Peoria Pirates give out Season Team Awards
Published on September 1, 2004 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Peoria Rough Riders News Release
The Peoria Pirates gave out team awards last evening during their season ending banquet held at the Larriet Club. WR/LB Lawrence Matthews earned honors as Pirate Rookie MVP, OL/DL Enoch Smith was named the Pirates Ironman of the Year, The Pirate Coaches award went to FB/LB Tony Pryor, Kevin Brown was the Pirates Defensive MVP, FB/LB Casey Urlacher was the Pirates Offensive MVP and DS Frank West was selected as the Most Valuable Pirate Player of the Year.
Rookie Most Valuable Player: Lawrence Matthews (6-3, 181, Western IL) led the Pirates in receptions and all-purpose yards. Matthews finished the season with 64 catches for 789 yards and 10 touchdowns averaging 49.3 yards a game. Early in the season, Matthews was used on field goal and kick off returns accumulating 185 yards respectfully. Defensively, Lawrence finished 7th in tackles and tied for 3rd in interceptions. Matthews finished the regular season with 989 all-purpose yards. During the 2004 season, Matthews received the af2 Defensive Player of the Week vs. Albany, selected Baby Ruth Real Deal Offensive Player of the Game by attending media three times, U. S. Army Ironman of the Game once and ADT Defensive Player of the game once.
Ironman of the Year: Enoch Smith (6-1, 260, Southwest Missouri) in his rookie season anchored a Pirate Defense that ranked 1st holding teams to a unheard of 37.5 points per game. Smith, considered small for a lineman, used his strength and quickness to lead the Pirates in quarterback sacks with 5.5 for 33 yards. Smith was selected the ADT Defensive Player of the Game against Quad City on July 2, 2004.
Coaches Award: Tony Pryor (6-1,240, Indiana St) was given the Coaches award for his diversity. Pryor, in his second af2 season but first with the Pirates finished 5th in receiving with 15 catches for 211 yards and 3 touchdowns, 3rd in rushing with 14 carries for 40 yards and a touchdown, attempted 2 passes, and 4th in tackles with 42.5 (32 solo 21 assisted).
Defensive Most Valuable Player: Kevin Brown (5-9, 190, South Dakota St) playing in his first season in af2 and only 10 games for the Pirates was selected the Defensive MVP. Brown playing the Defensive Specialist position, was continually matched against the opponents best offensive receiver. Brown played bigger than his 5-9 height would suggest. Brown finished 6th in tackles with 32 (25 solo 14 assisted), 2nd in interceptions with four and had 9 pass break ups. Utilized on special teams, Kevin had 26 kickoff returns for 542 yards averaging 20.8 yards a return. Brown was selected the af2 ADT Defensive Player of the Week vs. Oklahoma City in the 2nd round of the 2004 playoffs.
Offensive Most Valuable Player: Casey Urlacher led the Pirates in rushing this season with 253 yards on 84 carries and 15 touchdowns. He set new Peoria Pirates franchise records with most yards and touchdowns in a single season and career. Additionally, Urlacher set a new af2 postseason record against Bakersfield with a total of 59 yards and a run of 30 yards to establish new records for most yardage in a single game and longest run from scrimmage. Casey finished the 2004 regular season with 37 tackles (28 solo 18 assisted) to ranking him 5th and leading the Pirates in tackles for loss with 6.5 tackles. Urlacher has received Army Ironman of the Game honors in four different games and selected the ADT Defensive Player of the Game once.
Most Valuable Player: Frank West returning to the Pirates this season after working on the Pirates coaching staff in 2003, led the Pirates in tackles and interceptions (59.5 and 8 respectfully) and is the current franchise leader in tackles with 149 tackles. Frank was selected the ADT Defensive Player of the Game 5 times.
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