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Force Game Notes

February 25, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Georgia Force News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Georgia Force (2-2) at Los Angeles Avengers (3-1)
Date: March 2, 2003
Kickoff: 3:00 ET
Site: Staples Center (16,096)
Series Record: Los Angeles leads series 1-0
Television: NBC (Eli Gold: play-by-play, John Riggins: color analyst).
Radio: WQXI 790 AM The Zone (David Hubbard: play-by-play, Chuck Oliver: color analyst). WPLO 610 AM RadioMex (Jose Medellin: play-by-play, Marcelo Godoy: color analyst).
Coaches: Marty Lowe- Georgia (7-6, 2nd Year) Ed Hodgkiss- Los Angeles (11-7, 2nd Year).

THE GAME:

The Georgia Force heads back on the road when it travels cross-county to Los Angeles to face the L.A. Avengers in The Staples Center on Sunday, March 2nd at 3:00 p.m. ET. The Force-Avengers game will be broadcast regionally on NBC. Georgia will be making its third appearance on NBC bringing its 2-0 record in games aired on the network.

In a battle between two second year head coaches, Georgia will pit its AFL top ranked defense (only allowing 207.5 yards/game) against Los Angeles' second ranked total offense (averaging 301.0 yards/game). The Avengers also boast the league's second highest scoring offense averaging 62.5 points per game.

The Avengers lead the all-time series against Georgia 1-0 after claiming a 74-53 win at Philips Arena last season in Marty Lowe's first game as head coach of the Force. Tied 53-53 with 2:17 remaining in the contest, the Avengers scored 21 unanswered points in 1:58 to take the win and set a franchise-high for points scored in a game. Los Angeles currently sits atop the Western Division with a 3-1 record and will look to return to its winning ways after dropping its first game if the season last week at Chicago 54-53. The Avengers offense is led by former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Tony Graziani and wide receiver-linebacker Greg Hopkins, who won the AFL's "Ironman of the Year" award, which goes to the league's top two-way player. Also adding to L.A.'s offensive fire-power is offensive specialist Chris Jackson, whom already this season has 33 receptions for 493 yards and 13 touchdowns.

GEORGIA FORCE NEXT WEEK:

The Force returns home next week to hosts the Grand Rapids Rampage on Sunday, March 9th at 12:00 p.m. in the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Grand Rapids leads the all-time series 1-0 after claiming a 42-41 win last season. Clint Dolezel threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith to tie the score 41-41 as the game clock expired. Brian Gowins' then connected on an extra point attempt with no time remaining to give the Rampage the victory. The Georgia-Grand Rapids contest will be shown regionally on NBC marking the fourth time this season the Force have been shown by the network.

CONNECTIONS:

Force DS Cliff Green was selected by Los Angeles as the first overall pick in the 2000 expansion draft...Los Angeles QB Tony Graziani was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the seventh round of the 1997 NFL Draft (204th overall). He played in 18 games in three seasons (1997-99) with the Falcons. Graziani, who started five games and directed Atlanta to one victory, completed 85-of-174 passes for 999 yards and two touchdowns in his NFL career.

HEAD COACHES:

MARTY LOWE, Georgia (7-6, 2nd Year): Marty Lowe begins his second season as Head Coach of the Georgia Force. Lowe guided the Force to a second place finish in the Southern Division and a 6-8 record in the team's inaugural season in 2002. He replaced Robert Lyles, who was relieved of his duties following the Force's 1-4 last year. Under his direction, the Force finished the year winning five of their last eight games.

Prior to joining the Force, Lowe served as running back coach for the University of Texas-El Paso. Lowe's coaching career in the Arena Football League started when he joined the Nashville Kats as an offensive assistant in March 2000 after spending three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Louisville. With the Kats, Lowe had Nashville's offense clicking on all cylinders in the 2000 playoffs, scoring more than 50 points in each of the team's first three post-season contests to quality for Arena Bowl XIV. Lowe went on to serve as the Kats offensive coordinator and assistant coach, where his duties included creating and implementing the offensive game plan and coaching the team's wide receivers and quarterbacks.

Lowe, who played quarterback at the University of Louisville from 1991-95, spent two seasons in the Arena Football League. He played quarterback for the St. Louis Stampede in 1996 and joined the Texas Terrors. He was a starter at Texas until a knee injury ended his playing career.

In college, he started 22 consecutive games for the Cardinals, passing for 2,268 yards and 16 touchdowns as a senior in 1995. He is one of only four passers in Louisville history to throw for more than 2,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. Lowe joined the Louisville coaching staff in 1997, breaking down practice and game tape. A native of Chattanooga, Lowe was Mr. Football in Tennessee as a senior at Red Bank High School in 1990.

ED HODGKISS, Los Angeles (11-7, 2nd Year): Ed Hodgkiss led the Los Angeles Avengers to a franchise-best 8-6 record and No. 5 seed in the AFL playoffs last season in his first year with the club. He became the head coach of the Avengers on Oct. 5, 2001, but signed a five-year contract extension shortly after the 2002 season.

Prior to joining the Avengers, Hodgkiss had been with the Indiana Firebirds since 1997. He was the team's offensive coordinator for three seasons (1999-2001). In each of those campaigns, Hodgkiss proved to be the architect of one of the AFL's most prolific offenses, ranking among the league leaders in most statistical categories. While helping the Firebirds win the 1999 ArenaBowl world championship, Hodgkiss led the Firebirds offense to a league-high 58.7 points per game and finished second in total offense averaging 326.5 yards per game.

In previous offseasons (1997-2000), Hodgkiss served as the offensive coordinator at Randolph-Macon College (Ashland, VA). Other coaching duties have included being a wide receiver coach at Morehead State University (Morehead, KY) in 1995-96, and the offensive coordinator at Montgomery-Rockville Junior College (Rockville, MD) in 1994.

Born on Oct. 23, 1970, Hodgkiss is a native of Laurel, MD, where he attended St. Vincent Pallotti High School. He went on to graduate from Fairmont State College (Fairmont, WV) in 1992 with a degree in physical education and health (he later added a Master's degree in those same disciplines from Morehead State in 1995).

ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS:

Several players inked their names in the Force record books after the Buffalo game last week.

- Scott Thomas had the second-highest total in receiving yards for a game with 131 yards on seven catches. The club record of 138 yards was set by Jarrick Hillery at Chicago (4/18/02).

- Donnie Davis' 295 yards passing was the second-highest total in passing yards for a game. The team record is 304 yards set by Davis at Chicago (4/18/02).

- Donnie Davis' 40 pass attempts against the Destroyers tied the second-highest total for pass attempts in a game. Davis had 49 at Tampa Bay (7/20/022) and 40 at Grand Rapids (6/23/02).

- Donnie Davis' two touchdown passes of 45-yards to Scott Thomas and Jarrick Hillery tied the club record for longest pass reception last done by Tyronne Jones at Tampa Bay (4/20/02).

- Donnie Davis' three interceptions thrown against the Destroyers set a new single game high for INTs in a game. Previous mark was two by Davis at Carolina (6/14/02).

A DEFENSIVE FORCE:

For the second straight week, the Force sits atop the league charts for total defense. Only giving up an average of 207.5 yards per game, Georgia's defense is almost 21 yards better than the second ranked Chicago Rush defense at 228.8 yards per game.

LOOKING TO RETURN TO OLD FORM:

In his three games appearing as the starting quarterback for the Force, Donnie Davis has thrown seven interceptions versus just nine touchdowns. Davis missed the Force's game verses San Jose due to a dislocated finger on his left hand, but returned to the starting line-up last week vs. Buffalo.

Last season, Davis only threw eight INTs all year in 10 games (nine as a starter) while racking up 45 TDs. He finished the 2002 season as the AFL's second highest rated passer and ranked fourth in completion percentage.

BASKING IN THE SPOTLIGHT:

Georgia is a perfect 2-0 on the season when the NBC cameras are rolling. Claiming victories against the Colorado Crush 44-40 in Week 1 and a 51-49 win versus the defending AFL World Champion San Jose SaberCats in Week 3. The Force has six possible games to be shown regionally on NBC this season.

BETTER WITH AGE:

Wide Receiver/ Linebacker Darryl Hammond seems to defy time as he plays in his 13th season in the AFL breaking the league record for career years of service. (Previous mark 12 years- Sylvester Bembery 1988-2000 and George LaFrance 1988-2000).

He currently ranks second in the AFL with 536.5 career tackles, ranks in the top 15 in AFL in career scoring with 790 points and is in the top 10 in AFL in career pass receptions with 612. Hammond has had 7 seasons of 50 or more pass receptions. He has 23 receptions this season.

ONE-POINT WONDER:

Kicker Steve McLaughlin is a perfect 18-for-18 for the season on PAT attempts. Last season, McLaughlin earned second team All-Arena honors. He currently is seventh all time for most career one point PATs with 350 points.

LAST WEEK VS. BUFFALO:

The Georgia Force (2-2) evened its record on the season falling 63-43 to the Buffalo Destroyers (3-1) in the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Buffalo, playing in their first road game of the season, was lead by new quarterback Tim Carey, who replaced starter Jeff Loots after he separated his shoulder against Arizona last week.

The Force took their only lead on the game when Tyronne Jones opened the game's scoring with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Donnie Davis. Buffalo answered with two touchdowns by Gunnard Twyner from Carey as the Destroyers took a 13-7 lead after the first quarter. Returning the ensuing kickoff after Buffalo's second score, Jones was hit hard and shaken up on the play causing him to leave the game with a right hip bruise. He would return to the contest in the second half, but was replaced by Scott Thomas as the Force's offensive specialist.

Buffalo increase their lead to 23-7 after Twyner scored his third touchdown of the game and Mike Moser added a 19-yard field goal. Over the next several minutes, Georgia made its strongest push to get back in the game, but couldn't overcome the Destroyers' lead. Davis hit Thomas on a one-play 45-yard pass to cut the Buffalo lead to 23-14. On the ensuing kickoff, the Georgia special teams tackled the Destroyers return man in the endzone for a safety bringing the score to 23-16. Now that Georgia had cut the lead to one possession and it would be receiving the ball, momentum looked to have changed. But Jarrick Hillery fumbled the kickoff and Buffalo recovered on the Force two-yardline. Both teams added one more touchdown as Buffalo took a 29-23 lead into the half.

Georgia had another opportunity to either tie or take the lead with a little over eight minutes remaining in the third quarter, before Davis threw his first of thee interceptions in the game to Cornelius White who returned it 31-yard for a touchdown. Both teams traded touchdowns the rest of the way out, with Georgia scoring on big plays like Davis to Thomas for a 34-yard touchdown and Davis to Hillery from 45 yards out. Buffalo would keep its lead by successfully recovering two Georgia on-side kicks and returning them for scores.

The 20 point win by Buffalo evens the all-time series between the two teams at 1-1 after Georgia defeated the Destroyer by 21-points 54-33 last season.

Twyner was named to Game's MVP and Jackson was named the contest's Iroman.

LAST MEETING with LOS ANGELES:

ATLANTA, GA- (May 24, 2002)- New Force Head Coach Marty Lowe lost his first career game as Georgia dropped their fifth straight falling to the Los Angles Avengers.

LA quarterback Tony Graziani threw seven touchdowns and Chris Jackson recorded 13 catches for 194 yards to help the Los Angeles Avengers rally for a 74-53 victory over the Georgia Force.

Down by eight with less than two minutes remaining, Graziani threw three consecutive TD passes, giving Los Angeles (4-2) a 67-53 lead. The 28-year-old finished 27-for-36 with a season-high 352 yards.

Jackson hauled in a season-high six scores, including two in the final stanza as the Avengers outscored Georgia (1-5), 29-14. Chad Dukes added the final score with a fumble recovery in the end zone.

Donnie Davis completed 27-of-36 passes for 292 yards and five TDs, but was intercepted once for the Force. Darryl Hammond caught a team-high nine receptions for 117 yards and one score and Ron Carpenter returned eight kickoffs for 120 yards for Georgia, which has lost five straight.

The game was tied 53-53 with 2:17 remaining in the contest. A successful on-side by L.A. gave the Avengers a 60-53 lead. The ensuing kickoff then rebounded off the net and was recovered by L.A. and lead to another score and a 67-53 advantage for the Avengers. The following kickoff again was recovered by L.A. for another touchdown with 19 seconds left in the game.

Los Angeles' 74 points scored was a new franchise high. The 74 points were also the most that Georgia had given up all season, surpassing the 70-points given up the week before at Chicago.



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from February 25, 2003


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