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Kansas City Brigade Weekly

March 16, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Kansas City Brigade News Release


Kansas City begins the second round of its division schedule against one of the best teams in the league in Austin. The Brigade has lost three in a row after its first-ever win against Columbus and already faces one hurdle with a short week. The team will practice only two days before traveling to Texas on Friday.

The Brigade lost 37-33 to Austin in a closely contested game on Feb. 12 in front of 16,523 at Kemper Arena in the inaugural home game. The Brigade moved into the red zone with 20.3 seconds on the clock and got as close as the two yard line but could not get in for the winning score.

The lingering question is whether or not the Brigade can find consistency on both offense and defense in the same game. Andy Kelly and the offense came alive against Tampa Bay but the defense struggled against the Storm. The offense struggled against Philadelphia, and lost the turnover battle, but the defense kept Philadelphia out of the end zone in the second half.

Austin will allow an offense to score points, as evidenced by the Wranglers last three games in which they gave up more than 50 points. The Brigade needs to take advantage of an Austin defense ranked next-to-last in total defense and last in passing defense.

Kansas City's defense will need to a strong effort against an Austin offense that does not score a lot of points but is very efficient. The Wranglers do not get penalized often or give up sacks and they are first in the league in fourth-down conversions.

News, Notes and League Rankings

- League attendance figures prove Kansas City truly has some of the best football fans in the country. Halfway through the home schedule (four games), the Brigade is third in total attendance (61,770) and third in average attendance (15,443). The team has also played in front of two of the ten largest crowds in the league this season: 16,523 (fifth) in the inaugural home opener and 15,379 (10th) in the Monday night Neil Smith number retirement game last week.

- Brigade merchandise continues to be popular around the city. The team has sold upwards of $184,000 in merchandise at Kemper Arena in the first four home games of the season.

- Steve Smith continued his recent renaissance against teammates from a year ago with two touchdown receptions and 139 kick return yards. He now ranks sixth in the league with 564 return yards.

- Jerel Myers made six catches to give him 55, still good for fifth in the league.

- Dawan Moss is now tied for fourth in the league with 80 rushing yards. His 3.1 yard average is tied for sixth with a minimum 15 carries.

- Denario Smalls has cracked the league's top 10 in solo tackles (tied for 10th with 37) and total tackles (ninth with 42).

- The Brigade defense continues to be ranked #1 in the AFL (yards per game).

Roster Moves The Kansas City Brigade signed kicker MacKenzie Hoambrecker and released Tim Seder. The team also released OL/DL John Hilliard.

Community Events

- WR/LB Nate Black, who made his first appearance of the season with two catches last week against Philadelphia, congratulated students Wednesday at Barry Elementary School on their recent high test scores.

- In conjunction with the American Red Cross, the Kansas City Brigade will sponsor a blood drive at the Red Cross facility on West Armour Blvd. The team will give away tickets to the April 16 game against John Elway's Colorado Crush to anyone who donates. Players and cheerleaders will be there to sign autographs.

- FB/LB Chris Morant will appear at the Negro League Baseball Museum on April 3 for "Reading around the Bases," a program for school groups.



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from March 16, 2006


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.

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