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Rochester Brigade Game Notes

July 16, 2003 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Rochester Brigade News Release


QUICK FACTS:
Rochester Brigade (2-12) vs. Albany Conquest (11-3)
Date: Saturday July 19, 2003
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
Site: Pepsi Arena (13,901)
National Anthem: TBA
Officials: TBA
Radio: WYSL 1040 (J.C. DeLass)
Series Record: Albany leads 5-1
Last Meeting: Albany 64 Rochester 40, May 31, 2003
Coaches: Rochester, Mike Esposito (0-0, 1st Season) Albany, Pete Constanza (11-3, 1st Season)

HEAD COACH: Mike Esposito was introduced as head coach of the Rochester Brigade on July 9, 2003. He joins the Brigade after serving two seasons as the defensive coordinator and co-general manager for the Rapid City Red Dogs of the National Indoor Professional Football League (NIFL).

Prior to joining the Red Dogs, Esposito was assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the Washington Shockwave of the NIFL. He was the defensive coordinator at the University of Laverne in Southern California, where his defense finished ranked # 1 in total yards during the 2000 season. He also coached at West Hills College (CA) from 1998-2000 and was a graduate assistant at his alma mater Chardon State College (NE) from 1990-93. He was the head football coach at Lamar High School (Vernon, AL) from 1995-98 and Holy Cross High School (Louisville, KY) from 1993-95.

Esposito is a native of Lockport, NY where he was an accomplished athlete at Lockport High School. He attended William Penn University where he was an All-American on the "gridiron" and the wrestling mat as well as the classroom. He graduated with honors from William Penn and then earned his Masters Degree from Chadron State in Secondary School Administration.

He is very passionate about football and is considered by many of his colleagues a "football work-a-holic". Esposito also is an accomplished strength and conditioning coach having worked with many professional athletes as well as collegiate All-Americans.

In his spare time, Esposito works as a Professional Wrestler known as the "Repo Man" as well as a promoter, for the NWA and USA Boxing.

Next Week: Rochester wraps up the 2003 regular season at the Blue Cross Arena next Saturday, July 26 at 7:30 p.m. as they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers.

Last Week: The Brigade had a bye.

Last Game: The Cincinnati Swarm cruised to a 53-17 win over the Rochester Brigade at the US Bank Arena in Cincinnati on July 3. The Swarm defense was the story of the game, allowing only 17 points and 180 yards of total offense. Justin Coleman earned Defensive MVP honors with 6.5 tackles, a tackle for a loss and two pass break-ups.

The Swarm scored first as James Scott caught a 25 yard pass from Swarm QB Brian Partlow just over three minutes into the game. Scott and Partlow would hook up for three touchdowns on the night. Scott earned Offensive Player of the Game honors with eight total catches for 131 yards and three touchdowns. Partlow was a close runner-up with 212 passing yards and five touchdowns on the night. Partlow, playing in place of injured starter Christian Batcheller, completed 18 of 29 attempts on the night.

After Scott's opening touchdown, Ryan Bowers and Anthony Payton added first half touchdowns to stake the Swarm to a 20-10 lead. Scott would add another TD before halftime to extend the Swarm lead to 27-10 at the break.

The Swarm continued to dominate in the second half. Partlow hit Scott again for the third time on the night. Anthony Payton added his second touchdown of the night, this time rushing, to extend the Swarm lead to 40-17.

Last Series Meeting: Conquest QB Ryan Vena threw six touchdown passes and the Albany defense held Rochester to 127 total yards of offense, en route to a 64-40 win at the Pepsi Arena.

Vena completed 17 of 21 passes for 251 yards, while racking up another 26 yards on the ground en route to his six Game MVP award of the season. Rochester struck first when OS Martino Theus hauled in an 18 yard scoring strike. After OS Corey Hill scored his first touchdown of the game for Albany, OL/DL Spencer Conley sacked Brigade QB Jason Visconti in the end zone, forcing a fumble that rolled out of the back of the end zone for a safety and giving the Conquest an early 9-6 lead.

The home team then went on a 25-8 run, before Rochester WR/DB Derek Baker returned a kickoff 54 yards for a touchdown just before the half, sending it into the locker room, 36-20. Baker would return two kicks for scores and finished with a game high 219 all-purpose yards.

The second half saw the Conquest defense stand tall and the offense add to its lead, keeping the I-90 NY Lottery Cup in Albany for the second straight season. DS Elijah Beamon, who ran back an interception 50 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and picked up 6.5 tackles (two for loss) and two pass breakups, was named ADT Defensive Player of the Game for the second time in 2003.

TEAM NOTES:

New Sheriff In Town: The Brigade introduced Mike Esposito as the team's new coach Wednesday, July 9 during a press conference at the Blue Cross Arena.

Esposito takes over for Mark Saunders who guided the Brigade to a 13-33 record in just under three seasons and one playoff berth.

"We are very excited to have Mike Esposito join the Rochester Brigade organization," said Brigade CEO and operator Mark Hamister at the press conference. "With his experience in indoor football, we are confident that Mike will be able to make the Brigade a success on and off the field."

Esposito is a native of Lockport, NY where he was an accomplished athlete at Lockport High School. He attended William Penn University where he was an All-American on the "gridiron" and the wrestling mat as well as the classroom. He graduated with honors from William Penn and then earned his Masters Degree from Chadron State in Secondary School Administration.

"I'm very excited to come back to Western New York," said Esposito. "This is the greatest assignment I've had in my 13 years of coaching. I'm here because I think the Brigade can be a success and we want to win an Arena Cup championship next season."

Esposito added former AFL and af2 QB Jason Murdock to the Brigade staff as an assistant coach and will retain current assistant coaches Eddie Long, Robert Reed and Andrew Howard.

Murdock Joins Coaching Staff: Jason Murdock joined the Brigade staff in July 2003 after the appointment of Mike Esposito as head coach. Murdock played one season (2001) for the af2's Iowa Barnstormers at quarterback passing for 452 yards and four touchdowns. He also spent time with the AFL's Los Angeles Avengers, Indiana Firebirds and San Jose Sabercats. Murdock attended the University of Merced in California and was a first team all-conference selection his senior season. He was team captain his junior and senior seasons and was named the team's offensive MVP in 1994 and was the MVP of the Elks Bowl.

Offensive POW: The af2 announced Brigade QB Jason Visconti was selected as the Offensive Player of the Week for Week 13. Visconti, in his second season, had a career night June 20 breaking two Brigade records and tying another as he completed 30 of 42 passes for 389 yards and eight touchdowns, despite a one-point loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers. His 389 passing yards breaks Matt D'Orazio's 313 yards vs. Albany on 4/27/02 and is the fourth best single game total in af2 history. His eight touchdowns, including a 30 yard bomb to Martino Theus at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime if not for a missed extra point attempt, breaks D'Orazio's record of seven touchdowns set last season. Visconti's 30 completions ties a mark set by Scott Gasper in 2001. This is the first weekly award for Visconti and the first for any Brigade player this season.

Touchdown Twins: Both WR/DB Derek Baker and OS Martino Theus finished with four touchdown receptions @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on June 20. That ties the single game record which is held by both players. Baker had four scores vs. Charleston July 5, 2001 and Theus tied that mark with four of his own vs. Greensboro June 15, 2002.

Summer(s) In Rochester: Rochester was assigned DS Mike Summers last month and he has instantly made an impact. He set a team record June 28 vs. Columbus with 13.0 tackles. He broke teammate Omar Baker's record of 12 set May 31 against Albany. Prior to Baker, the previous record was 10 set by both Larry Long and Dwaine Carpenter in the same game June 29, 2001 vs. Quad City. Summers spent time with both the Norfolk Knighthawks and Green Bay Blizzard this season but did not see action for either team. Last season, Summers appeared in 10 games for the Louisville Fire recording 70 tackles, four interceptions and four forced fumbles.

Finish Strong: Of the Brigade's 467 points this season, 180 have come in the fourth quarter, which is 38.5% of their scoring.

Daily Double: Rochester is the only team in af2 to have both the longest rush and longest pass completion in league this season. FB/LB LaMonte Coleman had a 45 yard run for a touchdown May 10 at Richmond and QB Kevin Carty and WR/DB Derek Baker hooked up for a 49 yard scoring strike May 3 vs. Mohegan. A player from Wichita is tied with Coleman for longest run and two others are tied for longest pass (Tenn. Valley and Louisville).

Baker the Touchdown Maker: In 14 games this season, WR/DB Derek Baker has scored 27 touchdowns, just under a two touchdown per game average. If he continues this pace, he will break his own team record for touchdowns in a season which he set in 2001 at 29.

Run Lamonte.... Run: FB/LB Lamonte Coleman became the second player in Brigade history to rush for over 200 yards in a season last week (Matt D'Orazio is the only other with 332 in 2002). He has played in all 14 games with 56 rush attempts for 204 yards and eight touchdowns, all among the top five in af2.

Gold Rush: Former Brigade DS Dwaine Carpenter (2001) signed a two year contract with the San Francisco 49ers in May. Carp, who played the last two seasons down the Thruway for the Buffalo Destroyers, is the first player to play for Rochester and then later on join an NFL team.

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