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Destroyers Weekly: ArenaBowl XXI New Orleans vs. San Jose SaberCats

July 18, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Columbus Destroyers News Release


COLUMBUS, Ohio - The 2007 National Conference Champion Columbus Destroyers, presented by Germain, will play the American Conference Champion San Jose SaberCats in ArenaBowl XXI New Orleans on Sunday, July 29 at New Orleans Arena with kickoff set for 3 p.m. (ET).

THIS WEEK: The 2007 National Conference Champion Columbus Destroyers will practice from Tuesday, July 16-Thursday, July 18. The Destroyers have played in 17 straight weeks dating back to their bye weekend of March 16-18. The team will report back for meetings on Sunday, July 22 at the Columbus FieldHouse.

NEXT WEEK: The Destroyers (7-9, 3-0) will take on the SaberCats (13-3, 2-0) in the teams' seventh meeting all-time. The Destroyers have never defeated the SaberCats in six previous attempts, including last season's 68-47 season finale that left Columbus short of the playoffs by one game. The Destroyers and SaberCats have never met in the playoffs until this season. The Destroyers have played in five straight road contests, the longest stretch in franchise history, and will be playing in the franchises first neutral site game at New Orleans Arena.

After defeating the AFL's best offense in the Georgia Force (323 yards per game), the Destroyers will now face the second-highest scoring team in the SaberCats (63.3 points per game) at ArenaBowl XXI. The American Conference Champion SaberCats are led by quarterback Mark Grieb who finished the 2007 regular season in the top 5 in many passing categories including: completion percentage (71% - 2nd), touchdowns (100 - 4th), yards (4,608 - 3rd) and completions (399 - 2nd). Among Grieb's targets are wide receivers James Roe and Ben Nelson. Eight year AFL veteran Roe led the team with 127 receptions for 1,560 yards and 40 touchdowns. Nelson, 2006 AFL Rookie of the Year, finished second on the SaberCats with 101 receptions for 1,257 yards and 25 touchdowns.

The SaberCats defense finished 2nd in the AFL in points allowed per game with 47.6. The defense is led by leading tackler defensive back Omarr Smith, who tallied 87.5 (79UT-17AT). Smith finished second on the team with five interceptions to Clevan Thomas who had eight. Thomas is the franchises all-time interception leader with 41. The former AFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2002 and 2003, Thomas finished second on the team with 86.0 tackles (76UT-20AT) this season.

LAST WEEK: The Destroyers faced Southern Division Champion Georgia Force in their first-ever appearance in the National Conference title game. After getting off to a 21-point lead early in the third quarter, the Force were able to stop the Destroyers offense on two possessions and take a one-point lead 49-48 with 9:28 remaining in the game. The Destroyers would outscore the Force 18-7 in the final 7:20 and a final score of 66-56y, to give the franchise its first berth in the ArenaBowl. QB Matt Nagy finished 22-of-33 for 205 yards and five touchdowns. He added two rushing touchdowns against his former team, whom he lead to an ArenaBowl berth in 2005. Damien Groce led all Destroyers receivers with eight receptions for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Defensive Player of the Game Jerald Brown made two interceptions returning one for an all-time AFL playoff high 54 yards for the touchdown.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE: The practice schedule for this week is below. Practices times and locations are subject to change. All practices at the Columbus FieldHouse are open to the public.

Day Event Time Place

Tuesday, July 17 Practice 10:45 -11:55 a.m. Columbus FieldHouse

Wednesday, July 18 Practice 10:45-11:55 a.m. Columbus FieldHouse

Thursday, July 19 Practice 9:45-10:55 a.m. Columbus FieldHouse

BACK-TO-BACK?

The Columbus Destroyers are trying to become the second team in consecutive seasons to win the ArenaBowl entering the playoffs with a 7-9 regular season record. Last season the Chicago Rush took home the James Foster Memorial Trophy by defeating the Orlando Predators 69-61 in ArenaBowl XX in Las Vegas. Both teams needed wins in their final regular season games to qualify for the playoffs. Below are interesting comparisons with the two teams' seasons...

DESTROYERS 2007, RUSH 2006

ROAD RECORD 2-6, 2-6

POINTS PER GAME 50.1, 51.6

TOTAL DEFENSE 284.4, 286.4

THE "ESPN FACTOR": The Columbus Destroyers are 4-0 in games broadcast on ESPN this season. Columbus played host to the Philadelphia Soul as part of Russell Athletic ESPN Arena Football Monday Night on Apr. 23 and won 44-21. The first two-playoff weekends ESPN analysts Mark Jones and Merril Hoge handled the broadcasting duties and Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic called the Destroyers National Conference Championship victory over the Georgia Forc3, 66-56. The Destroyers were victorious over the Storm 56-55 in the Wild Card Round and defeated the Desperados 66-59 in the Divisional Round.

"TAKE IT TO THE HOUSE": Destroyers defensive back Jerald Brown became the 27th player to return an interception for touchdown in the 20-plus seasons of AFL playoff games. His 54-yard effort in the National Conference title game was the longest return in AFL playoff history. Against the Tampa Bay Storm, Destroyers defensive back B.J. Barre an interception for a touchdown from 50 yards, the third longest return in AFL playoff history.

DESTROYERS ON TELEVISION: The next edition of Columbus Sports Network's weekly magazine show, Destroyers Digest, will air on Wednesday, July 18 at 6 p.m. The show provides in-depth coverage and analysis of the team and the AFL. CSN's lead anchor Ray Crawford is the host of the half-hour show. ArenaBowl XXI New Orleans will be shown on Sunday, July 29 at 3 p.m. (ET) ESPN on ABC (HD) with Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic calling the action.

ON THE AIRWAVES: ArenaBowl XXI New Orleans between the Destroyers and SaberCats can be heard on your home for Destroyers football, the new WINK 107.1 FM with the broadcast tandem of Steve Sefner (play-by-play) and Rob Blackman (color commentator) on the call. Tune in at 2:30 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, July 29, as the Destroyers pre-game show gets underway with a one-on-one interview with Destroyers Head Coach Doug Kay, player interviews and insider information.

TICKET INFORMATION: For information on 2008 Destroyers season tickets call (877) COLS-AFL. Groups of 10 or more are eligible for group rates by calling (614) 246-HITS. Tickets for ArenaBowl XXI can be purchased at http://teamexchange.ticketmaster.com.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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