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Detroit Fury Game Notes

May 6, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Detroit Fury News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Las Vegas Gladiators (7-7) at Detroit Fury (7-7)
Date: May 11, 2003
Kickoff: 3:00 p.m. ET
Site: The Palace of Auburn Hills (14,826)
Officials: Pat Garvey (Referee), Stephen Pamon (Umpire), Rusty Spindel (Head Linesman), Dennis Lipski (Line Judge), Rich Wilborn (Back Judge)
Radio: WDFN, 1130 AM Jamie Samuelsen (Play-by-Play) Marc Spindler (Color Analyst)
TV: None
Series Record: (3-0)
Last Meeting: Sunday, April 27, 2003 Las Vegas 58 – Detroit 45
Streaks: Las Vegas – Lose 1 Detroit – Win 1
Coaches: Frank Haege (16-12, 2nd Year) Al Luginbill (7-7, 1st Year)

THE STAKES: Anything can happen in Arena Football, and the Fury have a second chance to play the Gladiators for first place in the Eastern Division. The Gladiators loss last week to the Dragons, ties both team’s overall records, and it gives the Fury one final shot at winning the division. Whoever wins Sunday’s game takes over first place in the East, with only one game remaining in the regular season. A Fury loss clinches the Eastern Division for the Gladiators, but if the Fury win, they will need to win their final season game against Orlando, or the Gladiators will need to lose their final game for the Fury to win the division.

THE SERIES: The Fury are looking for their first regular season victory over the Gladiators. The Gladiators hold the (3-0) series advantage and could sweep the 2003 series meeting with a win on Sunday.

HEAD COACHES:

AL LUGINBILL, Detroit (7-7, 1st Year): Luginbill enters his first season as head coach and general manager of the Detroit Fury and his first season coaching in the Arena Football League. He brings over 33 years of football experience to the Fury. Luginbill began his coaching career at Pasadena City College, where he guided Pasadena City College to Jr. Rose Bowl Championship in his final season as a head coach. He then moved on to Arizona State University and worked as an assistant coach from 1977-1984 with a one-year coaching stint at the University of Wyoming. Finishing his career as a Sun Devil, he left ASU to pursue a job with the San Diego State University Athletic department. After three years on the administrative side, Luginbill was given the control over the slumping Aztec football program, where he served as head coach of SDSU for five years. He is the only coach in SDSU to ever have five consecutive winning seasons. Luginbill’s career turned when he left the collegiate ranks to coach in the NFL Europe (World League). He served as head coach and director of football operations of Amsterdam Admirals from (1995-2000). In his tenure there, he guided the Admirals to the World Bowl. Luginbill moved back to States and took a job with up-start XFL and guided the Los Angeles Xtreme to XFL’s first and only league championship. Throughout his career, Luginbill is credited with finding and developing NFL stars such as Marshall Faulk (San Diego St. Player), Kurt Warner (NFL Europe / Amsterdam Player) and most recently, Tommy Maddox (XFL). Luginbill currently holds a 86-56-2 overall record as a head coach. He has won three championships and appeared in five bowl games during his coaching tenure.

FRANK HAEGE, Las Vegas (16-12, 2nd Year): Haege returns as the Gladiators head coach for in his second year, and is looking to pick up where his team left off last season. In his inaugural year as head coach, he guided his team to a 9-5 record, Eastern Division title and the team’s first playoff berth. Before joining the Gladiators staff, Haege spent two years earning Arena Football Experience as the head coach of the Quad City Steamwheelers of af2. In his two years as head coach, his team posted a 37-1 record, including an undefeated season in 2000, and an ArenaCup Championship. Haege is no stranger to the game of Arena Football. He had coaching stints with the Milwaukee Mustangs (1994), Minnesota Fighting Pike (1996) and the New Jersey Red Dogs (1997-1999). While a coach in the AFL, Haege also coached at the collegiate level. From 1996-1998, he was the offensive coordinator for Augsburg College in Minnesota. Prior to Augsburg, Haege spent two years as the secondary coach for Bemidji State University.

FURY IN THE COMMUNITY:

FURY HOSPITAL VISITS

Members of the Fury Team visit local area hospitals to bring cheer and hope to children during their stay. Often, players and coaches will “take over” the ward, filling it with Fury decorations. Players and coaches spend time with the children, sign autographs and leave special gifts behind. The Fury hopes that these types of events will leave a lasting impression on the children and provide a life long memory they are sure to never forget.

The Fury’s next Hospital Visit will be next week, on Wednesday, May 14 at St. Joseph’s Mercy Macomb Hospital. Fury players, cheerleaders and mascot Frenzy will tour the pediatric ward from 3:00 – 4:00 pm.

FURY FIELD TRIPS PROGRAM

The Fury Field Trips program is designed to encourage young people’s interest in science, math and technology by introducing them to real-life examples of how the sciences are used in the world around them. The goal of Fury Field Trips is to instill an interest in the sciences that they will carry through adulthood. The Fury Field Trips are proudly supported by the Metro Detroit Ford Dealers and the Towne Mortgage Company.

So far this season, the Fury have made many Fury Field trips. Their first trip of the season took five Fury players to the Ford River Rouge Plant in Dearborn, Michigan. Next, the Fury headed to Woodland Elementary School in Troy, where students were treated to an interactive science show done by students from Michigan State University. Students were able to see Fury players and MSU students demonstrate some of science’s most basic principles. Lineman Jon McCall also led a group of Fury players to his former elementary school in Troy to read to children as a part of their reading month. The Fury’s latest field trip will took them to Selfridge Air Base in Mt. Clemens, MI. The base, which is still an active base for the National Guard, has a military air museum on site. Fury players and local area children toured the facilities, while students learned about science and aviation. They received hands-on demonstrations and climbed into many cockpits of the planes to feel first hand what they were like.

Next week, Lineman Jon McCall is leading another group of Fury players to his mother’s elementary school to talk and read to the students, as well as pass out Fury goodies.

LAST WEEK:

Auburn Hills, Mich. – The Detroit Fury were able to run out the final 16 seconds in the game to hold on for the 50-48 win over the Buffalo Destroyers. The Fury (7-7) keep their post-season hopes alive with the win, and they win their first home game since February 23. The Fury also improve to (6-0) when they hold their opponents to under 50 points in a game.

After being inactive the last three weeks, WR/LB Ty Grovesteen came back with a passion. Named the game’s MVP, Grovesteen led the Fury’s receiving corps. He caught six passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns, and he also recovered a kickoff for a touchdown, as well as making two and a half tackles on defense.

Fury quarterback Andy Kelly finished the game completing 25-of-45 for 214 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. He completed passes to seven different receivers in the game.

Despite the loss, Destroyers quarterback Bob Bees played an error-free game. Bees completed 18-of-29 for 238 yards and six touchdowns. He split up his touchdown strikes evenly to three receivers: Cornelius White, Chuck Wesley and Carl Bond. Bond finished as the game’s leading receiver, catching eight passes for 85 yards and two touchdowns.

When these teams met earlier in the season, defense was the name of the game, but in the rematch, offense ruled supreme.

The Fury jumped to an early lead, scoring first, but on the following kickoff, lineman Angel Rubio recovered the ball off the net for a Fury touchdown. The Destroyers came back to take a one-point lead, but the Fury would score 17 unanswered points to close the first half.

The third quarter remained relatively quiet, as Buffalo scored the only points of the half, but both offenses came back to life in the fourth quarter.

The Fury scored early to open the quarter, but the Destroyers kept pace with their own touchdown. The Fury and Destroyers eventually traded three touchdown strikes each, but in the end, the Destroyers were unable to overcome their first half deficit.

With less than a minute remaining, the Fury scored a touchdown, which gave them a nine-point lead. The Destroyers answered back 22 seconds later, but they were unable to recover the following onside kick. The Fury offense took the field with only 16 seconds remaining.

They used each of their four downs to run time off the clock, and Kelly’s final pass sailed out of bounds, as the final second ticked off for the Fury victory.

Next week, the Fury will enjoy a long nine-day rest before they rematch against the Eastern Division leading Las Vegas Gladiators at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Final
Buffalo Destroyers 14 0 7 27 48
Detroit Fury 20 10 0 20 50

MVP: Ty Grovesteen (DET)
Ironman: Jason Kaiser (DET)

Attendance: (4,713)

FURY NEXT WEEK:

Next week, the Fury will prepare for their final regular season game of the season with the Orlando Predators. The Predators are a hot team, since the return of QB Jay Gruden, and they are currently battling for a first-round playoff bye. The Fury could gain a lot of playoff momentum with a victory over the Predators.

The Fury have never played the Predators since joining the Arena Football League in 2001. One of the most storied franchises, the Predators will be making their first trip to the Motor City. Many former Fury players will be playing against their former team. Lineman Jon McCall, Angel Rubio, Junior Lord (although he is on the IR), and kicker Nick Gatto will all face off against their former squad.

FURY NOTES / TRENDS:

The Streak Continues: Throughout the season thought, the Fury have defeated each team they have played when one member of their roster was a member of the opposing team’s roster in 2002, and they have lost to each team that have not signed a member from last season’s 2002 team. The only exception is Colorado, because they were an expansion team. If the streak continues, the Fury would need to beat Buffalo.

Rotating the Specialists: So far this season, no one person has held the offensive specialist position for the Fury for more than two weeks at a time. Today’s game against Las Vegas will start the third different OS in three weeks, after OL/DL Matt Norwood was tagged the Fury’s OS last week due to injuries. Also, look for DS Brent Browner to start for the second week as the Fury’s other DS.

Approaching a record: Detroit kickoff returner Ron Carpenter is close to setting a new AFL record for most kickoff return yards in a season. He currently stands at 2,051 yards, and he only needs 36 more kickoff return yards to tie Steve Papin’s record of 2,086 yards. With two games remaining, Carpenter only needs to average 18 kickoff return yards a game to break the mark.

13 isn’t so unlucky: FB Errick Herrin only needs 13 more rushing yards this season to become the Fury’s first-ever player to rush for 100 yards in a season.

RUNNING WITH THE RECORDS: Watch Fury Quarterback Andy Kelly continue his assault on the Arena Football League’s record books. As the 2003 season winds down, he hopes to remain the league’s all-time leading passer. AFL Veterans Aaron Garcia (NY) and Sherdrick Bonner (AZ) are right behind.

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