Firecats top Peoria to take 2004 ArenaCup
Published on August 27, 2004 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Florida Firecats News Release
ESTERO, Fla. - The top two defenses in af2 combined for the lowest point total in ArenaCup history as the Florida Firecats claimed the 2004 ArenaCup Championship with a 39-26 win over the Peoria Pirates Friday night before 6,491 fans at Germain Arena.
"After what we've been through the past two weeks, I couldn't be more proud to share Southwest Florida's first professional sports title with you fans," said Firecats President Chris Vallozzi during the postgame trophy presentation.
Florida OS Magic Benton earned Baby Ruth Real Deal Offensive Player of the Game with seven catches for a game high 74 yards and two touchdowns. Firecats WR/DB Brent Burnside took Ironman of the Game honors by catching three passes for 39 yards and one touchdown on offense and he had 4.5 tackles, one interception, and one pass defended on defense.
The ADT Defensive Player of the Game was Comone Fisher, who came up big in the fourth quarter with an interception to thwart a late Pirates comeback attempt.
The Firecats became the first American Conference team to win the ArenaCup in the five-year history of the league, and it was the fifth straight year that the home team won the ArenaCup title. In the wake of Hurricane Charley, part of the game's proceeds went to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
The Florida Firecats returned the opening kickoff to their own six-yard line and then let the offense take it to the Peoria eight-yard line on eight plays before being forced to attempt a 23-yard field goal by Brandon Kornblue, which gave them a 3-0 lead at the 9:14 mark of the first.
The Firecats would regain possession of the ball twice in the first half on two Peoria fumbles, allowing the Firecats to increase their lead to 19-3. The Pirates would get their first touchdown of the night on a 30-yard pass from Andrew Webb to Lawrence Matthews. They would later add a Henrik Juul-Nielsen 20-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter to cut the Florida halftime lead to just six points at 19-13.
The third quarter proved to be the turning point in this game as Florida's defense shut out the Pirates and increased their lead to 36-13 by the start of the fourth. The Firecats added 17 third quarter points on a Mastrole to Lamb and a Mastrole to Benton touchdown. They also added a 24-yard Kornblue field goal in the quarter.
The Pirates added a four-yard touchdown run by Casey Urlacher and a 34-yard pass from Webb to Milton Bowen in the fourth, but could not overcome the deficit. The Firecats iced the win with a late 21-yard field goal by Kornblue.
The Pirates outgained the Firecats 252-220 in total yards, but four turnovers proved costly. Florida only turned the ball over once.
Urlacher was three yards shy of breaking an ArenaCup record for most rushing yards in a game by tallying 23 yards on four carries with one touchdown.
The Peoria Pirates finished the season with a 12-8 record while Florida's final mark improved to 14-6.
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