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AFL I Arena Football League (1987-2008)

Quick hitters: week 11

April 15, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I) News Release


OFF AND RUNNING: New Indiana Firebirds head coach MIKE WILPOLT has won his first five games as an AFL head coach – only PERRY MOSS has won more games to start his AFL coaching career (10 with the Chicago Bruisers, 1988). Current New York Dragons offensive coordinator LARY KUHARICH lost his sixth game in 1992 with the Tampa Bay Storm. Including Wilpolt, nine coaches started their AFL coaching careers with only one or no losses in their first five games – the previous eight all made the playoffs that season.

BEST AFL COACHING STARTS THROUGH FIVE GAMES
COACH TEAM YEAR FIRST 5 GAMES
Perry Moss Chicago Bruisers 1988 5-0
Lary Kuharich Tampa Bay Storm 1992 5-0
MIKE WILPOLT Indiana Firebirds 2004 5-0
Darren Arbet San Jose SaberCats 1999 4-1
Bob Cortese Oklahoma Wranglers 2000 4-1
Fran Curci Tampa Bay Storm * 1991 4-1
John Gregory Iowa Barnstormers 1995 4-1
Jay Gruden Orlando Predators * 1998 4-1
John Hufnagel New Jersey Red Dogs 1997 4-1
* Won ArenaBowl title

HOME SWEET HOME: The SaberCats are 4-0 at home this season and have won seven straight regular-season home games dating back to last season. San Jose, in fact, has been most dominant at home winning 21 of its last 22 and 29 of its last 31 regular season games played in HP Pavilion. Since the start of the 2000 season the SaberCats own a 30-3 (.909) home record in regular-season games and are 36-5 (.878) overall in that span. San Jose last lost a regular-season home game on April 11, 2003 to the Detroit Fury, 45-42. The team's all-time record in regular-season home games stands at 48-19 (.712).

TURN IT AROUND: The Colorado Crush (7-3) look to continue their impressive turnaround season when they play the New York Dragons (5-4) this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. The Crush went 2-14 in 2003, but the addition of head coach MIKE DAILEY has the city of Denver in contention for hosting ArenaBowl XVIII on June 27. Following are the top one-season turnarounds in AFL history:

TOP ONE-SEASON TURNAROUNDS
TEAM SEASONS FIRST SEASON SECOND SEASON IMPROVEMENT
New Jersey Gladiators 2001-02 2-12 9-5 +7
Detroit Fury 2002-03 1-13 8-8 +7
Milwaukee Mustangs 1995-96 4-8 10-4 +6
Orlando Predators 1991-92 3-7 9-1 +6
Colorado Crush 2003-04 2-14 7-3 ???

NO. 5 FOR 25,000: With 20 passing yards this Saturday against Carolina, Philadelphia QB TODD HAMMEL will become the fifth passer in AFL history to reach the 25,000-yard passing milestone. Hammel is in his 13th season, tied for the second-most seasons of service in the AFL (Philadelphia's GARY COMPTON, San Jose's BARRY WAGNER). Austin QB JOHN KALEO is also fast approaching 25,000 career-passing yards – he needs 413 yards to reach the mark.

TOP CAREER PASSING YARDS LEADERS
PLAYER, TEAM YARDS
Andy Kelly, Detroit 30,394
Sherdrick Bonner, Arizona 29,144
Aaron Garcia, New York 28,797
Clint Dolezel, Las Vegas 27,305
Todd Hammel, Philadelphia 24,980
John Kaleo, Austin 24,587

NO PICKS FOR YOU: Entering Week 11, Los Angeles QB TONY GRAZIANI has passed for the most touchdowns this season (56) and has been intercepted only once, the fewest times to date among AFL passers in 2004. Now in his fourth season, he has thrown for 226 touchdowns and been picked off 26 times in his career – an impressive 9-to-1 touchdown-interception ratio. Rookie quarterbacks have also fared well against opponents so far, three of the top six passers with fewest interceptions are in their first AFL season.

FEWEST INTERCEPTIONS THROWN**
PLAYER, TEAM INTS
Tony Graziani, Los Angeles 1
Raymond Philyaw, Chicago 2
Adrian McPherson, Indiana * 2
Ryan Vena, Columbus * 2
Mark Grieb, San Jose 3
Joe Hamilton, Orlando * 3
* Rookie
** Through ten weeks

LIVING IN A FANTASY: For the fourth consecutive week, Las Vegas WR/DB MARCUS NASH is once again the top player in AFL Fantasy, racking up an average of 37.1 fantasy points each week. At the No. 5 position in the Top 10 Fantasy List is Colorado OS DAMIAN HARRELL (30.8), who, with the Crush (7-3), face the New York Dragons (5-4) this Sunday on NBC at 3 p.m. ET.

TOP AFL FANTASY POINT PLAYERS
RANK PLAYER, POSITION TEAM FP/G
1 Marcus Nash, WR/DB Las Vegas 37.1
2 Chris Jackson, WR/LB Los Angeles 34.6
3 Clint Dolezel, QB Las Vegas 31.6
4 Adrian McPherson, QB Indiana 31.0
5 Damian Harrell, OS Colorado 30.8
6 Cory Fleming, WR/DB Orlando 30.0
7 Tony Graziani, QB Los Angeles 29.9
8t Tacoma Fontaine, OS Austin 29.6
8t James Roe, WR/DB San Jose 29.6
10 Cornelius White, WR/DB Columbus 29.1



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 15, 2004


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