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af2 week 13 Saturday night matchups

June 24, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


WEEK 13: SATURDAY NIGHT MATCHUPS

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PIONEERS (6-5) AT SOUTH GEORGIA WILDCATS (2-9)

SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2005 - ALBANY CIVIC CENTER (8,034) 7:30 P.M. ET

The South Georgia Wildcats host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers at the Albany Civic Center on Saturday night. With a loss to the Macon Knights last week the Pioneers and Louisville Fire now have identical 5-6 records. South Georgia welcomes ADRIAN COCKFIELD back this week. Last season Cockfield led the league in receptions with 126. In five games with the Wildcats this season Cockfield caught 40 passes for 406 yards and eight touchdowns. After being out for two weeks CHRIS MCKINNEY caught four passes for 34 yards. On the season McKinney has 43 receptions for 445 yards and 12 touchdowns. On defense McKinney has recorded 29.0 tackles (21UA-16AT), half a tackle for a loss and three passes broken up. For the Pioneers they are in the midst of a quarterback controversy. KYLE ROWLEY began the season as the starter, over last year's starter TIM HICKS. Once Rowley settled into the position Hicks was traded to Bossier-Shreveport. BRYAN SYNDER took over the backup spot but earned the start last week, throwing for 217 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions on 18-of-32 passing. It remains to be seen who will start on Saturday. THOMIE VENISEE caught three touchdowns last week after catching five over Venisee's previous seven games. These two clubs last played in the playoffs last season, with the Pioneers ending the Wildcats' season 40-37.

MACON KNIGHTS (5-6) AT FLORIDA FIRECATS (9-2)

SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2005 - GERMAIN ARENA (7,128) 7:30 P.M. ET

The South Division is on the line when the Florida Firecats (9-2) host the Macon Knights (5-6). If the Firecats win, they are South Division Champions. It would be the second time in franchise history and the second year in a row the Firecats have won their division. Florida is looking to put a 52-29 loss to the Manchester Wolves last week behind them. The defeat pushed the Firecats to second place in the American Conference and changed the dynamics of the season. Now Florida faces the prospect of playing catch-up for the rest of the season. One reason for Florida's success is their receiving corps. MAGIC BENTON appropriately wears number one, and he deserves the honor. He leads the 'Cats offense with 73 receptions for 969 yards and 27 touchdowns. After returning from retirement during the season, CAINON LAMB is the team's second leading receiver with 33 catches for 379 yards and 13 touchdowns in just five games. On the other sideline, don't look now but the Macon Knights are nearing the .500 mark at 5-6 and are two games ahead of Albany for the last playoff spot in the American Conference. Much of the credit should go to new head coach Derek Stingley. In the five games Stingley has been the head coach, the offense has averaged 53.0 points per game. In the Knights' six previous games Macon was averaging only 33.5 points per game. Other areas have improved as well. In Stingley's five games, quarterback LIONEL HAYES has been sacked only twice, compared to ten times in Macon's six previous games. Another change has been the use of running plays near the goal line. In the Knights first six games they had six rushing touchdowns. In Stingley's five games the Knights have 12 rushing touchdowns. A win over Florida would be Macon's biggest win of the season.

ARKANSAS TWISTERS (2-9) AT TULSA TALONS (8-3)

SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2005 - TULSA CONVENTION CENTER (7,111) 8:00 P.M. ET

With the Rio Grande Valley Dorados breathing down their neck, the Tulsa Talons host the Arkansas Twisters. At 8-3 the Talons are one game in front of the Dorados in the West Division. Arkansas is coming off of a 59-28 win last week over South Georgia. The 59-point total was the second highest total for the Twisters offense this season. They used a ROBERT KILOW kickoff return for a touchdown to end the first half to pull away against the Wildcats. Despite their 2-9 record, the Twisters are not out of the playoff picture. They are currently three games behind Macon for the final spot in the American Conference. With a home game left with Macon in Week 16 the Twisters still have time to turn around their season. Tulsa on the other hand moves close to clinching a playoff spot each week. Not enough can be said about rookie wide receiver DONOVAN MORGAN. Morgan is not only on pace to set the record for receiving touchdowns in a season, but also the record for points scored by an individual player in a season. On defense for Tulsa, AHMAD BHATTI is tied with five players for second in the league in forced fumbles with three. KEVEN FETERIK has taken over the quarterback position for Arkansas. The former Riptide quarterback is 46-of-66 for 397 yards and eight touchdowns and four interceptions with Arkansas. Tulsa ended Arkansas' season by beating them in the playoffs in both 2002 and 2003.

BOSSIER-SHREVEPORT BATTLE WINGS (3-8) AT AMARILLO DUSTERS (7-4)

SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2005 - AMARILLO CIVIC CENTER (4,870) 8:00 P.M. ET

Two clubs coming off victories meet in Amarillo as the Dusters host the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings. Amarillo will be without quarterback JULIAN REESE, meaning STEVE PANELLA will get his first start at quarterback. Panella, or "Air Canada" to teammates, is one of af2's international players. He was a record setting quarterback at St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He took St. Mary's to back-to-back National Championship game appearances, winning the game's MVP award in 2002. In just two appearances this season Panella has completed 4-of-7 passes for 42 yards. If he can get the ball to CHAVIS MCCOLLISTER he should adjust pretty quickly to the arena game. McCollister leads the league in receiving yards per game with 138.7 a contest. His 1,248 receiving yards is first in the league also, all the more impressive considering he has played only nine games. Battle Wings quarterback TIM HICKS guided the Battle Wings to a win last week by throwing for 235 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions on 18-of-34 passing. Especially impressive considering leading receiver BO SMITH didn't play. Instead REGGIE PERKINS stepped up and caught four touchdowns for the Battle Wings. The Battle Wings' leading tackler is JOSEPH GANA. He has 38.5 tackles despite only playing in the Battle Wings' last seven games. This is the final meeting of the season between the two clubs.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY DORADOS (7-4) AT SAN DIEGO RIPTIDE (4-7)

SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2005 - ipayOne Center (12,920) 10:00 P.M. ET

The red hot Rio Grande Valley Dorados head to the coast to battle the Riptide in San Diego. The Dorados lineup is filled with talented players like JOSH KELLETT, current U.S. Army Ironman of the Week MARQUIS FLOYD and TRAVIS MCALPINE. But one player often overlooked is CHRIS ROBINSON. On defense Robinson is the Dorados' third leading tackler with 28.0 tackles (23UA-10AT). He leads the team in sacks with 4.0 and has recorded an interception, four passes defended and a safety this season. On offense the fullback/linebacker leads the team in rushing with 155 yards and seven touchdowns. For the Riptide, last week against Tulsa the offense was hitting on all cylinders. KANE CLAUNCH threw for 317 yards and eight touchdowns on 21-of-39 passing with no interceptions. The big performer was STEVE GONZALEZ. He totaled 370 all-purpose yards, 136 receiving, 202 on kick returns and 32 on field goal returns. His 370 all-purpose yards was the fifth best single game performance in af2 history. On the season Gonzalez has returned 36 kickoffs for 787 yards (seventh in the league) including two returns for touchdowns. Claunch took over the starting job in game five for the Riptide and has added needed stability to the quarterback position. On defense, rookie ASI FAOA is second in the league in sacks with 10.0. The Dorados defense is paced by KEVIN BROWN's 50.5 (43UA-15AT) tackles and 16 pass break ups. Seven different Dorados players have registered at least one sack. CURTIS JETER has two sacks and a league leading four forced fumbles. The Dorados are a perfect 5-0 in division games this season.



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