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af2 first round quick hitters

Published on August 3, 2005 under arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


MATT SAUK RE-WRITES THE RECORD BOOK ON PASSING: Last Saturday Louisville QB MATT SAUK completed one of the best single seasons by a quarterback in league history, breaking three single season records and one career record. He set new marks for passing yards (4,489), passing touchdowns (99) and completions (408). He is also the new af2 career leader in completions with 1,432. Below is a chart detailing Sauk's remarkable accomplishments in 2005 compared to the old records.

MOST PASSING YARDS, SINGLE SEASON PLAYER, TEAM, SEASON
4,489 Matt Sauk, Louisville, 2005
4,462 Ryan Vena, Albany, 2003
MOST PASSING TDs, SINGLE SEASON
99 Matt Sauk, Louisville, 2005
93 Tony Zimmerman, Quad City, 2003
MOST COMPLETIONS, SINGLE SEASON
408 Matt Sauk, Louisville, 2005
357 Matt Sauk, Louisville, 2004/Kyle Rowley, Columbus 2004
MOST COMPLETIONS, CAREER
1,432 Matt Sauk, Tennessee Valley 01-03, Louisville 04-05
1,421 Craig Strickland, Tulsa 00-01, 03, Oklahoma City 04-05

JULIAN REESE TIES RUSHING TOUCHDOWN TOTAL: Amarillo rookie QB JULIAN REESE tied the all-time record for rushing touchdowns in a single season with his 28th rushing score against Arkansas last week. He did it in grand fashion, scoring on a 45-yard run. WILMONT PERRY (Cape Fear Wildcats) first set the mark back in the 2003 season. Of note, however, is that Reese ran 86 total times compared to Perry's 118 during the 2003 season.

WILLIAM HAITH TACKLES RECORD BOOK: WILLIAM HAITH set a new single season mark for total tackles by registering 9.5 tackles against Albany last Friday. His final 2005 total is 121.5 tackles. The previous mark for most tackles in a season was 112 by RICO CURTIS for the San Diego Riptide in 2002. Haith is also the first player in league history to record 100 solo tackles during a single season. The previous high for unassisted tackles was 95 set by CORNELIUS COE during the 2000 season for the Quad City Steamwheelers.

100 TACKLE CLUB: Coming into this season, only three players had recorded 100.0 tackles in a season in af2 history. This season a record five players added their name to the 100 tackle club with RYAN BOWERS, JAMITE HATTLEY and KELLY SNELL breaking the century mark last week. See the chart below outlining the 100 tackle club.

PLAYER SEASON TOTAL
William Haith (MAN) 2005 121.5 (100 UA)
Rico Curtis (SAN) 2002 121.0 (90 UA)
Cornelius Coe (QUA) 2000 117.0 (95 UA)
Hosea Laney (MAC) 2005 109.5 (98 UA)
Ryan Bowers (GRB) 2005 102.5 (86 UA)
Jamie Hattley (WBS) 2005 102.0 (89 UA)
Quincy Sorrell (FLO) 2004 100.5 (87 UA)
Kelly Snell (FLO) 2005 100.0 (78 UA)

CLOSING THE BOOK ON DONOVAN MORGAN: Tulsa rookie OS DONOVAN MORGAN became the first player in league history to score more than 300 points in a single season by amassing an unbelievable 346 total points in 2005. What's more amazing is that Morgan accomplished the feat in 15 games because he had to miss one game due to injury. Overall, Morgan caught 121 passes for 1,687 yards and 54 touchdowns (af2 record). He also ran back 35 kickoffs for 686 yards and two touchdowns and returned five missed field goals for 123 yards and another score. Morgan was also on the receiving end of two two-point conversions for another four points. Below is a game-by-game look at Morgan's record-setting season. The previous record for single season scoring was 284 points by SHON KING for Quad City in 2000. It should also be noted that Manchester's J.J. MCKELVEY also broke the scoring record by registering 298 points in 2005.

WK. OPP. REC.-YDS. TDs 10 CEN 9-87 0
1 AMR 5-128 4 11 RGV 10-145 5
2 BOS 10-105 5 12 SGW 4-75 3
3 BYE BYE BYE 13 ARK 10-136 3
4 SDG 6-113 5 14 BYE BYE BYE
5 OKC 5-65 2 15 MEM DNP DNP
6 CEN 14-195 6 16 RGV 10-125 5
7 BAK 5-94 2 17 AMR 7-123 4
8 MAC 9-105 4 18 OKC 11-123 4
9 BAK 6-67 2 TOTAL 121-1,687 54

TEAM RECORDS BITE THE DUST: Along with all the individual records set during the 2005 season, several team records also fell. The chart below details those:

TEAM CATEGORY 2005 TOTAL OLD RECORD
South Georgia Pass Attempts 681 649, Arkansas, 2000
Amarillo Rushing Touchdowns 48 46, Bossier City, 2002
Louisville Pass Completions 411 373, Columbus, 2004
Louisville Touchdown Passes 100 97, Tulsa 2004/Quad City 2003
Manchester Pass Completion % 70.7% 69.9%, Cape Fear, 2003
San Diego Kickoff Returns 123 116, Bossier City, 2003
San Diego Kickoff Return Yards 2,673 2,296, Bossier City, 2003
San Diego Combined Return Yards 2,837(164 mfg) 2,563, Charleston (2198ko, 365 mfg), 2002
Louisville First Downs 354 305, Albany, 2003
Louisville First Downs, Passing 258 213, Albany, 2003
Amarillo First Downs, Rushing 74 71, Bossier City, 2002

MANCHESTER GOES WORST TO FIRST: For the first time since the 2001 season, a team has gone from worst to first. The Manchester Wolves finished 2005 season as champions of the American Conference East Division with a 12-4 record. In 2004, the Wolves went 5-11 and finished last in the American Conference Northeast Division. The only other team to go worst to first was the 2001 Tallahassee Thunder. In 2000, the Thunder finished last in National Conference with a 5-11 mark. One year later they went 11-5 and were crowned champions of the American Conference Southeast Division.

BRANDON KORNBLUE GETS NO. 39: With a 25-yard field goal against the Birmingham Steeldogs during the last game of the 2005 season, BRANDON KORNBLUE became the all-time career leader in field goals made with 39. The previous career best was 38 by JAMES THOMAS with Greensboro from 2000-03.

GONZALEZ HITS A SPEED BUMP: When is allowing 213 kickoff return yards to a single player considered a success? When you are Central Valley facing San Diego last week. Though San Diego's STEVE GONZALEZ returned nine kickoffs for 213 yards, he did not return a kick for a touchdown, breaking his streak of five straight games with a touchdown return for a touchdown. During Gonzalez's final seven games of the season he returned 46 kickoffs for 1,186 yards and five touchdowns.

ONE GAME CAN MAKE OR BREAK A SEASON: Coaches try to stress to their players how important playing every minute of every game is, but sometimes you just don't realize how true that is till you can see the big picture. For example, a Week 8 overtime game between Central Valley and Amarillo is why the Dusters are in the playoffs and Central Valley will have to think about next season. With Amarillo and Central Valley both finishing the season at 8-8, the Dusters earn the head-to-head tiebreaker because of their Week 8 68-61 overtime win over Central Valley. In the contest DERONN FINLEY caught a touchdown with 20 seconds left to knot the game at 61. The Dusters had a chance at a 24-yard field goal to win, but the kick went wide left and the game went into overtime. The Dusters' KENDRICK WALKER took the opening overtime kickoff 52 yards for a touchdown. Central Valley moved the ball down to the seven-yard line on their possession but then faced a fourth and two. Wood was looking for ANTHONY ARCENEAUX when JIMMY GASTON broke it up to give the Dusters the victory. While there were other close games for Central Valley, this one proved that you never know how important a game may end up being.

GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers received both good and bad news yesterday. The good news is LEROY MCFADDEN is returning to the Pioneers. The WR/LB from Michigan State caught 47 passes for 554 yards and 23 touchdowns for the Pioneers last season. At 6'4" 255 pounds, McFadden is quite a force coming over the middle to catch a pass. But now the bad news for the Pioneers. Last season's leading receiver and af2's Rookie of the Year J.R. THOMAS was put on short term injured reserve. In just 11 games Thomas has caught 76 passes for 884 yards and 22 touchdowns this season. The Pioneers have proved they play without him though, as they went 3-2 in the games he missed. It also allowed for ROCCO FORGIONE to step up his game as he has caught two touchdowns or more in 13 of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's 16 games.

ROAD WARRIORS: Looking for a trend in the Green Bay Blizzard - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers game on Saturday? In the last three matchups between these two teams, the road team has won everyone. The Pioneers beat the Blizzard in Green Bay last season 75-39. This season Green Bay went on the road to defeat the Pioneers in Week 5 48-40 while the Pioneers beat Green Bay at the Resch Center 38-24 in Week 10.

ROAD WARRIORS....SORTA: For the second straight season the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz have earned a home playoff game in the first round of the playoffs. But also for the second straight season they won't play it at their normal home. With the Ford Center booked, they will move to the nearby Cox Convention Center. Last season the Cox Convention Center wasn't a very good host as the Yard Dawgz lost their first postseason game in franchise history to Peoria 35-45. Now with Amarillo, a team they beat twice during the regular season, coming to town they hope they can get their first playoff victory. It would also be the first Arena Football playoff victory in the history of the Cox Convention Center because when the Cox Convention Center hosted the AFL's Oklahoma Wranglers from 2000-2001 they failed to earn a home playoff game in either season.

TAKING A LOOK AT THE 2005 PLAYOFF TEAMS: The chart below lists each playoff team and their record against other playoff teams during the 2005 season. Florida had the best record, winning eight of nine games against playoff teams. Quad City played only three non playoff teams during their 2005 season. Look below for more analysis.

AMERICAN CONFERENCE GAMES AGAINST PLAYOFF TEAMS RECORD AGAINST

PLAYOFF TEAMS WINNING PCT.
1. Florida (14-2) 9 8-1 .888
2. Manchester (12-4) 12 8-4 .666
3. Louisville (11-5) 10 5-5 .500
4. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (9-7) 12 5-7 .416
5. Green Bay (9-7) 10 5-5 .500
6. Macon (8-8) 8 1-7 .125

NATIONAL CONFERENCE
1. Memphis (13-3) 8 5-3 .625
2. Tulsa (11-5) 8 5-3 .625
3. Oklahoma City (10-6) 12 7-5 .583
4. Rio Grande Valley (10-6) 7 2-5 .285
5. Quad City (9-7) 13 6-7 .461
6. Amarillo (8-8) 9 2-7 .222

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