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Kansas City Brigade game notes

March 22, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Kansas City Brigade News Release


AT A GLANCE
Game: Kansas City Brigade (1-7) at New York Dragons (4-4)
Date: Friday, March 24, 2006
Kickoff: 6:30 p.m. (CST)
Site: Nassau Coliseum (11,295)
Officials: Referee-Bill Athan, Umpire-Matt Jordan, Head Linesman-Tom Podraza, Line Judge-Tom Symonette, Back Judge-Greg Wilson
Television: Metro Sports and the WB Kansas City will broadcast the game live with Dave Armstrong doing the play-by-play and Jayice Pearson providing the color commentary. Danni Boatwright will patrol the sidelines
Radio: The Brigade's flagship station, 97.3 MAX FM, will broadcast the game live with Chris Gervino handling the play-by-play and Stan Weber supplying the color analysis. The station will air a half-hour pre-game show beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Series record: The teams have never played
Last meeting: This is the first-ever meeting
Series streaks: The teams have never played

_________________________________________________________

OVERVIEW
What would have been a match-up of quarterbacks with a combined number of almost 1500 touchdowns will now be settled by quarterbacks with less than 100 combined touchdowns. In his first start of the season last week Chris Sanders added another dimension to the offense with his mobility. A second week of practice with the first team will strengthen the timing between Sanders and his receivers and give coordinator Tres Sullivan a better feel for what the offense is capable of with a different signal caller.

Seven-year veteran Nick Browder, in his third start of the season, will lead the Dragons. He replaced the injured Justin Wood, who took over for Garcia after he broke his leg. New York is a team that outscores its opponents and the production has not fallen off much with Browder at the helm. Explosive receivers Kevin Swayne and Mike Horacek provide the bulk of the offensive output.

The Brigade defense will be put to the test but needs to be aggressive on the line and in the secondary to make plays and create turnovers. A Brigade offense that is still growing does not need a large deficit to work against.

The game will see five new players in Brigade uniforms and a kicker in only his second game with the team. The team made four trades before the deadline Wednesday afternoon to add talent and depth to the roster. Three veteran linemen are the centerpieces of the moves as the Brigade seek to better protect Sanders and put more pressure on opponents' quarterbacks.

THE SERIES
This is the first-ever meeting between the National Conference opponents.



UP NEXT
The Brigade returns to Kemper Arena for the first three-game home stand of the season (April 1, 9, and 16). There are only four home games left in the season.

THE SCHEDULES
All times CST
2006 Kansas City Brigade (1-7)
Date Opponent Result Score
Jan. 29 at Dallas Lost 58-44
Feb. 3 at Orlando Lost 48-41
Feb. 12 AUSTIN Lost 37-33
Feb. 19 COLUMBUS Won 45-24
Feb. 24 at Georgia Lost 51-19
Mar. 5 TAMPA BAY Lost 69-59
Mar. 13 PHILADELPHIA Lost 54-24
Mar. 18 at Austin Lost 64-37
Date Opponent Time (CST) TV/Radio
Mar. 24 at New York 6:30 p.m. MS, WB62/97.3 FM
Apr. 1 GEORGIA 7:00 p.m. FSN/97.3 FM
Apr. 9 LOS ANGELES 12:00 p.m. NBC/97.3 FM
Apr. 16 COLORADO 12:00 p.m. NBC/97.3 FM
Apr. 21 at Nashville 7:00 p.m. MS, WB62/97.3 FM
Apr. 29 at Tampa Bay 6:30 p.m. MS, WB62/97.3 FM
May 6 ORLANDO 7:00 p.m. FSN/97.3 FM
May 12 at Utah 8:00 p.m. MS, WB62/97.3 FM

2006 New York Dragons (4-4)
Date Opponent Result Score
Jan. 28 NASHVILLE Lost 57-28
Feb. 3 at Chicago Won 51-47
Feb. 11 at Utah Won 84-81
Feb. 19 at Philadelphia Lost 75-59
Feb. 26 ORLANDO Won 55-35
Mar. 3 COLUMBUS Lost 65-54
Mar. 12 at Austin Won 59-56
Mar. 18 at Tampa Bay Lost 60-44
Date Opponent Time (CST) TV/Radio
Mar. 24 KANSAS CITY 6:30 p.m.
Apr. 1 GRAND RAPIDS 6:00 p.m.
Apr. 9 DALLAS 12:00 p.m.
Apr. 14 at Columbus 6:00 p.m.
Apr. 22 at Los Angeles 9:30 p.m.
Apr. 29 PHILADELPHIA 6:00 p.m.
May 6 GEORGIA 6:00 p.m.
May 13 at Dallas 7:00 p.m.


2006 STANDINGS
This season the playoffs will be separated into conferences with division winners receiving first round byes. The next four teams with the best records within each conference qualify for the postseason

NATIONAL CONFERENCE
Southern Division
Team W L Pct. PF PA
Austin 6 2 .750 431 368
Tampa Bay 5 3 .625 432 437
Georgia 4 4 .500 447 365
Orlando 4 4 .500 406 422
Kansas City 1 7 .125 302 405

Eastern Division
Team W L Pct. PF PA
Dallas 7 1 .875 480 378
Columbus 4 4 .500 352 348
New York 4 4 .500 434 476
Philadelphia 4 4 .500 368 365

AMERICAN CONFERNCE
Central Division
Team W L Pct. PF PA
Colorado 6 2 .750 447 422
Nashville 5 3 .625 401 339
Chicago 3 5 .375 409 421
Grand Rapids 3 5 .375 390 425

Western Division
Team W L Pct. PF PA
Arizona 4 4 .500 344 370
Las Vegas 3 5 .375 400 423
Utah 3 5 .375 450 444
Los Angeles 3 5 .375 395 454
San Jose 3 5 .375 450 444

WEEK 8 SCHEDULE (all times CST)

Friday, March 24
Kansas City at New York, 6:30 p.m.
Los Angeles at Arizona, 8 p.m.
Las Vegas at Utah, 8 p.m.

Saturday, March 25
Orlando at Austin, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at Dallas, 7 p.m.
San Jose at Nashville, 7 p.m.
Columbus at Colorado, 8 p.m.

Sunday, March 26
Grand Rapids at Chicago, 2 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Georgia, 2 p.m.

THE COACHES
Kansas City-Kevin Porter, first year
1-7 overall
Kevin Porter comes to the Brigade as its first head coach with a reputation as one of the AFL's finest young defensive minds. In his first season as the defensive coordinator with New Orleans in 2004, the VooDoo finished second in the league in scoring defense, surrendering only 721 points, sixth in rushing defense and fourth in passing defense.

Porter's previous head coaching experience was in arenafootball2 with the Macon Knights and Pensacola Barracudas. He is the winningest coach in af2 history with a 45-27 record and he led his teams to the playoffs every year, including a trip to the 2003 ArenaCup with Macon. Porter started his coaching career as the defensive backs coach of the Orlando Predators in 1999.

Porter was a third round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1988 NFL Draft and played five years at strong safety, the last two with the New York Jets. He recorded 290 tackles, six forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Porter was an honorable mention All-America as a senior cornerback at Auburn.

New York-Weyland Harding, second year
14-10 overall
Weylan Harding has been very successful in only two years as head coach of the Dragons. In his first year last season he took the Dragons to their third consecutive Eastern Division championship with a 10-6 record.

Before joining the Dragons in August 2005, Harding spent three seasons as the Columbus/Buffalo franchise's defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. Harding took his first coaching job with the Destroyers in 2000 as defensive backs coach and returned in 2002. In between stops in Columbus he coached the defensive backs for the Rochester Brigade of af2.

As a player, Harding was a defensive specialist for the Iowa, Nashville and Portland before retiring with Buffalo in 2000. Harding had a standout collegiate career at Iowa State, earning All-Big Eight honors as a junior.

LOCAL ANGLE
The Dragons roster is stocked with Midwest talent due to the connections of Harding and director of football operations and player personnel Rory Vacco, who worked for the Iowa Barnstormers and Quad City Steamwheelers (af2) and coached at Dowling High School in West Des Moines. Five players hail from Big 12 schools: Marcus Owen (Kansas), Chris Anthony and Mike Horacek (Iowa State) and Damien Bauman (Nebraska). Owen, who prepped at St. Louis Hazelwood Central, was named All-Big 12 in 2000 and appeared in The Longest Yard with Lucas Yarnell.

STATISTICAL COMPARISON
A look at the offensive and defensive league rankings of the Brigade and the Dragons:
Brigade Offensive Category Dragons
13 (276.6) Total Offense 8 (289.3)
18 (5.5) Yards/play 5 (6.6)
9 (17.4) Rushing offense 14 (12.5)
10 (259.3) Passing offense 7 (276.8)
4t (21.0) First downs/game 4t (21.0)
16 (35.9% made) Third down efficiency 5 (51.0% made)
15t (33.3% made) Fourth down efficiency 7 (50.0% made)
17 (39.1% made) Field goal percentage 3 (62.5% made)
18 (14.8) Kick return average 10 (17.3)
14 (4.5%) Pct. of INT/attempt 12 (3.4%)
9 (2.03) Sacks/100 pass plays 18 (7.05)
10t (43.1) Penalty yards/game 9 (41.3)
18 (37.8) Points/game 5 (54.3)

Brigade Defensive Category Dragons
2 (251.1) Total defense 17 (308.1)
3 (5.7) Yards/play 16 (7.0)
14 (24.9) Rushing defense 13 (24.6)
1 (226.3) Passing defense 15 (283.5)
16 (1.9%) Pct. of INT/attempt 4 (4.4%)
17 (1.49) Sacks/100 pass plays 9 (2.84)
8 (19.5) First downs/game 18 (22.3)
12 (48.1%) Third down efficiency 18 (58.1%)
14 (55.6%) Fourth down efficiency 10 (50.0%)
Brigade Defensive Category Dragons
9 (18.1) Kick return average 18 (19.7)
17 (62.5%) Field goal percentage 8t (50.0%)
1 (50.8) Penalty yards/game 16 (34.5)
7 (50.6) Points/game 18 (59.5)

ROSTER MOVES
The Brigade's updated roster information for Week 9:
Acquisition Date
OL/DL Aaron Hamilton and OL/DL Matt Walls traded to Utah for OL/DL Bryan Henderson 3/21
WR/LB Chris Brown traded to Dallas for WR/LB Rob Johnson 3/21
OS Steve Smith traded to Philadelphia for OL/DL Cyron Brown and WR/LB Aaron Boone 3/20
OL/DL Abdul-Salam Noah and rights to FB/LB Dan Curran traded to Georgia for OL/DL Gillis Wilson 3/20

INJURY REPORT
The Brigade's updated injury information for Week 9:
Player Injury Status
DS Denario Smalls Elbow Probable
WR/DB Calvin Spears Hamstring Probable
OL/DL Chad Pegues Knee Probable
OL/DL Jon McCall Knee Probable
OL/DL John Hilliard Lumbar Questionable
OS Jerel Myers Knee Questionable
FB/LB Jeremy Beutler Shoulder Doubtful
DS Alvin Porter Elbow Doubtful
WR/LB Tremaine Neal Knee Doubtful
DS Cliff Green Achilles Doubtful
OL/DL Michael Landry Ankle Out
OS Sam Simmons Knee IR-Mar. 24

PLAYER POINTS
- Local favorite John Booth will make his professional debut against New York on Friday. A standout at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Booth became beloved by diehard football fans after appearing in preseason games as practice squad player for the Chiefs during two training camps. Booth has been on the Brigade practice squad since the season began.

- Chris Sanders made the sixth start of his three-year AFL career last week. He is not without experience as Sanders started all 16 games in 2004 for Manchester of af2. He set seven team records and finished second in the league in passing (4,184 yards, 66 TDs) and rushing touchdowns (18). Sanders' rushing ability showed against Austin as he led the team with 24 yards on nine carries with one touchdown.

- New kicker MacKenzie Hoambrecker made an immediate impact in his debut for the Brigade against Austin. His opening kickoff went into the slack net for a touchback, one of three on the day. He also hit all four of his extra point attempts and one of two field goals.

- Nate Black had successful surgery to repair torn knee ligaments suffered late in the first half against Austin. "I guess I wasn't meant to play this season," Black said. "But I'll work hard and be back stronger than ever. I am excited to be part of the team's bright future."

- Jerel Myers' 61 receptions ranks him sixth in the league.

- Dawan Moss is fourth in the league with 81 rushing yards. His five touchdowns is tied for ninth.

- Denario Smalls is eighth in the league in solo tackles (42) and total tackles (46.5).

- Not convinced Arena Football is played at a frantic pace? Last week the Brigade and Wranglers combined for 24 points in the final minute of the first half. Don't blink is right.

- The entire special teams unit played inspired football last week. Austin entered the game first in kick return average (22.7 offensively, 14.9 defensively) but the Brigade averaged 16.3 yards per return held the Wranglers to only 8.2 yards per return.

BRIGADE HONORS
Players who have received a player of the game honor this season:
Offensive Player of the Game Stats
Andy Kelly, Week 2 vs. Orlando 33-56, 353 yds, 6 TDs
Jerel Myers, Week 3 vs. Austin 10 rec., 116 yds, 2 TDs
Jerel Myers, Week 4 vs. Columbus 5 rec. 71 yds, 1 TD
Steve Smith, Week 6 vs. Tampa Bay 11 rec., 124 yds, 4 TDs

ADT Defensive Player of the Game Stats
Denario Smalls, Week 4 vs. CLB 6 tkls (5 solo), four pass def., 1 forced fum., 1 fum. recovery, 2 int. (1 ret. 39 yards for TD)
Chris Pointer, Week 6 vs. TB 3.5 tkls (3 solo)

U.S. Army Ironman of the Game Stats
Jacques Rumph, Week 4 vs. CLB 5 rec. for 46 yds, 1 rush for 1 yd, 4 tkls (3 solo)
James Jordan, Week 8 at Austin 5 rec, 101 yds, 2 TD
3 tkls (3 solo)

WHEN STATS
The Brigade's record when this occurs:
When Record
At Kemper Arena 1-3
On the road 0-4
Scores more than 40 points 1-3
Scores less than 40 points 0-4
Allows more than 40 points 0-6
Allows less than 40 points 1-1
Scores first 1-0
Opponent scores first 0-7
Commits fewer turnovers 1-1
Commits more turnovers 0-6
Leads at halftime 1-0
Trails at halftime 0-7
Commits fewer penalties 1-3
Commits more penalties 0-4
Game decided by 7 points or less 0-2
Game decided by more than 7 points 1-5

SKY HIGH
The Brigade's individual season highs through Week 8:
High No. Player
Completions 33 Kelly, Week 2 at Orlando
Attempts 56 Kelly, Week 2 at Orlando
Passing yards 353 Kelly, Week 2 at Orlando
TD passes 6 Kelly, Week 2 at Orlando & Week 7 vs. TB
Long pass 48t Kelly, Week 5 at Georgia
Receptions 12 Myers, Week 5 at Georgia
Receiving yards 124 Smith, Week 7 vs. Tampa Bay
TD catches 4 Smith, Week 7 vs. Tampa Bay
Long reception 48t Smith, Week 5 at Georgia
Rushing att. 9 Sanders, Week 8 at Austin
Rushing yards 34 Moss, Week 3 vs. Austin
Rushing TDs 2 Moss, Week 7 vs. Tampa Bay
Long rush 19 Moss, Week 3 vs. Austin
Long kick return 46 Smith, Week 8 at Austin
All-purpose yds 309 Smith, Week 7 vs. Tampa Bay
High No. Player
Tackles 10 Smalls, Week 3 vs. Austin
Tackles for loss 1 12 times, most recently Yarnell, Week 8 at Austin
Interceptions 2 Smalls, Week 4 vs. Columbus
Forced fumbles 1 Moss, Week 1 vs. Dallas
Coleman & Spears, Week 2 at Orlando
Smalls & Pointer, Week 4 vs. Columbus

Fumble return 1 Nine times, most recently Hamilton &
Rasmussen Week 8 vs. Philadelphia
Field goals 4 Seder, Week 4 vs. Columbus
Long field goal 43 Seder, Week 1 at Dallas

The Brigade's team season highs through Week 8:
High No. Game
Points 59 Week 7 vs. TB
Offensive touchdowns 8 (6 pass, 2 rush) Week 7 vs. TB
Total offense 368 Week 2 at Orlando
Total plays 59 Week 2 at Orlando
First downs 25 Week 1 at Dallas
Time of possession 34:04 Week 5 at Georgia
Rushes 11 Week 4 vs. Columbus
Week 8 at Austin
Rushing yards 29 Week 3 vs. Austin
Defensive touchdowns 1 Week 4 vs. Columbus
Tackles 39 Week 8 at Austin
Tackles for loss 4 Week 7 vs. TB
Interceptions 2 Week 2 at Orlando
Week 4 vs. Columbus
High No. Game
Forced fumbles 2 Week 2 at Orlando
Week 4 vs. Columbus
Fumble recoveries 3 Week 4 vs. Columbus

Special teams touchdowns 1 (net recovery) Week 4 vs. Columbus
Week 7 vs. TB
Penalties 14 Week 8 vs. PHI
Largest Lead 21 Week 4 vs. Columbus
Largest Deficit 42 Week 7 vs. PHI

TEAM FIRSTS
The Brigade has recorded a number of firsts in its inaugural season:
First Play
Completion, Week 1 vs. Dallas Kelly to Myers for five yards
First down, Week 1 vs. Dallas Kelly to Myers for nine yards
Rushing TD, Week 1 vs. Dallas Moss for one yard
Passing TD, Week 1 vs. Dallas Kelly to Myers for 20 yards
Field goal, Week 1 vs. Dallas Seder from 43 yards
Tackle, Week 1 vs. Dallas Pointer
Forced fumble, Week 1 vs. Dallas Noah
Fumble recovery, Week 1 vs. Dallas Moss
Fum. ret. for TD, Week 4 vs. CLB Coleman
Interception, Week 1 vs. Dallas Spears
Int. ret. for TD, Week 4 vs. CLB Smalls
Safety, Week 5 at Georgia Hamilton
Lead, Week 2 vs. Orlando 14-10 in second quarter
50 point game, Week 6 vs. TB 59 total points

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