Louisville Fire game notes

May 24, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Louisville Fire News Release


QUICK FACTS:
#5 Louisville Fire (4-3) vs.
Albany Conquest (2-5)
Date: Friday, May 27, 2005
Kickoff: 7:300 p.m. ET
Site: Freedom Hall
National Anthem:
Coin Toss: Referee: Tony Canella,
Umpire: Conrad Carney, Head Linesman: Donald Rager, Line Judge: Donald Shouse, Back Judge: Larry Orrico
Radio: None
Series Record: Tied 1 – 1
Streaks: Fire Lost 3; Conquest Lost 2
Coaches: Tommy Johnson - Fire (18-21; 1-1 playoffs, Third Season)

THE STAKES: The Fire is looking to get back on the winning track following their third consecutive loss last Saturday to Florida. The Fire will need a victory to keep pace with Wilkes-Barre for third place in the East Division. They will also be looking to improve their East Division record to 2-2 and their 2005 home record to 3-1.

THE SERIES: The two teams met twice in 2004 and split the series with each team winning on the road. The Fire defeated Albany 62-56 when Matthew Sauk hit James Scott in the back of the end zone in the closing seconds. Albany defeated the Fire 60-56 in Freedom Hall when current Fire DS Rob Green intercepted Matthew Sauk to seal the victory late in the game.

THE IFs:
If Louisville defeats Florida, it would ...
· Make the Fire 5-3.
· Keep the Fire at least tied for third in the East division with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
· Make the Fire 2-1 against Albany. .
· Give the Fire an 8-14 all-time in record in May.

#5 LOUISVILLE (4 – 3)
Date Opponent Result Score
4/9 @ Rio Grande Valley W 56 – 42
4/15 SOUTH GEORGIA W 48 – 46
4/22 @WB/Scranton W 58 – 50
4/30 BIRMINGHAM W 48 – 46
5/6 @ Manchester L 46-37
5/14 @ Green Bay L 49-65
5/21 FLORIDA L 43-47
Date Opponent Time Streak Series
5/27 ALBANY 7:30 L 1 Tied 1 – 1
6/4 @ Quad City 8:30 W 1 QC 6 – 2
6/11 @ Birmingham 8:00 W 2 BIR 3 – 2
6/18 GREEN BAY 7:30 W 3 FIRE 3 – 1
6/24 @ Albany 7:30 L 1 Tied 1 – 1
7/9 SAN DIEGO 7:30 L 1 SAN 1 – 0
7/16 @ Oklahoma City 8:30 -- 1st Meeting
7/23 MANCHESTER 7:30 L 2 MAN 2 – 0
7/30 QUAD CITY 7:30 W 1 QC 6 -2

ALBANY CONQUEST (2-5)
Date Opponent Result Score
4/8 @Green Bay L 41-49
4/15 WB/SCRANTON L 37-55
4/23 MANCHESTER L 49-56
4/30 @ S. Georgia W 48-39
5/7 @ Macon W 52-37
5/14 MANCHESTER L 47-48
5/21 MEMPHIS L 53-73
Date Opponent Time Streak Series
5/27 @ Louisville 7:30 W 1 1-1
6/4 BOS-SHREVEPORT 7:30 -- 1st Meeting
6/11 @WB/Scranton 7:30 L3 6-3
6/18 @Quad City 8:30 -- 1st Meeting
6/24 LOUISVILLE 7:30 W1 1-1
7/8 S. GEORGIA 7:30 W1 1-5
7/15 GREEN BAY 7:30 L2 1-2
7/23 @ WB/SCRANTON 7:30 L3 6-3
7/29 @ Manchester 7:30 L2 6-5



LAST SERIES MEETING: The Conquest defeated the Fire in Freedom Hall 60-56 on May 15, 2004. Currnet Fire DS Rob Green intercepted Matthew Sauk with 23 second left to seal the victory.

HEAD COACH:
Tommy Johnson
Louisville Fire head coach Tommy Johnson, was born in Rome, Ga., and raised in Niceville, Fla. He began his football career as a player at DeFuniak Springs (Fla.) High School. He later transferred to Niceville High School. Johnson then attended the University of Alabama, where he played defensive back. His senior class at U of A was known for having the most wins in a four-year time period (45-5-1). In 1992, he played on the Crimson Tide squad that defeated the University of Miami for the National Championship. Johnson then continued his football career with the Jacksonville Jaguars for a year. He also was given the opportunity to compete in NFL Europe. He started his Arena football career with the Albany Firebirds, and moved on to the Carolina Cobras. Johnson presently holds the record for the longest interception return for a touchdown in AFL history. In 2001, Johnson began his coaching career with the Fire as defensive coordinator. After two seasons as defensive coordinator Johnson was named head coach three games into the 2003 season, when the Fire made the late run winning two of those three games. In 2004, Johnson led the Fire to its first winning season (9-7), first af2 play-offs appearance and first play-off victory over Quad City 52-47.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME AWARD
Week Opp. Player Team
2 @ Rio Grande Cesare Manning FIRE
3 South Georgia Adrian Cockfield SGW
4 @ WB/S Matthew Sauk FIRE
5 Birmingham James Scott FIRE
6 @Manchester Jake Eaton MAN
7 @ Green Bay Matt Huebner GBB
8 Florida Rob Mager FIRE

U.S. ARMY IRONMAN OF THE GAME AWARD
Week Opp. Player Team
2 @ Rio Grande Marquis Floyd RGV
3 South Georgia Tony Stallings FIRE
4 @ WB/S Ameer Riley WB/S
5 Birmingham Demetrius Forney FIRE
6 @Manchester Marc Bacote MAN
7 @ Green Bay Matt Huebner GBB
8 Florida Cainon Lamb FLO

ADT DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME AWARD
Week Opp. Player Team
2 @ Rio Grande Tony Stallings FIRE
3 South Georgia Rob Green FIRE
4 @WB/S Rob Green FIRE
5 Birmingham Terrance Harris BIR
6 @Manchester Williams Haith MAN
7 @ Green Bay Ryan Bowers GBB
8 Florida Kelly Snell FLO

DROPBACK: The Fire lost their third straight game last Saturday to Florida, 47-43.

FORWARD MOTION: The Fire will travel north to the Quad Cities to take on the Steamwheelers next Saturday at 8:30 P.M. at The Mark.

LEAGUE TOP 10s: Players from the Fire and Blizzard who rank among af2's statistical leaders:

FIRE
Player Rank Category Stat
Matt Sauk 4 Total Offense 1884
Matt Sauk 2 Tot. Offensive Plays 276
Matt Sauk 1 Passing Avg/game 272.3
Matt Sauk 3 Pass Comp. Pct. 67.3
Matt Sauk 1 Pass Attempts 269
Matt Sauk T-7 Passing TD's 35
Matt Sauk 5 Pass Rating 118
Matt Sauk 1 Passing yds. 1906
Matt Sauk 1 Pass Complete 181
Matt Sauk T-8 Pass Intercept. 6
Rob Mager 10 Receptions 45
Rob Mager 7 Reception TD's 15
Rob Mager 8 Scoring 92 pts.
Rob Mager 8 Scoring (TD's) 15 TDs
Danny Kight 6 Scoring (kicks) 51 pts.
Danny Kight 5 Field Goals Made 6
Danny Kight 3 FG% 42.9
Danny Kight T-3 FG Attempts 14
Danny Kight T-7 PAT Attempts 43
Danny Kight T-8 PAT's Made 33
Tony Stallings T-8 Rush Attempts 23
Tony Stallings T-5 Rushing TD's 6
Tony Stallings 8 Kick Return Avg. 22.5
Tony Stallings T-8 Kick Return TD's 22.5


CONQUEST
Player Rank Category Stat
D. Bryant 10 Total Offense 1725
D. Bryant 4 Tot. Off. Plays 271
D. Bryant T-8 Tot. Off. TD's 37
D. Bryant 10 Tot. Off. Yards 1725
D. Bryant 10 Rushing 70
D. Bryant 6 Rush Attempts 29
D. Bryant T-5 Rushing TD's 6
D. Bryant 10 Passing Avg/Game 236.4
D. Bryant T-6 Passing Comp. % 63.6
D. Bryant 7 Passing Attempts 242
D. Bryant 10 Passing Yds. 1655
D. Bryant 6 Pass. Comp. 154
D. Bryant 1 Pass. Intercepted 10
Marc Samuel 10 Scoring (kick) 41
Marc Samuel T-5 FG ATT. 12
Marc Samuel T-4 PAT Kick Attempt 46
Marc Samuel 7 PAT's Made 35
Ibah Buchie 1 Yards Per Catch 32
Cy Butler 9 All Purpose Yds. 832
Cy Butler 9 Kick Returns 19
Cy Butler 9 Kick Ret. Yds. 396
Manwell Talbert 8 Receptions 49


TALE OF THE TAPE: Here's how the Fire and Blizzard stack up:
Statistical Louisville Albany
Category Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense 7 48.4 12 46.7
Touchdowns T – 9 47 T – 9 47
Total Offense 3 280.7 14 254.9
Total Defense 14 271.4 T – 18 287.0
Pass Offense 2 270.6 13 230.0
Pass Defense 11 246.7 19 272.7
Rushing Offense 18 10.1 7 24.0
Rushing Defense 14 24.7 5 14.3
Pass Rating T – 2 110.4 7 106.8
Pass Def. Rating 5 101.7 20 110.3
Kickoff Returns 16 17.6 3 22.3
MFG Returns 19 3.3 T – 6 19.0
Turnover Margin 4 +3 T – 11 -1
Field Goals 7 .429 T – 14 .167
PAT Kicking 13 .767 15 .761
Sacks By 20 4 17 6
Sacks Against T – 3 4 T – 11 11
First Downs 1 151 T – 9 130
Opp. First Downs T – 15 137 9 124
Penalties 6 48.0 1 39.9
Opp. Penalties 14 53.7 16 50.4

QUEST FOR 300:
MATTHEW SAUK... Sauk once again threw for six touchdown passes against raising his career total to 281. Sauk needs 19 touchdown passes to reach the 300 touchdown pass mark.

OLD FACES DIFFERENT UNIFORMS:
The Fire and Conquest both have players who played on the other team last season. Fire DS Rob Green played for Albany in 2004 while Conquest kicker Marc Samuel played for the Fire in 2003 and 2004.

TEAM TRENDS:

BUTTERFINGERS: The Fire defense has taken advantage of fumbles caused this season. The defense and special teams have forced nine fumbles recovering seven of them.

SPREADING THE BALL AROUND: Fire QB Matthew Sauk has gotten all of his receivers involved this season. So far this season Sauk has thrown at least one touchdown pass to six different receivers.
FIRE ALL-TIME RECORDS

All-Time Record 27-46

All-Time Home Record 17-18

All-Time Road Record 10-28

All-Time March Record 1-0

All-Time April Record 9-9

All-Time May Record 7-14

All-Time June Record 5-12

All-Time July Record 4-10

All-Time August Record 1-1

All-Time In Playoffs 1-1

All-Time Record in Openers 3-2

All-Time Record on Fridays 9-7

All-Time Record on Saturdays 18-39

All-Time Against 2005 Opponents 12-17



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