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New York Dragons game notes

February 15, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
New York Dragons News Release


ABOUT THE GAME

The Dragons wrap up their three-game road swing this week as they head to Philadelphia to face the Soul. After victories in Week Two and Week Three, the Dragons are 2-0 on the road heading into Week Four's game with an overall record of 2-1. Philadelphia is 2-0 at home and 2-1 overall. This will be the fifth meeting between the two clubs and the Dragons have won the last three games over the Soul. The game will take place at the Wachovia Center.

NEXT WEEK'S PREVIEW

The Dragons return home for their second home game of the season when they face the Orlando Predators on February 26. Orlando leads the all-time series 11-3 and have a regular season record of 7-2 against the Dragons. Including the playoffs, the Predators have defeated the Dragons in ten consecutive contests. The Predators are 2-1 this season and defeated the Soul in Week Three (47-33).

IF THE DRAGONS WIN, IT WOULD GIVE...
- The team a 3-1 record for the season and a 3-0 record on the road.
- The Dragons their 96th regular season victory and their 102nd of all-time.
- The team their 41st victory since moving to Long Island in 2001.
- QB Aaron Garcia his 63rd victory with the team.
- The Dragons an all-time and regular season record of 4-1 versus

DEFENDING THE EAST

The Dragons will start their defense of their 2005 Eastern Division title when they face the Philadelphia Soul this weekend, the first divisional game of the 2006 season for both teams. Last season, the Dragons won the Eastern Division for the third consecutive season (2003-2005). The Dragons swept all of their Eastern foes (Columbus, Dallas and Philadelphia) with a perfect 6-0 record in divisional play.

GARCIA NAMED AFL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK AND AFLWA PLAYER OF THE WEEK

For his performance versus the Utah Blaze in Week Three, QB Aaron Garcia was named the AFL Offensive Player of the Week . In the game, he completed 24 of 26 passes for ten touchdowns and 354 yards with no interceptions. He also had a perfect passer rating of 158.3. Garcia was just one shy of his record of 11 touchdowns scored on July 7, 2001, when the dragons defeated Carolina 99-68.

GARCIA AND GERMAINE SET NEW AFL RECORD

Also vs. Utah in Week Three, Aaron Garcia along with Blaze QB Joe Germaine helped set a new AFL record for most combined touchdowns in a game. With ten touchdowns apiece, both quarterbacks set a new combined passing touchdown high of 20, topping the previous record of 19 set on June 20, 1997 when New Jersey (10) faced Texas (9).

DRAGONS AND BLAZE SET NEW AFL RECORD

Garcia and Germaine also greatly added to the 24-combined touchdown total, breaking the old record of 23 combined touchdowns in a game. The four remaining touchdowns were scored by Utah's Kevin Moffett on a net recovery with :03 left in the second quarter, Utah's Justin Skaggs on a one-yard run with 2:48 left in the third quarter, Dragons OS Kevin Swayne with a 54-yard kickoff return with 1:53 remaining in the third quarter, followed by FB/LB Bruce Blue scoring on a one-yard run with :00 left in the third. The previous records of 23 touchdowns was set on April 13, 2003 when Arizona (12) faced Los Angles (11) as well as on April 3, 2004 when Los Angeles (12) faced Austin (11).

HORACEK AND SWAYNE CANDIDATES FOR AWARDS

Mike Horacek and Kevin Swayne were recognized as candidates for the AFL Ironman of the Week and Offensive Player of the Week, respectively, after their efforts in Week Three's game vs. Utah. On offense, Horacek led the Dragons in receiving with 11 receptions for 179 yards and four touchdowns, while recording 1.0 tackles on defense. Swayne recorded eight receptions for 139 yards and four touchdowns along with a fifth touchdown on a 54-yard kickoff return and a total of 226 all-purpose yards.

This is Horacek's ninth AFL season, sixth with the franchise, and second with the Dragons. He Started his career in Iowa from 1997-2000.

Since returning to the Dragons in 2004, the team is 9-2 in games that OS Kevin Swayne has played in. That stat includes a 2-1 record this season and a 6-0 record in 2005 and a 1-1 record in 2004. Swayne was activated off the Dragons Exempt List on April 7, 2004 after spending three seasons with the New York Jets.

DRAGONS ON THE ROAD

The Dragons conclude the three-game road portion of their 2006 season schedule this week in Philadelphia. This is the longest the Dragons will be away from the Coliseum this season. After already playing the Rush in Week Two and Utah in Week Three, the Dragons will travel to Philadelphia in Week Four before returning home to host Orlando in Week Five. Following this week's game, the Dragons next road game is in Week Seven at Austin on March 12.

GARCIA AN ALL-TIME GREAT

It was already known by most, but QB Aaron Garcia is now enshrined as one of the top-20 all-time great players in AFL history. During training camp, the league came out with their top-20 players from the first 20 years of the AFL. Garcia ranked 11th, one spot ahead of fellow former Iowa Barnstormer QB Kurt Warner. After Warner left the franchise, Garcia supplanted him as the franchise's star quarterback and the Dragons - or Barnstormers - have never looked back.

IN SEARCH OF No. 800

Entering this week, QB Aaron Garcia has 745 touchdowns after throwing for ten more in Week Three against Utah, one short of his record of 11 touchdowns in one game. He started the season with 725. If he keeps on his pace of 5.7 touchdowns per game (based on his last two seasons touchdown totals), then Garcia will reach the 800-touchdown plateau in Week 13. His current average is 6.6 touchdowns per game, where at the current pace he would reach 800 in week 12.

In 2005, Garcia became the first player in professional football history to record 700-or-more career passing touchdowns. The score came on a 37-yard toss to OS Kevin Swayne in week Fourteen at Dallas. RETURNING DRAGONS The Dragons have 11 players on their roster from their final 2005 roster.

QB Aaron Garcia is the longest returned Dragon at eight seasons. The complete list includes: WR/LB Chris Anthony, OL/DL Jamaal Cherry, DS DaShane Dennis, WR/DB Angel Estrada, OL/DL Stacy Evans, WR/LB Mike Horacek, WR/DB Will Holder, OL/DL Joe Laudano, OL/DL Marcus "Snowball" Owen, OL/DL Steve Scifres and OS Kevin Swayne along with Garcia.

ARENA ROOKIES

The Dragons will have eight rookies on their roster to start the 2006 season. The list includes: OL/DL Bruce Blue, K Jesse Obert, DS Dahnel Singfield, FB/LB Jeremiah Pharms, WR/DB Mathew Thomas, OL/DL Andrew Tippins, OL/DL Paul White and QB Juston Wood.

DRAGONS WITH af2 EXPERIENCE

The Dragons have 10 players on their roster who have played in af2 at one point in their career. The list includes: WR/LB Chris Anthony, WR/LB Maurice Brown, OL/DL Jamaal Cherry, WR/DB DaShane Dennis, OL/DL Jon Hall, OL/DL Joe Laudano, FB/LB Richard McCleskey, K Jesse Obert, DS Dahnel Singfield, OL/DL Andrew Tippins, OL/DL Paul White and QB Juston Wood.

Rank Completions
1st Andy Kelly (KCB) - 3,416
2nd Aaron Garcia (NYD) - 3,016
3rd Clint Dolezel (DAL) - 2,764

SWITCHING POSITIONS

DaShane Dennis and Jamaal Cherry have switched positions from last season and will now line up at defensive specialist and offensive/ defensive linemen, respectively. Bruce Blue began training camp as a lineman and has since converted to fullback/linebacker. Although Cherry was listed at FB/LB last season, he played primarily as a defensive lineman in his rookie season.

ARENA-BRED COACHES

The Dragons are the only team in the league to have their entire coaching staff comprised of former AFL players. In total, the Dragons' coaching staff has a combined 22 years of AFL playing experience and another combined 18-plus years as coaches.

INSIDE THE HEADSET:

Every week, Dragons head coach Weylan Harding lets the fans get inside his headset in an open question and answer forum. Here's this week's journal.

Coach, Is that the first time (this past weekend in Utah) that you have ever been a part of a high-scoring game like that?

WH: It was my first experience with a game of that nature. You would have needed to be there to truly appreciate what unfolded. I am not all interested in the combined score. The drama of the game and the efforts of our players was one for the books!

Coach, what did you tell you defense after giving up 81points? Is that something they just need to forget and move on?

WH: The defense had a rough go of it at points in the game. We made plays when we absolutely needed to. Our effort was good, but there are fundamental mistakes that must be addressed in order for us to be better!

Looking ahead to Philadelphia, what's the biggest problem their quarterback Tony Graziani poses for the Dragons?

WH: Tony is an experienced quarterback with similar abilities to Aaron. He has the ability to make tough throws and read defenses. He seems to be clicking with his new offense and has a year of familiarity with his core of receivers. This game looks to be a fist fight from the coin flip.

FOUR DRAGONS TO WATCH:

QB Aaron Garcia: One of the most prolific passers in the history of the AFL always gives his team a chance to win. He currently has 745 career touchdowns and started the 2006 season with 725.

OL/DL Marcus "Snowball" Owen: An All- Ironman selection in 2005, Owen will once again anchor the offensive and defensive line of the Dragon. Linemen sometimes go unnoticed, but watch out for Owen's contributions on the offensive side.

OS Kevin Swayne: When he remains healthy, Swayne is one of the best receivers in the league. He's a big target for Garcia and one of his favorites, too. In Week One, Swayne caught three of the four touchdowns thrown by Garcia.

DS DaShane Dennis: Dennis has started the 2006 season off with two interceptions in two games. In Week 2, he recorded his second interception, which topped his 2005 season of one. In Week 3, he recorded a game-high 12.0 tackles.

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