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af2 week eight quick hitters

May 18, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


af2 ALUMS RECEIVE AFL HONORS: Five former players who have moved up to the Arena Football League have been recognized for their stellar individual efforts at the AFL level in 2006. The group is highlighted by Philadelphia Soul DS EDDIE MOTEN, who earned All-Arena First Team honors. Moten, who played for the af2's Rio Grande Valley Dorados in 2004, led the AFL this season with 13 interceptions, including three of which he returned for touchdowns. The former Dorado also finished third in the league in tackles with 104.0 (91 unassisted, 26 assisted). Nashville Kats lineman JOE MINUCCI and Chicago Rush lineman KHREEM SMITH were selected to the All-Arena Second Team. Minucci has been with the Kats for two years after spending the 2004 season with the af2's Tennessee Valley Vipers. The former Delaware product led Nashville in sacks in 2006 with 5.5. Smith, an AFL rookie, finished his first season with a team-high 8.0 sacks, a mark which also ranked second best in the league. Smith was a one-year wonder in the af2 in 2005 as a member of the ArenaCup Champion Memphis Xplorers. Last year's af2 Lineman of the Year led the league in sacks with 17, an Xplorers team record. Smith was also the only AFL rookie to be named All-Arena this season. Former af2 players joining Smith on the AFL All-Rookie team in 2006 are New York Dragons DS DAHNEL SINGFIELD and Orlando Predators WR/DB JAVARUS DUDLEY. Singfield, the 2005 af2 Defensive Player of the Year with Memphis, finished this season tied for 8th in the AFL with seven interceptions. He also ranked second on the Dragons with 63.5 total tackles. In 2005, Singfield had an Xplorers franchise record and af2-best 12 interceptions as he teamed with Smith to lead Memphis to the ArenaCup title. Dudley spent one season with the af2's Florida Firecats in 2005 before getting a chance to shine with Orlando this year. The former Fordham standout finished second on the Predators in receiving in 2006 with 78 catches for 1,035 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also registered 27 tackles on defense.

SORRELL POISED TO REGAIN PERCH AS LEAGUE'S TOP TACKLER: Florida Firecats DS Quincy Sorrell is once again about to become the af2's all-time leading tackler. In 2004, Sorrell registered a league-high 100.5 tackles for Florida in the regular season to finish the campaign as the league's all-time top tackler with 287.5 career stops. In 2005, he opted to play outside of the af2 and was eclipsed by long-time teammate and friend Roy Stabler, who played for the Firecats from 2002-2005. Stabler owns the current all-time mark with 334.5 tackles. Sorrell, who has registered 39.5 tackles in six games this season, needs just eight more to surpass Stabler.

HICKS SETS STEAMWHEELER PASSING MARK: Quad City QB TIM HICKS threw for an af2 season-high 405 yards in the Steamwheelers overtime win last weekend against Louisville, setting a new team record in the process. Hicks' total far surpassed the previous team high of 383 yards set by Jay McDonagh in 2001. The veteran signal caller's impressive passing yard total was the fifth highest single game sum in league history.

NEW NO. 1: The Florida Firecats have taken over the top ranking of the weekly Coaches Poll, the arenafootball2 league office announced on Wednesday. The Firecats collected 254 of a possible 264 points and 17-of-23 first place votes in securing the top position. Florida defeated the Birmingham Steeldogs last Saturday at home, 62-44, to improve to 5-1. The Firecats, winners of five consecutive games, are just the third team of the 2006 season to obtain the No. 1 spot. The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz (5-1, 210 points, 2 first place votes) moved up two spots from No. 4 to No. 2 on the strength of their recent road win against Midwest Division rival Arkansas, 56-44. The W-B/Scranton Pioneers (5-1, 207 points, 1 first place vote), previously the top-ranked team for the past three weeks, slipped two spots to No. 3. The Pioneers lost their first game of the season last Saturday at home to Tulsa, 53-37.

BENT-ON BREAKS LEAGUE RECEIVING RECORDS IN 2006: Florida OS MAGIC BENTON is now officially the most prolific pass catcher in af2 history. In last week's 62-44 win against Birmingham, Benton pleased the home crowd by catching 11 passes for a game-high 133 yards and an af2 season-high tying five touchdowns. In the process, the five-year veteran became the new af2 career leader in two receiving categories - receptions (407) and receiving touchdowns (117). Benton surpassed Mitch Allner for the league touchdown reception record and Corey Hill for the all-time receptions record. The former University of Miami product also owns the league record for career receiving yards, a mark he set earlier this season. Benton was named af2 Schutt Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday for his historic performance against the Steeldogs. Benton is showing no signs of slowing down in 2006. He leads the Firecats in receiving and also ranks among the league leaders in scoring (1st - 132 points), touchdown receptions (1st - 21), receiving yards (3rd - 693) and receptions (T3rd - 51).

CANADIAN QBS SQUARE OFF: This Saturday night's af2 game in Amarillo, Texas between the Rio Grande Valley Dorados and Amarillo Dusters will be a historic affair. For the first time in league history, the contest will feature two international quarterbacks starting under center for their respective teams - J.R. Davies for Rio Grande Valley and Steve Panella for Amarillo. Both signal callers are from Canada. This won't be the first time that they have played against each other, however. On November 15, 2003, Panella led his St. Mary's Huskies against Davies and his Simon Fraser Clan in the National Semi-Finals of Canadian College Football. Panella got the upper hand that night, going 10-of-14 for 149 yards and two touchdowns in a lop-sided 60-9 victory. Davies finished 14-of-29 for 178 yards and one touchdown. Both Panella and Davies earned All-Canadian honors that season. Davies was elevated to the starting role after veteran Josh Kellett suffered a broken thumb at Bakersfield last week. He began his af2 career in 2005 with the Dorados as Kellett's understudy. He started one game last season, a 66-52 win at Bossier-Shreveport in which he threw for 263 yards and five touchdowns. In two games of action this season, he has passed for 246 yards with five touchdowns and one interception. Panella was an af2 rookie as well in 2005 and saw action in nine contests. Serving duty behind starter Julian Reese, Panella completed 53-of-87 passes for 606 yards and eight touchdowns with two interceptions. This year as the full-time starter, Panella has completed 108-of-197 passes for 22 touchdowns and no interceptions.

YOU'RE HIRED...A-PRENTISS RETURNS: The Memphis Xplorers announced this week that OS Kevin Prentiss is returning to the team that he helped lead to an ArenaCup Championship last season. He is expected to be in the lineup this Saturday. The four-year veteran returns as the career franchise leader in scoring, receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, kickoff return yardage and kickoff return touchdowns. Following last season, Prentiss was signed by Las Vegas for the 2006 AFL season. He made the team out of training camp and played in the first two games, catching three passes for 40 yards and one touchdown. Last season, the former Mississippi State Bulldog had a career year in which he set several single season franchise records and, as a result, was named to the National Conference All-af2 second team. He had a career high matching and franchise-high matching 103 receptions and also set career and franchise highs with 1,627 receiving yards, 40 touchdown receptions and 264 points. He ranked in the top five in the af2 in each category. In three seasons with the Xplorers, Prentiss has 255 receptions for 3,957 yards and 93 touchdowns. He's also had 14 kick returns for scores in his career to up his total touchdown tally to 107.

AND THEN THERE WAS NONE: The W-B/Scranton Pioneers, the last undefeated team in the league, lost for the first time in 2006 last week at home against Tulsa, 53-37. Despite the outcome, the Pioneers 5-0 record to begin the season was their best start in team history. Below is a chart detailing the best starts in af2 history.

TEAM START SEASON
Quad City 16-0 2000
Tennessee Valley 14-0 2003
Augusta 7-0 2002
Richmond 7-0 2002

WILDCATS RECORD FIRST WIN: The South Georgia Wildcats won their first game of the season with a 48-41 upset of the defending ArenaCup Champion Memphis Xplorers last Saturday at the Albany Civic Center. Behind new starting QB Julian Reese, the Wildcats took an early 13-0 lead and led 27-14 at halftime. Reese, the Schutt Offensive Player of the Game, passed for three scores and rushed for another. James Harris added three rushing touchdowns for the victorious Wildcats. The Xplorers mounted a furious comeback, scoring three times in four plays to take a 35-27 third quarter lead. Ultimately it was a fourth down stop by the Wildcat defense with less than 30 seconds remaining that preserved the upset win. The victory was also South Georgia's first home win since May 14, 2005. Currently the af2 has two teams still searching for their first win of 2006, the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings and Everett Hawks. Both teams are 0-6 on the season.

700 CLUB: Arkansas WR/DB Kevin Williams entered the 2006 season as the only active player in the af2 with over 700 career points scored. Last weekend he was joined in this exclusive club by Florida OS MAGIC BENTON. Benton scored five touchdowns in a home win against Birmingham to eclipse the 700 points scored plateau. Williams, who scored one receiving touchdown in a home loss to Oklahoma City last weekend, leads the scoring list of active players with 772 career points. He currently stands alone in second place on the all-time list, just eight points behind former Tulsa star Mitch Allner, who owns the all-time top mark with 780 points. Williams could catch and pass Allner this Saturday night. Benton currently ranks fourth on the all-time list with 724 career points. Other active af2 players looking to join Williams and Benton in the 700 club are Mempis' KEVIN PRENTISS (642), Williams' teammate LENNIE JOHNSON (624) and Bakersfield's Nian Taylor (600).

MOST POINTS SCORED, NON-KICKING, CAREER
PTS PLAYER YEARS PLAYED
780 Mitch Allner 2000-04
772 Kevin Williams 2001-present
756 Cainon Lamb 2002-05
724 Magic Benton 2001-present
656 George Williams 2001, 2003-present
642 Kevin Prentiss 2003-present
638 Wayne Thomas 2000-02, 2004, 2006
TOUCHDOWN MAKERS: Arkansas WR/DB Kevin Williams also leads a familiar cast of characters in the race for the af2 career touchdown record. Williams is currently tied with Mitch Allner with 126 total touchdowns. Florida's MAGIC BENTON (119) is also on his way up the all-time list.

MOST TOUCHDOWNS SCORED, CAREER
TDS PLAYER YEARS PLAYED
126 Mitch Allner 2000-04
126 Kevin Williams 2001-present
119 Magic Benton 2001-present
118 Cainon Lamb 2002-05
108 George Williams 2001, 2003-present
107 Kevin Prentiss 2003-05
106 Wayne Thomas 2000-02, 2004, 2006

TURNIN' 40 ISN'T SO BAD: Memphis Head Coach Danton Barto became the newest member of the 40-career win club (includes playoffs) on April 15 with a 56-21 home win against Tennessee Valley. His career record currently stands at 42-33 overall (.560). W-B/Scranton's Rich Ingold (39) and Manchester's Ben Bennett (38) should also join Barton in the 40-career win club shortly. Only six other coaches in league history have reached the mark in their careers. The only active members are Spokane's Chris Siegfried (44) and Stockton's Richard Davis (43). Former Rio Grande Valley and Tennessee Valley head coach Kevin Guy is the af2 career leader in overall coaching victories with 52 (52-19). Louisville's Tommy Johnson (31) is the only other current coach within reach of the 40-win club.

MUNSEY VS. FOSTER IN AFL POSTSEASON MATCHUP: Two former af2 head coaches will face each other this Sunday in the AFL playoffs as head coaches, Philadelphia's Brett Munsey and Austin's Skip Foster. Munsey coached the af2's Tennessee Valley Vipers in 2001 (14-2 regular season, 15-3 including playoffs) and Foster was the skipper for the Tulsa Talons from 2001-03 (40-8 regular season, 44-10 including playoffs). Foster also led the Talons to the ArenaCup title in 2003. In 2006, both coaches have guided their respective teams to the playoffs for the first time in each team's history.

AFL PLAYOFFS BEGIN THIS WEEKEND: The postseason drive to ArenaBowl XX begins this weekend with four Wild Card Round showdowns - one on Saturday and three on Sunday. Following are the 2006 AFL Postseason Seeds and Wild Card Round matchups for this week:

National Conference American Conference
#1 Dallas* (13-3) #1 Colorado* (11-5)
#2 Orlando* (10-6) #2 San Jose* (10-6)
#3 New York (10-6) #3 Arizona (8-8)
#4 Austin (10-6) #4 Nashville (8-8)
#5 Philadelphia (9-7) #5 Chicago (7-9)
#6 Georgia (8-8) #6 Utah (7-9)
*Division Winner *Division Winner

#6 Georgia at #3 New York #6 Utah at #3 Arizona
Sunday, May 21, 3 p.m. ET, NBC Saturday, May 20, 5 p.m. ET, OLN

#5 Philadelphia at #4 Austin #5 Chicago at #4 Nashville
Sunday, May 21, 3 p.m. ET, NBC Sunday, May 21, 3 p.m. ET, NBC

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