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Los Angeles Avengers Game Notes

April 15, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Los Angeles Avengers News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Game: Buffalo Destroyers at Los Angeles Avengers
Date: Friday, April 18, 2003
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. (Pacific)
Site: Los Angeles, California
Arena: STAPLES Center (17,932)
Television: Fox Sports Net 2 (Bill Macdonald, Artie Gigantino)
Radio: XTRA Sports 690 & 1150 (Larry Kahn, Ed Cunningham, Troy West)
Web Radio: http://www.xtrasportsradio.com
Series Record: Series tied, 1-1
Last Meeting: Los Angeles 46, Buffalo 41 -- July 20, 2002, STAPLES Center
Officials: Bill Athan (R), Rick Nelson (U), Mike McCabe (HL), Thomas Symonette (LJ), Rob Vernatchi (BJ)
Head Coaches: Los Angeles -- Ed Hodgkiss (second season, 16-9). Buffalo -- Ron Selesky (first season, 4-7).

THE AVENGERS: Currently the No. 2 seed for the AFL playoffs, which begin next month, Los Angeles has won five of its last six and is one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the league. The Avengers, however, will have to rebound from Sunday's incredible 82-76 overtime loss to the Arizona Rattlers. Both teams combined for an AFL record 23 touchdowns, but neither squad scored on its first possession of the extra period, sending the game into sudden death, where the Rattlers won on a 24-yard touchdown run. Following Friday night's game against the Buffalo Destroyers at STAPLES Center, the Avengers will play three of its final four games on the road. This year, four of L.A.'s eight victories have come on the final play of the contest. Avenger quarterback Tony Graziani has been outstanding this season, throwing for 69 touchdowns and 3,043 yards in 11 games. Offensive specialist Chris Jackson has been on the receiving end of 31 of those scoring tosses. L.A.'s two way standouts, WR/LB Greg Hopkins and WR/DB Kevin Ingram, are both among the AFL's best at their respective positions and are having seasons worthy of postseason honors. This week, Hopkins earned the AFL's "Ironman of the Week" honors for his outstanding performance in the loss to Arizona, which included nine receptions for 162 yards and five touchdowns, 3.5 tackles and an interception return for a touchdown. His six touchdowns on Sunday tied a team record that was set last season by Jackson.

THE DESTROYERS: After starting the season 3-1, Buffalo has lost six of its last seven and finds itself tied for last place in the Eastern Division. If the playoffs started this week, the Destroyers would be on the outside looking in, trailing both Indiana and Chicago by one game for the final playoff spot. Injuries to Jeff Loots and Tim Carey, have the Destroyers down to their third starting quarterback of the season. After throwing five touchdown passes in a win over New York two weeks ago, Chris Sanders shared time with Charles Puleri in last Friday's loss at Orlando as Buffalo turned the ball over eight times.

THE HEAD COACHES: One of the brightest offensive masterminds in the AFL and a prime candidate for "AFL Coach of the Year" honors, Ed Hodgkiss led the 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, and signed a five-year contract extension shortly after the 2002 season. Not only did Hodgkiss lead the Avengers into the postseason for the first time in franchise history, he also instantly established the Avenger offense as one of the most feared in the AFL. In the final 2002 league statistics, the Avengers ranked at No. 2 in passing efficiency (115.0), No. 4 in total offense (275.6), No. 4 in rushing yards (20.8) and No. 5 in scoring (52.2). Prior to his arrival in L.A., Hodgkiss served as the offensive coordinator for the Indiana Firebirds for three seasons (1999-2001) ... After being named "af2 Coach of the Year" as he led the Albany Conquest to a 13-3 record last season, Ron Selesky is in his first year as the head coach of the Buffalo Destroyers. In 2001, he led the expansion Louisville Fire of af2 to a 6-10 record. He spent one year (2000) as an assistant coach and the director of player personnel for the Carolina Cobras. He served in that same capacity with the Tampa Bay Storm for three years (1997-99), and was part of the Storm's 1998 club that reached ArenaBowl XII. He was a four-year starter at left offensive tackle for North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) and played for the Minnesota Vikings in 1987.

THE SERIES: In last year's regular-season finale, the Avengers evened the series at 1-1, with a 46-41 victory at STAPLES Center. The Destroyers won the first meeting between the two clubs, 60-52, at HSBC Arena on July 14, 2000, in what was also the last regular-season game.

THE NEXT GAME: After three consecutive games at home, the Avengers travel to Texas to face the Dallas Desperados on Sunday, April 27. The game will kickoff at noon (Pacific) and be televised by NBC.

THE LEAGUE'S HOTTEST TEAM: Although they had their five-game winning streak snapped on Sunday, the Avengers are still 12-5 in their past 17 regular-season games. That mark ties them with the defending ArenaBowl champion San Jose SaberCats, who also lost last week, for the best record over that period of time.

QUICK STRIKE OFFENSE: Fifty-eight of L.A.'s 89 offensive touchdowns this season have been scored on "drives" of three plays or less, including nine of 10 in Sunday's 82-76 overtime loss to Arizona. In fact, 20 of them have been one-play "drives," including 10 touchdown catches by offensive specialist Chris Jackson.

Ironically, two of the 31 "long" drives are the six-play, 13- yard game-winning march in the victory over San Jose that consumed 25 of the final 26 seconds (Feb. 9) and the eight-play, 30-yard touchdown drive that killed off the final 34 seconds at New York (March 9). The Avengers have scored on two "zero-play drives" this season. The first one came on a net recovery by WR/DB Siaha Burley while covering a kickoff in the victory at Colorado (Feb. 23). Against Indiana (March 16), OL/DL Mike Ulufale recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.

THE "IF" SECTION:

If the Avengers defeat the Destroyers, it would ...
- Surpass the team record for victories in a season, which was set by the 2002 Avengers (8-6)
- Assure the Avengers of remaining in first place in the Western Division
- Give the Avengers a 13-5 record in their last 18 regular-season games, dating back to last season
- Give L.A. a 14-3 record in the past two years versus non-divisional foes (18-12 all-time)

THIS WEEK'S QUOTES:

Avenger head coach Ed Hodgkiss on the 82-76 overtime loss to Arizona: "I thought we played well. We gave ourselves two chances to win. I would do the same things again if we were in that situation. It's unfortunate Remy (Hamilton) missed those kicks, but I would have confidence in him again. I was disappointed we lost, but pleased with how we played in a playoff type game against a good team."

Hodgkiss on the loss of lineman Sean McNamara to injury: "It was huge. We lost (lineman) Tony Plantin and (WR/DB) Kevin Ingram as well. After losing all those guys, it would be tough to keep a game close. But, our guys fought through that and we were in a position to win. Hopefully Tony and ‘K.I.' will be back this week, but losing ‘Mac' for the year is huge. We are going to have to find someone to fill in."

Hodgkiss on having another short week to prepare for Buffalo: "It's always tough on the short week. You are used to structure and a certain amount of days to prepare both physically and mentally. With injuries it makes it double tough. But, we have professional players that will be ready to come back."

Hodgkiss on the Destroyers: "Buffalo has been up and down, and has one of the top defenses in the league. They beat some good teams and lost some games that were a surprise. They held New York to 39 points, so I'm not sure which Buffalo team we'll see. We'll prepare for their best effort. There are no easy games in the AFL."

DEFENDING THE HOME FRONT: In the "Ed Hodgkiss Era," which began at the beginning of the 2002 season, the Avengers have been particularly stingy on defense at home, allowing just 48.8 points per game at STAPLES Center (635 points in 13 games). That includes the 82 points allowed to Arizona on April 13, which are the most scored against the Avengers in team history. The 24 points allowed by the Avengers in their victory over the Tampa Bay Storm on May 17, 2002, is an all-time best for the L.A. defense at home. It surpassed the effort in the 2002 season opener, which saw the Avengers defeat the New York Dragons, 43-25, on April 19, 2002, which was Hodgkiss' first game as the Avenger head coach.

STEADY IMPROVMENT: The Avengers are just one win shy of establishing a franchise record for victories in a single season. At 8-3 and with five games remaining in the regular season, the 2003 Avengers have already matched last year's club as the winningest team in the franchise's four-year history.

REACHING THE CENTURY MARK: With three touchdowns on Sunday against the Arizona Rattlers, offensive specialist Chris Jackson reached the 100- touchdown plateau in just the 44th game of his AFL career. He has scored four or more TDs in a game seven times in his Avenger career. Jackson scored a career-high six touchdowns at Georgia on May 24, 2002. ("C.J." has also passed for three touchdowns, all this season, but they don't count in his official scoring totals.)

HEART-STOPPING HEROICS: Four of L.A.'s eight victories in 2003 have come on the final play of the game. Two of their three losses have also come down to the wire, as they lost 54-53 at Chicago on Feb. 23, and 82-76 in overtime (on the last play of the game) versus Arizona on April 13. On Feb. 9, the Avengers defeated the San Jose SaberCats, 73-72, on a one-yard touchdown blast by FB/LB Mathias Vavao and a two-point conversion pass from Tony Graziani to Greg Hopkins with one second left. The following week in a game on the road against the Colorado Crush, L.A. forced overtime with a field goal by Remy Hamilton on the final play of regulation and then won on a TD pass from Graziani to Hopkins. On March 9, the Avengers defeated the New York Dragons, 65-61, on a one-yard touchdown run by FB/LB Kevin Clemens with no time remaining. Their most amazing victory of the season came on March 30, at Orlando, as they rallied from a 12-point deficit in the final 35 seconds to defeat the Predators, 64-63. The "miracle" occurred as Graziani hit offensive specialist Chris Jackson to cut the lead to five with 19 seconds remaining and defensive specialist Cornelius Coe recovered an onside kick five seconds later. That set up another Graziani-to-Hopkins game-winning TD on a "Hail Mary" pass off the rebound net as time expired.

RECORD "D" DAY: The Avengers came into their game at Indiana (March 16), allowing 55.7 points per game, but held the Firebirds to 20 points (and gave up just six points through three quarters), establishing a new team record.

EARLY FIREWORKS: In addition to late-game heroics, the Avengers have also been good at the start, scoring on their first offensive snap of the game four times this season -- in the season opener against Las Vegas (Feb. 2, Chris Jackson), at Chicago (Feb. 23, Kevin Ingram), at Indiana (March 16, Jackson) and against Carolina (April 4, Jackson). On April 4 against Carolina, the Avengers scored touchdowns on their first three offensive plays, the other two going to WR/LB Greg Hopkins.

PERFECT GAME: Avenger quarterback Tony Graziani tossed a "perfect game" against the Las Vegas Gladiators on opening day (Feb. 2). His passer rating of 158.3 from that contest is the highest mark possible and ties an AFL record. In the 60-48 victory, Graziani was 18-of-23 for 288 yards. He threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to offensive specialist Chris Jackson on the first play of the 2003 season and went on to throw for a total of seven scores. Graziani also rushed for a touchdown from three yards out to cap the scoring with 53 seconds remaining.

SMART GAME: The Avengers are the AFL's least penalized team, averaging just 4.7 flags per game (28.0 yards). This brings a smile to the face of head coach Ed Hodgkiss, whose motto is "Play Hard, Play Smart." L.A. was especially sharp in the season opener on Feb. 2, getting called for only two penalties for a loss of just a yard, establishing a pair of new team records.

ALL-PURPOSE AVENGER: Over the past three seasons, L.A.'s new offensive weapon Siaha Burley has racked up the most all-purpose yards in the league (5,434). That yardage is the equivalent of 2.9 miles, which is farther than the distance between STAPLES Center and Dodger Stadium. Acquired in a trade with the Orlando Predators, Burley moves to the WR/DB position (he was primarily an offensive specialist with the Predators). His single-game high as an Avenger came against his former team, as he racked up 169 all-purpose yards in L.A.'s victory at Orlando on March 30.

IN A ZONE OUT EAST: The Avengers have won six of their last seven games in the Eastern Time Zone, including victories over the Orlando Predators, New York Dragons and Indiana Firebirds this season. L.A.'s victory at Orlando on March 30 marked a third consecutive road game within the Eastern Time Zone.



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 15, 2003


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