Pioneers Look for Season Sweep
July 19, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers News Release
Wilkes-Barre, PA- The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers will host the Albany Conquest at the Wachovia Arena on Saturday, July 23rd at 7:30 PM. This will be the third meeting between these teams in the 2005 season.
The Pioneers are finally returning to the Wachovia Arena after 4 straight games on the road. The Pioneers last played at home back on June 11th. This past week showed the return of Pioneers OS JR Thomas who suffered a lower leg fracture in the team's game against Manchester in late May.
In week 16, the Pioneers traveled to Estero, FL to take on the defending ArenaCup Champion Florida Firecats. The Firecats took a lead early in the game but the Pioneers fought back to bring it within seven at halftime. The teams traded scores throughout the second half and with seconds remaining, Dave Davis hit a 27-yard field goal to send the game into overtime with a score of 41-41. The Firecats struck first in OT bringing the score to 48-41. The Pioneers, JR Thomas' 36-yard kick off return set up the Pioneers' scoring drive with Bryan Snyder finding TE Ufuoma Pela in the end zone. With the game on the line, the Pioneers went for the two-point conversion. Snyder's pass intended for WR/LB Rocco Forgione was incomplete ending the Pioneers' comeback hopes. Florida walked away with a narrow 48-47 victory.
The Conquest found themselves on the winning end of an upset victory over the number four seed Green Bay Blizzard with an astounding score of 88-82. The combined score set a new af2 league record for the most points scored in a game. Green Bay's loss can potentially set up a three-way tie for playoffs as the season winds down.
Some of the Pioneers' players who are among the league leaders include JR Thomas who is ranked 10th in All-purpose Yards, 9th in Kick Return Yards and 3rd in Kick Return Average. Rocco Forgione who is ranked 10th in Receiving Touchdowns and Dave Davis who is ranked 6th in Scoring Kicking and PAT's Made as well as 4th in Field Goals Made. Jamie Hattley is ranked 2nd in Tackles with 96.0 and 9th in Passes Defended. Ronnie Kaymore is currently ranked 8th in Tackles with 72.0. Chris Ekwueme, Taso Apostolidis and Jim Sodano are among league leaders in Sacks. Ekwueme is also among league leaders in the Tackles for Loss category.
Tickets for this week's Pioneers game are now on sale. Anyone interested in purchasing tickets should call the team's ticket sales office at either (570) 270-5811 or (570) 270-5813. Tickets can also be purchased at the Wachovia Arena box office or online at Ticketmaster.com.
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