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af2 week five quick hitters

April 27, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


NEW NO. 1: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers have taken over the top ranking of the weekly Coaches Poll, the arenafootball2 league office announced on Wednesday. The Pioneers collected 218 of a possible 264 points and 12-of-23 first place votes in securing the top position. to improve to 3-0. The Pioneers are just the second team of the 2006 season to obtain the No. 1 spot. The Memphis Xplorers slipped from the top spot to No. 3 overall this week after suffering their first loss of the season, 60-55, at Florida. Prior to their defeat, the Xplorers (3-1, 194 points, 2 first place votes) had won nine straight games (including playoffs) and held the No. 1 ranking for the first four weeks of 2006. The Week 5 schedule features two matchups of Top 12 teams. On Saturday night, the new No. 1-ranked W-B/Scranton Pioneers play at No. 7 Manchester and No. 8 Rio Grande Valley plays at No. 9 Tulsa.

LIGHTNING HOST FIRST GAME EVER: After beginning their first season with three straight road games, the expansion Stockton Lightning (1-2) will be hosting their first af2 game this Saturday night against the Bakersfield Blitz in front of what is expected to be a great crowd on hand at the Stockton Arena. The timing is perfect for the Lightning as their homecoming is happening just after the team's first win of the season last Saturday at Quad City, 60-46.

TULSA TOPPLES BOSSIER-SHREVEPORT IN BIG WAY: One of the most lopsided results in league history happened this past Saturday as the Tulsa Talons opened their 2006 home schedule with a 72-3 victory over the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings. Only three other af2 games have been more one-sided since the league's inception in 2000. Bossier-Shreveport's three points tied for the second-lowest total in an af2 game. BRIAN HAZELWOOD's 24-yard field goal with 8:39 left prevented what could've been just the second shutout in league history. The Talons' dominating effort included eight sacks and five interceptions. The sack stat was the fifth-highest single-game total in af2 history, while Tulsa's interception total tied a franchise record. The Talons improved to 2-1 on the season while Bossier-Shreveport fell to 0-3.

FLORIDA WON'T LOOK PAST BATTLE WINGS IN WEEK 5: Despite Bossier-Shreveport's recent result, the 2-1 Florida Firecats will not be looking past the Battle Wings this week when the two teams square off in Bossier City, La. That's because last season the Firecats were upset by Bossier-Shreveport in their only meeting, 28-22, in Week 7. The loss was significant for Florida because their team only lost twice during the 2005 regular season to finish with the league's best record at 14-2. The Firecats also won the South Division title before eventually falling in the American Conference Championship game to the Louisville Fire. Bossier-Shreveport, in comparison, went on to win only one more time in 2005, finishing 3-13.

PICKED OFF: Manchester veteran DS ALLISTAIR SEBASTIEN, in his fifth af2 season, intercepted another pass in the Wolves recent, 59-45, home victory over East Division rival Albany. The St. John's alum now has 23 interceptions in his career, which ranks him 4th overall in league history. Sebastien is just four behind Arkee Thompson's all-time af2 record of 27 career interceptions. Right behind Sebastien on the all-time list is current Arkansas WR/DB LENNIE JOHNSON, who has 22 interceptions in his career.

SHOCKING START FOR SPOKANE: Spokane head coach CHRIS SIEGFRIED has helped lead the expansion Shock to a perfect 4-0 start in 2006. The team's most recent win was a, 66-62, road victory against Amarillo. This is the best start Siegfried has had at the helm of an expansion team. He guided the Cape Fear Wildcats to a 2-0 start to begin their inaugural season in 2002 before losing by just one point in the third game to the Augusta Stallions. This week Spokane, currently ranked No. 4 in the latest Coaches Poll, has a bye week. The Shock return to action on Saturday, May 6, when they host Bakersfield.

CHURCH OFF TO HOT START: Arkansas QB WALTER CHURCH has thrown eight touchdown passes in three of his first four starts for the Twisters. He leads the league in touchdown passes through Week 4 with 30. The current league record for most touchdown passes in a season is 99, set by former Louisville standout Matt Sauk in 2005. Sauk is now playing for the AFL's Philadelphia Soul. It may be a bit premature to mention a record of this nature so early in the season, but if Church continues at his current rate of 7.5 touchdown passes per game, he's on pace to throw for 120 touchdowns in 2006. The best single season total in Arena Football (AFL and af2) history is Aaron Garcia's 104 touchdown tosses for the New York Dragons in 2001.

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 40-32 overall (.555). Manchester's BEN BENNETT (38) and W-B/Scranton's RICH INGOLD (37) should also hit the 40-career win plateau this year. 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 (42). 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 (30) is the only other current coach within reach of the 40-win club.

WINNING IS NEVER EASY: Entering Week 5 of the season, there are only three teams that remain undefeated. They are the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz (3-0), Spokane Shock (4-0), and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers (3-0). 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

BENT-ON BREAKING LEAGUE RECEIVING RECORDS IN 2006: Florida OS MAGIC BENTON is closing in on a host of af2 receiving records. He's currently second all-time in receiving yards with 4,823, just six yards shy of James Scott's career record of 4,829. In Florida's most recent win against Memphis on Saturday night, Benton was a standout for the Firecats, catching seven passes for 95 yards and five touchdowns. He now has 107 receiving scores in his career and is just six away from MITCH ALLNER's league record of 113. And that's not it. Benton, who has 384 career catches, is also 17 receptions away from Corey Hill's all-time top mark of 401.

700 CLUB: Arkansas WR/DB KEVIN WILLIAMS is the only active player in the af2 with over 700 career points scored. His current total of 742 ranks third on the league's all-time scoring chart. Former Tulsa star MITCH ALLNER owns the all-time top mark with 780 points. If the five-year veteran Williams stays healthy, he has a great chance to catch Allner and break the record. Other active af2 players looking to join Williams in the 700 club are Florida's MAGIC BENTON (664), Stockton's GEORGE WILLIAMS (644), Williams' teammate LENNIE JOHNSON (612) and Bakersfield's NIAN TAYLOR (600).

MOST POINTS SCORED, NON-KICKING, CAREER
PTS PLAYER YEARS PLAYED
780 Mitch Allner 2000-04
756 Cainon Lamb 2002-05
742 Kevin Williams 2001-present
664 Magic Benton 2001-present
644 George Williams 2001, 2003-present
642 Kevin Prentiss 2003-05
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 has 121 for his career, just five behind Mitch Allner's all-time mark of 126. Current league standouts like Florida's MAGIC BENTON (109) and Stockton's GEORGE WILLIAMS (106) are also on their way up the all-time list.

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

af2 IN THE AFL: The af2 has had hundreds of former players move up to the AFL over the years. A number of those players, such as Orlando OL/DL E.J. BURT or Tampa Bay QB SHANE STAFFORD, have become bonafide AFL stars. In 2006, a new group of AFL players with af2 roots are starting to shine. This week we highlight former Manchester QB CHRIS SANDERS and former Tulsa WR/DB ALERIC CLARK. Sanders is in his third AFL season and his first with the Kansas City Brigade. The former University of Tennessee-Chattanooga standout played in the af2 in 2004 for the Manchester Wolves. In sixteen games played for the Wolves (all starts), Sanders set seven team records. He led the team in a host of categories, including passing yards (4,184 - 2nd in af2), touchdown passes (66), rushing yards (129) and rushing touchdowns (18 - 2nd in af2). Sanders earned a spot with the AFL's Orlando Predators in 2005 and appeared in six games, including three starts. He finished 68-for-128 for 897 yards and 16 touchdowns with two interceptions. He also had three rushing touchdowns. This year Sanders was a free agent and signed with the expansion Kansas City Brigade. After starting the year as the primary backup to Andy Kelly, Sanders earned a promotion to the starter's role just prior to the Brigade's Week 8 game at Austin. This week he received his first-ever AFL honor by being named the League's Offensive Player of the Week for Week 13. Sanders completed 24-of-30 passes for 291 yards and six touchdowns, including the game-winner with just 39 seconds remaining, in Kansas City's 58-52 win at Nashville this past Saturday. He added nine rushes for 24 yards and two additional scores and a two-point conversion in the first road win for the Brigade franchise. Sanders has thrown for 1,656 yards, 31 touchdowns and scored 11 rushing touchdowns on the season. Clark is in his second AFL season after two separate stints with the af2's Tulsa Talons (2003, 2005). This year Clark has been a productive part of the Las Vegas Gladiators. He leads the squad in kick returns (39), kick return yards (873) and kick return touchdowns (2). He's also caught four touchdown passes and has registered 8.5 tackles and one fumble recovery on defense. As a member of the Talons in 2005, Clark led the team in kick returns (1,004 yards, 2 TDs), ranked second on the squad in receiving touchdowns (15) and was third in tackles (41.0). Clark was also a key contributor for the Talons in 2003.

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