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Louisville Fire game notes

June 8, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Louisville Fire News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Louisville Fire (5-4) vs.
Birmingham Steeldogs (1-8)
Date: Saturday, June 11, 2005
Kickoff: 8:00 p.m. ET
Site: Birmingham Steeldogs
Officials: Referee: Larry Mallam; Umpire: Conrad Carney
Head Linesman: Abdullah Salaam; Line Judge: Larry Neal
Back Judge: Wayne Gautney
Series Record: Birmingham leads 3-2
Streaks: Fire Lost 1; Steeldogs Lost 1
Coaches: Tommy Johnson - Fire (19-22; 1-1 playoffs, Third Season)

THE STAKES: After starting the season 4-0, including a 48-46 win over Birmingham, the Fire has lost four of their last five. The Fire is looking to get back on track and make a run to the ArenaCup playoffs with a victory at Birmingham.

THE SERIES: The two teams have met five times since the Fire entered af2 in 2001. The Steeldogs have won three of the five, but the Fire has won two straight in the Series including a 48-46 victory in Freedom Hall on April 30.

THE IFs:
If Louisville defeats Birmingham, it would ...
• Make the Fire 6-4
• Keep the Fire tied with W-B/Scranton for third in the East
• Make the Fire 3-3 against Birmingham
• Give the Fire a 6-13 all-time in record in June.
• Give the Fire their third straight win over Birmingham.

LOUISVILLE (5 – 4)
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
5/27 ALBANY W 62-55 (OT)
6/4 @ Quad City L 47-41
Date Opponent Time Streak Series
6/11 @ Birmingham 8:00 W 2 BIR 3 – 2
6/18 GREEN BAY 7:30 W 3 FIRE 3 – 2
6/24 @ Albany 7:30 L 1 FIRE 2 – 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 L 1 QC 6 -2

BIRMINGHAM STEELDOGS (0 – 3)
Date Opponent Result Score
4/9 SAN DIEGO L 58 – 57
4/14 @ Macon L 67 – 50
4/23 MEMPHIS L 60 – 24
4/30 LOUISVILLE L 48 – 46
5/7 SOUTH GEORGIA L 69 – 49
5/14 @ San Diego L 77 – 44
5/21 @ Arkansas L 61 – 60
5/28 GREEN BAY W 55 – 26
6/4 @ Florida L 56 – 40
Date Opponent Time Streak Series
6/11 LOUISVILLE 8:00 L 2 BIR 3 – 2
6/18 @ Memphis 8:00 W 3 BIR 3 – 0
6/24 @ Green Bay 8:00 W 2 BIR 2 – 0
7/9 MACON 8:00 L 1 BIR 4 – 3
7/16 @ South Georgia 7:30 L 2 SGA 2 – 0
7/23 ARKANSAS 8:00 L 1 Tied 1 – 1
7/30 FLORIDA 8:00 L 2 Tied 3 – 3




LAST SERIES MEETING:

SERIES BY THE NUMBERS:
Record vs. Birmingham: 2 – 3
Last regular season game: Fire 48 Birmingham 46, April 30, 2005 in Louisville
Current streak: Fire won two.
Fire longest win streak vs. Steeldogs: 2 (5/10/03 to present)
Steeldogs longest win streak vs. Fire: 3 (4/14/01 to 5/10/03)
Most points, Fire: 48 (LOU 48 – 46 at LOU, 4/30/05)
Most points, Steeldogs: 77 (BIR 77 – 34 at LOU, 7/27/02)
Most points, both teams: 111 (BIR 77 - 34 at LOU, 7/27/02)
Fewest points, Fire: 21 (BIR 39-21 at LOU 4/14/02)
Fewest points, Steeldogs: 37 (LOU 40 - 37 at BIR 5/10/02)
Fewest points, both teams: 60 (BIR 39-21 at BIR (4/14/02)

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
9 Albany D. Bryant ALB
10 @ Quad City Jeff Hewitt QC

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
9 Albany Demetrius Forney FIRE
10 @ Quad City Jack Walker QC

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
9 Albany Rob Green FIRE
10 @ Quad City Tim Dodge QC

DROPBACK: The Fire lost a heartbreaker at Quad City last week. The Fire was down by 20 at one point and cut the margin to six, however fell short of a victory losing 47-41.

FORWARD MOTION: The Fire will return home to Freedom Hall for a rematch with the Green Bay Blizzard. The Blizzard defeat the Fire 65-49 in Green Bay on May 14.

QUEST FOR 300:
MATTHEW SAUK... Sauk threw six touchdown passes against Quad City raising his career total to 291. Sauk needs nine touchdown passes to reach the 300 touchdown pass mark.

TEAM TRENDS:
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 seven different receivers.

PUNCHING IT IN: Once the Fire gets close to the end zone they have had success running the ball in for the touchdown. The Fire is tied for seventh in af2 with 15 rushing touchdowns and five different people have scored at least one rushing touchdown this season.
LEAGUE TOP 10s: Players from the Fire and Steeldogs who rank among af2's statistical leaders:
FIRE
Player Rank Category Stat
Matt Sauk 3 Total Offense 266.3
Matt Sauk 2 Passing Avg/G 268.4
Matt Sauk 4 Pass Complete % 67.0
Matt Sauk 1 Pass Attempts 345
Matt Sauk 6 Passing TD's 45
Matt Sauk 8 Passer Rating 108.8
Matt Sauk 2 Passing Yards 2416
Matt Sauk 1 Passes Complete 231
Matt Sauk T – 7 Passes Intercepted 9
Rob Mager T – 6 Scoring 122
Rob Mager T – 6 Receptions 63
Rob Mager 7 Rec. Yards/Game 94.5
Rob Mager 5 Rec. TD's 20
Danny Kight 5 Scoring (Kick) 54
Danny Kight 6 Field Goals 40%
Demetrius Forney T – 9 Rushing TD's 6
Rob Green T – 4 Fumbles RCVD 2
Rob Green T – 10 Passes Defended 14

STEELDOGS
Player Category Stat (Rank)
Detronn Harris All-Purpose Yds. 181.9 p/gm (2)
Detronn Harris Receiving Yards 763 (9)
Detronn Harris Receptions 62 (T-8)
Detronn Harris Kick Return Yds. 816 (2)
Detronn Harris Kick Return TDs 4 (1)
Detronn Harris Kick Returns 40-816-4 (1)
Dre Fulgham Fumbles Recov. 2 (T-4)
Devlon Holmes Yards Per Catch 15.5 (8)
Roger Linn Yards Per Pass 12.2 (10)
George Williams Int. Return TDs 1 (T-4)
George Williams Tackles For Loss 3.5 (T-3)


TALE OF THE TAPE: Here's how the Fire and Steeldogs stack up:
Statistical Louisville Birmingham
Category Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense 9 49.1 11 47.2
Scoring Defense 12 49.3 18 58.0
Total Offense 2 281.7 9 261.1
Total Defense 16 272.1 7 244.2
Pass Offense 1 267.1 11 232.9
Pass Defense 11 272.1 9 232.7
Rushing Offense 14 14.6 3 28.2
Rushing Defense 16 24.6 2 11.6
Pass Rating 7 108.7 17 84.9
Pass Def. Rating 8 98.4 16 111.9
Kickoff Returns 17 813 14 1080
MFG Returns 18 33 9 52
Turnover Margin 7 +2 20 -14
Field Goals 8 .400 10 .272
PAT Kicking 9 .793 18 .667
Sacks By T-19 5 7 12
Sacks Against 3 4 19 19
First Downs 1 197 10 167
Opp. First Downs 16 174 5 153
Penalties 4 71 9 70
Opp. Penalties 15 92 6 93

FIRE ALL-TIME RECORDS

All-Time Record 28-47

All-Time Home Record 18-18

All-Time Road Record 10-29

All-Time March Record 1-0

All-Time April Record 9-9

All-Time May Record 8-14

All-Time June Record 5-13

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 10-7

All-Time Record on Saturdays 18-40

All-Time Against 2005 Opponents 13-18



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