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American Conference championship game preview

August 19, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


LOUISVILLE FIRE (13-5) AT FLORIDA FIRECATS (15-2)

SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 2005 - GERMAIN ARENA (7,128) 7:30 P.M. ET

The Florida Firecats host the Louisville Fire on Saturday night for the American Conference Championship. This will be Louisville's first Conference Championship game. Louisville and Florida are two of af2's most experienced teams, both joining in 2001, af2's second season.

Last season the Fire won a First Round game before losing to Tulsa in the Semifinals. Now they have taken one more step and hope to take another step with a win over Florida. The Firecats defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers on the road in the Conference Championship game en route to their first Championship last season.

The Firecats have many pieces of their championship team from last season still in place. MAGIC BENTON and CAINON LAMB are still together and make up one of the best receiving combos in the league. Benton caught 105 passes for 1,307 yards and 32 touchdowns during the regular season. Lamb rejoined the Firecats after six games and still caught 75 passes for 783 yards and 21 scores. Lamb led the way last week hauling in four touchdowns on five receptions for 68 yards. Benton pulled down three touchdowns as the Firecats defeated the Pioneers 59-45 and knocked them out of the playoffs for the second straight season.

One returner the Firecats will be without is af2's single season rushing record holder STEVE GORRIE. Gorrie played 12 games during the regular season, rushing for 345 yards and eight touchdowns on 81 carries but is out for the playoffs. Backing up Gorrie will be CHRIS MORANT. Morant is a very capable backup, even being named to the All-af2 American Conference Second Team last season. Morant rushed for a touchdown last week.

One key Firecat who has taken on a new role this season is quarterback CHRIS WALLACE. Last season Wallace was a backup to KEN MASTROLE. With Mastrole taking over offensive coordinator duties, Wallace took over the starting spot. He has the ability to run and move the pocket, but the Firecats play their best when Benton, Lamb and the rest of the Firecats receiving corps can be the ones making big plays.

The Firecats defense relies on two of the best defensive specialists to ever play in af2. KELLY SNELL, who won the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2002, recorded 100 tackles this season and was a defensive stopper especially when ROY STABLER went down with an injury. In his career Stabler has registered 334.5 career tackles, the most in af2 history. Despite playing in only 11 games Stabler registered 65.5 tackles, 17 passes broken up and two interceptions. These two and the rest of the Firecats defense allowed only 637 points during the regular season, an average of 39.8 points per game, second only to Memphis during the regular season.

The Firecats defense will be facing their toughest task of the season, shutting down a red hot Louisville offense. The Fire have won seven straight games, including their last two playoff games. The Fire are looking to become the first team to win the ArenaCup after playing all of their playoff games on the road. Quarterback MATT SAUK has continued his record breaking regular season into the playoffs. He set single season records for completions (408), passing yards (4,489) and passing touchdowns (99) during the regular season. Including the Fire's last two playoff games Sauk has thrown six touchdown passes or more in 10 straight games. He has thrown for nine touchdowns in a game twice during this stretch.

His main receiver has been rookie ROB MAGER. In 15 games Mager caught 125 passes for 1,439 yards and 39 touchdowns during the regular season. In two games in the playoffs Mager has already recorded 22 receptions for 282 yards and seven touchdowns. This total is inflated by the 15 receptions he had in Louisville's first playoff game, a late comeback victory at Macon.

Sauk's record-breaking season has benefited the rest of the Fire receiving corps as well. DENNIS FRYZEL caught 105 passes for 979 yards and 17 touchdowns while CESARE MANNING hauled in 24 touchdown receptions.

When the Fire need a ground attack they hand it off to big DEMETRIUS FORNEY. The 6'0" 275 pound FB/LB rushed for nine touchdowns during the regular season and has found the endzone three times during the postseason. He is a force with the ball in his hands and on defense, registering 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and a safety during the regular season. In the playoffs he has recorded 6.5 tackles and has forced and recovered a fumble.

During the season ROB GREEN and NATE GREEN were the defensive leaders, leading the team in tackles with 62.5 and 47.5 respectively. But in the playoffs KABOTE SIKYALA has stepped his game up. The international player originally from the Congo has recorded 15.5 tackles with one tackle for a loss and has deflected one pass.

These two teams have already met once this season, Week 8 in Louisville. It was a close game throughout with nine lead changes. Cainon Lamb caught a 6-yard touchdown with one minute remaining to put the Firecats up 47-43. Sauk drove the Fire down to the Florida three yardline, but couldn't get the ball in the endzone before time ran out. Mager caught four touchdown passes in the contest while Cainon Lamb caught three and rushed for one touchdown.

The Firecats are a perfect 3-0 all-time at home in postseason games. Florida's only loss at home this season was to Manchester 52-29 in Week 12. Louisville is 3-1 all-time in postseason road games.

Regular Season Statistics
FIRE /// FIRECATS
SERIES LEADER: Florida leads series 1-0
LAST MEETING: Florida won 47-43 at Louisville on 5/21/05
LAST FIVE GAMES: 5-0 /// 5-0
LAST GAME: Won at Manchester 69-56 /// Won vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 59-45
PASSING: Sauk: 603-408-16; 4489; 99 TDs /// Wallace: 527-320-14; 3501; 80 TDs
RECEIVING: Mager: 125-1439; 39 TDs /// Benton: 105-1307; 32 TDs
RUSHING: Forney: 31-98; 9 TDs /// Gorrie: 81-345; 8 TDs
TACKLES: Green: 62.5 /// Snell: 100.0
SACKS: Tippins: 4.5 /// Fisher: 2.5
INTERCEPTIONS: Matthews: 4 /// Snell: 4
KICKING: Kight: 92-113 PAT; 9-20 FG 119 Pts /// Kornblue: 73-93 PAT; 3-22 FG 82 Pts
TEAM OFFENSE: 55.6 PPG (3rd); 291.8 YPG (2nd) /// 45.1 PPG (15th); 250.6 YPG (14th)
TEAM DEFENSE: 51.6 PPG (12th); 279.7 YPG (16th) /// 39.8 PPG (2nd); 257.9 YPG (9th)



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