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af2 week eight game recaps

May 23, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


FRIDAY, MAY 19

GREEN BAY BLIZZARD 40, Quad City Steamwheelers 35 (6,234)

GREEN BAY, Wisc. - Last-second heroics in the form of a stout defensive stand helped the Blizzard to a thrilling 40-35 victory over the Steamwheelers Friday night at the Resch Center. It marks the first time in franchise history that the Blizzard has swept their division rivals in a season series. A close battle right from the start, the Blizzard was behind 28-20 at halftime and did not lead at any point in the game prior to scoring their final points with only 4:46 left on the clock. The fans were certainly behind them. The Steamwheelers had a 1st-and-goal inside the 5-yard-line, and on four consecutive plays, the Blizzard stopped them in their tracks. The game came down to one final play, 4th-and-goal from the 1, and the Blizzard line stoned the Steamwheelers blockers, standing strong on the play and sealing the victory. QB Ronnie Gordon completed completed 12-of-21 passes for 175 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He also scored two rushing touchdowns. FB/LB Peter Lazare was a force on both offense and defense. He rushed for 20 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries, and added a fumble recovery, a pass defended and 2.5 tackles, including a solo shot on the decisive 4th down play that preserved the win. OS Brent Holmes had five receptions for 97 yards and one touchdown. On defense, DS David Crocker had 8.5 tackles (7 solo) and a pass defended. FB/LB Jermaine Petty also made his presence known by picking off a pass by Steamwheelers QB Tim Hicks and returning it 42 yards for a score. Petty would also added 5.5 tackles (5 solo). Green Bay improved to 4-4 while Quad City slipped to 2-5.

SATURDAY, MAY 20

LOUISVILLE FIRE 51, Albany Conquest 38 (7,176)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville Fire defeated the Albany Conquest Saturday night at Freedom Hall in a heated East Division matchup, 51-38. The game started as a defensive battle, with the first quarter ending with the Conquest leading the Fire, 7-6. The scoring picked up soon thereafter. QB Brett Dietz found his favorite target in Schutt Offensive Player of the Game OS Rob Mager for a 9-yard touchdown. That was the second of five touchdown catches Mager had in the game. He finished with 14 catches for 207 yards. Dietz ended with eight touchdown tosses, going 26-of-34 for 315 yards. However, Albany QB Ryan Vena made sure his team stayed in the game, going 23-of-40 for 225 yards and four touchdowns. With the game tied at 38 and just under five minutes to go, Dietz connected with Mager for the fourth time and Louisville went ahead by 7. Albany had a chance to tie the game, but the Fire defense was too much, forcing Albany to turn the ball over on downs. Dietz and Mager would then add on an exclamation point to their spectacular days. With 17 seconds left in the game, Dietz hit Mager for a 46-yard touchdown, sealing the victory for the Fire. The Fire swept the game awards, with WR/DB Lance Taylor winning the U.S. Army Ironman of the Game, (6 rec., 64 yards, 2 TDs, 4.5 tackles), DS Kabote Sikyala (9.5 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 int.) won the ADT Defensive Player of the Game and Mager won the Cutters Catch of the Game for his 9-yard touchdown catch early in the second quarter. WR/LB Manwell Talbert was the leading receiver for the Conquest, catching nine passes for 73 yards and a touchdown. Louisville improved to 3-4 on the season, while Albany dropped to 4-3.

OKLAHOMA CITY YARD DAWGZ 66, South Georgia Wildcats 33 (8,284)

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz welcomed the South Georgia Wildcats to the Ford Center with a bang, using a 35-0 run in the second half to run away with a 66-33 win. Less than 2:00 in the first quarter, Yard Dawgz QB Craig Strickland connected on 22-yard pass with OS Jarrail Jackson to put Oklahoma City on the board first. WR/LB Chavis McCollister then intercepted Wildcats' QB Julian Reese and returned the ball 15 yards for a score to give Oklahoma City a 14-0 lead. It was the second straight week McCollister returned an interception for a touchdown. With 4:14 remaining in the first quarter, Reese found WR/LB Chris McKinney for a 12-yard touchdown pass. After a 30-yard field goal by Yard Dawgz' K A.J. Haglund, the Wildcats went on a 14-0 run and took the lead, 20-17, with 4:55 left in the first half. Oklahoma City revived their offensive stride late in the first half. With :48 remaining, Strickland connected with Jackson and then again with WR/LB Al Hunt, extending the Yard Dawgz lead to 11. Oklahoma City went on a 35-0 run 14:54 into the fourth quarter. South Georgia responded too little too late in the game. The Yard Dawgz improved to 6-1 on the season. The Wildcats slipped to 1-6. Strickland finished the night 16-of-27 passing with five touchdowns and one interception. Jackson had nine receptions for 77 yards and five touchdowns.

MANCHESTER WOLVES 79, Florida Firecats 62 (6,445)

MANCHESTER, N.H. - The Manchester Wolves used a total team effort, including six touchdowns from OS Steve Gonzalez and three first half defensive touchdowns, en route to a 79-64 victory over the No. 1-ranked Florida Firecats (5-2) on Brady Sullivan Field at the Verizon Wireless Arena. Gonzalez, the Schutt Offensive Player of the Game, caught 13 balls for 151 yards and six scores to lead the Wolves. Wolves QB D. Bryant completed 23-of-31 passes for 239 yards and six touchdowns. Bryant also added a pair of touchdowns on the ground in his first win as a starter for the Wolves. In the win, Manchester broke the franchise record for points in a game, eclipsing the previous mark of 74 set last year against the Macon Knights, while also snapping Florida's five-game win streak. Sixteen was the magic number for the Wolves defensively in the first half. DS William Haith returned an interception 16 yards for a score, followed by a 16-yard touchdown return by DS Ron Smalls on a Chris Wallace fumble and a 16-yard interception return by DS Brian Mance, the ADT Defensive Player of the Game. The Wolves defense, which has struggled in recent weeks, stopped the Firecats offense on five different occasions. They held the af2's all-time leading receiver, Florida OS Magic Benton, scoreless after entering the game atop the league's scoring list. Benton finished the game with six catches for 80 yards. WR/LB Ethenic Sands led the Firecats with eight catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns. QB Chris Wallace completed 24-of-42 passes for 306 yards, five touchdowns and the three costly interceptions, while FB/LB Clenton Crossley rushed for 15 yards and three scores.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers 38, MACON KNIGHTS 22 (2,502)

MACON, Ga. - The Macon Knights lost their fifth game of the season and second in a row to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers, 38-22, Saturday night at the Macon Coliseum. The Knights started off slow and were never able to catch up. The Pioneers offense was guided by QB Mike Granieri's three touchdowns and 190 yards. OS J.R. Thomas had six catches for 70 yards. Pioneers WR/DB Yaacov Yisrael received the U.S. Army Ironman of the Game Award for his strong two-way play. The rookie caught three passes for 29 yards and one touchdown on offense, and recorded three tackles and forced one fumble on defense. The Knights, despite the loss, were once again able to move the ball very well, compiling 230 yards of total offense. QB Chad Elliott threw for 229 yards and one touchdown. OS James Hickenbotham was once again the main factor in keeping the Knights in the game until the very end. Hickenbotham caught 14 passes for 147 yards and one touchdown, and he also ran the ball in for a score. For his efforts, he was awarded as the Schutt Offensive Player of the Game, and the Cutters Catch of the Game for his catch where he broke through tackles on his way to the end zone with seven minutes left in the third quarter. Macon DS Leo Fenceroy rounded out the awards, receiving the ADT Defensive Player of the Game for his 6.5 tackles and one interception. WR/LB Jamaal Garman also intercepted a pass on defense and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown. Wilkes-Barre moves to 6-1 on the season, with a two-game lead over the Albany Conquest in the American East Division.

TULSA TALONS 53, Everett Hawks 49 (4,630)

TULSA, Okla. - Tulsa got an early lead and then withstood a late rally by Everett as the Talons claimed a 53-49 victory over the visiting Hawks Saturday night at the Tulsa Convention Center. The Talons started firing early with a 46-yd pass from QB Mark Radlinski to Schutt Offensive Player of the Game WR/DB Stephen Battle (7 catches, 143 yards, 1 TD) on the second play of the game. After trading scores, the first quarter ended with the Talons leading, 21-14. Everett began the second quarter with new QB Brian Baker, and a quick strike to A.J. Street, but missed the PAT. Tulsa scored on their next two possessions on rushing touchdowns by Radlinski and U.S. Army Player of the Game WR/DB Don McGee. Everett K Craig Hawley kicked a 28-yard field goal to end the first half with the Talons ahead by 11, 34-23. Tulsa struck first in the third quarter when FB/LB Alan Krutulis sacked Baker in the end zone for a safety. On the ensuing possession, Talons K Luke Phillips booted a 38-yard field goal to put the Talons up, 39-23. Everett answered when QB Wes Beschorner hit Tavirus Davis in the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown. On the last possession of the third quarter the Talons ended a long drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Radlinski to OS Andre Forde to put the Talons ahead, 46-30. Early in the fourth quarter Baker threw two touchdown passes to WR/DB Milton Myers and WR/DB Hassan Brockman to get the score to 46-43. After defensive stops by both teams the Talons scored on a 3-yard run by Radlinski to put the Talons back up by 10, 53-43. The Hawks answered on the next possession when Baker completed a 42-yard touchdown pass to Street, for the final score of the game, 53-49. Everett was once again unable to get its first win in franchise history. Radlinski finished 19-of-28 for 251 yards, three touchdowns and one interception through the air and 13 yards and two rushing touchdowns on the ground. Street led Everett with six catches for 104 yards and three touchdowns.

AMARILLO DUSTERS 35, Rio Grande Valley Dorados 28 (2,417)

AMARILLO, Texas - In a game dominated by the defenses, Amarillo came up biggest as it notched its first four-game win streak since joining af2 last year. Amarillo's FB/LB Jared Williams' recovery of a missed field goal off the net for a Dusters touchdown early in the fourth quarter ignited a 21-point final period as the team rallied to defeat Rio Grande Valley, 35-28, at Cal Farley Coliseum. The Dusters' defense registered six stops and sacked Rio Grande Valley QB J.R. Davies five times, including four in the fourth period. The Dorados led 21-14 early in the fourth quarter when K Jacob Felton missed a 36-yard field goal. The ball bounced off the net and Williams recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown that evened the score with 11:03 to go. The Dorados countered with a touchdown on their next possession to go up 28-21 when Davies ran in from 3 yards out with 6:01 remaining to play. Amarillo answered with a quick scoring drive of its own, capped by WR/DB Donta Bright's 15-yard run with 2:37 to play making it a 28-28 game. On the Dorado's first play of their next possession, Davies fumbled the snap from center and Amarillo recovered at the Rio Grande 10-yard line with 1:55 to play. On third-and-goal, WR/DB Michael Broussard dove into the end zone from 2 yards out with 55.6 seconds remaining to put the Dusters in front for the first time. The Dorados' defensive front pressured Amarillo QB Steve Panella most of the game. He completed 16-of-33 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns, and continued his streak this season of not throwing an interception. Rio Grande Valley sacked Panella twice. Chris Canty led the Dorados with two rushing touchdowns and also had five catches for 56 yards.

MEMPHIS XPLORERS 67, Bossier-Shreveport Battlewings 32 (2,243)

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. - The Memphis Xplorers picked up their eighth straight home victory with a 67-32 win over the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings Saturday night at DeSoto Civic Center. In the process, the Xplorers improved to 6-2 while the Battle Wings remained winless at 0-7. After a close first half, Memphis outscored Bossier-Shreveport 34-9 in the second half, scoring on offense, defense and special teams in the fourth quarter alone. QB Brian Jones threw five touchdown passes, ran for another and finished 17-of-24 for 209 yards with no picks. WR/DB Terrell Adams and OS Kenny Higgins each caught two of Jones' scoring tosses while WR/DB Terrance Quattlebaum had the other. WR/DB Kevin Prentiss, making his Xplorers return, caught five passes for 71 yards. His greatest impact came on kickoff returns where he averaged 27 yards on five returns, including one for 50 yards that set up a score. The teams exchanged touchdowns in the first half until Memphis FB/LB Dwan Wilson sacked Bossier-Shreveport QB J.J. Raterink in the endzone for a safety to put Memphis ahead 23-14 at the midway point of the second quarter. After both teams scored touchdowns to move the score to 30-20, Battle Wings K Brian Hazelwood kicked a 56-yard field goal, the seventh longest in af2 history, with :22 remaining in the half. Not to be outdone, Memphis' Steven Azar kicked a 45-yarder on the final play of the half to put the lead back at 10. The Azar kick was the longest field goal in a regular season game in Xplorers history. Down 40-26, the Battle Wings were still in the game entering the fourth quarter. That is when the scoring started to come fast and furious for Memphis. The Xplorers scored four times in a span of 5:21 to blow the game open. Raterink was 17-of-28 passing for 148 yards and a touchdown for Bossier-Shreveport. WR/DB Anthony Chambers was the Battle Wings top receiver with eight catches for 93 yards.

TENNESSEE VALLEY VIPERS 21, Birmingham Steeldogs 17 (4,063)

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Vipers backup QB Chris Gunn sparked a fourth-quarter comeback to help propel Tennessee Valley to a 21-17 victory over Birmingham Saturday night at the Von Braun Center. The Vipers improved to 2-5 while Birmingham fell to 3-4. Tennessee Valley won despite scoring the least amount of points in its history, breaking the previous record of 30. Tennessee Valley struck first when Vipers WR/LB Johnny Anderson blocked a 49-yard field goal attempt by Birmingham K Alex Walls. Anderson then recovered the bounce and ran into the end zone from eight yards out for a touchdown. K Steven Lee kicked the extra point for a 7-0 Vipers lead. The Steeldogs tied the score 7-all when QB Ryan Hawk (20-of-44, 197 yards, 0 touchdowns) muscled his way in from the 1-yard line and Walls added the extra point. By halftime the Vipers had managed only two first downs and 33 yards of total offense while committing four turnovers, including two interceptions from QB Ryan Schneider. After a scoreless third quarter, Tennessee Valley got a defensive touchdown when OL/DL Farouk Adelekan sacked Hawk, forcing a fumble, which OL/DL Stan Primus carried into the end zone from seven yards out. Lee's kick cut the deficit to 17-14 with 12:45 left. Gunn entered the game and directed a five-play, 44-yard drive, which gave Tennessee Valley the lead. He threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to WR/DB Heyward Skipper and the Vipers led 21-17 at 6:20. Gunn, who completed 5-of-6 passes for 50 yards and a touchdown, was named Schutt Offensive Player of the Game.

Spokane Shock 68, CENTRAL VALLEY COYOTES 54 (4,759)

FRESNO, Calif. - The Spokane Shock (6-1) moved into first place again in the West Division with a 68-54 road win at Central Valley Saturday night at Selland Arena. The first two possessions set the tone of the game. Two costly penalties by the Central Valley defense allowed Spokane to march downfield to score on their first possession. The Coyotes (4-3) took the field ready to counter, but Matt Guardia was stopped at the line causing the ball to be turned over on downs. As the first quarter ended, the Shock held the Coyotes scoreless with a 14-point lead. However, the Coyotes wouldn't quit. QB Scott Rislov threw a 33-yard strike to Marvin Brown to decrease Spokane's lead to only eight. WR/DB LaMonte Jones had a huge game for the Coyotes, running back a kick 55 yards to keep the Coyotes competitive as the half came to an end with Central Valley trailing, 27-41. Jones stepped up the defense with two huge pass breakups to help the Coyotes get the ball back on downs to start the third quarter, earning the U.S. Army Ironman of the Game Award. The last five minutes of the game found both teams trading punishing hits and acrobatic catches. With just more than a minute left in the game, an interception by Shock WR/LB Chris Stallworth sealed the Coyotes' fate. Shock QB Alex Neist had a tremendous game, going 26-of-34 for 336 yards and six touchdowns. WR/DB Charles Frederick caught two of those touchdowns and had 114 yards receiving to earn Schutt Offensive Player of the Game honors. Four team rushing touchdowns also helped lead the Shock to their sixth win of the year. Coyotes QB Scott Rislov went 22-of-30 with seven touchdowns and one interception in the loss. WR/LB Wes Borba also stood out individually for Central Valley with four touchdown receptions.

Stockton Lightning 49, BAKERSFIELD BLITZ 42 (4,759)

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Behind a defense that yielded 16 first-half points, the Stockton Lightning held on to defeat West Division leader Bakersfield, 49-42, before 4,759 at Rabobank Arena on Saturday night. WR/DB Phil Goodman led the Lightning receiving corps with two catches for 58 yards and two touchdowns. His final tally coming 7:07 left in the fourth quarter for the game-winning score, converting a 45-yard strike from QB Josh Blankenship down the right sideline. The Lightning strong first half gave them a 28-16 advantage at the half. Bakersfield, however, outscored the Lightning 20-14 in the third quarter in a comeback attempt. The comeback was supported by two touchdown receptions from Schutt Offensive Player of the Game Rennard Reynolds and a Jerry Turner touchdown on a fumble recovery at the goal line. With 12:57 left in the game, WR/DB DeRonn Finley cashed in a 22-yard touchdown reception for the Blitz to tie the game at 42-42. Goodman responded with the game-winning score just over four minutes later, as Stockton's defense shut down Bakersfield despite the Blitz controlling the ball for 10:46 of the final quarter. The win avenges Stockton's 55-26 home opening loss to Bakersfield on April 29. Wall led Bakersfield's offense with 246 yards passing (22-for-43) and four touchdowns.

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