Terrance Ford, Benjiman McDowell, Tyrell Elston, and Eric Scott will compete for playing time along the line. DB Demetrius Derico, who played 16 games last season for the AFL's New Orleans Voo Doo, will be the leader of the secondary. He will be joined by former college teammate Desmond Foster, Jasper Faulk, and former Ole Miss standout Brian Brown in the defensive backfield. Overall, Tennessee Valley looks a lot different than last year with only four players back from the 2007 edition. Sometimes change is good, and for these new-look Vipers, the changes could prove to be very good. If Hall plays to his level and Cokinos gets solid line play on both sides, Tennessee Valley could become a major threat in the South.



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