Florida Firecats game notes

Published on August 24, 2004 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Florida Firecats News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Peoria Pirates (12-7) at Florida Firecats (13-6)
Date: Friday, August 27, 2004
Kickoff: 8:10 p.m. EST
Site: Germain Arena (7,126)
National Anthem:
Coin Toss:
Game Ball Delivery:
Officials: Fred Weidower (Referee), Karl Swankee (Umpire), Dirk Bell (Head Linesman), Andy Britton (Line Judge), Jim DeBell (Back Judge)
Radio: ESPN 770 (Dave Parks)
TV: None
Series Record: Peoria 1-0
Last Meeting:
Streaks: Florida W3 Peoria W3
Florida Coach: Ben Bennett (23-13 overall; 3-1 playoffs, Second season)
Peoria Coach: Bruce Cowdrey (37-34 overall; 7-0 playoffs, Fourth Season)

THE STAKES: When preseason practice started, 25 teams hoped to be practicing this week. Only two teams are preparing themselves for the work-week, and, come Saturday, both teams will be going on vacation. Both teams are conference champions, but there can only be one ArenaCup champion. The stakes are simple. Win and you are the champions. Lose and you will have to deal with being the runners-up.

THE SERIES: Peoria and Florida have met up one time in the past, with the same stakes on hand. The two squads hooked up in Peoria, Illinois, in the 2002 ArenaCup championship game. The Pirates walked away the af2 champions after knocking off the Firecats 65-47.

THE IFs:
If Florida beats Peoria, it would ...
- Crown Florida as the arenafootball2 champions
- Give Florida their first-ever ArenaCup championship
- Give Ben Bennett a 4-1 postseason record as a head coach
- Give Ben Bennett his first-ever arena championship
- Give Florida a 7-2 franchise playoff record
- Make Florida the first American Conference team to win the ArenaCup

TALE OF THE TAPE: Here's how Florida and Peoria stack up:
Statistical FIRECATS PIRATES
Category Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense 5 46.0 8 37.7
Scoring Defense 6 40.7 1 33.3
Total Offense 4 251.0 5 249.7
Total Defense 9 256.3 6 235.0
Pass Offense 5 229.3 6 215.0
Pass Defense 11 291.0 8 226.7
Rushing Offense 5 21.7 2 34.7
Rushing Defense 2 8.7 1 8.3
Scoring (Non-Kick) 1 114 2 84
Scoring (Kicking) 2 24 1 29
Pass Rating 6 108.0 7 110.1
Pass Def. Rating 9 112.4 1 98.8
Kickoff Returns 5 21.7 11 15.4
MFG Returns 6 11.3 9 5.0
Turnover Margin 2 +4 1 +7
Field Goals 2 .500 5 .417
PAT Kicking 7 .789 T-1 1.000
Sacks By 2 4 1 7
Sacks Against T-9 3 T-7 2
First Downs 1 45 2 39
Opp. First Downs 12 45 11 40
Penalties 11 49.0 10 48.7
Opp. Penalties 6 28.3 9 32.7
Red Zone Offense T-1 100% 7 73.3%
Red Zone Defense T-1 60% 3 62.5%

FIRECATS WHEN THEY:
SCORE 30-LESS........... 0-0
SCORE 31-40............... 1-3
SCORE 41-50............... 5-1
SCORE 51-60............... 4-2
SCORE 61+.................. 3-0

ALLOW 30-LESS.......... 7-0
ALLOW 31-40.............. 5-0
ALLOW 41-50.............. 0-1
ALLOW 51-60..............0-5
ALLOW 61+................. 0-1

AT HOME...............................................6-3
ON THE ROAD.......................................7-3
FIRECATS SCORE FIRST........................7-3
OPPONENT SCORES FIRST....................6-3
LEADING AFTER 1ST QUARTER...............11-4
TRAILING AFTER 1ST QUARTER.............2-0
TIED AFTER 1ST QUARTER......................0-2
LEADING AT HALF.................................13-1
TRAILING AT HALF................................0-5
TIED AT HALF........................................0-0
LEADING AFTER 3RD QUARTER...............13-1
TRAILING AFTER 3RD QUARTER..............0-5
TIED AFTER 3RD QUARTER......................0-0
AGAINST TEAMS BELOW .500.................6-2
AGAINST TEAMS .500.............................0-1
AGAINST TEAMS ABOVE .500.................7-3

HEAD COACH: Firecats' Head Coach Ben Bennett played college ball at Duke under Steve Spurrier. Bennett was the 1980 ACC Rookie of the Year, and he was named ACC Player of the Year in 1982 and 1983. Bennett went on to have one of the most prolific careers of any quarterback in Arena Football League history. He was named the AFL Most Valuable Player in 1988 while playing with the Chicago Bruisers. He is the only quarterback in AFL history to lead three different teams to a total of five Arena Bowls.

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES:

WR/LB CAINON LAMB ON THE SUCCESS OF THE FIRECATS: "God has gone above and beyond to bring us this far. If we win the ArenaCup, He really put His hand in this one."

FB/LB STEVE GORRIE ON HIS EXPECTATIONS ON FRIDAY NIGHT: "Everything we have done to this point is behind us. I expect the utmost from myself and my team, and I would consider anything less than a win a failure."

DS ROY STABLER ON COMPARISON OF THE 2002 AND 2004 FIRECATS TEAM (BOTH OF WHICH HE WAS PART OF): "In 2002 we had so many distractions (to pit us against each other), but we fought through it. This year, with what happened to D.A., it made us a closer family. D.A. had a dream, and that was to win a championship. As a family, we decided to keep his dream alive."

WR/LB ANTHONY SNEAD ON HIS THOUGHTS ABOUT REACHING THE ARENA CUP FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW: "To me, this is exactly what I came to Florida for. Last year (in the 2003 ArenaCup with Macon), we didn't win, and I left with an empty feeling. I am not the only one on this team that has been to this point. We have to get out there and win out. That's what it's all about."

OS MAGIC BENTON ON PLAYING PEORIA IN THE ARENA CUP AGAIN: "We have a lot of guys from 2002 on this team. Since we are playing the same team, it is more incentive and more want. They took it away from us last time. We still have a bad taste in our mouth. We are still hungry."

QB KENNY MASTROLE ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PLAYING FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP: this IS The game you dream about as a kid- to play for a championship. We need to play together as a team to accomplish our final goal."

PLAYERS TO WATCH:
QB Ken Mastrole- Mastrole has an extensive professional resume. He began his career with the Chicago Bears, and he played a season with the Amsterdam Admirals of the NFL Europe. He threw for 2,284 yards and 55 touchdowns in only 11 games last season.

WR/LB Cainon Lamb- Lamb returns to the Firecats after a stellar 2003 season. He caught 110 passes for 1,297 yards and 32 touchdowns. Lamb is on pace to own all Firecat receiving and scoring records by the end of the season.

WR/LB Anthony Snead- Snead comes to the Firecats after spending the 2003 season with the Macon Knights. He caught 90 passes for 1,140 yards and 17 touchdowns.

OS Magic Benton- Benton caught 77 passes for 821 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2003. Benton has been with the Firecats since the team was established.

FB/LB Chris Morant- Morant has been getting it done on all phases of the ball this season, whether it be on offense, defense, or special teams.

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.

FB/LB Steve Gorrie- Gorrie came into the NFL draft as one of the top ranked fullbacks in the draft. He is also a former Division II Player of the Year. Gorrie currently leads the league in rushing.

DS Roy Stabler- Stabler led the team last year with 79.5 tackles. He also had four interceptions, 19 pass breakups, and four fumble recoveries.

OL/DL Victor Hall- Hall is number ten on the AFL all-time sack list. He was the line coach last year for the Firecats. He recently came out of retirement to return to the game.

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


af2 SINGLE SEASON RUSHING RECORD
MOST YARDS GAINED
1. STEVE GORRIE, FLORIDA, 2004, 500 YARDS
2. Darnell Arceneux, Hawaii, 2002, 439 yards
3. Sherard Poteete, Bossier, 2002, 405 yards
4. Quentin Cradle, Memphis, 2001, 402 yards
5. Wilmont Perry, Cape Fear, 2003, 397 yards
6. Darnell Small, Arkansas, 2002, 370 yards
7. Jeremy Scruggs, Memphis, 2001, 333 yards
8. Matt D'Orazio, Rochester, 2002, 332 yards
9. Kenyata Spruill, Charleston, 2001, 324 yards
10. Randy Sullivan, Carolina, 2001, 316 yards

U.S. ARMY IRONMAN OF THE WEEK
BABY RUTH REAL DEAL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE
Week Team Player
1 T-Valley Jerrian James
2 Okla. City Al Hunt
3 WB/Scran Leroy McFadden
4 Tulsa Bjorn Barre
5 FLORIDA STEVE GORRIE
6 Louisville Takuya Furatani
7 Green Bay Deronn Finley
8 Columbus Terrence Samuel
9 San Diego Nakoa McElrath
10 Cape Fear Mitch Galloway
11 T-Valley Travis McAlpine
12 Birmingham Carlos McNearny
13 Columbus Adrian Cockfield
14 Bakersfield Eric Mahanke
15 FLORIDA STEVE GORRIE/ CHRIS MORANT
16 Wilkes-Barre Rocco Forgione

ADT DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Week Team Player
1 Rio Grande Karleton Thomas
2 Birmingham Jerry Turner
3 Louisville Justin Thomas
4 Louisville Demtrius Formey
5 Quad City Matt Forbes
6 Birmingham Anthony Jordan
7 Cent. Valley Ricky Lenng-Wai
8 Hawaii Joshua Robinson
9 Peoria Lawrence Matthews
10 Green Bay Robert Garth
11 Wichita Henry Bryant
12 Wilkes-Barre Jamie Hattley
13 Macon Marcus Bradley
14 Peoria Brandon Campbell
15
16 Laredo Traco Rachal

BABY RUTH REAL DEAL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Week Team Player
1 Quad City Jeff Hewitt
2 Green Bay Randall Lane
3 Cape Fear Matt Burstein
4 Wichita Aaron Sparrow
5 Manchester Chris Sanders
6 Bossier Bo Smith
7 Green Bay Chris Greisen
8 Memphis Brian Jones
9 Louisville Anthony Payton
10 Bossier Sherard Poteete
11 Albany Tony Locke
12 Tulsa Bob Bees
13 Columbus Troy Bergeron
14 Columbus Troy Bergeron
15
16 Cent. Valley Kenyatte Morgan

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