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Avengers face red hot Blaze tonight on ESPN2

June 9, 2008 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Utah Blaze News Release


The History

By Ray Bentley -- The Utah Blaze looks to continue their amazing turnaround as they host the Los Angeles Avengers on Russell Athletic ESPN Arena Football Monday at 10 p.m. EST on ESPN2. The game will also be shown in HD. The Blaze have been hot winning two in a row and four of their past five while L.A. has been floundering losing three in a row and five of their last six.

This will be the seventh game between these two franchises with Utah holding a 4-2 edge. They met earlier this year in Los Angeles with the Avengers winning 79-62. Los Angeles also beat Utah in the playoffs in 2007.

The Stakes

By just looking at the records one would think this was a meaningless game for two teams playing out the string, looking at guys for next year, perhaps. Such is not the case in the AFL's American Conference. After Colorado's loss to Grand Rapids on Saturday night, the Avengers jumped to the four spot while the Blaze, after starting the season 0-9, have climbed up to the fifth spot. Despite a similar 4-10 record to the Rampage and Crush, the Blaze own head-to-head victories over both ball clubs.

This is a big battle in the American Conference for playoff position. How big? Oh, it's big! The winner of this game not only helps their playoff hopes but could also vault ahead of the other and conceivably host a first round playoff game. Five wins will likely get you in the postseason tournament in the American Conference this year.

The Players

The Utah Blaze has struggled this year, particularly at the start of the season where they found different ways to lose. But throughout those trying times they still got outstanding play from their QB, Joe Germaine. Germaine has made a case to be one of the top QBs in the AFL and he has the numbers to prove it. Germaine leads the AFL in TD passes with 85 and in passing yardage with 4,299. He has been outstanding in Coach Danny White's offense.

Germaine hasn't done it by himself, however, as he has statistically the best receivers in the league as all three starters are among the top 10 in the league in receptions. Aaron Boone (123-1346-19 TDs) led the AFL in receptions coming into this week. Huey Whitaker (117-1421-28 TDs) was second and J.J. McKelvey (105-1312-35 TDs) was tied for tenth. This group has been steady all year long and is capable of dominating their opponents.

While the offense has been consistent for Utah it has been problematic for the Avengers. In particular at the QB position. Head Coach Ed Hodgkiss had been trying to ride the hot hand between Sonny Cumbie and Tim Hicks before letting Cumbie go start to finish in their last game, a 66-56 loss to San Jose. Both Hicks and Cumbie have struggled mightily this year although pass protection has been a big issue. So big, in fact, that Hodgkiss let long time offensive line coach Bill Dobson go a few weeks ago.

The Avengers also made some noise by signing former Nebraska QB Sam Keller last week. Keller will get a chance to prove he can do the job but not this week. Cumbie is slated to start this one. Regardless of who starts or plays QB, if the pass protection doesn't get better then Los Angeles will continue to struggle.

There are some solid receivers to go to for whoever plays QB. The leader of the group is AFL veteran Ironman, Kevin Ingram (76-813-18 TDs), who despite the losing record continues to play hard. The leading receiver is prize free agent Timon Marshall (85-1128-16 TDs) although they have yet to find a way to break him loose for big plays. LaShaun Ward (62-999-24 TDs) has also played well and is a speedy downfield threat. The other receiver to see action is J.R. Tolver (43-440-7 TDs). Tolver has all the tools but had a problem holding onto the football earlier in the year, fumbling several times.

Defense has really been the main problem for both Utah and L.A. this year. The Avengers rank last in the league giving up 63 points per game while Utah is next to last allowing 61.3 points per game. Utah has solidified things a bit and the defense is playing better of late.

The Blaze front has solid veterans in place with Dwayne Missouri and E.J. Burt at the ends and Chris Janek at nose. They also have pieced together a veteran secondary as Coach White made some solid moves to shore things up. Damon Mason and Eddie Canonico have joined Reggie Doster in the Blaze secondary. Canonico led the AFL in tackles with 102 coming into this week's action.

The Avengers defense has been largely inconsistent in forcing turnovers and stopping opponents. The group is led by middle safety Damen Wheeler who has had a knack for making plays in his career and leads the Avengers with six picks. Rookie Terrell Maze leads the team in tackles and has played fairly well on the backside. Veteran Clarence Lawson plays the frontside corner and always competes hard.

The Avengers pass rush is led by Josh Jeffries who has five sacks. Jason Stewart is a good player at the nose. The other defensive end, Ken Jones has only 1.5 sacks but still gets pretty good pressure. But when the Avengers signed Jones in the off-season they had higher expectations for him. Mac linebacker Brandon Perkins has shown some playmaking ability.

The Game

When I saw Los Angeles play in Chicago a few weeks ago, I could not believe how bad their offense looked. They could not protect the QB and both Cumbie and Hicks took a beating even though they were only running 3-step drops most of the time. This will be the key for the Avengers if they have any chance of winning. They must give the QB time to make some throws down the field.

You have to give Coach White and the Blaze some credit for hanging in there. It is very difficult to come to work and get something done when you lose your first nine games. But they hung in there and have won four of their last five and are in great position to make the playoffs. In fact, with Germaine and those receivers they could even make some noise once they get into the playoffs.

Utah is playing with a lot of confidence right now and got their first road win of the season last week when they blew out Grand Rapids in the first half, 42-14. The bad bounces and breaks they were getting early in the year are starting to even out. Right now, they are a dangerous football team.

The best chance for L.A. in this game is to force some turnovers early and get back that winning feeling. Turnovers have been the story for the Avengers for the past two years. When they protect the ball and take it away they win. When they don't take care of the ball they suffer blowout losses. Somehow, some way, they need to knock it loose a few times and then feed off of the frenzy. If they don't they will have a hard time keeping pace with the Utah offense.

Utah needs to keep riding the wave of the turnaround, which has been remarkable. At one point there was some question of whether or not they would even win a game this year, but now find themselves jockeying for a first round home game. The key for them is defense. Their offense is one of the best in the AFL but you need both to win, especially in the playoffs. If they can find some tenacious "D" they could shock the world.

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