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June 21, 2007 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


GAMES ON - af2/B2 FEATURED GAMES IN WEEK 13: The arenafootball2 league (af2) has established a new, extensive online network to provide the league's passionate fan base an opportunity to view a vast number of games through the internet. Thanks to a new league partnership with industry leader B2 Networks, fans across the globe are now be able to bring all the action of af2 football right to their home computer or laptop. To tune into the action, fans can log on to www.af2.com and click on the special advertisement located at the top right-hand corner of the page. Viewers looking to enjoy the games via B2 will only need a high-speed internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 or higher. Games will be available for the normal B2 rate of just $6. This week there are nine (9) af2 games available though B2. The Week 13 online broadcast schedule is detailed below. All times listed are Eastern.

Week 13

Friday, June 22, 2007

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Quad City 7:30 p.m.

Fort Wayne at Green Bay 8:30 p.m.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Albany at Florida 7:30 p.m.

Louisville at Cincinnati 7:30 p.m.

Boise at Spokane 8:00 p.m.

Amarillo at Lubbock 8:05 p.m.

Bakersfield at Stockton 10:00 p.m.

Central Valley at Tri-Cities 10:00 p.m.

Arkansas at Everett 10:30 p.m.

OFF THE NET/week 13: The arenafootball2 league (af2) online radio show, "Off the Net," the only internet radio show devoted solely to af2, will air its 13th show of the season today, Thursday, June 21, on www.af2.com. This week's show features special in-depth interviews with Arkansas WR/LB KEVIN WILLIAMS and Florida PR Director/Radio Play-by-Play voice DAVE PARKS. The program will also include news and notes from around the af2 as the league enters the 13th week of the 2007 season. Fans can easily access the program by clicking on a special "Off the Net" advertisement located at the lower right hand corner of af2.com. The show will be available online late this afternoon. "Off the Net," now in its second season, airs every Thursday throughout the regular season and continues all the way until an ArenaCup Champion is crowned in late August. The show is designed to bring af2 fans even closer to their favorite game with in-depth news, interesting interviews and fun feature stories. Veteran broadcaster Dean Jackson serves as host.

PIONEERS TOP COACHES POLL FOR NINTH STRAIGHT WEEK: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers have maintained the No. 1 ranking of the Weekly Coaches Poll for the ninth straight week, the arenafootball2 (af2) league office announced on Wednesday. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton collected 462 of a possible 464 points and 28-of-30 first place votes in securing the top position. The Pioneers remain undefeated in 2007 at 10-0 after a 77-62 Week 12 win against Alabama. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's current nine-week presence at the top of the Coaches Poll is the longest run at No. 1 since the poll was created in 2004. The Pioneers can clinch the East Division with a win this weekend against No. 11 Quad City. The Tulsa Talons (10-1, 415 points, 1 first place vote) held firm at the No. 2 position for the second straight week after scoring a 43-26 home win against Green Bay. Rio Grande Valley (9-1, 386 points, 1 first place vote) also stayed at No. 3 on the strength of a 62-32 road win in Week 12 at Boise. The Dorados have won a team-record seven straight contests. Rounding out the Top-5 this week are the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings (9-2, 374 points) and South Georgia Wildcats (8-3, 346 points). Both teams earned wins in Week 12.

BELL, VENA, THOMAS, READY EARN WEEK 12 HONORS: Alabama wide receiver HERMAN BELL, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton quarterback RYAN VENA and Arkansas defensive back PIERRE THOMAS have been named the U.S. Army Ironman, Schutt Offensive Player and ADT Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, for Week 12 of the 2007 season. In addition to these three awards, the af2 is also highlighting the player who makes the best catch of the week. The Cutters Catch of the Week Award for Week 12 goes to Laredo wide receiver COREY READY.

Bell (5-8, 180, Jacksonville State), in his third af2 season, had an impressive individual performance for Alabama on Saturday in the team's 77-62 loss to top-ranked Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Bell broke the af2 record for kick return yards with 286 against the Pioneers on 12 returns. He surpassed the previous league record of 268 yards set by Bossier City's Shadrick McAfee in 2003. The former Jacksonville State alum also had a 57-yard return touchdown in the second quarter. In addition to his return yards, Bell also caught five passes for 54 yards and a score. He finished with 343 all-purpose yards (third highest all-purpose output of 2007) and recorded one tackle on defense. Bell has amassed 633 all-purpose yards (158.3 per game) and three touchdowns in only four games. Vena (6-0, 220, Colgate) continued his stellar play in 2007 with another amazing showing in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's 77-62 win Saturday against Alabama. The former Colgate standout, now in his fourth af2 season, set two new team records in the victory against the Steeldogs, one for touchdown passes (10) and one for total touchdowns (11; 10 passing, 1 rushing). Vena completed 27-of-34 passes (.794 completion percentage) in the contest for a season-high 360 yards with just one interception. Vena is no stranger to this honor. This is the second time in 2007 (Week 4) and fifth time overall that Vena has been named Offensive Player of the Week in his af2 career. He was also honored once in 2006 (Week 5) and twice in 2003 (Week 10, Week 15). Vena has led the top-ranked Pioneers to one of the best starts in af2 history at 10-0. He currently leads the league in completion percentage (70.7) and passer rating (129.6) and is also tied for the af2's top spot in total touchdowns with 74 (65 passing, 9 rushing). Thomas (5-11, 200, Missouri Western St.), in his third af2 season, had a stellar night defensively in Week 12 for Arkansas in the team's important, 51-39, Central Division win against Oklahoma City. The former Missouri Western standout recorded a Week 12-best 12.0 total tackles (10 UA, 4A), one interception and one pass breakup. Thomas' interception stopped a Yard Dawgz drive at the end of the first half that preserved Arkansas' two-score advantage, 25-13. This is the first af2 weekly honor of Thomas' career. He currently ranks among the league leaders in interceptions (T2nd - 8) and tackles (5th - 68.5). Thomas leads a group of ball-hawking defenders in the Twisters secondary that has forced a league-high 26 interceptions so far in 2007. Ready (6-0, 205, Catawba), who is in his first season in the af2, received the Cutters Catch of the Week Award for his leaping, 7-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter of Saturday's home contest against Texas. The former Catawba alum snared the scoring pass just as he slammed up against the back boards of the end zone to cap off the Lobos first win of the season, 66-41. Ready finished the night with five catches for 46 yards and his first two touchdowns of the season. This is the first Catch of the Week Award of Ready's career.

FORMER BLIZZARD QB SETS AFL TD PASS RECORD: Georgia Force QB CHRIS GREISEN, who played for the af2's Green Bay Blizzard in 2004, set the AFL all-time single-season record for passing touchdowns in a season with No. 106 on Friday night in a 55-44 win against Orlando. The record-breaking score came on a 45-yard touchdown pass to WR CHRIS JACKSON with 11:07 remaining in the second quarter. The former AFL record of 105 touchdown passes was set last season by Dallas QB CLINT DOLEZEL. Greisen threw five more touchdown passes in the game and ended the night with 111. The Force still have one game left to play in the regular season. Greisen's special year has helped the Force (13-2) claim the Southern Division title.

INGOLD MOVES UP WIN LIST: W-B/Scranton Head Coach RICH INGOLD moved up to second place on the all-time coaching win list with 53 overall after the Pioneers' Week 12 win against Alabama. He's now just four victories shy of the league's current all-time coaching wins leader CHRIS SIEGFRIED (57). The only other active coach with 50 career wins is Manchester Head Coach BEN BENNETT, who is currently tied for fourth on the all-time list with 51. Ingold became the fourth coach in league history to win 50 games in Week 8 at Tennessee Valley. He is currently the winningest active coach in the league. Bennett joined the 50-win club with a Week 9 win at Mahoning Valley. Louisville's TOMMY JOHNSON hit a milestone in Week 6 by notching his 40th career af2 win. Johnson, currently with 43 victories, is just the tenth coach in league history to hit the 40-win plateau.

TOP ALL-TIME COACHING VICTORIES

NAME WINS

1. Chris Siegfried 57

2. Rich Ingold* 53

3. Kevin Guy 52

4. Ben Bennett* 51

Bobby Humphrey 51

6. Danton Barto 49

* denotes active coaches

DORADOS ON PACE TO SET SACK RECORD: Rio Grande Valley currently leads the af2 in sacks with a team-record 41 through 10 games. At their current rate of 4.1 sacks per game, they are on pace to post 66 sacks for the season, a mark that would shatter the current af2 team record of 52 set by Carolina in 2001. DL QUINTON STATON leads the team individually with a team-record 9.0 sacks on the year.

UNBE-LEVY-BLE SEASON FOR BROWN: After a strong rookie campaign for the Firecats in 2006, LEVY BROWN has emerged as arguably the league's top defensive back in 2007. The statistics don't lie. Brown currently leads the league in tackles with 86.5 and in interceptions with 10. If he continues on his current pace, the former FAMU standout has a chance to set af2 single season records for total tackles (121.5 - William Haith, MAN - 2005) and interceptions (15 - Kelly Snell, TVV - 2002).

BELL SETS KICK RETURN RECORD: Alabama Steeldogs WR/KR Herman Bell broke the af2 record for kickoff return yards with 286 against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers on Saturday on 12 returns. He surpassed the previous league record of 268 yards set by Bossier City's Shadrick McAfee in 2003. The former Jacksonville State alum also had a 57-yard return touchdown in the second quarter. In addition to his return yards, Bell also caught five passes for 54 yards and a score. He finished with 343 all-purpose yards (third highest all-purpose output of 2007) and recorded one tackle on defense. Bell has amassed 633 all-purpose yards (158.3 per game) and three touchdowns in only four games.

W-B/SCRANTON STILL THE ONE: Entering Week 13 of the season, there is only one team that remains undefeated - the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers (10-0). The Pioneers, off to their best start in team history (3rd best start in af2 history), are currently ranked No. 1 in the Weekly Coaches Poll. The Pioneers remained undefeated in 2007 after a 77-62 Week 12 win against Alabama. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's current nine-week presence at the top of the Coaches Poll surpassed the seven-week run at No. 1 that the Florida Firecats enjoyed in 2005. The Pioneers play at No. 11 Quad City (7-4) this Friday at The Mark of the Quad Cities. Below is a chart detailing the best starts in af2 history.

TEAM START SEASON

Quad City 16-0 2000

Tennessee Valley 14-0 2003

W-B/Scranton* 10-0 2007

Augusta 7-0 2002

Richmond 7-0 2002

Tulsa 7-0 2007

* denotes active steaks

Of the top six starts in af2 history, however, only one team finished strong as well. The Quad City Steamwheelers ran the table in the league's inaugural 2000 season and won all 16 regular season games and three playoff games, culminating with an ArenaCup Championship. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's fate however, is yet to be determined.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING!: There were two notable streaks extended in Week 12 and two that came to an end. The two that were extended were that Wilkes-Barre/Scranton improved its winning streak to 10 games. The Pioneers' current run is now tied for the third longest in af2 regular season history. The Rio Grande Valley Dorados are also in the midst of an impressive seven-game win streak which ranks tied as the fifth best regular season run in league history. On the other side, the Laredo Lobos and Amarillo Dusters earned wins in Week 12 to halt their long losing streaks. The Lobos had lost nine straight to open their first af2 season before claiming their first victory on Saturday against Texas, 66-41. Amarillo, which started the season with a win, had lost eight straight contests before defeating Stockton on Friday, 66-53.

SEBASTIEN AND FORBES TIED ATOP THE CAREER INTERCEPTION LEADERBOARD: Veteran DB MATT FORBES of the Louisville Fire began the year tied for first on the all-time regular season interceptions list with 27. He moved into first place outright on the all-time list in Week 1 when he recorded his 28th career interception. Entering Week 10, Forbes held the all-time lead over another veteran DB ALLISTAIR SEBASTIEN, 29-28. Sebastien then recorded two interceptions on June 1 against Tulsa to take over the top spot, 30-29. Forbes evened the score the very next night with an interception in a home win against Green Bay. Florida WR/DB BRENT BURNSIDE ranks fifth overall with 24 career interceptions.

ALL-TIME REGULAR SEASON

INTERCEPTION LEADERS

NAME INTS

1. Matt Forbes* 30

1. Allistair Sebastien* 30

3. Arkee Thompson 27

4. Michael Brown 25

5. Brent Burnside* 24

* denotes active players

KEVIN WILLIAMS REACHES 900: Arkansas veteran WR/LB KEVIN WILLIAMS became just the second player in af2 history to score 900 points. He broke the 900-point plateau with two touchdowns in the Twisters' Week 12 win against Oklahoma City. Williams currently stands in second place on the all-time scoring list with 910 points. Florida WR MAGIC BENTON is the af2's top scorer with 942 career points. He became the first player in af2 history to score 900 points in Week 6 with three scores against Albany. Rio Grande Valley WR/DB GEORGE WILLIAMS broke past 800 career points thanks to a five-touchdown performance in a Week 11 home win against Texas. He has moved up to third overall with 830 points after a four-touchdown outing in Week 12. Manchester WR JARRAIL JACKSON hit 800 in Week 9 and is currently fourth on the list of the league's all-time top scorers with 816 points. Quad City WR/LB Jack Walker, jr. (786) and Oklahoma City WR/DB AL HUNT (772) eclipsed the 700-point plateau this season and are approaching 800 as well. Below is a breakdown of the leading scorers in af2 history:

MOST POINTS SCORED, NON-KICKING, CAREER

PTS PLAYER YEARS PLAYED

942 Magic Benton* 2001-present

910 Kevin Williams* 2001-present

830 George Williams* 2001, 2003-present

816 Jarrail Jackson* 2000-01, 2005-present

786 Jack Walker, Jr.* 2002-03, 2005-present

780 Mitch Allner 2000-04

772 Al Hunt* 2003-present

756 Cainon Lamb 2002-05

738 Kevin Prentiss 2003-2006

* denotes active players

BOSSIER-SHREVEPORT ON VERGE OF WIN RECORD: The Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings improved to 9-2 in 2007 with an 81-35 win Saturday against Corpus Christi. In the process, the Battle Wings tied a team record for most wins in a season with nine. Bossier-Shreveport will attempt to set a new team record with 10 wins next Friday, June 29 when the team travels to Amarillo to take on the Dusters.

PICKED OFF - ARKANSAS DEFENDERS APPROACH RECORD: The Arkansas Twisters secondary boasts a group of ball-hawking defenders that has forced a league-high 26 interceptions so far in 2007. The Twisters are on pace to record 42 for the season, a figure that would far surpass the current league record of 36, set in 2001 by Quad City. Pierre Thomas leads Arkansas individually with eight interceptions.

PLAYOFF CLINCHERS: The following teams can clinch a playoff spot in Week 13:

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton can clinch a playoff spot with a win against Quad City Tulsa can clinch a playoff spot with a Lubbock loss Rio Grande Valley can clinch a playoff spot with a win against Oklahoma City and a Lubbock loss

IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY - af2 PLAYOFF PICTURE: Sixteen teams qualify for the playoffs, eight from each conference (American and National). The eight qualifying teams in each conference consist of the three division champions and five Wild Cards, determined by best overall record. Seeding in each conference is based on overall record, with the top three seeds in each conference reserved for the division champions, regardless of record. In the First Round (August 3-5), the first three seeds in each conference are the three division winners. The next five teams are seeded by next best five overall records. Teams ranked 1-4 earn home playoff games with 1 hosting 8, 2 hosting 7, 3 hosting 6 and 4 hosting 5. In the Second Round (August 10-12), the winner of the 1-8 game plays the winner of the 4-5 game. The winner of the 2-7 game plays the winner of the 3-6 game. The home team is decided by the team with the higher seed. The winners of the Second Round will meet for the Conference Championships on the weekend of August 17-19. The team with the better overall record hosts the Conference Championship game. The winners of the Conference Championships face off in the 2007 ArenaCup on Saturday, August 25 at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City, La.

American Conference Standings 1. W-B/Scranton (10-0) - Current East Division Leader

2. Quad City (7-4) - Current Midwest Division Leader - Owns HTH adv. over SPK

3. Spokane (7-4) - Current West Division Leader

4. Tri-Cities (6-4) - Owns HTH advantage over CVC

5. Central Valley (6-4)

6. Louisville (5-5) - Owns HTH advantage over GBB

7. Green Bay (5-5)

8. Manchester (5-6) - Owns HTH advantage over MVT

9. Mahoning Valley (5-6)

10. Albany (4-6) - Owns SOS advantage over BAK, BOI & STK

11. Stockton (4-6) - Owns better W/L % in common games over BAK & BOI

12. Boise (4-6) - Owns HTH advantage over BAK

13. Bakersfield (4-6)

14. Fort Wayne (4-7)

15. Everett (3-7)

16. Cincinnati (1-9)

NATIONAL CONFERENCE STANDINGS 1. Tulsa (10-1) - Current Central Division Leader

2. Rio Grande Valley (9-1) - Current Southwest Division Leader

3. South Georgia (8-3) - Current South Division Leader

4. Bossier-Shreveport (9-2)

5. Florida (8-3)

6. Arkansas (7-3)

7. Oklahoma City (6-4)

8. Alabama (5-6)

9. Lubbock (4-6)

10. Tennessee Valley (4-7)

11. Amarillo (2-8)

12. Texas (2-9)

13. Corpus Christi (1-9) - Owns SOS advantage over LAR

14. Laredo (1-9)

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