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Columbus Destroyers game notes

June 28, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Columbus Destroyers News Release


DESTROYERS/STORM PREVIEW

The Columbus Destroyers will make their first appearance in the Arena Football League playoffs since moving from Buffalo in 2004. The Buffalo Destroyers last qualified for the playoffs in 2002 with a 6-8 record. The Destroyers and the Storm faced off earlier this season in a Week 9 showdown in Tampa Bay and with 0:27 remaining in the game, Destroyers QB Matt Nagy scored from three yards on a naked bootleg. The ensuing two-point conversion was batted down and that sealed the Destroyers fate as they lost for the second-time in Tampa and fall to a 1-5 record in the series with the Storm. Nagy finished 18-of-30 for 204 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Damien Groce, B.J. Barre and Marcus Knight all had five receptions totaling 167 yards; Groce caught two touchdowns. Storm rookie quarterback Brett Dietz, who made his AFL debut in the game, filled in for an injured John Kaleo and completed 12-of-24 passes for 165 yards, two touchdowns and added a rushing touchdown.

Dietz has started in eight games this season and has a 7-1 record since facing the Destroyers on Apr. 29. Dietz' favorite targets include Terrill Shaw and Lawrence Samuels. Shaw leads the team with 1,411 receiving yards and 24 touchdowns on 101 receptions. Perennial All-Ironman Lawrence Samuels leads his team with 122 receptions for 1,143 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns. The Storm defense is anchored by defensive back Jeroid Johnson who leads the team with 96 tackles (88UT-16AT), 10 interceptions and 22 pass breakups.

DESTROYERS/DRAGONS RECAP

With the final playoff spot on the line in New York last weekend, the Destroyers scored on 10-of-11 possessions in a 74-43 rout of the New York Dragons. Offensive Player of the Game Matt Nagy completed 25-of-33 passes for 256 yards and seven touchdowns. Wide receiver Damien Groce, who missed the previous two games due to a shoulder injury, returned to lead all receivers with 11 receptions for 96 yards and two touchdowns. The Destroyers defense stopped the Dragons on 6-of-12 possessions including three sacks (Kelvin Kinney, Ken Kocher and Jason Shelley), a safety and an interception for return on a two-point conversion by Brandon Hefflin. Defensive back Jerald Brown was named Defensive Player of the Game as he corralled 6.5 tackles (6UT-1AT). Fullback Harold Wells added to his career numbers as he rushed the ball six times for 17 yards and one touchdown.

A TALE OF TWO SEASONS

The Destroyers and Storm tangled in a Apr. 29 showdown that ended up in a 34-32 Storm victory. Since the two teams met they have had a different road to travel. The Destroyers, who were 4-3, have a 3-6 record in their final nine games and the Storm, who entered the contest with a 1-6 record, finished the season 8-1.

The combined win percentage of the Destroyers opponents since defeating the Grand Rapids Rampage (May 11), which included games against the Dallas Desperados (15-1), Georgia Force (14-2), Colorado Crush (8-8), Kansas City Brigade (10-6) and the Philadelphia Soul (8-8), is 63% (60-36).

The combined win percentage of teams the Storm have played since facing the Destroyers is 41% (52-76), including the Austin Wranglers (4-12), Arizona Rattlers(4-12), New Orleans VooDoo (5-11) and Grand Rapids (4-12) all teams did not make the playoffs.

"SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION..."

There are many ties to the Columbus Destroyers and Tampa Bay Storm rivalry among them are...

- In 1993, the Tampa Bay Storm defeated the Detroit Drive 51-31 in ArenaBowl VII, Tampa's second ArenaBowl victory. At the time, the Storm defensive coordinator was Destroyers current Head Coach Doug Kay. The Drive's head coach was current Storm head coach Tim Marcum.

- In 2003, current Destroyers' DL Kelvin Kinney, WR/LB David Saunders and defensive assistant coach Mitch Matuska, won ArenaBowl XVII Championship rings under the direction of Marcum.

- Destroyers linebacker Leroy Thompson was a part of the Storm's 2007 training camp before being released prior to the start of the season.

- Former Destroyers quarterback John Kaleo (2006) signed with the Storm in 2007 and played in eight games before being injured against the Destroyers in Week 9.

- Destroyers defensive back and reigning AFL Defensive Player of the Year Jerald Brown is a first cousin of Storm fullback Marvin Brown. The only time the two faced off against each other was in high school, Jerald attended Woodrow Wilson H.S. (Washington D.C.) and Marvin played at DeMatha H.S. (Washington D.C.).

END OF YEAR AWARDS

Destroyers center Will Rabatin was selected to the AFL's All-Rookie Team for 2007, the club and League announced on June 27. The Louisville rookie anchored an offensive line that surrendered only 13 sacks this season, a new franchise low. The previous record was held by the 1999 and 2003 team's that surrendered 17 sacks each.

MR. RELIABLE

Wide receiver David Saunders was second on the team with 68 receptions for 550 yards and 18 touchdowns this season. Against the Brigade in Week 15, his streak of 19 consecutive games with a touchdown reception ended. The streak started on Mar. 3, 2006 against the New York Dragons, Saunders had amassed 119 receptions for 1,180 yards and 33 touchdowns during the streak.

Ironically, Saunders' streak ended on the same week that the longest touchdown reception streak in AFL history ended. Colorado Crush wide receiver Damien Harrell ended his streak at 78 games against the Utah Blaze on June 4.

GROUND CONTROL

The Columbus Destroyers ground game has taken off this season as they have put up an average of 22.9 yards per contest, the fourth best mark in the AFL. In fact, when the Destroyers rush for over 20 yards in a game they have a record of 7-3 in 2007. The rushing attack is led by fullback Harold Wells who has set career-highs with 73 carries for 197 yards (5th in the AFL) and 13 touchdowns.

HOME COOKIN

The 2007 Columbus Destroyers set a single-season franchise record with five wins on Huntington Field at Nationwide Arena. The team has a record of 5-3 at home, including a five game consecutive streak that spanned Mar. 30 vs. Georgia - May 11 vs. Grand Rapids. The team bested the 2006 squad and the 2002 Buffalo Destroyers whom both won four games at home in their respective seasons. The 2002-03 Buffalo Destroyers put together a string of seven consecutive wins at home over the course of two seasons.

DYNAMIC DUO

The tandem of Matt Nagy and Damien Groce has sparked the Destroyers offense in 2007. The two have combined for 26 touchdowns through the air. Nagy has passed to Groce for 1,342 yards on 118 receptions, consisting for a third (32.7%) of the Destroyers offensive output this season.

Groce is accountable for 27% of the Destroyers scoring this season with 31 total touchdowns (26 receiving, 3 rushing, 2 kick off returns).

HAIL TO THE CHIEF

Head Coach Doug Kay signed a contract extension on May 16 that will keep him at the helm of the Columbus Destroyers through the 2008 season. Now in his second season with the Destroyers, Kay has accumulated a record of 15-17 with the club. Columbus finished in third place in the Eastern Division with a record of 7-9. In 2006, the Destroyers posted an 8-8 mark and missed the playoffs by one game just one year removed from a 2-14 finish during the 2005 campaign.

Kay has over 40 years of football coaching experience, including 13 years in the AFL. His AFL teams have made the playoffs in 10 of 13 years. He has won ArenaBowl championships as a defensive coordinator with the Tampa Bay Storm (ArenaBowl VII - 1993) and Arizona Rattlers (ArenaBowl XI - 1997) and has also served as a head coach with the Charlotte Rage (1995) and Carolina Cobras (2000-01).

JOLTING JONES

Ken Jones is the all-time franchise leader in sacks with 17.5 (16UT-3AT) to his credit. Last season he eclipsed the mark of Kerwin Hairston by leading the Destroyers with five sacks in 2006. This season he leads the team and set a franchise single-season record with 9.5 sacks (9UT-1AT).

WEEK Vs. QB SACKS

2 New Orleans VooDoo Andy Kelly 1

4 Chicago Rush Matt D'Orazio 2

5 Georgia Force Chris Griesen 1.5

8 Philadelphia Soul Clint Stoerner 2

10 New York Dragons Aaron Garcia 2

16 Philadelphia Soul Tony Graziani 1

TOUCHDOWN MACHINE

Destroyers' wide receiver Damien Groce set an all-time AFL record with eight consecutive touchdowns scored spanning two games. He scored the final four touchdowns against the Austin Wranglers on Apr. 14 and led the game off with the first four Destroyers touchdowns Apr. 23 against the Soul. The previous record for consecutive touchdowns was held by Derek Lee of the Georgia Force in 2005 (Week 7-8) with seven. The previous franchise record was held by Sedrick Robinson in 2004, who scored four-straight against the Dallas Desperados on May 22.

Groce torched the Wranglers secondary in Week 7, as he caught 13 passes for 129 yards and set a franchise record with five touchdown receptions. In Week 12 against the Colorado Crush he hauled in a career-high 14 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. In 2007 he lead the team with 118 receptions (12th in the AFL) for 1,342 yards (18th in the AFL) and 26 touchdowns. He also is 10th in the league with a 20.6-yard average per kickoff return (40 KOR, 825 KOR yards), giving him 2,253 all-purpose yards, which ranks him sixth in the AFL.

BRINGIN THE "D"

The Destroyers defense is holding its opponents to an average of 49.6 points per contest, fifth best in the AFL. In 2006, the defense held its opponents to 44.8 points, second best scoring defense in the AFL.

THE MAGIC NUMBER

The Destroyers put 74 points on the scoreboard, the second most points in franchise history, in a win over the New York Dragons last week. Since the Destroyers have moved to Columbus, they hold a perfect 8-0 record in games in which they score 60-plus points. Including 3-0 this season (Week 4 vs. Georgia, 62-61; Week 7 vs. Austin 72-49).

The franchise record for most points scored in a game is held by the Buffalo Destroyers, who scored 79 on June 25, 2000 at New Jersey.

AERIAL ATTACK

In Week 7 against the Wranglers, Destroyers QB Matt Nagy threw for a team record and set a personal best with nine touchdown passes. Nagy bested the previous Destroyers record set by Ryan Vena who threw for eight scores on May 22, 2004 against the Dallas Desperados.

DEFENDING THE CROWN

Reigning AFL Defensive Player of the Year Jerald Brown picked up right where he left off 2006 as he's intercepted five passes this season (tied for 19th in the AFL), including two in Destroyers' victories over the Georgia Force in Week 5 and two in Week 7 against the Austin Wranglers. A season ago, Brown finished second in the league with 11 interceptions and 133 interception return yards, including two for touchdowns.

In addition to the five interceptions, Brown has amassed 65.5 tackles (57UT-17AT), one fumble recovery and is the team leader with 16 pass breakups (tied for 13th in the AFL).

DÉJÀ VU

In Week 5 against the Georgia Force the Destroyers kickoff returners were all over the field as they returned two the length of the field for touchdowns. In the second quarter Josh Bush returned his second in as many games from 56-yards and in the third quarter Damien Groce returned a Xavier Betita offering 56-yards for the score.

It was the first time the Destroyers have had two kickoff returns for touchdowns in a game since May 9, 2004 vs. Georgia Force. In history, the Destroyers have accomplished the special teams feat four times including Week 5, three of those have been at the hands of the Georgia Force.

SPREADING THE LOVE

Quarterback Matt Nagy found five different receivers for touchdowns against the Dallas Desperados in Week Six. Damien Groce, Tony Locke, David Saunders (2), Josh Bush and Howard Duncan were the recipients of the scoring strikes.

Nagy has now accomplished this feat twice in his career. The first coming on March 7, 2004, as a member of the Carolina Cobras. He threw for six touchdowns in the game to five different receivers including current teammate, Damien Groce.

THE TOLEDO TACKLER

Toledo graduate, Brandon Hefflin, lead the team (4th in the AFL) with 105.0 tackles (88UT-34AT) in 2007. Now in his third year with the Destroyers, Hefflin led the team in tackles in 2005 (76.5) and 2006 (84.5).

Hefflin is the all-time franchise leader in tackles with 256.5 (214UT-85AT). He eclipsed the mark of JoJo Polk (177.5) on Mar. 9 at New Orleans. Hefflin has also set the all-time franchise record for tackles in a season in 2007.

O-H-I-O

Five Destroyers players have ties to the Buckeye state.

Defensive Back B.J. Barre

- Grew up in Toledo, attended Whitmer High School and played at The Ohio State University one season.

Quarterback Josh Harris

- Prepped at Westerville High School and played quarterback at Bowling Green State University

Defensive Back Brandon Hefflin

- Attended the University of Toledo

Wide Receiver Cole Magner

- Played quarterback and wide receiver at Bowling Green State University.

Offensive Lineman Juan Porter

- Prepped at St. Ignatius High School (Cleveland) and played at The Ohio State University

YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

The Destroyers 2007 coaching staff brings with it 37 years of coaching experience in Arena Football. Collectively the Destroyers coaches have won three ArenaBowl Championships (Head Coach Doug Kay, Tampa Bay Storm - ArenaBowl VII and Arizona Rattlers - ArenaBowl XI; Coach Mitch Matuska, Tampa Bay Storm - ArenaBowl XVII)

Offensive coordinator Skip Foster (2003) won an ArenaCup in arenafootball2 as head coach of the Tulsa Talons.



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from June 28, 2007


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