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Rampage, Force Battle for Playoffs

June 19, 2002 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


This Sunday, on The New TNN, defending champion Grand Rapids Rampage (5-4) hosts the Georgia Force (4-5) at 2:00 p.m. ET. Georgia is one of the league' s hottest teams, winning 3 straight holding opponents to just 32 points a game in that stretch. CLINT DOLEZEL vs. DONNIE DAVIS – it's a match up of two former back ups who won a championship. Dolezel (320-225-2,611 / 55 TD, 13 INT) was last year's victor while Davis (158-107-1,199 / 23 TD, 5 INT) stepped in for an injured SHERDRICK BONNER of Arizona in 1997 and beat KURT WARNER's Barnstormers. Dolezel is No. 1 with 55 TDs and boasts the game's top scorer, STEVE SMITH (150 pts). Look for Georgia's RON CARPENTER (4 INTs) and CLIFF GREEN (12 PBR) to play Smith snuggly - which could free up GARY COMPTON, averaging nearly 2 TDs a game since arriving in Week 6. He could be a difference maker – 4 of the Rampage's 9 games have been decided by 7 points or less. While much of Georgia's success can be traced back to Davis' s emergence as the new starting quarterback in Week 6, it's two-way players like JARRICK HILLERY and DARRYL HAMMOND, who scored 4 TDs three different ways in last week's 53-42 win at Carolina, who've kept the Force in the race (Georgia was 1-5 to start the season). Georgia has "forced" 10 turnovers in its last 3 victories, while the Rampage have done a good job of protecting the ball, coughing it up only 4 times in that same stretch.

In the Meadowlands this Saturday, it's a rematch of two evenly matched opponents – Buffalo Destroyers (5-4) and New Jersey Gladiators (6-3). Each is scoring a notch below 48 points per game and limiting opponents to less than 46. New Jersey has scored 90.5 percent of the time (38-of-42) in the Red Zone, while Buffalo has the league's most stifling defense in that zone, a success rate of just 69.2 percent. In their first encounter in Week 1, Buffalo ran out the clock for a 53-51 home victory against the Gladiators. New Jersey's JAY MCDONAGH (345-216-2,237 / 38 TD, 10 INT), no stranger to high stakes after winning a title in arenafootball2 last year, clashes against nine-year veteran FRED MCNAIR (242-140-1,850 / 33 TD, 5 INT), who has in his stall former Kurt Warner targets, CARLOS JAMES (team high 10 TDs) and LAMONT COOPER, who is averaging 213.5 all purpose yards per game. Though McNair hasn't been intercepted in his last 92 pass attempts, Gladiators DAMON MASON (4 INTs) and JEROID JOHNSON (53 TKL, 17 PBR) helped force 6 turnovers in a pair of wins against Grand Rapids and Tampa Bay. The Destroyers have forced 8 turnovers in that span, including 6 picks, against New York and Toronto. Buffalo's COREY JOHNSON (league high 6 INTs) is a big reason those two opponents were held to an average of 31.5 points.

This Saturday the New York Dragons (2-7) will attempt to put a stop to the San Jose SaberCats' 10-game regular season winning streak, including 9 straight this season. Last year, the Dragons snapped their record 15-game regular season streak with a 62-58 win at Nassau Coliseum. QB MARK GRIEB (270-179-2,376 / 51 TD, 3 INT) commandeers an offense averaging 65.9 points, the highest in 16 seasons. Across the field, former NY Giants QB DANNY KANELL (116-61-617 / 15 TD, 7 INT) is running the 11th ranked offense (46.6) featuring rookie MIKE FURREY (16 TDs & 5 INTs) and STEVE PAPIN (10 TDs). Papin, who played 5 years in San Jose, is leading the circuit with 227.8 yards per game and has tallied 4 of his 22 career return touchdowns this season. San Jose rookie CLEVAN THOMAS returned 3 kicks for scores in a 74-68 win against Chicago. New York's DB trio of Furrey, SHEA SHOWERS (2 INTs), and DONVETIS FRANKLIN (league high 66.5 tackles/4 INTs) draw the responsibility of shutting down JAMES HUNDON and BARRY WAGNER, the league's 3rd and 9th-ranked scorers.

Other games include Toronto at Orlando on Friday and Chicago at Detroit, Tampa Bay at Dallas, Indiana at Arizona, and Carolina at Los Angeles all on Saturday.

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