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af2 Week 15 Saturday and Sunday matchups

July 8, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


SAN DIEGO RIPTIDE (4-8) AT LOUISVILLE FIRE (7-5)

SATURDAY, JULY 9, 2005 - FREEDOM HALL (15,646) 7:30 P.M. ET

Coming off a heart breaking loss last week, the San Diego Riptide travel across the Mississippi River to face the Louisville Fire. Last week the Riptide lost starting quarterback KANE CLAUNCH in the first quarter against the Dorados. With Claunch the only quarterback on the roster at the time, in came RYAN SMITH, a WR/LB. Smith performed admirably and had the Riptide up by nine late in the game, but the fought back to win the game. The week off has helped Claunch rest but is questionable for the game. If he can't go newly signed JOE JACKSON will start. Louisville is coming off a 73-63 win at Albany. With ROB MAGER out, CESARE MANNING stepped up big time. He brought in 12 passes for 152 yards, an af2 record tying seven touchdowns. These numbers earned him Offensive Player of the Week honors. Louisville can earn a playoff berth with a victory or losses by both Albany and Arkansas. No player has attempted more passes or completed more passes this season than MATT SAUK. His 70 passing touchdowns also lead the league. The contest starts a stretch of three of Louisville's final four games at home. The Fire defense is led by ROB GREEN and NATE GREEN. Rob leads the team in tackles with 44.0 (40UA-8AT) but has not played the last two games. Nate is second on the team in tackles with 35.5 (30UA-11AT). They will need to keep an eye on NIAN TAYLOR, the Riptide's leading receiver and STEVE GONZALEZ. Gonzalez is second on the 'Tide in receiving with 47 catches for 661 yards and 15 touchdowns. He is also one of the league's best kick returners as he is third in the af2 in kick return yards with 1,054. He came up one yard short of tying the af2 record for kick return yards in a game last week against the Dorados.

ARKANSAS TWISTERS (3-9) AT FLORIDA FIRECATS (10-2)

SATURDAY, JULY 9, 2005 - GERMAIN ARENA (7,128) 7:30 P.M. ET

After a win last week on the road at Tulsa, the Arkansas Twisters hit the road again to play the Florida Firecats. The win last week was the Twisters' second win in a row last week and their first ever in Tulsa. The Twisters are still in the playoff picture, but they need to keep winning. KEVEN FETERIK had a fantastic game for the Twisters last week, throwing for seven touchdowns and no interceptions. On the season he is 64-of-99 for 670 yards and 15 touchdowns with four interceptions after coming over from San Diego. He has found a connection with TED ALFORD, who has six touchdown receptions in the last three games. The Firecats have one of the best duos of defensive specialists in the league with veterans KELLY SNELL and ROY STABLER. Snell is tied for second in the league in passes defended with 28 and third in the league in tackles with 79.0 (65UA-28AT). Stabler intercepted two passes, broke up ten and registered 40.0 tackles (30UA-20AT). The Firecats offense is led by another veteran, MAGIC BENTON. Benton leads the team in receptions (78), touchdowns (28), and all-purpose yards (1,330) among other categories. The only other meeting between these two teams came in Week 5 of this season when Florida traveled to Arkansas. The Firecats won 68-50 behind nine CHRIS WALLACE touchdown passes. Benton caught five touchdowns in the game also.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY DORADOS (8-4) AT BOSSIER-SHREVEPORT BATTLE WINGS (3-9)

SATURDAY, JULY 9, 2005 - CENTURYTEL CENTER (12,500) 7:30 P.M. ET

The Rio Grande Valley Dorados face the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings on the road on Saturday night. The Dorados are currently tied with the Tulsa Talons for first place in the West Division. Since they currently hold the tie-breaker between the two clubs, if the season ended today they would have a division championship and a bye in the first round with a home playoff game. The Battle Wings are coming off of a 38-51 loss at Amarillo last week in a game that was closer than the score indicated. In the contest REGGIE PERKINS and CHRIS HIGHSHAW both caught two touchdown passes. Perkins also returned a kickoff for a touchdown, recovered a fumble and led the team with six solo tackles to earn the U.S. Army Ironman of the Week Award. Normal starter TIM HICKS will sit this game, replaced by BRENT RAWLS. There is no question of the quarterback for the Dorados. JOSH KELLETT has played 460 total plays this season, fifth most in the league. His main receiver MARQUIS FLOYD is one of the favorites for U.S. Army Ironman of the year with 77 receptions for 1,024 yards and 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He is also second on the team in tackles with 36.5 (32UA-9AT). When the Dorados get in the redzone they often hand the ball to one of the best FB/LB in the league, CHRIS ROBINSON. He leads the team in rushing with 161 yards and eight touchdowns. A win for the Dorados would avenge an earlier season loss 77-69 to the Battle Wings. After that loss the Dorados have won 7-of-8 games.

MACON KNIGHTS (5-7) AT BIRMINGHAM STEELDOGS (1-11)

SATURDAY, JULY 9, 2005 - BJCC (16,000) 8:00 P.M. ET

With the playoffs in their sights, the Macon Knights hit the road to face the Birmingham Steeldogs. The Steeldogs' offense goes through offensive specialist DETRONN HARRIS. He leads the team in receiving with 88 catches for 1,043 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also has two rushing touchdowns. On special teams he has returned 56 kickoffs for 1,085 yards and four touchdowns. GEORGE WILLIAMS is tied for the team lead in interceptions with three and leads the team in tackles with 30.0 (27UA-6AT). Macon has an extra week to think about their loss at Florida in Week 13. The Knights had the ball at the goal line late in the game with a chance to win, but they couldn't hold on to the ball. A victory would have put the Knights at the .500 mark and given them a big win over the defending champions. Despite the loss they are still holding a playoff spot if the season ended today. A win over Birmingham would be a big step towards the playoffs. MATT JACKSON is one of the league leaders in interceptions, and he is also dangerous on special teams. He leads the Knights in kickoff returns with 32 returns for 719 yards and three touchdowns. Secondary mate HOSEA LANEY has five interceptions and 77.0 tackles (69UA-16AT). In his first game with the Knights JAMES HICKENBOTHAM caught three passes for 59 yards and one touchdown against Florida. In the last meeting between these two clubs LIONEL HAYES threw for six touchdowns and rushed for one more in the Knights' 67-50 victory in Macon.

TULSA TALONS (8-4) AT MEMPHIS XPLORERS (10-2)

SATURDAY, JULY 9, 2005 - DESOTO CENTER (8,444) 8:00 P.M. ET

It is a crucial game for both teams when the Memphis Xplorers host the Tulsa Talons on Saturday night. A Memphis win and an Amarillo loss, and the Xplorers are the Midwest Division Champions and earn a first round bye. It would be the Xplorers' first division title and mean the first home playoff game in franchise history. For Tulsa, since they currently don't hold the tie-breaker with Rio Grande Valley, if the season ended today the Dorados would be the West Division Champions. They want to be going into their game against Rio Grande Valley next week with momentum on their side. On the individual side Tulsa offensive specialist DONOVAN MORGAN currently has 41 touchdown receptions on the season. This total is currently four short of JACK WALKER JR.'s af2 record of 45 touchdown receptions in a season. He is also 18 points short of the record for scoring in a season. If Saturday is going to be a record setting night for Morgan he is going to earn it against one of af2's best defenses. The Xplorers give up a league best 37.2 points per game. DAHNEL SINGFIELD leads an opportunistic secondary. Veteran Singfield makes a dynamic duo with rookie SCOTT CUNNINGHAM. For Tulsa, despite Morgan making up 55% of Tulsa's touchdown catches, Morgan is joined by several solid receivers. ROBERT REED has grabbed 49 passes for 606 yards and eight touchdowns. Then on the other side of the ball he is second on the team in interceptions with three and fourth on the team in passes broken up with seven. Meanwhile ALERIC CLARK has 13 touchdown receptions on the season. This is the only meeting between the two clubs in the regular season. They may see each other again in the ArenaCup Playoffs.

GREEN BAY BLIZZARD (8-4) AT QUAD CITY STEAMWHEELERS (6-6)

SATURDAY, JULY 9, 2005 - THE MARK OF THE QUAD CITIES (9,437) 8:30 P.M. ET

Looking to get over the .500 mark, the Quad City Steamwheelers host the Green Bay Blizzard Saturday night. The Steamwheelers will have revenge on their minds after Green Bay defeated Quad City for the first time in franchise history in Week 8 56-49. It was a back and forth affair with Green Bay scoring with just 14 seconds remaining in the game to earn the victory. This came after Quad City was unable to run out the clock after holding the lead and the ball with under a minute remaining. The Steamwheelers' offense is different than most teams. The majority of af2 teams have one or two main receivers that most of the offense goes through. The 'Wheelers have five main receivers, all with over 25 receptions. Last season's U.S. Army Ironman of the year TIM DODGE leads this group with 76 catches while TRAVIS BURNS is second with 75 receptions for 851 yards and 13 touchdowns. Two other receivers have 13 touchdown catches to create a three-way tie for the team lead. Burns has also returned three kickoffs for touchdowns. No matter who the Blizzard try to focus on, SAM CLEMONS will find someone. Green Bay's RYAN BOWERS and his eight interceptions will need to find a way to at least slow down this talented group of receivers. JOHNNY TURMAN has found new favorite receivers of late. GERALD HARRIS caught three touchdowns in Green Bay's last game and BRENT HOLMES caught three touchdowns two games ago. If these two clubs meet again, it will be in the 2005 ArenaCup.

BAKERSFIELD BLITZ (4-8) AT CENTRAL VALLEY COYOTES (6-6)

SATURDAY, JULY 9, 2005 - SELLAND ARENA (8,911) 10:30 P.M. ET

Looking to regain a playoff spot, the Central Valley Coyotes host the Bakersfield Blitz. The Coyotes are currently 6-6 and tied with the Quad City Steamwheelers for the final playoff spot in the National Conference. With Quad City holding the tiebreaker over the Coyotes, if the season were to end today the Coyotes would be sitting at home thinking about next season. If the Coyotes want to get back in the playoffs they are going to have to win more games than the Steamwheelers win down the stretch. While Quad City plays three teams over .500 in their final stretch, the Coyotes only play one team with a winning record, Memphis in Week 17. The stage is set up for the Coyotes to make a run into the playoffs, but if they want to do so they will need to defeat the Blitz. The Coyotes offense is guided by JUSTON WOOD. He not only leads the team in passing, but also rushing. He has been extremely durable, playing 476 total plays this season, second most in the league. But the Blitz are one of the league's best at stopping the pass. Opposing quarterbacks are averaging an 82.3 passer rating against the Blitz, second lowest in the league. They are allowing only 202.3 yards through the air, also second lowest in the league. ALEX WALLACE and KEN HASLIP lead the defense. Wallace is tied for the league lead in interceptions with nine and is second on the team in passes defended with 19, one behind Haslip. Up front, SHAWN KING is one of the league leaders in sacks (5.5). These two clubs should be familiar with each other; they played just before last week's bye week. Central Valley has won all three meetings this season after Bakersfield won all four meetings last season.

OKLAHOMA CITY YARD DAWGZ (7-5) AT AMARILLO DUSTERS (8-4)

SUNDAY, JULY 10, 2005 - AMARILLO CIVIC CENTER (4,870) 4:00 P.M. ET

The Amarillo Dusters host the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz in a rare Sunday afternoon contest. After playing last game without JULIAN REESE, the Dusters star quarterback will return for the afternoon Dawg fight. Canadian quarterback STEVE PANELLA stepped in and played well, throwing for three touchdowns and running for three more. Now the team is back in Reese's control for the drive to Bossier City and the 2005 ArenaCup. For the Yard Dawgz, JARRAIL JACKSON leads the league in all-purpose yards with 2,346. He is third in the league in kickoff return yards (1,056) and tied for first with four kickoff return for touchdowns. His 1,198 receiving yards ranks fourth in the league. Two spots ahead of Jackson is Amarillo's CHAVIS MCCOLLISTER. He is second in receiving yards (1,305), despite playing in only ten games this season. Teammate KENDRICK WALKER is Amarillo's main return man, averaging 21.8 yards per return. He has returned eight kickoffs back for a touchdown. Both teams want a win to make sure they have a home game in the playoffs. Right now Amarillo holds the number three spot in the National Conference and would play Quad City at home if the season ended today. Oklahoma City holds the fifth spot and would travel to Tulsa. With Tulsa having only one more win than the Yard Dawgz, Oklahoma City knows it isn't impossible they could end up hosting a game themselves. If veteran leadership counts for anything, then having CRAIG STRICKLAND at quarterback will help the Yard Dawgz. He has thrown for 3,143 yards this season to bring his af2 best career total to 17,558.



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