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Manchester and Florida meet in Bennett Bowl II

June 15, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


The appeal of sports sometimes goes beyond the appreciation of athletic feats. Often what grabs the attention of fans is the drama and Hollywood- like storylines surrounding the game. When the Florida Firecats (9-1) host the Manchester Wolves (9-1) at Germain Arena on Saturday night, fans in attendance will get the chance to witness both drama and superior athletic performances.

The defending champion Firecats can take a major step toward another ArenaCup with a win on Saturday. A victory and a Macon loss would give the Firecats the South Division championship. A win would also give Florida the tie breaker over Manchester for best record in the conference. With the ArenaCup at a neutral site in Bossier- Shreveport, home field advantage in the American Conference Playoffs will be critical.

This game also features the return of former head coach BEN BENNETT to Florida. Bennett led the Firecats to their championship last season before leaving to become the head coach of the Wolves during the off-season.

Now he returns to his old stomping grounds with the championship banner he helped win hanging in the rafters.

Many of the Firecats he coached last season are still on the team, including OS MAGIC BENTON, FB/LB CHRIS MORANT, DS ROY STABLER among others.

Adding to the drama, the first meeting between these two clubs went to overtime. In Week 2 at Manchester the Firecats and Wolves went back and forth with Manchester tying the game at 26 with under two minutes to play. Both the Firecats and Wolves got a chance to win in regulation.

The Wolves marched down to the Firecats' seven yard line and on second and goal, quarterback JAKE EATON had his pass intercepted by MICHAEL CARAWAY in the endzone. With only 11 seconds left, Florida took over and moved the ball to midfield to attempt a game winning field goal. It was no good, and the teams moved to overtime.

In overtime ALLISTAIR SEBASTIEN intercepted the Firecats on their possession inside the Florida 10.

But on Manchester's first play STEVE GORRIE forced a fumble and gave the ball back to Florida. The Firecats moved down the field, and Gorrie ran the ball in from four yards out to give Florida the win. This week Manchester is looking for revenge.

Since the Florida loss quarterback Jake Eaton has been almost as perfect as the Wolves 9-0 record. His 131.51 quarterback rating is best in the league and the only game in which he posted a sub 100 quarterback rating (92.86) was against the Firecats in Week 2.

Eaton, combined with the league's leading receiver (J.J. MCKELVEY) and the league's leading tackler (WILLIAM HAITH), are one of the elite teams in the league. But, are they ArenaCup favorites? The Firecats will have something to say about that on Saturday.

Morgan on record TD pace

Tulsa's DONOVAN MORGAN is on pace to set the record for most touchdown receptions in a season. Last week against Rio Grande Valley Morgan grabbed five touchdown receptions to bring his total to 35 through ten games.

At this pace of 3.5 touchdowns per game, Morgan would haul in 56 touchdown receptions, beating JACK WALKER's 2003 record of 45.

Counter Strike

Believe it or not, Morgan's five touchdown game wasn't the best receiving performance in last week's Tulsa-Rio Grande Valley game. This would go to DWIGHT COUNTER, who had 18 receptions for 216 yards and four touchdowns.

His 18 catches were one short of the af2 record for receptions in a game. His performance earned him Offensive Player of the Week honors.

The current record is held by ANTHONY HINES who caught 19 passes as a member of the Cape Fear Wildcats against Norfolk in 2003. Hines played last season in the AFL with the Grand Rapids Rampage.

Stafford wins in Vegas

In Las Vegas last week the AFL held ArenaBowl XIX. It was the first season the game was held at a neutral site and the first year for the ArenaBattle skills competition.

Former af2er and current Tampa Bay Storm quarterback SHANE STAFFORD competed against other AFL quarterbacks MICHAEL BISHOP (Grand Rapids), CLINT DOLEZEL (Las Vegas) and JOHN KALEO (Las Angeles) in the quarterback challenge.

Stafford won the contest, defeating Bishop in the finals.

Sauk hitting 300

Quarterback MATT SAUK became the fastest player in af2 history to record 300 touchdown passes. Sauk accomplished the feat Saturday in Birmingham with his ninth touchdown of the game.

Oklahoma City's CRAIG STRICKLAND, who has played four full af2 seasons reached 300 in April, Sauk reached 300 in just three and half seasons.

Davis hired in South Georgia

The South Georgia Wildcats hired former Georgia Tech and AFL quarterback DONNIE DAVIS as the Wildcats' new head coach on Tuesday.

Davis was ArenaBowl XI MVP with the Arizona Rattlers in 1997. He most recently played for the Georgia Force.

He finished the 2004 season as the Force's offensive coordinator. The Force averaged 58.3 points per game during his reign as offensive coordinator.



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