Sports stats



AFL I Arena Football League (1987-2008)

Cleveland at Georgia playoff preview

by John Hahn
July 5, 2008 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)


CLEVELAND GLADIATORS (10-7) at GEORGIA FORCE (10-6), Monday, July 7, ESPN-2 5 p.m. (Pacific).

FORCE - Georgia comes into this game as hottest teams in the AFL. Head coach Doug Plank turned the season around (3-5 start) in the 2nd half by rolling up a 7-game winning streak before losing the final game of the season, 68-62 at San Jose. Plank has some of the most potent weapons in the AFL, led by QB Chris Griesen. The former NW Missouri State star has developed into one of the finest signal callers, this season, completing 68% of his passes for 54 yards short of 5,000 in 16 games. He also pitched 97 TDs, 30 of those to Tiger Jones, who came on later in the season to provide another outstanding receiver alongside Carl Morris (6-3) and Troy Bergeron (6-2). That pair had 27 and 24 receiving TDs, respectively. Fullback Matt Huebner (6-4, 280) added 11 rushing TDs. Not only did the Force have the stats, they had a lot of heart pulling out big games such as a 1-point win over Philadelphia, by 5 at New York, 1 over Tampa Bay and by 3 against Chicago during the 7-game run. Some 18 players saw the back of defensive linemen, but when Plank finally settled on DBs it was Stephen Cason, Willie Gary, Cam Newton JoJo Polk, a late arrival, getting the job done. The defensive line is as formidable as any in the league and includes R-Kal Truluck (6-4, 270) who has 5.5 sacks. His given name R-Kal K-Quan Truluck means "Ruler of the Lake" in Swahili. Add Jermaine Smith (6-4, 290) and 13-year veteran Ernest Allen (6-4, 300), with 6 sacks, to the mix and you have a group that helped total 18 sacks.

GLADIATORS - This opponent has a lot of surprises. They even surprised the Orlando Predators, 69-66, in the wild card round win at Cleveland Monday. The biggest win in the regular season came in handing Philadelphia its first loss of the season and head coach Mike Wilpolt wanted to make sure this was a new era for a team that started in New Jersey, moved to Las Vegas and then had former Cleveland Browns' QB Bernie Kosar save the situation with the move to the Ohio city this year. Forget about how bad this team was at those other places, led by veteran QB Raymond Philyaw, the team has gotten much mileage from a mix of veteran and young players. For the 9th time this season, Philyaw helped put more than 60 points on the board for Cleveland. He was 29-48-1 (60.4%) against Orlando for 436 yards and 8 TDs. During the season, Philyaw completed 68% of his passes for 4,287 yards and 83 TDs. What's special about this team is 2nd-year AFL pro Otis Amey out of Sacramento State. The 5-foot-10 receiver had 48 TD receptions on only 112 catches. That's 43% of his grabs were for scores. Robert Redd, the other key receiver, emerged this season after two with Colorado. He had 16 TD catches in the regular season. Cleveland won 5 of its last 8 games of the season. With Marlion Jackson (6-1, 255) busting up the middle, the Glads have had the bruising fullback score 23 times on the ground. Defense is what has been key to the Glads and DB Brandon Hefflin, a Colorado reject, has 18 pass breakups. Heflin had two interceptions against Orlando. He teams with Alohonso Hodge (10 breakups), Sakeen Wright and Alex Teems to cover receivers. Karon Riley had his 6th sack of the season Monday. The other weapon is kicker Jason Ball who has 16 field goals. Georgia should look out for this explosive team Monday night.



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from July 5, 2008


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central