GLIFL Week Nine Preview

Published on June 2, 2006 under Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) News Release

The Great Lakes Indoor Football League enters the home stretch of its inaugural season with four straight weekends with three exciting GLIFL games each. Port Huron hosts the Marion Mayhem in the final Friday night GLIFL game of the regular season, while NY/NJ travels to Battle Creek for the first time on Saturday. Rochester and Lehigh Valley will play the rematch of the record-setting 90-45 Raiders win at Stabler Arena on June 3.

GLIFL PLAYOFFS UPDATE - WEEK NINE

Port Huron can clinch a playoff spot with a win OR a Battle Creek loss. Port Huron can clinch a home game in the first round of the playoffs with a win AND a Lehigh Valley loss.

Rochester can clinch a playoff spot with a win AND a Battle Creek loss.

No one else can clinch a playoff spot. If Port Huron, Rochester, and Battle Creek all win, The Crunch, Outlawz, and Mayhem will all be 3-4. Battle Creek will be the #3 seed at this point (head-to-head record), with Lehigh Valley as the #4 and Marion as the #5, due to head-to-head record:

Battle Creek is 1-1 against Marion (with the head-to-head points scored tiebreaker) and 1-0 against Lehigh Valley; 2-1 overall.

Lehigh Valley is 0-1 against Battle Creek and 1-0 against Marion; 1-1 overall.

Marion is 1-1 against Battle Creek (without the head-to-head points scored tiebreaker) and 0-1 against Lehigh Valley; 1-2 overall.

MARION MAYHEM @ PORT HURON PIRATES

Friday, June 2, 2006, 7:05 P.M.

McMorran Place Arena, Port Huron, Michigan

RADIO: WDIF FM, 94.3 FM, Marion, Jeff Ruth, play by play.

TELEVISION: None

COACHES: Tracy Smith, Marion; Brian Hug, Port Huron

RECORDS: Marion (3-3); Port Huron (6-0)

KEY PLAYERS:

Marion: OL Paris Long, QB Bobby Corlew, WR Jeremy Werner, DB Karl Rose

Port Huron: QB Shane Franzer, RB Rayshawn Askew, DB Ernie Smith, DL Eddie Bynes

WEB SITES:

www.marionmayhem.com - Marion

www.porthuronpirates.com - Port Huron

www.glifl.com - GLIFL

PREVIOUS MEETINGS: Port Huron 1-0

LAST MEETING: 2006 Week Six: Port Huron 43 @ Marion 27

PRE-GAME NOTES

CONGRATULATIONS: Pirates head coach Brian Hug last week accepted a position as the head football coach and athletic director of Pahrump Valley High School in Nevada. He will continue with the Pirates at least through the 2006 season. Sure, the team brought in good talent, but good coaching is required to keep that talent in line to win.

ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER? All season, GLIFL fans considered Port Huron and Rochester the top two teams, with no question. Marion beat the Raiders 42-38 two weeks ago at Marion after losing a 43-27 battle to Port Huron the week before. Can the Mayhem make it two straight upsets? The Pirates are working towards becoming the fourth team in indoor football history to finish undefeated for an entire season, while Marion is working on securing a playoff berth.

FIRST TO FIFTEEN PASSES WINS? Port Huron leads the GLIFL in most rushing categories, having easily the top run game in the league. In the 42-38 win over Rochester, Marion ran the ball a staggering 33 times (to the delight of Mayhem fans) for over 100 yards. Bobby Corlew ran for three touchdowns in the Raider win. Port Huron has run on average for almost 70 yards per game, being led by Rayshawn Askew's league-leading 208 yards and 10 touchdowns. QB Shane Franzer also has 193 yards and 9 rushing scores. On the 50-yard turf field at McMorran Place, fans will be a part of a rare indoor occurrence...power football.

GAME PREVIEW: Despite the gaudy running numbers, Port Huron was able to throw at will against the Mayhem, with Franzer tossing five touchdown passes to receivers more adept at playing the running back position. Marion's defensive backfield, with Karl Rose and Jimmy Smith playing together for multiple games, looks a lot better...especially after forcing Matt Cottengim into an unheard of three interceptions (he now has five total on the season). This should be as close as the first game between these teams, if not closer.

ROCHESTER RAIDERS @ LEHIGH VALLEY OUTLAWZ

Saturday, June 3, 2006, 7:05 P.M.

Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

RADIO: None.

TELEVISION: Service Electric 2Sports, Tape Delay, May 28 at 4:00 P.M.

COACHES: Dennis Greco, Rochester; Jim DePaul, Lehigh Valley

RECORDS: Rochester (4-2); Lehigh Valley (3-3)

KEY PLAYERS:

Rochester Raiders: QB Matt Cottengim, WR Maurice Jackson, WR Noah Fehrenbach, DB Jeff Richardson

Lehigh Valley Outlawz: QB Chad Schwenk, K Chris Reed, DL Mike Ramos, WR Billy Parker

WEB SITES

www.rochesterraiders.com - Rochester

www.lehighvalleyoutlawz.com - Lehigh Valley

www.glifl.com - GLIFL

PREVIOUS MEETINGS: Rochester 1-0

LAST MEETING: 2006 Week Five: @ Rochester 90, Lehigh Valley 45

PRE-GAME NOTES

THEY'RE A BIT HEALTHIER: Lehigh Valley was in the midst of the biggest injury crisis in GLIFL history during the streak when they lost 90-45 in Rochester. A lot of those players have returned, and should be near 100% for this rematch. Rochester QB Omar Baker is still injured, but Matt Cottengim (despite a poor performance in Marion) has proven he is capable of playing quarterback in the GLIFL at a high level. With the game at Lehigh Valley and the team almost fully healthy again, this should be a shootout like most of the first half in Rochester was.

CONGRATULATIONS, PART TWO: Raiders WR Noah Fehrenbach missed the Marion game two weeks ago because his wife was giving birth to their child. Congratulations!

THE PASS DEFENSE HAS TO BE BETTER: Though statistics are currently unavailable and are being worked on acquiring, the Battle Creek pass game was efficient, scoring three touchdowns and making numerous plays down the field. Tim Kubiak had his best game as a GLIFL player, scoring an additional touchdown on the ground. Lehigh Valley cannot play like that on defense or Cottengim and the Raiders will be poised to hit 90 again.

GAME PREVIEW: Will Bean has finally proven himself as an adequate indoor kicker, and Lehigh Valley needs to test the strength of his leg. In other words, the Outlawz cannot afford to let him just practice his accuracy with extra points; they need to force the Raiders into fourth down situations. Three points is a lot better than six or seven, something they gave far too many of to Battle Creek in the 59-53 loss. Rochester is coming off a loss and a week off, so they've had plenty of time to rest and think about what they could have done to win the Marion game. This should be a shootout.

NY/NJ REVOLUTION @ BATTLE CREEK CRUNCH

Saturday, June 3, 2006, 7:30 P.M.

Kellogg Arena, Battle Creek, Michigan

RADIO: Webcast, www.battlecreekcrunch.com, also linked from www.glifl.com, Nate Adams, play by play

TELEVISION: None

COACHES: Robert Cruz, NY/NJ; Bob Kubiak, Battle Creek

RECORDS: NY/NJ (0-6); Battle Creek (2-4)

KEY PLAYERS

NY/NJ: WR Collis Martin, WR Zikoma Richards, DB/LB Charod Howard, LB Ed Chan

Battle Creek: ATH Eric Gardner, WR/DB Herb Haygood, WR Brian Dolph, K Brad Selent

WEB SITES:

www.nynjrevolution.com - NY/NJ

www.battlecreekcrunch.com - Battle Creek

www.glifl.com - GLIFL

PREVIOUS MEETINGS: None

LAST MEETING: None

PRE-GAME NOTES

A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME? Yes, it came in a 51-12 loss. But Karim McFarlane had the best throwing game of any Revolution player all year, becoming the first QB for the team to complete over 50% of his passes in a game. Battle Creek's defense has improved somewhat, but they gave up 53 points to an offensively challenged (at times) Lehigh Valley squad...this game could become a shootout.

THEY NEED TO WIN AT HOME: After a big win in Lehigh Valley, Battle Creek found themselves likely in the playoffs if they win in Week Nine. However, they're 2-1 on the road and 0-3 at home. The winless Revolution provides a "best chance" to get that first win, but the second the players start thinking like that, they won't get that first home win. The best Crunch crowd of the season is expected this weekend; a win would be huge.

THROWING 30 TIMES HASN'T WORKED WELL: In their first win, Battle Creek ran the ball well at Marion. In their second win, they used timely running to keep Lehigh Valley at bay. Will they do the same to try and get their third win? NY/NJ's defensive deficiency is in its defensive backfield. Battle Creek may be well served to run the ball against a strong defensive line and linebacking corps to see if they can successfully do it throughout the rest of the season.

GAME PREVIEW: Everyone is playing better as the season goes on. These two teams personify that best, with the Crunch winning a shocker in Lehigh Valley and NY/NJ playing better week to week. Both teams need this game as a tune-up for the rest of the season, and it should be a well-fought battle on both sides. Battle Creek can be right in the middle of the playoff hunt with a win (opposed to being outside looking in), and NY/NJ can make a case to get themselves into the hunt with one.

Continental Indoor Football League Stories from June 2, 2006

• GLIFL Week Nine Preview - CIFL

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.