AFL I Arena Football League (1987-2008)

Garcia leads Dragons against defending champs on NBC

Published on March 10, 2004 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I) News Release


NEW YORK – New York QB AARON GARCIA, who is fresh off Week 5 Baby Ruth Real Deal Offensive Player of the Week honors, will lead the surging Dragons (2-3) into St. Pete Times Forum to battle seven-time ArenaBowl champion head coach TIM MARCUM and the defending champion Tampa Bay Storm (2-3) this Sunday at Noon ET on NBC.

Columbus Destroyers minority owner and Dallas Cowboys wide receiver JOEY GALLOWAY will join host AL TRAUTWIG and analyst GLENN PARKER in the studio for a preview of Sunday's match-ups, halftime game updates and post-game wrap-up interviews.

Garcia, who leads the AFL in TD passes (30), has a growing stable of reliable targets to choose from as he guides the AFL's No. 7 offense (51.7 PPG). New York OS WILL HOLDER (28 receptions and 12 TDs) and emerging stars WR/LB RICHMOND FLOWERS and WR/DB LINCOLN DUPREE (each recorded two TDs against San Jose last week) highlight the arsenal of offensive weapons at the two-time All-Arena QB's disposal.

It will be the job of defensive standouts WR/LB T.T. TOLIVER (18.5 total tackles and 6 pass breakups) and DS SHEA SHOWERS (15.5 total tackles and 1 INT) to blanket the secondary and keep Garcia and company out of the end zone.

ArenaBowl XVII hero QB PAT O'HARA will get his first start of the season taking over for SHANE STAFFORD. O'Hara, who came off the bench to help lead the Storm to the title last season, will be looking for the AFL's leading scorer OS FREDDIE SOLOMON (16 TDs and 96 points) and ArenaBowl XVII MVP and Ironman WR/LB LAWRENCE SAMUELS (30 receptions, 376 yards and 3 TDs) on Sunday.

In Grand Rapids, Los Angeles QB TONY GRAZIANI looks to continue his streak of interception-free play – 26 TDs and no INTS – against Grand Rapids DS CECIL DOGGETTE and the Rampage (0-5) on Sunday at Noon ET on NBC. With the receiving corps of 2003 Offensive Player of the Year OS CHRIS JACKSON (20 receptions and 7 TDs), WR/LB GREG HOPKINS (21 receptions and 7 TDs), WR/LB JOE DOUGLASS (18 receptions and 6 TDs) and WR/DB KEVIN INGRAM (16 receptions and 5 TDs), the former Oregon Duck QB is on pace to tie the AFL single-season TD-mark of 104 (New York's Garcia, 2001).

Grand Rapids QB ANTHONY BUICH is coming off his best AFL start (22-of-33 for 302 yards and 6 TDs against Dallas) and will be looking to OS STEVE SMITH (207.4 All-purpose yards average, No. 1 in AFL) against the Avenger (2-2) defense.

The slate of games for Week 6 include: Georgia at Orlando and Detroit at New Orleans on Friday; Philadelphia at Columbus and Dallas at Carolina on Saturday; Los Angeles at Grand Rapids (NBC), New York at Tampa Bay (NBC), Indiana at Austin, Colorado at San Jose and Arizona at Las Vegas on Sunday. Chicago has a bye week.

GEORGIA FORCE (3-2) AT ORLANDO PREDATORS (2-2)
FRIDAY, MARCH 12, AT 7:30 P.M. ET

Since taking over the starting QB position in Week 11 last season, LEON MURRAY has a flawless 4-0 regular season record on the road with the Force. As a team, Georgia is 2-0 on the road this year, 2-0 in March and 1-0 on Friday night games... Last week, Murray was 22-of-37 for 183 yards and 4 TDs, including one rushing TD and an INT... Force kicker STEVE MCLAUGHLIN is 34-for-35 on PAT kicks... He started the season going a perfect 28-for-28, before missing his first of the year last week against Las Vegas... Orlando WR/LB CORY FLEMING earned Baby Ruth Real Deal Offensive Player of the Game against Indiana last Saturday with 7 receptions, 71 yards and 2 TDs.... Since the beginning of the 2003 season, Fleming has scored a TD in 19-of-21 games... In his last game against Georgia in Week 13 of the 2003 season, Fleming had 11 receptions for 102 yards and 3 TDs... Orlando OL/DL JERMAINE SMITH, who has one sack in each of his last three games, was named U.S. Army Ironman of the Week for his play against Indiana last week... Smith had 3.0 tackles, a QB sack and a blocked extra point on the defensive side of the ball... On offense, he anchored a line that did not allow a sack of Predators QB JOE HAMILTON... Hamilton has not been sacked in his last two games and takes a two-game winning streak into Week 6.

DETROIT FURY (2-2) AT NEW ORLEANS VOODOO (4-1)
FRIDAY, MARCH 12, AT 8 P.M. ET
(TV: COX SPORTS, NEW ORLEANS, CH. 37 – TODD KALAS and BOO WILLIAMS)

Last week, Fury QB ANDY KELLY had single-game highs in passing (375) and passing TDs (9)... Kelly's 375 passing yards and nine TDs are the most in the League this season... Kelly also set three Fury franchise records for attempts, completions and yards in a single game and tied the Fury record for TDs, a mark he set last season... The 375 yards was also Kelly's personal best over his 10-year career... On defense, the Fury have held their opponents to 31 and 25 points in two of their last three games... In their inaugural season of AFL play, the New Orleans VooDoo have a 2-0 record in Southern Division play and are undefeated (2-0) at home... The VooDoo returned three INTs for TDs in last week's victory over the defending champion Tampa Bay Storm... The feat tied an AFL record for most INTs returned for TDs in a game, which was set by the Arizona Rattlers in 1996 against the Minnesota Fighting Pike... WR/DB LAMONT MOORE, who earned ADT Defensive Player of the Week honors in Week 5, grabbed two of the INTs and ran them back for TDs... He now holds the League-high in INTs returned for TDs with two... DAN CURRAN is No. 2 in leading rushers, with 26 attempts for 102 yards... Last season, Curran was No. 10 in the AFL with 8 rushing TDs... This season, he leads the League with 9 rushing TDs.

PHILADELPHIA SOUL (2-3) AT COLUMBUS DESTROYERS (1-4)
SATURDAY, MARCH 13, AT 7 P.M. ET
(TV: UPN 57, PHILADELPHIA – ARI WOLFE, MERRIL HOGE and RHEA HUGHES)

The Soul will travel to Columbus this Saturday, March 13th for a divisional rematch with the Destroyers... The Soul defeated the Destroyers 56-34, for their first win in team history, on Feb. 21... Last week, Philadelphia held Chicago scoreless for nearly 24 minutes, including the entire third quarter, en route to a 53-47 win... The last time the Soul and Destroyers played, the Soul posted 26 unanswered points spanning from the second quarter to the beginning of the fourth quarter... The Soul is the No. 1 defense inside the 10, holding opponents to only 13 TDs on 23 possessions... Last week, Soul WR/DB RICKY ROSS hauled in eight passes for 102 yards and two TDs, as well as two rushes for 23 yards and a TD... Ross' performance made him the first Soul player with over 100 yards receiving in a game... Emerging star WR/LB SEAN SCOTT added six receptions for 62 yards and three TDs... WR/LB CORNELIUS WHITE continues to lead Columbus' offensive charge, scoring 99 receiving yards and two TDs last week against the Arizona Rattlers.

DALLAS DESPERADOS (4-1) AT CAROLINA COBRAS (2-3)
SATURDAY, MARCH 13, AT 7:30 P.M. ET

Dallas WR/DB JASON SHELLEY is tied for No. 2 in the League for scoring, with 11 receiving TDs and two rushing TDs... In his first five games, Shelley has already surpassed his 2003 season numbers for TDs (8) and is only 22 yards away from eclipsing last season's receiving yardage (480)... Shelley has a career-high 10 catches for a career-high 122 yards and two TDs against the Cobras (2/8/04)... Nabbing six catches for 116 yards and three TDs, rookie WR/DB BOBBY SIPPIO is now tied for the No. 7 spot in leading scorers for the League... Dallas FB/LB DUKE PETTIJOHN has 8 carries for 32 yards and three scores on offense and 7.5 tackles, two forced fumbles, a sack, a tackle for a loss, and a pressure on defense in last four games against Cobras... Carolina's 67-41 win over Dallas in Week 1 was the worst loss in Desperados history... The Cobras Week 1 victory snapped a 17-game losing streak for Carolina... A win for Dallas would mark its sixth consecutive road victory, dating back to the end of the 2003 season...It would also give the Desperados a 5-1 record, marking the best start in franchise history.

LOS ANGELES AVENGERS (2-2) AT GRAND RAPIDS RAMPAGE (0-5)
SUNDAY, MARCH 14, AT 12 P.M. ET
(TV: NBC – BOB PAPA, RAY BENTLEY and JACK DOLES)

On pace to pass for 104 TDs this season, LA QB TONY GRAZIANI would tie current TD record (AARON GARCIA, New York in 2001)...Graziani is only one of two QBs (Chicago QB RAYMOND PHILYAW) not to throw an INT – 26 TDs and 0 INTs... February AFL Kicker of the Month REMY HAMILTON has connected on 6-of-9 FGs and 28-of-29 PATs for the Avengers this season... His only FG misses have been from 55, 56 and 60 yards out... The 50 Rampage points scored in last week's game against Dallas are more than the team had scored in the previous two games combined (45) and are a season high... QB ANTHONY BUICH became the fourth Rampage QB to toss for 300 yards in a game... The Rampage defense limited Dallas to -3 rushing yards, which is third best in team history... OS STEVE SMITH'S 252 all-purpose yards from Week 5 were a new career high... It put Smith at 1,037 on the season, becoming the first player in the AFL to get to 1,000 yards this year... In last week's loss to Dallas, the Rampage held a three-point halftime lead before eventually falling in the second half, 66-50. In their prior four games in 2004, they trailed by double-digits at the half in all four games. It was the first time since June 29, 2002 at Indiana that the Rampage lost after leading at the half (5-point lead and lost 56-42 to the Firebirds.)

NEW YORK DRAGONS (2-3) AT TAMPA BAY STORM (2-3)
SUNDAY, MARCH 7, AT 12 P.M. ET
(TV: NBC – TOM HAMMOND, PAT HADEN and LEWIS JOHNSON)

Calling on five different receivers for TDs, QB AARON GARCIA and the New York Dragons handed San Jose their first loss last week by a score of 64-50...The Dragons hold a 36-7 record when they score at least 60 points... Garcia leads the League with 30 TDs so far this season, and has thrown for the most TDs in pro football history (574)... The first time Garcia and Tampa Bay QB PAT O'HARA met on-field was July 1, 1995... Garcia was the starter for the Arizona Rattlers; O'Hara, then-backup for the Orlando Predators... Garcia and the Rattlers narrowly won (49-48) following a 34-point second-half Predators rally led by O'Hara... Dragons OS WILL HOLDER is the No. 2 scorer in the League (78 points), No. 5 in receiving yards (436); No. 10 receptions (28)... The Dragons' rookie WR/LB RICHMOND FLOWERS is quickly becoming a star with his first two AFL TDs in last week's defeat of San Jose... Storm OS FREDDIE SOLOMON leads the League in scoring, with 96 points... Solomon's closest rival on the list, New York's Holder, who is 18 points away along with Dallas WR/LB JASON SHELLEY.... Solomon is already halfway to his receiving TDs total from last season, when he finished with 28 TD catches... WR/LB LAWRENCE SAMUELS inched closer to second place on the Storm's all-time receiving yards list on Sunday. He hauled in five passes for 41 yards, giving him 5,303 receiving yards as a member of the Storm. AFL legend GEORGE LAFRANCE currently resides in second place on the list with 5,392 receiving yards.

INDIANA FIREBIRDS (0-5) AT AUSTIN WRANGLERS (3-1)
SUNDAY, MARCH 14, AT 3 P.M. ET

Indiana OS MIKE HORACEK has had two 100-yard receiving games this season... The last one came against the Predators in Week 5, when Horacek had eight receptions for 141 yards and three TDs... Indiana rookie QB ADRIAN MCPHERSON ranks among AFL leaders in rushing with 92 yards and four scores, he also has passed for 669 yards and 11 TDs... The Wranglers are the No. 1 offense inside the 10, with 20 TDs on 21 possessions... Austin QB JOHN KALEO passed for 286 yards and 6 TDs in a 56-55 win over Carolina last week, completing 28-of-36 passes... Kaleo has passed for over 1,000 yards in the first four games of the season, completing nearly 70 percent of his passes... He entered the season sixth all-time in pass attempts, completions, and yards for career... Kaleo has five seasons with over 2,000 passing yards, including 2003... Austin is also No. 2 on defense inside the 10, allowing 12 TDs on 20 possessions... OL/DL TOM BRIGGS is holding up the defense with his 3.0 sacks this season... Last year, Briggs led the League with 10.5 sacks... The expansion Wranglers are 3-0 when they score at least 40 points and 2-0 in one-point games.

ARIZONA RATTLERS (3-2) AT LAS VEGAS GLADIATORS (2-3)
SUNDAY, MARCH 14, AT 6 P.M. ET
(TV: FOX SPORTS ARIZONA – KENT DERDIVANIS and GENE NUDO)

The Gladiators will be trying to prevent from losing yet another game against a Western Division opponent this week... In team history, Las Vegas is 0-6 against Arizona (0-3), Los Angeles (0-2) and San Jose (0-1)... On offense, Las Vegas is No. 1 in the League when it comes to third down efficiency... At the end of the first half against the Force this season, Las Vegas K BRIAN GOWINS converted a team-record and AFL 2004 best 55-yard field goal... The kick surpassed the previous team record by STEVE VIDETICH of 49 yards last season against the Orlando Predators... Arizona WR/LB HUNKIE COOPER needs only 156 yards to reach 20,000 all-purpose yards for his career... Arizona WR/DB RANDY GATEWOOD has had a TD in 16 out of his last 17 games... He recorded a receiving TD against Detroit in Week 2 of the 2004 season... Rattlers OL/DL BRYAN HENDERSON is No. 1 in sacks (4.0) in 2004... SIAHA BURLEY is the go-to guy in third-down situations – 10 receptions for 152 yards and three TDs... Former Rattlers OS MAURICE BRYANT is currently a member of the Gladiators, as is former lineman JOE BURCH. Bryant spent the first three and a half years of his career in Arizona. Burch was a member of the Rattlers from 1996-99, and from 2001-2002. He was a member of the 1997 ArenaBowl Champions... The last time Las Vegas QB CLINT DOLEZEL faced Arizona was as a member of the Grand Rapids Rampage on April 19, 2003 when the Rattlers pulled out an exciting 82-81 OT victory... Dolezel connected on 21-of-29 for 331 yards, seven TDs and one INT in a losing effort.

COLORADO CRUSH (4-1) AT SAN JOSE SABERCATS (3-1)
SUNDAY, MARCH 14, AT 8 P.M. ET

Colorado is 3-0 in games decided by two-or-fewer points in 2004... This season, the Crush are also 4-0 in games that they have had the lead or were tied after the third quarter... The Crush were 1-4 in that same situation in 2003... Crush QB JOHN DUTTON and WR/DB KEVIN MCKENZIE will be facing their former team this week... Dutton led San Jose in the playoffs to the ArenaBowl XVI title (2002)... McKenzie, with San Jose in 2003, scored 10 TDs in two playoff games... In last week's game against New York, the SaberCats were outscored 33-17 in the second half... It snapped a streak of six straight games that they had outscored their opponents in the second half... All of those previous six games were victories...The SaberCats have lost only 5 games over the last two seasons and were outscored in the second half in all of those games... Seven of OS JAMES HUNDON's 13 career receptions against Colorado have been for TDs... The SaberCats rushed for a total of 142 yards on 24 carries (5.9 avg.) with nine TDs in two games last season...San Jose has never trailed Colorado winning both games last season by a combined score of 145-89... San Jose WR/DB RASHIED DAVIS played in his first career AFL game against Colorado on Feb. 22, 2003 and scored his first career AFL TD.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from March 10, 2004


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