Florida Firecats game notes

May 11, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Florida Firecats News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Florida Firecats (3-2) at Birmingham Steeldogs (4-1)
Date: Friday, May 14, 2004
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. CST
Site: Birmingham Jefferson Civic Complex
National Anthem:
Coin Toss: "Head Referee"
Officials: (Referee) (Umpire) (Head Linesman) (Line Judge) (Back Judge)
Radio: ESPN 770 AM (Dave Leval)
TV: None
Series Record: Birmingham 2-1
Last Meeting: Florida 57 BIRMINGHAM 35
Streaks: Florida W2, Birmingham W4
Coaches: Florida/ Ben Bennett (13-9; 0-1 playoffs, 2nd Season)
Steeldogs/ Bobby Humphrey


THE STAKES: The Firecats are currently one game behind Birmingham for first place in the South Division. Both teams are hot right now, and a win would give either team the edge in the division.

THE SERIES: Birmingham leads the series 2-1. Florida won the last meeting between the two teams 57-35 in Birmingham. Birmingham edged out Florida 38-35 in overtime the first time the two teams met last year.

THE IFs:
If Florida beats Birmingham:
· Give Florida a 2-2 series record with Birmingham
· Give Florida their third road win in 2004
· Give Ben Bennett a 14-9 record as a head coach
· Give Florida a 4-2 record for the season.
· Give Florida a 4-2 record against the American Conference.
· Give Florida a 3-0 record in the South Division
· Put Florida in first place


FLORIDA FIRECATS AT BIRMINGHAM STEELDOGS
FRIDAY, MAY 14
BIRMINGHAM JEFFERSON CIVIC COMPLEX


FLORIDA (3-2, Won 1)
Date Opponent Result Score
4/104/174/245/15/8 BOSSIER-SHREV@MEMPHISCAPE FEAR@MACON@COLUMBUS 7:308:007:307:307:30 WLLWW 46-3154-5155-3558-2362-33
Date Opponent Time Streak Series
5/14 @ BIRMINGHAM 8:30
5/22 @ TENNESSEE VALLEY 7:30
5/29 MEMPHIS 7:30
6/4 @ MACON 7:30
6/12 COLUMBUS 7:30
6/19 @ CAPE FEAR 7:30
6/26 MACON 7:30
7/3 BYE
7/10 BIRMINGHAM 7:30
7/17 LAREDO 7:30
7/26 @ COLUMBUS 7:30
7/31 TENNESSEE VALLEY 7:30

BIRMINGHAM STEELDOGS (4-1, Won 4)
Date Opponent Result Score
3/274/104/174/235/8 @BOSSIERMEMPHIS@ARKANSASCOLUMBUSMACON LWWWW 41-6344-2756-4077-4555-27
Date Opponent Series
5/14 FLORIDA BHAM 2-1
5/21 @MANCHESTER
5/29 TENN. VALLEY
6/5 @COLUMBUS
6/12 GREEN BAY
6/19 @TENN VALLEY
6/26 RIO GRANDE
7/10 @FLORIDA
7/17 @QUAD CITY
7/24 PEORIA
7/31 @MACON


HEAD COACHES: In his first season as head coach, Ben Bennett was able to finish the 2003 season coaching the Firecats to winning seven of their last eight regular season games and a playoff birth. Bennett, a former Arena Football League quarterback, is a member of the AFL Hall of Fame.

LAST SERIES MEETING: Before a crowd of 5,349, Florida came out on top of the Steeldogs 57-35 in Birmingham.

SERIES NOTABLES: Birmingham currently leads the series 2-1.

OUT WITH THE OLD- IN WITH THE NEW (RECORDS)
Florida WR Cainon Lamb set the team touchdown receptions record last week by catching two touchdowns. He now owns the record with 44 touchdown receptions. DS Quincy Sorrell broke his own single game tackles record last week by recording 12.5 tackles.

FIRECATS RECORD WATCH
PLAYER RECORD PLAYER STAT TO BREAK
C. Lamb Scoring (Career) 276 pts. +27 pts.
C. Lamb Receptions (Career) 150 rec. +45 rec.
C. Lamb Rec. Yards (Career) 1670 yds. +659 yds.
S. Gorrie Rush Yds. (Season) 147 yds. +74 yds.
K. Mastrole Pass Yds. (Season) 1225 yds. +1204 yds.

FORWARD MOTION: The Firecats play their fourth straight road game. They will travel to Huntsville, Alabama, to take on conference foes, the Tennessee Valley Vipers.

ONE BOOK CLOSES: The Firecats bid farewell to lineman Dante Booker this past week. Booker took off for Canada to join the Canadian Football League. Before leaving, Booker was tied for the af2 lead in tackles for a loss (5.0).

LEAGUE TOP 10s:
FIRECATS
Player Rank Category Stat
Cainon Lamb 10 Scoring 78 pts.
Cainon Lamb 6 Receptions 40
Ken Mastrole 7 Passing Yards 245.0
Steve Gorrie 1 Rushing Off. 147
Chris Morant 9 Rushing Off. 64
Cainon Lamb 7 Kickoff Returns 24.2
Ken Mastrole 3 Pass Rating 116.7
Ken Mastrole 9 Total Offense 247.8
Quincy Sorrell 5 Tackles 28.5


TALE OF THE TAPE: Here's how the Florida Firecats and Birmingham Steeldogs stack up:
Statistical FIRECATS STEELDOGS
Category Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense 10 50.4 5 54.6
Scoring Defense 4 39.2 7 40.4
Total Offense 2 288.2 10 264.8
Total Defense 2 204.0 8 226.4
Pass Offense 11 242.8 16 232.6
Pass Defense 2 179.8 5 204.6
Rushing Offense 2 45.4 3 32.2
Rushing Defense 19 24.2 16 21.8
Scoring (Non-Kick) 10 226 8 240
Scoring (Kicking) 19 26 7 33
Pass Rating 3 116.7 4 114.1
Pass Def. Rating 9 100.3 1 78.4
Kickoff Returns 3 22.5 13 19.1
MFG Returns 22 11.0 23 9.7
Turnover Margin 14 -1 12 +0
Field Goals 21 .200 8 .333
PAT Kicking 8 .793 4 .857
Sacks By 17 5 5 10
Sacks Against 2 2 8 4
First Downs 5 89 22 66
Opp. First Downs 4 64 7 69
Penalties 25 94.2 7 51.2
Opp. Penalties 9 55.4 5 43.0
Red Zone Off. 10 76.3% 6 78.3%
Red Zone Def. 8 66.7% 9 66.7%


FIRECATS INJURY REPORT:
Pos. Name Status
OL/DL B. Greenaway Out
DS D.Washington Questionable
OL/DL V.Hall Out

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES:

WR/LB Cainon Lamb on this week's matchup: "Birmingham has great athletes and a lot of speed. We have to really get at the quarterback in order to be successful in this game."

QB Ken Mastrole on this week's matchup: "We are playing a really good team. We need to minimize our mistakes and continue to execute on all three phases of the ball."


PLAYERS TO WATCH:

QB Ken Mastrole: Ken Mastrole has a vast professional resume, starting his career with the Chicago Bears and the NFL Europe's Amsterdam Admirals. Mastrole threw for 2,284 yards and 55 touchdowns last year in only 11 games for the Firecats.

WR/LB Cainon Lamb: Cainon returns to the Firecats after being the number one receiver last year. He caught 110 passes for 1,297 yards and 32 touchdowns last year. He is also the team leader with 44 touchdown receptions.

WR/DB Anthony Snead: Snead comes to the Firecats after spending 2003 with the Macon Knights. At Macon, he caught 90 passes for 1,140 yards and 17 touchdowns.

FB/LB Chris Morant: Morant has been a beast on defense this season. He has ten tackles (1.5 for loss), a sack, two quarterback hurries, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, two pass breakups, and a blocked field goal.

DS Quincy Sorrell Sorrell returns to the Firecats after a solid 2003 season. Sorrell had 54 tackles, 2 interceptions, and two forced fumbles last year.

OS Magic Benton Benton caught 77 passes for 821 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2003.

FB/LB Steve Gorrie Gorrie spent a few years with the AFL's Florida Bobcats. He is a former Division II Player of the Year, and he began his pro career with the Cincinnati Bengals. Gorrie currently leads the af2 with 147 yards rushing.

OL/DL Comone Fisher Fisher had 23 tackles, 2 sacks, and 2 fumble recoveries in 2003 for the Firecats.

OL/DL Victor Hall Hall is #9 all-time in sacks in AFL history. He was the OL/DL coach for the Firecats last year. Hall recently decided to come out of retirement to return the game.



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