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af2: Friday Night Matchups

April 17, 2008 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


LEXINGTON HORSEMEN (2-1) AT MAHONING VALLEY THUNDER (1-2)

FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2008 - Chevrolet Centre (6,100) 7:05 P.M. ET

The Horsemen travel to Youngstown, Ohio this week for a first-time affair on Friday night against Mahoning Valley. Lexington has had a short week of preparation (3 days) going into tomorrow night's contest after playing in Iowa on Monday night. The Horsemen have just three days of rest after a 43-41 road win against the Barnstormers. Lexington QB Eddie Eviston threw for 242 yards with five touchdowns (three interceptions) and the Horsemen overcame a nine-point second-half deficit to escape Wells Fargo Arena with the victory. The Horsemen fell behind Iowa 32-23 early in the fourth quarter, but Lexington outscored the Barnstormers 20-9 in the game's final six minutes with three touchdowns during that span. Trailing 43-35, the Barnstormers trimmed the deficit to two when QB Joe Brannen found WR Bryan Pray for a touchdown with 12.9 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Iowa needed a two-point conversion to tie the game, but Brannen's pass fell incomplete. A successful onside kick for Iowa did not produce any points as well after DB WILLIE SMITH made an impressive interception off a deep pass from Brannen. Eviston's favorite target on offense was WR TAVON MCGEE, who caught five passes for a career-high 115 yards with three touchdowns. The Horsemen secondary also came up big with four interceptions. CONNIE BROWN had two while WILLIAM MULDER had one to go along with 166 yards in kick returns. FB/LB JAMUS MARTIN leads the squad with 2.5 sacks on the season. The Mahoning Valley Thunder come into Week 4 after a sloppy, 33-20, loss in Week 3 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The Thunder offense got off to a slow start and never recovered. The 20 points scored by Mahoning Valley was its lowest total of the season. Thunder QB Josh Swogger amassed just 122 yards through the air on 13-of-31 attempts and threw two touchdowns and two interceptions. The offensive line struggled giving up three sacks under the Pioneers defensive pressure which attacked Swogger throughout the contest. Thunder WR BRIAN MAJORS, making his first offensive start, caught four passes for 47 yards and his first touchdown of the season. DL KELLEN DRISCOLL continued his strong play up front with 1.5 tackles for loss. He currently leads the squad with 6.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. The Thunder are tied for the league lead in sacks with nine and are also tied for seventh in points per game allowed at 37.0. If Mahoning Valley gets more consistency out of Swogger and its offense, this should be a close contest throughout.

HORSEMEN THUNDER SERIES LEADER First time these teams are meeting

LAST MEETING No previous meeting

LAST FIVE GAMES 2-1 2-3

LAST GAME Won 43-41 at Iowa 4/14/08 Lost 20-33 at Wilkes-Barre on 4/11/08

LEADERS HORSEMEN THUNDER PASSING Eviston: 53-104-5; 580; 13 TDs Swogger: 44-97-2; 456; 11 TDs

RECEIVING Lewis: 16-185; 3 TDs Mathes: 14-207; 5 TDs

RUSHING Eviston: 16-49; 3 TDs Tackmann: 10-53; 4 TDs

TACKLES Smith: 17.5 Tackmann: 18.5

SACKS Martin: 2.5 Driscoll: 4

INTERCEPTIONS Brown: 2 Morgan et al: 1

KICKING Daniel: 14-16 PAT; 1-6 FG; 17 PTs Ziska: 8-13 PAT; 2-5 FG; 14 PTs

TEAM OFFENSE 37.9 PPG; 208.7 YPG 39.3 PPG; 179.3 YPG

TEAM DEFENSE 33.0 PPG; 193.7 YPG 37.0 PPG; 258.3 YPG

ALBANY CONQUEST (1-1) AT MANCHESTER WOLVES (1-1)

FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2008 - Verizon Wireless Arena (9,650) 7:30 P.M. ET

The Albany Conquest travel to New Hampshire this week to tackle the Manchester Wolves, their longtime East Division foes from the Northeast. These two teams have played 18 times over the past six seasons with the Wolves holding an all-time edge of 11-7. Since their move to Manchester in 2004 the Wolves are 10-2 against the Conquest. Albany enters Week 4 on a high note after defeating Peoria in overtime, 55-54, on Sunday in the Conquest's 2008 home opener. QB DAN COLE led Albany to its first win with five touchdown passes and one interception on 26-of-45 attempts. He also threw for 281 yards and rushed for 42 with a touchdown. Peoria scored first in overtime with OL Kentavious Jones completing a 1-yard run to make it a 54-47 game for Peoria but Albany quickly countered when Cole found Clarence Curry in the end zone to pull the Conquest within one, 54-53. Cole then sent the fans home happy moments later when he found WR VERNARD ABRAMS for the clinching two-point conversion. Fellow receiver JARED JONES had an outstanding individual effort for Albany as well. The second-year player from Syracuse helped Albany steal the victory away from the Pirates with an af2 season-high 325 all-purpose yards (153 KR, 37 FGR, 129 Rcv, 6 Rush) and three total touchdowns. He finished with 10 catches for 129 yards and two touchdowns as a wide receiver and scored on a 55-yard kick return as well. Jones was named Schutt Offensive Player of the Week for his performance on Wednesday. Bad news came Thursday, however, as the team placed Jones on injured reserve and he will be out at least four weeks. Picking up his slack will likely be WR ANTWUN WILLIAMS. Williams caught 10 passes on Sunday for 96 yards and two TDs. Conquest DB Brandon Taylor led the team with eight tackles, while LB Michael Lewis added 6.5 tackles and one pass breakup.

Manchester, ranked No. 16 in this week's coaches poll, opens its 2008 home schedule this week on the heels of a humbling 72-31 road loss to Green Bay last Friday. Green Bay had it going on both sides of the ball while Manchester struggled. Starting QB JUSTIN RUMMELL completed just 8-of-21 passes for 79 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He was also sacked four times. WR STEVEN SAVOY was also knocked out of the game due to a concussion. Veteran WR BRADLY CHAVEZ led the team offensively with seven catches for 110 yards and two scores. JOE CREAR was the lone notable performer on defense with 2.0 tackles, one sack and one forced fumble. The Wolves offense, which has averaged just 38.0 points over their first two games, will get a boost this week thanks to the arrival of veteran QB BRIAN JONES. Jones returns to the af2 to reunite with his former coach DANTON BARTO. Jones was with Barto in 2007 with the AFL's Las Vegas Gladiators and in Memphis with the af2's Xplorers from 2004-06. During his time in Memphis, Jones helped guide the Xplorers to three straight postseason appearances and an ArenaCup title in 2005. Before making his return to the af2 official on Wednesday, the former Toledo standout spent part of the 2008 AFL season with the Columbus Destroyers, New Orleans VooDoo and Arizona Rattlers. If Jones plays well, this East battle should be a fun one to watch.

CONQUEST WOLVES SERIES LEADER Manchester leads series 11-7 (Wolves lead 10-2 since moving to Manch in ‘04)

LAST MEETING Manchester won 69-56 on 7/21/07

LAST FIVE GAMES 2-3 3-2

LAST GAME Won 55-54 vs. Peoria on 4/12/08 Lost 72-31 at Green Bay on 4/11/08

LEADERS CONQUEST WOLVES PASSING Cole: 48-92-2; 557; 9 TDs Rummell: 30-54-2; 384; 7 TDs

RECEIVING Jones: 21-268; 4 TDs Chavez: 14-180; 3 TDs

RUSHING Cole: 6-49; 1 TD Rummell: 5-23: 0 TDs

TACKLES Taylor: 14 Brown: 13.5

SACKS Brady and Merchant: 1 Crear: 2

INTERCEPTIONS None None

KICKING Frailicker: 8-12 PAT; 0-0 FG; 8 PTs McCormick: 8-9 PAT; 2-3 FG; 14 PTs

TEAM OFFENSE 44.0 PPG; 289.5 YPG 38.0 PPG; 237.5 YPG

TEAM DEFENSE 56.5 PPG; 251.0 YPG 55.5 PPG; 220.0 YPG

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