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August 4, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


#6 LOUISVILLE FIRE (9-7) AT #3 MEMPHIS XPLORERS (11-5)
SATURDAY, AUGUST 5, 2006 - DeSoto Civic Center (8,444) 8:00 P.M. ET
The Louisville Fire and Memphis Xplorers square off in the first round in a rematch of last season's ArenaCup. The Fire won when they met earlier this season in Week 15, 63-55, in Louisville. Memphis was without QB BRIAN JONES in that contest. Jones, one of the af2's top signal callers, has a 27-6 record over the past two seasons (including playoffs). In the Week 15 tilt, backup QB DANIEL FORREST threw for 261 yards and six scores. He also ran for two touchdowns. OS KEVIN PRENTISS caught 12 passes for 149 yards and three scores, while WR/LB KENNY HIGGINS hauled in four passes for 46 yards and two touchdowns. OL/DL JOSEPH CREAR, who had two sacks, led the Xplorers defense. On the other side of the field, Louisville was led offensively by QB BRETT DIETZ. Dietz threw four touchdowns while rushing for another. OS ROB MAGER had six receptions for 82 yards and two scores. WR/DB NATE GREEN and WR/LB DENNIS FRYZEL each recorded a rushing and receiving touchdown. Defensive specialists JEREMY CHANDLER and KABOTE SIYKALA combined for 14.5 tackles and three break ups. Louisville is looking to regain its rhythm after finishing the regular season with two tough losses in the last two weeks. The Fire's most recent result was a tough-to-take, 54-53, loss at Green Bay. The Blizzard claimed the East Division with the win. Green Bay scored 16 points in the last five minutes to take the lead, and the winning score and 2-point conversion came with 34 seconds remaining. Dietz (af2-best 71.2 completion percentage) threw three touchdowns and rushed for two more, while WR/DB LANCE TAYLOR rushed for two scores of his own. Mager (league leader in catches, yards, TDs) was held to five catches for 70 yards and a score, but Fryzel came up big wth 10 receptions for 149 yards and two touchdowns. OL/DL SHELTON CONNOR led the Fire defense with two sacks. Louisville's defense will need to come up with some stops against a very dangerous Memphis offense. The Fire have allowed the most points (854) of all the playoff teams. The Xplorers had a bye last week, but defeated Birmingham, 56-52, in their last outing in Week 17. Jones, who tied with Dietz for first in the af2 with a 126.7 passing rating, threw for 294 yards and five scores. Prentiss (#3 in receiving ypg - 111.4, #2 in all-purpose ypg - 190.4) had another strong showing with seven catches for 126 yards and two scores. The defense played a big part as well, led by DS SIDNEY HAUGABROOK (8 tackles) and DS SCOTT CUNNINGHAM (7.5 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 PBUs, 31-yd INT return TD). Memphis led the af2 in scoring margin (+16). WR/DB DEON GIDDENS led the af2 with 37 pass breakups. This should be a great game featuring two great offenses. Memphis will be tough to beat at home, however, going 7-1 at the DeSoto Civic Center this season.

FIRE XPLORERS
SERIES LEADER Memphis leads 5-3
LAST MEETING Louisville Won 63-55 on 7/8/2006
LAST FIVE GAMES 3-2 3-2
LAST GAME Lost at GBB 53-54 on 7/28/2006 Won at BIR 56-52 on 7/22/2006
2006 LEADERS FIRE XPLORERS
PASSING Dietz: 520-370-10; 4217; 90 TDs Jones: 434-296-10; 3937; 81 TDs
RECEIVING Mager: 143-1918; 54 TDs Higgins: 93-1428; 28 TDs
RUSHING Power: 26-80; 7 TDs Jones: 51-245; 15 TDs
TACKLES Siykala: 87.5 Giddens: 97.5
SACKS Connor: 7.5 Crear: 7
INTERCEPTIONS Chandler: 6, Siykala: 6 Cunningham: 5
KICKING Hendrix:102-127 PAT; 6-12 FG 120 PTS Davis: 101-121 PAT; 2-9 FG 107 PTS
TEAM OFFENSE 57.8 PPG (3); 283.1 (5) 56.9 PPG (4); 293.0 (3)
TEAM DEFENSE 53.4 PPG (17); 279.1 (19) 40.9 PPG (1); 273.4 (14)


#5 ARKANSAS TWISTERS (10-6) AT #4 OKLAHOMA CITY YARD DAWGZ (11-5)
SATURDAY, AUGUST 5, 2006 - Cox Convention Center (13,231) 8:05 P.M. ET
In their third meeting of the season, the Arkansas Twisters will try to change their fortunes from the first two contests against the Yard Dawgz in this first round playoff game in Oklahoma City. The Yard Dawgz have actually never lost to Arkansas in four head-to-head affairs dating back to Oklahoma City's first af2 season in 2004. In this year's two previous meetings, Oklahoma City won 64-25 at home in Week 7 and 56-44 at Arkansas in Week 16. QB CRAIG STRICKLAND threw for a combined 413 yards and 10 touchdowns in the two games, while OS JARRAIL JACKSON caught 21 passes for 238 yards and six touchdowns. DS JON HOLLAND recorded 12.5 tackles and returned an interception for a TD. Arkansas QB WALTER CHURCH has thrown for 492 yards, eight scores and five interceptions in two contests. Oklahoma City is coming off a, 72-66, Week 18 home win against Bossier-Shreveport. Jackson (7 catches, 89 yards, 2 TDs) played a huge part on special teams with a 52-yd kickoff return for a touchdown. Strickland had a strong game as well with 287 yards passing and eight touchdowns. The veteran signal caller finished third in the league in touchdown passes with 98. He also threw for over 4,000 yards (4,029) for the third time in his six-year career. Strickland's other weapons, WR/DB AL HUNT and WR/DB ANTHONY DINGLE, combined for 17 receptions for 191 yards and five scores against the Battle Wings. OL/DL BARRETT ALLEN led the way on defense with two sacks. Jackson (37) and Hunt (34) both finished in the af2's Top 10 in touchdown receptions. The Yard Dawgz, who average 58.4 points per game, have qualified for the postseason every season of their existence, a span of three years (2004-present). Oklahoma City, however, won't be playing at its normal home at the Ford Center. For the third straight season, the Yard Dawgz will be hosting a first round playoff game at nearby Cox Convention Center. Oklahoma City hasn't faired well there either, losing both games. The Yard Dawgz fell to Amarillo in 2005, 59-56, and Peoria in 2004, 45-35. Now with Arkansas coming to town, they are shooting for that important first playoff victory. The Twisters come into this week's showdown on the strength of a 53-33 home win in Week 18 against Macon. WR/DB KEVIN WILLIAMS returned an interception 51 yards for a touchdown, and DS DELENELL REID returned one 25 yards for a score. Reid also had eight tackles and two pass break ups. WR/DB PIERRE THOMAS also played a strong overall game with four catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns on offense and a fumble recovery and interception on defense. DLS C.J. MCCLAIN had a sack to finish the season with 14.5. He ranked third in the league behind teammate STEVE WATSON and Bakersfield OL/DL Jerry Turner, who had 16 sacks apiece. Church threw for 202 yards and five touchdowns in the regular season finale. He had 81 touchdown passes on the season and 25 interceptions (most in the af2). Arkansas' defense is strong, but will it be strong enough to stop the Yard Dawgz? This game should be an intense affair between two Midwest Division rivals.

TWISTERS YARD DAWGZ
SERIES LEADER Oklahoma City leads 4-0
LAST MEETING Oklahoma City Won 64-25 on 7/15/2006
LAST FIVE GAMES 3-2 3-2
LAST GAME Won vs. MAC 53-33 on 7/29/2006 Won vs. BOS 72-66 on 7/29/2006
2006 LEADERS TWISTERS YARD DAWGZ
PASSING Church: 550-294-25; 3623; 81 TDs Strickland: 533-315-11; 4029; 98 TDs
RECEIVING Kilow: 82-927; 23 TDs Jackson: 125-1541; 37 TDs
RUSHING Watson: 18-40; 6 TDs Dingle: 15-93; 5 TDs
TACKLES Reid: 100.5 Fletcher: 83.5
SACKS Watson: 16 Allen: 6.5
INTERCEPTIONS Reid: 7, Williams: 7 Holland: 4
KICKING Carlton: 67-87 PAT; 9-33 FG 94 PTS Haglund: 116-124 PAT; 10-32 FG 148 PTS
TEAM OFFENSE 47.8 PPG (14); 228.9 (20) 58.4 PPG (2); 262.1 (14)
TEAM DEFENSE 44.6 PPG (3); 238.8 (4) 46.2 PPG (8); 276.4 (18)



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