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af2 week 15 quick hitters

July 6, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


SIEGFRIED REACHES THE BIG 5-0: Spokane Head Coach CHRIS SIEGFRIED has led the Shock to the league's best record (10-2) and a spot in the 2006 playoffs in the team's first season of af2 play. In the process, he has steadily climbed up the career coaching victories ladder. He's currently third overall with 50 wins. He's now one of just three coaches in af2 history to hit the 50-win plateau. If his team continues at its current pace, Siegfried could surpass former Rio Grande Valley and Tennessee Valley Head Coach KEVIN GUY as the af2 career leader in overall coaching victories. Guy is currently No. 1 in all-time wins with 52 (52-19). Below is a list of the top coaches in league history.

TOP ALL-TIME COACHING VICTORIES
NAME WINS
1. Kevin Guy 52
2. Bobby Humphrey 51
3. Chris Siegfried* 50
4. Danton Barto* 46
Richard Davis* 46
5. Kevin Porter 45
* denotes active coaches

BENTON CLAIMS af2 CAREER SCORING LEAD: Florida OS MAGIC BENTON jumped ahead of Arkansas WR/DB KEVIN WILLIAMS to become the af2's all-time scoring leader in Week 14 thanks to his two touchdowns against the Green Bay Blizzard. His 12-point game increased his all-time total to 796 career points. Williams, who went scoreless in Week 14, has 790 points. Former Tulsa star MITCH ALLNER entered 2006 as the league's career leader with 780 points over his five-year career. Other active af2 players looking to join Williams and Benton in the 700 club are Memphis' KEVIN PRENTISS (696), Williams' teammate LENNIE JOHNSON (624), Quad City's JACK WALKER (618) and Bakersfield's NIAN TAYLOR (606).

MOST POINTS SCORED, NON-KICKING, CAREER
PTS PLAYER YEARS PLAYED
796 Magic Benton 2001-present
790 Kevin Williams 2001-present
780 Mitch Allner 2000-04
756 Cainon Lamb 2002-05
696 Kevin Prentiss 2003-present
656 George Williams 2001, 2003-present


BENTON CATCHES CAREER TOUCHDOWN MARK: Florida OS MAGIC BENTON has moved into the outright lead for all-time touchdowns scored in af2 history thanks to his two-touchdown performance this past Saturday against Green Bay. Benton, who now has 131 career scores, entered Week 14 tied with current Arkansas WR/DB KEVIN WILLIAMS (129). MITCH ALLNER entered 2006 as the af2 career leader with 126 touchdowns. Memphis OS/KR KEVIN PRENTISS is also among the league's all-time leaders with 116 career scores.

MOST TOUCHDOWNS SCORED, CAREER
TDS PLAYER YEARS PLAYED
131 Magic Benton 2001-present
129 Kevin Williams 2001-present
126 Mitch Allner 2000-04
118 Cainon Lamb 2002-05
116 Kevin Prentiss 2003-present
108 George Williams 2001, 2003-present

MCCOLLISTER MAKIN' KNIGHTS BETTER: One of Macon's newest additions, OS CHAVIS MCCOLLISTER, has been a huge factor for the Knights since his arrival three weeks ago. Acquired in a trade with Oklahoma City, the second-year player has accounted for 11 scores (10 receiving, 1 rushing) in just three games. Not coincidentally, Macon has won two of those three contests, including an impressive, 38-33, upset victory at home over South Division rival Memphis in Week 14. McCollister was the main offensive force for the Knights, collecting seven catches for 124 yards and five touchdowns. His final receiving score was the game-winner that came with 1:56 to play. For his efforts, McCollister earned the af2 Schutt Offensive Player of the Week Award. He also earned the U.S. Army Ironman of the Week Award in Week 8 as a member of the Yard Dawgz.

JONES SCORES 50: Memphis QB BRIAN JONES recorded his 50th career rushing touchdown in a Week 14 road loss at Macon. Jones amassed 34 rushing yards and one touchdown this past week to join Albany QB RYAN VENA (50) as the only two active members of the 50-rushing touchdown club. Only two other players in league history have over 50 in their careers - SHERARD POTEETE (87) and DARNELL SMALL (55). Jones currently ranks third in the league in rushing with 245 yards and is tied for third in rushing touchdowns with 15. He also just passed Vena for sixth place on the all-time rushing list with 598 career yards.

SHOCK NEW NO. 1: The expansion Spokane Shock have reclaimed the No. 1 ranking in the Weekly Coaches Poll, the arenafootball2 (af2) league office announced Wednesday. Spokane collected 251 of a possible 264 points and 14-of-23 first place votes in securing the top position. The Shock clinched a playoff spot in just their first season of play thanks to an impressive, 46-23, road win Saturday night at Arkansas. Spokane leads the West Division with a league-best 10-2 record.

ROOKIES, VETERANS TAKE AIM AT TD RECORD: QBs SCOTT RISLOV of Central Valley and BRETT DIETZ of Louisville are having phenomenal rookie seasons. Rislov currently leads the league in touchdown passes with 78, one ahead of Dietz (77) and two ahead of veterans CRAIG STRICKLAND of Oklahoma City (76) and CHRIS WALLACE of Florida (75). If they continue on their current pace, Rislov could finish with 104 touchdown passes, while Dietz (103), Strickland (101) and Wallace (100) could also hit the century mark. All four are on their way to surpass MATT SAUK's current league record of 99 in a season. The best single season total in Arena Football (AFL and af2) history is CLINT DOLEZEL's 105 touchdown tosses for the Dallas Desperados in 2006.

MAGER PLAYER: Louisville OS ROB MAGER has established himself as the most dangerous receiver in the af2 this season. He currently leads the league in scoring (264 points), receiving yards (1,558), receiving touchdowns (44) and receptions (117). He has already surpassed his own team records for a single season in all of those same categories with the exception of receptions (125). If he continues at his current pace, Mager also has a shot at a number of league records in 2006. The following is a breakdown of where Mager stands.

MAGER'S PROJECTIONS
CATEGORY CURRENT PROJ RECORD PLAYER, TEAM YEAR
SCORING 264 352 346 Donovan Morgan, Tulsa 2005
TOTAL TOUCHDOWNS 44 59 57 Donovan Morgan, Tulsa 2005
RECEIVING TOUCHDOWNS 44 59 54 Donovan Morgan, Tulsa 2005
RECEPTIONS 117 156 161 Corey Hill, Albany 2002, 2003

HICKS AND VENA SETTING PASSING YARDS PACE: Veteran quarterbacks TIM HICKS (Quad City) and RYAN VENA (Albany) and both on pace to break MATT SAUK's league record for most passing yards in one season. Sauk set the all-time mark of 4,489 yards last season with the Louisville Fire. The following is a breakdown of where Hicks and Vena stand.

PROJECTED PASSING YARDS
PLAYER, TEAM CURRENT PROJ RECORD PLAYER, TEAM YEAR
Tim Hicks, Quad City 3,558 4,744 4,489 Matt Sauk, Louisville 2005
Ryan Vena, Albany 3,535 4,714


QUAD CITY'S IMPRESSIVE TRIO: Quad City receivers KRIS PETERS, TIM DODGE, and JACK WALKER and have been a big reason why the Steamwheelers offense is among the most dangerous in the af2. The group is on pace to become just the third threesome of receivers on the same team to each record 1,000 receiving yards in a season. Peters leads the group with 1,267 yards, Dodge has 1,076 and Walker is third at 986. In 2004, Peters was also part of the second group to hit the milestone as a member of the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz. That season he led the Yard Dawgz with 1,304 receiving yards. AL HUNT and TIMON MARSHALL also recorded over 1,000 yards for Oklahoma City that season. The first group to do it had a familiar face as well. In 2003, the Steamwheelers 1,000-yard trio consisted of Tim Dodge, JEFF HEWITT and IRA GOOCH.

PRENTISS HITS CENTURY MARK FOR RECEIVING SCORES: Xplorers OS/KR KEVIN PRENTISS caught nine passes for 143 yards and three touchdowns in Memphis' Week 13 win against South Georgia, including the 100th touchdown reception of his career. The four-year veteran now has 101 for his career. Quad City WR/LB JACK WALKER also became a member of the 100-club earlier this season. Florida OS MAGIC BENTON leads the all-time list with 129 receiving scores.

MOST RECEIVING TDS SCORED, CAREER
TDS PLAYER YEARS PLAYED
129 Magic Benton 2001-present
113 Mitch Allner 2000-04
111 Cainon Lamb 2002-05
103 Wayne Thomas 2000-02, 2006
101 Jack Walker 2002-03, 2005-present
101 Kevin Prentiss 2003-present
101 Jeff Hewitt 2002-05

PRENTISS APPROACHING ALL-TIME KICK RETURN YARDS MARK: Memphis OS/KR KEVIN PRENTISS is among the league's all-time best in a number of different categories, one of which is all-time kick return yards. Prentiss has accumulated 341 yards this season to run his career total to 3,402. He needs just 170 more yards to surpass SHADRICK MCAFEE'S current all-time record of 3,572 yards. Another active af2 player high on the same list is Arkansas' LENNIE JOHNSON who has 3,051 yards career kick return yards.

IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY - af2 PLAYOFF PICTURE: Six teams from each the American and National Conference qualify for the playoffs. The six qualifying teams in each conference consist of the two division champions and four Wild Cards, determined by best overall record. Seeding in each conference is based on overall record, with the top two seeds in each conference reserved for the division champions, regardless of record. In the First Round (August 4-6), the two division winners in each conference receive a bye. The top-seeded Wild Card team hosts the lowest-seeded Wild Card team, while the No. 2 seeded Wild Card team hosts the No. 3 seeded Wild Card team. In the Second Round (August 11-13), the division winners who had byes in the First Round host the winners from the First Round. The top seeded division champion plays the lowest seeded team advancing from the First Round, while the second-seeded division winner plays the other winner from the First Round. The winners of the Second Round will meet for the Conference Championships on the weekend of August 18-20. For this round seeding no longer matters, meaning the team with the better overall record hosts the Conference Championship. The winners of the Conference Championships face off in the 2006 ArenaCup on August 26 or 27 at a site to be announced.

AMERICAN CONFERENCE STANDINGS
1. Florida (9-3) - Can clinch a playoff spot with a win against W-B/Scranton
2. W-B/Scranton (8-4)
3. Memphis (9-4) - Can clinch a playoff spot with a win against Louisville
4. Green Bay (8-5)
5. Louisville (7-5)
6. Birmingham (6-6)
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7. Albany (5-7) - Currently has better win % over common opponents than MAN, MAC and QCS (GBB, WBS)
8. Manchester (5-7) - Currently has better win % over common opponents than MAC and QCS (ALB, GBB, WBS)
9. Macon (5-7) - Currently has better win % over common opponents than QCS (ALB, ARK, GBB, TVV, WBS)
10. Quad City (5-7)
11. Tennessee Valley (2-10)
12. South Georgia (1-11)

NATIONAL CONFERENCE STANDINGS
1. Spokane (10-2) - y
2. Oklahoma City (9-3) - Can clinch a playoff spot with a win against Tulsa
3. Central Valley (8-4) - Currently has better win % over common opponents than TUL (AMA, BOS, RGV)
4. Tulsa (8-4)
5. Arkansas (8-5)
6. Bakersfield (7-5)
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7. Rio Grande Valley (6-7)
8. Stockton (5-7)
9. Amarillo (4-8)
10. Everett (3-9)
11. Bossier-Shreveport (2-10)



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