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Barracudas Game Notes

May 16, 2002 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Pensacola Barracudas News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Pensacola Barracudas (2-3) vs. Macon Knights (4-2)
Date: Friday, May 17, 2002
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. (EST)
Site: Macon Coliseum (7,100)
Officials: Rusty Wynn (referee), Don Lyles (umpire), Johnny Crawford (head linesman), Trip Self (line judge), Chris Raines (back judge)
Radio: WCOA 1370 AM
Steve Barnes (Play-by-play)
Greg Golden (Color Commentary)
Series Record: Pensacola leads,1-0
Last Meeting: Pensacola 45, Macon 42 4/20/01
Streaks: Pensacola lost 1; Macon lost 1
Coaches: Mike Buck (Career: 8-8, Season: 2-3)
Kevin Porter (Career: 20-16, Season: 4-2)

THE STAKES: Both are coming off close losses last week and need to get back into the win column to improve playoff position. Pensacola is third in the National South, while the Knights are second in the American East.

THE SERIES: Pensacola leads the series, 1-0.

THE IFs:

If Pensacola defeats Macon it would …
· Give Pensacola two wins over Kevin Porter
· Give the Barracudas their first road victory
· Have Pensacola avoid a third consecutive two-game streak of wins or losses.
· Give the Barracudas its first win of the year in the Eastern Time Zone. (0-1 so far).

HEAD COACHES: In his second season as a head coach, Mike Buck returns to Pensacola where he served as offensive coordinator for the 2000 Barracudas playoff team. Last year Buck took the head coaching job in Norfolk four games into the season and led the 0-4 Nighthawks to a 7-5 record the rest of the way. Buck was a backup quarterback for the NFL’s New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals before taking up coaching. Macon’s Kevin Porter is no stranger to the folks in Pensacola as he was the head coach in the Barracudas’ inaugural year. That season, he led the team to an 8-8 record and a playoff berth.

The Former Auburn Tiger was drafted in the third round of the 1988 NFL draft by Kansas City and he also saw time with the New York Jets.

LAST SERIES MEETING: Pensacola defeated Macon in the only meeting between the two teams. The Barracudas won 45-42.

FAMILIAR FACES: There are a couple of familiar faces on the Macon bench. First, Kevin Porter, Macon’s head coach, was the first head coach of the Barracudas. Pensacola head coach Mike Buck served as his offensive coordinator and Robert Stromas and Karl Levine each played on that team.

Macon assistant coach Webbie Burnett, a 10-year veteran of the Arena Football League, is a graduate of Pensacola High School.

PENSACOLA BARRACUDAS INJURY REPORT:
Pos. Name Injury Status
OL/DL Marvin Davis foot Out

THIS WEEK’S QUOTES:

Assistant head coach Ed Cunningham on last week’s loss at Birmingham: “We blew a chance to beat one of the best teams in the league on the road. Until we figure out how to stop stupid mistakes, we’re not going to be a consistently good team.”

Cunningham on this week’s game at Macon against former Pensacola coach Kevin Porter: “Kevin Porter is one of the top coaches in this league and he has been since he was here (in Pensacola).” And with he and Mike (Buck) being former colleagues adds more to the pot.”

MILESTONES:

Stromas Stalking Receiving Records: WR/DB Robert Stromas, could set the team’s career reception record this week with two catches. He is just one behind Rodney Woodham’s team mark and 44 yards behind the record in receiving yards. Also, Stromas needs just four touchdowns to establish a new team record in that category also.

Player Rec. yds Rec. Rec.TDs
Rodney Woodham 1,074 85 23
Robert Stromas 1,030 84 20

DROPBACK: The Barracudas saw a 25-7 lead evaporate as Pensacola fell to Birmingham 48-40. Pensacola was penalized 13 times in the game and lost a pair of fumbles to aid the Steeldogs in adding to their five-game winning streak. Quarterback Charlie Peterson made an impressive debut as he completed 21-of-40 passes for 272 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.

On Pensacola’s final drive, Peterson hit Jack Walker for an apparent touchdown, but the play was nullified by an illegal substitution penalty. FORWARD MOTION: Next week the Barracudas return to the Pensacola Civic Center to take on first-place Tennessee Valley. The Vipers are 5-0 on the season and kickoff is set for 7 p.m., in The Tank.

TEAM NOTES/TRENDS:

Talk about not being your night: The Barracudas were kept in check by authority figures all last Saturday night. First, Pensacola was flagged 13 times in Birmingham for a total of 74 yards, but it didn’t stop there. On the way home, the team bus was pulled over by the police. Fortunately the cops declined to add anymore penalties and let the bus proceed. To quote the Grateful Dead, “What a long, strange trip it’s been.”

A thief in the secondary: Will Pettis continued to steal the ball from the Barracudas’ opponents this season. Saturday, he picked off a pair of passes against Birmingham. He now has four interceptions for 32 yards in returns and has defended19 passes on the year. Just for good measure, he has also added a fumble recovery.

His first game, really?: No one could tell that Saturday was Charlie Peterson’s first game under center in af2. The former Brigham Young quarterback picked Birmingham’s secondary apart to the tune of 52.5 percent and 272 yards. He also was not picked off and fired five touchdowns.

Our colors are blue, green and silver, right?: According to the Barracudas’ media guide, those are the team colors, but yellow has been the predominant color this season.

For the season, Pensacola has been penalized 48 times for 353 yards, or an average of 70.6 yards per contest.

To put that into perspective, adding the end zones, an af2 field is only 64 yards long. Ouch.

PLAYERS/MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

Pensacola DS Will Pettis vs. Macon WR/DB Jaquez Rumph: Rumph is among the league leaders in scoring and has caught 45 passes for 502 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. He averages 11.2 yards per catch and 83.7 yards per game. Pettis leads Pensacola in tackles with 17.5 and he has four interceptions and 19 pass break ups on the year.

Cudas WR/LB Jack Walker: WR/LB Jack Walker kept up his big play contribution last week. He caught four passes for 43 yards, one of them a 7-yard score from Charlie Peterson. He also caught the potential game-tying score with less than a minute remaining, but the play was nullified by a penalty.

Cudas QB Charlie Peterson: In his af2 debut, Peterson picked apart the Birmingham defense. He went 21-40 for 272 yards and five touchdowns all with a ferocious rush in his face. Peterson also spread the ball around – six receivers caught at least one pass in the game.

KEY DATES IN TEAM/LEAGUE HISTORY:

5/16/01 Tennessee Valley sent af2’s first player to the Canadian Football League when OL/DL Curtis Jeter signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Talk about culture shock – not only is the field up there about a zillion times bigger than af2’s, but to move from Alabama to Saskatchewan?

5/19/01 Throwing for 225 yards against Peoria, Tulsa’s Craig Strickland set the all-time league record for total offense with 4,458 yards. At the end of the season, Strickland had 4,035 and 6,918 in his career.

5/19/01 Pensacola ran its record to 3-4 with a 36-33 win at Tallahassee.

BUILT FORD TOUGH AWARD (selected by coaches) The Built Ford Tough Award is a national recognition award given after every game to the player or players on each team best demonstrating determination and toughness in that game. The award honors the players who made a game-saving tackle or score-saving tackle, threw a key block on the big play or exhibited physical sacrifice or consistent tough blocking and tackling on both sides of the ball. The honored players receive a helmet sticker that recognizes the Built Ford Tough Player of the Game.

Week Opp. Player
1 TAL Will Pettis
2 BIR Jerrian James
3 MOB Jerrian James
4 BOS Jasper Pendergrass
5 BIR Robert Stromas

GAME MVP AWARD (selected by media)
Week Opp. Player
1 TAL Chris Windsor
2 BIR Montressa Kirby
3 MOB Will Pettis
4 BOS Bobby Clayton
5 BIR Wayne Thomas

GAME IRONMAN AWARD (selected by media)
Week Opp. Player
1 TAL Mesiah Porter
2 BIR Cedric Buchannon
3 MOB Ben Labelle
4 BOS Robert Stromas
5 BIR Greg Harris

RECENT ROSTER MOVES (most recent first):
Date Action Player
5/9 Placed on Long Term IR OL/DL Marvin Davis
5/9 Assigned WR/LB Joseph Koroma
5/9 Re-assigned QB Bobby Clayton
5/6 Assigned DS Kenny Hill
5/2 Assigned QB Charlie Petersen
5/2 Traded to Columbus WR/DB Ramon Huff
5/2 Activated from IR OL/DL Marvin Davis
5/2 Assigned K Dave Adams

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