Firecats Hodges Receives af2 Hit of the Week Honors - Again
June 2, 2009 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Florida Firecats News Release
Estero, FL- The arenafootball2 (af2) Florida Firecats announced today that for the second time this season defensive back Demetrius Hodges received "The NiFTy Big Hit of the Week" award. Hodges' hit came in the third quarter during Saturday night's 69-53 home win against Manchester. On a first-and-10 play from midfield, Wolves QB James Pinkney threw a pass downfield to Patrick Rouzard along the left sideline. Hodges got to Rouzard just as the ball arrived and drilled a shoulder right into Rouzard's chest. The lick popped the ball loose and left Rouzard lying on the turf for over a minute before he could make his way to the sideline. Hodges also received the award after a crushing hit against the Corpus Christi Sharks in week six.
"I saw the play opening up as it happened," said Hodges. "The quarterback floated the ball just a bit and that gave me time to close with a big hit. It got my teammates fired up and I heard the crowd going crazy." Hodges is the first player to win the award twice this season. "There's still plenty of games left this year, I'm going for three."
Hodges leads the team with 59 tackles through ten games this season. He's the only defensive back on the roster to have started every game for the Firecats this year. He also leads the club in pass breakups with seven. In 2007, the af2 rookie from East Carolina University was named the Pirates' best defensive back.
"Each week he keeps getting better and better," Head Coach Kevin Bouis said. "He got his first pick against Kentucky two weeks ago and he's getting more and more physical as the season goes on. You can he's getting more comfortable in the secondary and receivers are going to have to look out for him."
Florida is off with a bye this week and returns to action next Saturday June 13th against the Central Valley Coyotes in California. Fans can listen to the game on Fox Sports 1200/1460am. The Firecats next home game is Saturday June 27th against the South Georgia Wildcats. Fans can call 239-390-CATS (2287) to purchase tickets or visit the team online at www.FloridaFirecats.com.
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