Florida Firecats game notes
June 26, 2007 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Florida Firecats News Release
QUICK FACTS:
Florida Firecats (9-3, 3-2) vs.
Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz (6-5, 3-2)
Date: Saturday June 30th 2007
Kickoff: 8 p.m. EST
Site: Ford Center
National Anthem:
Coin Toss: Referee
Officials:
Referee: Mike Pavese
Umpire: Brent Sowell
Head Linesman: Mitch Geier
Line Judge: Jerome Ford
Back Judge: Folayan Kindred
Internet: www.FloridaFirecats.com, www.ABC-7.com & www.NBC-2.com
TV: NONE
Series Record: 1-0 FLA
Last Meeting: 55-22 FLA 3/31/07
Streaks: FLA - WON 5; OKC - LOST 1
Coaches: Kevin Bouis (36-8) 3rd Season
John Fitzgerald (6-5) 1st Season
THE STAKES: A win gives the Firecats a 10-3 overall record and keeps Florida in 1st place in the South Division. A win would give Florida the head-to-head advantage over Oklahoma City and complete the season sweep.
THE SERIES: The Firecats won their only previous contest against the Yard Dawgz, 55-22 in the season opener this year.
THE IF's:
If Florida defeats Oklahoma City, it would ...
- Give Florida its' 10th Win of the year
- Give Florida a 6-2 record against National Conf. teams
- Give Florida a 2-0 series lead over Oklahoma City
- Keep the Firecats in 1st place in the South Division
Florida Firecats (9-3, 3-2; WON 4)
Date Opponent Result Score
3/31 Oklahoma City 7:30 WIN 55-22
4/06 @ Texas 8:00 WIN 54-13
4/13 @ Tennessee 8:30 WIN 61-34
4/21 WB Scranton 7:30 LOST 58-36
4/28 Tennessee 7:30 LOST 39-38
5/05 @ Albany 4:00 WIN 56-51
5/12 @ South Georgia 7:30 LOST 49-38
5/19 Mahoney Valley 7:30 WIN 62-26
6/02 Alabama 7:30 WIN 29-21
6/09 @ Tennessee 8:30 WIN 53-37
6/16 Manchester 7:30 WIN 49-27
6/23 Albany 7:30 WIN 64-41
6/30 @ Oklahoma City 8:00
7/07 South Georgia 7:30
7/14 @ Alabama 8:00
7/28 @ Manchester 7:00
Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz (6-5, 3-2; LOST 1)
Date Opponent Result Score
3/31 @ Florida 7:30 L 22-55
4/14 @Corpus Christi 8:00 W 76-42
4/21 Quad City 8:00 W 63-41
4/28 @ Boise 9:00 L 42-48
5/5 Tulsa 8:00 L 54-64
5/12 @ Amarillo 8:30 W 59-55
5/19 @ Lubbock 8:00 W 64-61
6/02 Laredo 8:00 W 57-41
6/09 Amarillo 8:00 W 46-36
6/16 @ Arkansas 8:00 L 39-51
6/23 @ Rio Grande 8:30 L 52-63
6/30 Florida 8:00
7/7 Alabama 8:00
7/16 @ Tulsa 8:00
7/21 Arkansas 8:00
7/28 Lubbock 8:00
HEAD COACH:
Kevin Bouis is set to begin his 3rd year as head coach and 6th year overall with the Florida Firecats. In his 1st 2 seasons at the helm he guided the team to a 27-5 regular season record going 13-3 in 2006 & 14-2 in 2005 (the af2's best record that year). Last year the Firecats captured their 3rd straight South Divisional Championship. 2006 also marked the 2nd straight season that Florida had home field advantage in the playoffs. 2006 also saw the Firecats play in their 3rd straight American Conference Championship game. As the defensive coordinator, Bouis helped coach the Firecats to an Arena Cup Championship in 2004. That year Kevin's Defense was ranked #1 in total defense, #1 in pass defense, #3 in rush defense & #2 in scoring defense(38.2 pts/g).
Stifling defense has been a signature of the Firecats since Bouis arrived in 2002 when the Firecats finished 5th in scoring defense (38.1 pts/g), 5th in rushing defense and 7th in pass def rating on their way to their 1st arena cup appearance and the American Conference Championship. In 2003 his defense to finished 2nd in scoring defense (39.2 pts/g), 7th total defense and 4th in pass def rating.
He is a former player for the National Indoor Football League's Mississippi Firedogs. He helped his team win two League championships, 2000 and 2001, winning All-NIFL honors. In three seasons with the Firedogs (99-01), Bouis totaled 30 defensive turnovers, 23 interceptions and 7 fumble recoveries. In 2000 and 2001 Bouis led the team in tackles and interceptions. He won the honor of being the IPFL defensive player of the week in 2000. In 1999, Bouis helped the Firedogs qualify for the first round of the playoffs in their inaugural season (9-7). During his tenure with the Firedogs he registered 189 tackles including 81 in 2000.
As a player at the University of Texas El Paso/University of Kentucky, Bouis was furnished with a full scholarship and was a two-year varsity letterman in Football at UTEP, who started as a true freshman and sophomore. He then transferred and completed his college football career at the University of Kentucky.
Bouis holds a B.A. in Education from UK and has an M.B.A. from William Carey College.
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR: Ken Mastrole is in his 3rd year as coordinator after leading the Firecats to the championship as QB in 2004. in 2006 Mastrole's offense ranked #1 in the af2 scoring nearly 60 points per game. He played his college ball at Maryland & Rhode Island also had stints with the Chicago Bears in the NFL, The Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe & the Detroit Fury in the AFL.
Assistant Head Coach OL/DL & FB/LB: Victor Hall "Sack Man" coached with the Firecats in 2003 before returning to the field as a player in 2004. Hall returned to the sideline in 2005 as the Assistant Head Coach. The Auburn grad who was in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings from 1991-1993 and the Indianapolis Colts for the 93-94 season has an Orlando Predators Arena Bowl ring to go along with the hardware he received last year and has the distinction as being the 1st player to win both an AFL and af2 championship.
Hall is also an ex-police officer and became the youngest Chief of Police in Alabama at the age of 23. Vic can be seen as an extra through out the Adam Sandler film "The Waterboy".
LAST SERIES MEETING: Florida 55, Oklahoma City 22
6,537 fans were on hand to watch the Florida Firecats begin the 2007 season at home with a convincing 55-22 win over the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz.
The Firecats defense set the tone early as US Army Ironman of the Game Brent Burnside came up with an interception on the Dawgz opening drive. Oklahoma however would take the early 2-0 lead sacking QB Chris Wallace for a safety just seconds later.
Florida got in it's groove on the next two possessions taking a 14-2 lead with 4 minutes to go in the 1st quarter. The teams would trade scores to start the 2nd as the Yard Dawgs were able to pull within 5, trailing 21-16 with just 5 minutes to go until halftime.
Chris Wallace then hooked up with Magic Benton, who would later be awarded with the Cutters Catch of the Game, and the Schutt Offensive Player of the Game Ethenic Sands to take a commanding 42-16 lead late in the 3rd quarter.
QB Jared Romo came into replace starter Stan Hill to try and spark some offense for the Dawgz. Both QB's had 1 yard touchdown runs in the game but coupled with just one other touchdown and simply couldn't keep up with the Firecats high powered offense. The duo combined to complete 22 of 41 attempts for 187 yards, but also threw 5 interceptions and went 0 for 9 on 3rd downs.
Wallace threw 2 more TD's in the 4th finishing the night with 8, going 21 of 29 for 268 yards.
ADT Defensive Player of the Game Levy Brown, who came up big and had 2 interceptions and almost caught a 3rd, had to share some of the spotlight with rookie Tony Stubbs who picked off a pair of errant passes in the 4th quarter. Brown also led the game with 9 tackles while linebacker Alfred Peterson wreaked havoc on 4th down blocking a pair of field goal attempts.
LEAGUE TOP 10s: Players from this week's match up who ranked among af2's statistical leaders:
Firecats
Player Rank Category Stat
Wallace House 3 Rushing 26.4 yds/g
Wallace House T7 Rushing TDs 10
Wallace House 6 Yards per Rush 4.3
Chris Wallace 10 Passing 256.6yds/g
Chris Wallace 10 Total Offense 258.0yds/g
Chris Wallace T5 Total TDs 67
Chris Wallace 6 Passing TDs 62
Chris Wallace 3 Pass Attempts 397
Chris Wallace 4 Completion Perc. 65.0
Chris Wallace 2 Pass Efficiency 121.3
Levy Brown 1 Interceptions 10
Levy Brown 2 Passes Defended 31
Levy Brown 1 Tackles 100.0
Alfred Peterson 7 Sacks 8.0
Alfred Peterson 4 Tackles for Loss 12.0
Magic Benton 5 Receiving Yards 1160
Magic Benton T6 Receptions 88
Antonio Dingle 5 Fumbles Forced 4
Yard Dawgz
Player Rank Category Stat
Stan Hill 1 Total Offense 288.8yds/g
Stan Hill 1 Passing 286.4yds/g
Stan Hill 6 Passing yds/att 8.1yds/att
Stan Hill 7 Completion Perc. 64.0
Stan Hill 10 Passing Efficiency 109.3
Stan Hill T4 Passing Attempts 389
Stan Hill 10 Passing TDs 53
Danny Howard T6 Scoring 15.0ppg
Danny Howard 10 Receiving Yards 1046
Bobby Belmonte 7 PAT Kicking Perc 85.3
Player Match-ups to Watch:
Firecats DB's vs. QB Stan Hill: The Firecats rank #2 in the af2 in total team defense and pass defense. Yard Dawgz signal caller Stan Hill leads the deuce in passing yards per game. But Hill only completed 10 of 20 for 87 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT's against the Firecats in week 1,his worst game of the year.
Firecats QB Chris Wallace vs. Conquest Defense: In the 1st match-up Wallace tossed 8 TD's going 21 for 29. Wallace hasn't thrown a pick sine the 2nd quarter in week 7. The Yard Dawgz are giving up 50.6 points per game but have forced 4 interceptions in their last 3 games.
TALE OF THE TAPE: Here's how the Firecats and Wolves stack up:
Statistical Yard Dawgz Firecats
Category Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense 11 52.2ppg 15 49.6ppg
Scoring Defense 20 50.6ppg 2 34.8ppg
Total Offense 1 320.9yds/g 6 285.2yds/g
Total Defense 14 254.3yds/g 2 217.1yds/g
Pass Offense 1 296.5yds/g 9 253.3yds/g
Pass Defense 14 235.9yds/g 2 203.1yds/g
Rushing Offense 10 24.5yds/g 5 31.9yds/g
Rushing Defense 13 18.4yds/g 6 14.0
Pass Rating 11 104.5 2 120.9
Pass Def. Rating 26 113.5 3 78.4
Kickoff returns 8 18.8 28 14.8
MFG Returns T8 22.0 25 11.9yds/ret
Turnover Margin T21 -.82 T4 1.5
Field Goals 10 4-9 T25 1-6
PAT Kicking 19 .744 25 .692
Sacks By T11 18 3 28
Sacks Against T5 8 T1 7
First Downs 4 219 T9 212
Opp. First Downs T20 204 22 207
Penalties 26 70.0yds/g 3 48.2yds/g
Opp. Penalties 26 49.9yds/g 24 51.0yds/g
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
SOUTH DIVISION
Florida 9-3 (3-2)
South Georgia 8-3 (3-1)
Alabama 5-6 (1-2)
Tenn Valley 4-7 (2-4)
SOUTHWEST DIVISION
Rio Grande Valley 10-1 (5-1)
Bossier-Shreveport 9-2 (6-0)
Corpus Christi 2-9 (2-5)
Texas 2-9 (2-5)
Laredo 1-10 (1-5)
CENTRAL DIVISION
Tulsa 10-1 (4-1)
Arkansas 8-3 (4-1)
Oklahoma City 6-5 (3-2)
Lubbock 5-6 (3-4)
Amarillo 2-9 (1-7)
SCHUTT OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME AWARD
(selected by media)
Week Opp. Player
1 OKC Ethenic Sands - FLA
3 TV Chris Wallace - FLA
5 TV Chris Wallace - FLA
8 MHV Chris McKinney - FLA
10 ALA Wallace House - FLA
11 TVV Wallace House - FLA
12 MAN Magic Benton - FLA
13 ALB Chris Wallace - FLA
U.S. ARMY IRONMAN OF THE GAME AWARD
(selected by media)
Week Opp. Player
1 OKC Brent Burnside - FLA
3 TV Brent Burnside - FLA
6 ALB Brent Burnside - FLA
8 MHV Levy Brown - FLA
10 ALA Chris McKinney - FLA
12 MAN Brent Burnside - FLA
13 ALB Comone Fisher - FLA
ADT DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME AWARD
(selected by media)
Week Opp. Player
1 OKC Levy Brown - FLA
3 TV Levy Brown - FLA
5 TV Levy Brown - FLA
6 ALB Alfred Peterson - FLA
8 MHV Levy Brown - FLA
10 ALA Tony Stubbs - FLA
11 TVV Levy Brown - FLA
12 MAN Tony Stubbs - FLA
13 ALB Alfred Peterson - FLA
CUTTERS CATCH OF THE GAME AWARD
(selected by media)
Week Opp. Player
1 OKC Magic Benton - FLA
5 TV Chris McKinney - FLA
8 MHV Magic Benton - FLA
10 ALA Chris McKinney - FLA
11 TVV Ethenic Sands - F:A
13 ALB Magic Benton - FLA
Drop Back: Florida 64, Albany 41
The Florida Firecats defense rose to the occasion for the 2nd straight week in the 2nd half registering 2 stops in the in the final 30 minutes, including an Alfred Peterson safety propelling Florida to their 5th straight win; 64-41 over the Albany Conquest.
Albany took a 1 point lead (28-27) into halftime thanks to QB Ryan Hart's 165 yards passing and 4 TD's. He would finish the night throwing for 212 yards and 5 scores. Bakari Brown and Chris Curd led all receivers with 12 catches each.
Florida scored on 4 straight possessions in the 3rd and 4th quarters to put the game out of reach with Chris Wallace throwing 7 touchdowns in the win. Magic Benton led the Firecats with 8 catches for 131 yards and 4 TD's. Ethenic Sands caught 5 passes for 130 yards and 2 scores.
DB Levy Brown led all defenders with a single game team record 14 tackles, giving him 100.5 on the year. Defensive lineman Alfred Peterson set a new single season team sack record picking up his 8th of 2007.
The win boosted the Firecats into 1st place in the South Division over idle South Georgia. Florida improved to 9-3 and heads to Oklahoma City next week to battle the Yard Dawgz. Albany, 4-7, returns home to host the Louisville Fire. 4,420 fans were on hand to watch Florida improve to 3-0 all-time against Albany.
Look Ahead: The Firecats return home for what could be their biggest game of the season to host the South Georgia Wildcats on July 7th. South Georgia defeated Florida in Albany 49-38 on May 12th. The Firecats need to win by more than 11 to have the head-to-head advantage over the Wildcats. Florida is looking for their 4th straight division championship and at least 1 home game in the playoffs and a win over South Georgia would give Florida the advantage as the season draws to a close.
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