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Carolina Cobras Game Notes

March 11, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Carolina Cobras News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Carolina Cobras (0-6) vs. Georgia Force (4-2)
Date: March 15, 2003
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
Site: Arena at Gwinnett Center (11,200)
Officials: Tom McCabe (Referee), Thomas Laverty (Umpire), Brent Durbin (Head Linesman), Bob McElwee (Line Judge), James Anderson (Back Judge)
Series Record: All-time series tied 1-1
Coaches: Carolina: Mike Hold (1st Season, 0-6) Georgia: Marty Lowe (2nd Season, 9-6)

THE SERIES: Series tied 1-1
Carolina 55, @ Georgia 54 – April 26, 2002
Georgia 53, @ Carolina 42 – June 14, 2002

COBRAS LAST WEEK: Despite a career-high 180 yards receiving and two touchdowns from Bernard Holmes, the Carolina Cobras fell to 0-6 on the season with a 51-41 loss to the Las Vegas Gladiators. Carolina trailed by just three at the half, but could manage only three points in the third quarter as the Gladiators broke the game open. Ron Lopez completed 12-of-27 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns in his Cobras debut, before being replaced in the fourth quarter by Robert Hall. Hall threw two touchdown passes on 7-of-13 passing. Holmes added 78 yards on five kickoff returns to his 180 receiving yards, giving him 258 all-purpose yards, the fifth highest single-game total in franchise history. Chris Johnson, playing in his first career AFL game, added a touchdown reception for the Cobras, as did Tramain Jones and Ty Law. FORCE LAST WEEK: The Georgia Force (4-2) scored a team record for points in a game with a 70-54 win over the Grand Rapids Rampage (4-2). Donnie Davis went 19-of-24 passing for 286 yards with four touchdowns and Dan Curran rushed for 26 yards on six carries and scored a club-record three rushing touchdowns to lead Georgia to its first back-to-back wins of the season. Markeith Cooper had seven receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns and returned six kickoffs for 148 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown. The previous team high for points was a 67-49 victory over the Orlando Predators on April 20, 2002.

HEAD COACHES: After two seasons as head coach of the af2 Augusta Stallions, Mike Hold is making his AFL coaching debut with the Cobras in 2003. He led the Stallions to a combined 22-10 record in his two years, including a 13-3 mark and playoff appearance in 2002. Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Hold spent 12 seasons as an AFL quarterback. He saw action for eight teams during his tenure and was the last remaining active player from the league's first season when he retired in 2000. Hold had training camp stints with the Denver Broncos (1986) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1987, 88). He appeared in three games for Tampa Bay during the NFL strike in 1987. A 1985 graduate of the University of South Carolina, Hold led the Gamecocks to the school's only 10-win season in 1984 and earned MVP honors of the Gator Bowl. Despite playing only two seasons, he ranks seventh on the school's all-time passing yards list with 2,981 yards.

Marty Lowe is in his second season coaching the Force after replacing Robert Lyles five games into the 2002 campaign. Lowe led the Force to a 5-4 finish en route to a 6-8 record and a second-place finish in the Southern Division. Prior to joining the Force, Lowe had spent two seasons as offensive coordinator with the Nashville Kats. Lowe spent two seasons in the Arena Football League as a quarterback with the St. Louis Stampede and Texas Terror.

LAST YEAR'S COBRAS-FORCE MEETING:

Carolina 55, Georgia 54 (4/26/02 at Georgia)

Cory Fleming hauled in a game-winning 4-yard touchdown pass from Connell Maynor to give the Cobras a 55-54 win over the Georgia Force at Philips Arena. Maynor was 14-of-20 for 177 yards and three touchdowns for Carolina. Fleming nabbed six passes for 29 yards and a score and Carl Bond grabbed 5 passes for 70 yards and a touchdown. He also returned a kickoff 53 yards for another touchdown. Marrio Grier paced the Cobras ground game with 30 yards on six carries and a pair of touchdowns. Georgia's Kevin McDougal, who left the game briefly in the first half after suffering a sprained ankle, finished the night 18-of-31 for 196 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Donnie Davis replaced McDougal and connected on 2-of-3 passes for 47 yards and a touchdown. Markeith Cooper led all receivers with eight catches for 122 yards and a touchdown.

Georgia 53, Carolina 42 (6/41/02 at Carolina)

Darryl Hammond scored four touchdowns — two receiving, one on an interception return and one on a kickoff recovery — to lead Georgia to a 53-42 victory over the Carolina Cobras. Hammond finished with four receptions for 18 yards. Donnie Davis passed for 188 yards (21-of-32) for three touchdowns and two interceptions in the win. Cory Fleming had four touchdown receptions for Carolina. Cobras starting quarterback John Fitzgerald completed 13-of-22 pass attempts for 102 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions before giving way to Aaron Sparrow in the second half. Sparrow finished the night 16-of-21 for 184 yards with five touchdowns and an interception.

FAMILIAR FACES: The Force roster features four former Cobras...DS Kevin Gaines, OL/DL Tony Henderson, OL/DL Marcus Keyes and OL/DL Juan Porter were each members of Carolina's 2002 team, along with line coach Brennen Booth...Gaines is the Cobras all-time single-season record holder in tackles, interceptions and pass deflections and is the franchise's career record holder in interceptions and pass deflections...Force FB/LB Tommy Dorsey and OL/DL Adam Metts are both from North Carolina...Dorsey played at N.C. Central and Metts played at North Carolina.

INJURY UPDATES: DS Derek Stingley is questionable with a shoulder injury suffered two weeks ago at Grand Rapids...OL/DL Jim Stiebel is questionable to be activated from injured reserve this week.

COBRAS MILESTONES:
K Matt George needs:
• 7 points to reach 400

WR/LB Van Johnson needs:
• 9 receptions to reach 250

WR/DB Tramain Jones needs:
• 7.5 tackles to reach 100

WR/LB Ty Law needs:
• 4.5 tackles to reach 100
• 11 receptions to reach 200
• 6 receiving touchdowns to reach 50

DS Derek Stingley needs:
• 1.5 tackles to reach 350

COBRAS NEXT WEEK: The Cobras return home to face the Dallas Desperados on Friday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m. Carolina lost to the Desperados at home last season, 57-44, on April 20. SNAKE BITES:

Holmes Continues To Shine: No player has had a bigger impact for the Cobras this season than WR/DB turned OS Bernard Holmes. In his last three games played (he missed week five due to a family death), Holmes has 28 receptions for 382 yards and six touchdowns. He also has 22 kickoff returns for 421 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown against Detroit, the first kickoff return for a touchdown by a Cobras player since Carl Bond did it on April 26, 2002 in week two of the 2002 season. In his last three games, he has the third (283 in week four vs. Orlando), fourth (272 in week three vs. Detroit) and fifth (258 in week six vs. Las Vegas) best single-game all-purpose yardage totals in franchise history. His 180 receiving yards last week against Las Vegas marked a career-high for the six-year veteran.

Top Five All-Purpose Yardage Games: Holmes has three of the top five all-purpose yardage games in Cobras franchise history in his last three games played.

Kicking Accuracy: At a perfect 17-of-17, Matt George is the only kicker in the league that has not missed an extra point this season.

A Breakout Game For the Offense: Carolina's 319 yards of total offense last week shattered the team's previous season-high of 221 yards, and their 300 passing yards bested the previous high of 210. It also marked the first time this season that the Cobras offense has outgained its opponent. The last time the Cobras topped the 300-yard mark in a regular season game was week 12 of last season against the Toronto Phantoms. Carolina last reached 300 passing yards one week earlier in week 11 against Orlando.

Defensive Struggles: Over the last three games, the Cobras defense hasn't had much to show for its efforts. Orlando scored nine touchdowns in 10 offensive possessions, Grand Rapids scored 10 touchdowns in 11 offensive possessions and Las Vegas scored seven touchdowns and one field goal in nine offensive possessions.

Cobras Among League Leaders: Several Cobras are among the AFL's statistical leaders. Matt George leads the league in both PAT percentage (100%) and field goal attempts (16)...WR/DB Bernard Holmes is ninth in all-purpose yardage (816), ninth in kickoff returns (22) and tenth in kickoff return yardage (421)...Holmes is one of only three players in the league that is averaging over 200 all-purpose yards per game and ranks third in that category with 204.0...FB/LB Michael Blair is tied for seventh with 2.0 tackles for loss.

The Quarterback Carousel: In their six games this season, the Cobras have started five different quarterbacks. Chad DeGrenier started the season opener at Tampa Bay, throwing four interceptions. Stewart Patridge got the nod in week two at Buffalo. Robert Hall was the starter in weeks three and four against Detroit and Orlando, throwing 10 touchdown passes in two games. Rookie Glen Gauntt got the start in week five at Grand Rapids. Seven-year AFL veteran Ron Lopez got the starting nod last week against Las Vegas. He was replaced in the fourth quarter by Hall, who will return to the starting lineup this week in Georgia.

Hall vs. The Field: Continuing with the quarterback trend, here's how Robert Hall matches up in his four games played against the other four quarterbacks. Hall has a touchdown to interception ratio of 4.67 compared to the other quarterbacks' ratio of 1.0.

A Record Setting Afternoon: Several Cobras franchise records were set last week in the Las Vegas game...Carolina's 25 first downs and the 43 combined first downs were both the best single-game totals in franchise history...Las Vegas' 15 rushing attempts marked the second highest single-game total for an opponent...The Cobras 7:25 scoring drive in the first quarter was the third longest in team history...Robert Hall and Bernard Holmes' 45 yard hookup for a touchdown was the second longest pass play in Cobras history...Holmes' 180 receiving yards marked the third best single-game in franchise history and his 258 all-purpose yards ranked fifth...For Las Vegas, Jay McDonagh's eight rushes tied a Cobras opponent's all-time high, as did T.J. Hill's four pass breakups...Frank Carter's two rushing touchdowns were tied for second most by an opponent.

The AFL's Version Of Slash: Cobras QB Robert Hall has seen action as both a quarterback and offensive specialist throughout his AFL career. He is the first and only player in league history to have 2,000 passing yards and 2,000 receiving yards in his career. Entering the season, Hall was eighth on the AFL's all-time career completion percentage list, having completed 62.6 percent of his career attempts.

From Teammate to Coach: OS Ben Bronson, QB Robert Hall and WR/DB Bernard Holmes were teammates of Cobras head coach Mike Hold with the Houston ThunderBears.

It's A Small World: Defensive coordinator Flint Fleming was a teammate of OL/DL Jim Stiebel with the Buffalo Destroyers in 2000. Fleming played with WR/DB Bernard Holmes, WR/DB Tramain Jones and WR/DB Nick Ward as a member of the Florida Bobcats in 2001.

Holmes Among The All-Time Best: Entering the 2003 season, WR/DB Bernard Holmes ranked among the AFL's all-time Top 25 in several receiving categories. Holmes was tied for 22nd in receptions (338), ranked 23rd in receiving touchdowns (78) and ranked 24th in receiving yards (4,204).

Coming With The Coach: WR/LB Chris Johnson, OL/DL Blaine Mensch, FB/LB Glen Mitts and defensive backs coach Maurice Blanding came to Carolina with head coach Mike Hold from the af2 Augusta Stallions.

COBRAS PLAYERS TO WATCH:

WR/DB Bernard Holmes: In his last three games played (he missed week five due to a family death), Holmes has 28 receptions for 382 yards and six touchdowns. He also has 22 kickoff returns for 421 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown against Detroit, the first kickoff return for a touchdown by a Cobras player since Carl Bond did it on April 26, 2002 in week two of the 2002 season. In his last three games, he has the third (283 in week four vs. Orlando), fourth (272 in week three vs. Detroit) and fifth (258 in week six vs. Las Vegas) best single-game all-purpose yardage totals in franchise history. His 180 receiving yards last week against Las Vegas marked a career-high for the six-year veteran.

WR/LB Ty Law: Law is the Cobras second leading receiver this season with 23 receptions for 219 yards and four touchdowns. He had four receptions for 49 yards and one score last week against Las Vegas. With OS Ben Bronson out indefinitely due to a knee injury, Law will be counted on to provide an offensive boost.

DS Larry Casher: Casher leads the Cobras with 19.0 tackles, after tallying 5.5 last week against Las Vegas. He made his first career interception on February 28 against Grand Rapids and posted a career-high 6.5 tackles in the season opener against Tampa Bay.

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