SaberCats Game Notes
July 24, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
San Jose SaberCats News Release
THE QUICK FACTS:
Game: Columbus Destroyers (7-9; 3-0) vs San Jose SaberCats (13-3; 2-0).
Date: Sunday, July 29, 2007.
Kickoff: 12:00 noon (PDT).
Site: New Orleans Arena (16,021).
Officials: Referee: Dave Cutaia; Umpire: Rick Lowe; Head Linesman: Brent Durbin; Line Judge: Paul Engelberts; Back Judge: Rich Wilborn; Alternate: Bill Athan.
Television: ArenaBowl XXI will be televised live and in HD on ESPN on ABC with Mike Greenberg (play-by-play) and Mike Golic (color) calling the action.
Radio: KNBR-1050 will carry the game live with Grant Napear and Keena Turner on the call. The station will air an extended pregame show live from New Orleans Arena with host Dan Dibley.
Opening Line: SaberCats -6 (over/under 118).
Internet: A live webcast is available at www.KNBR.com.
Series Record: SaberCats lead 6-0.
Series Streak: SaberCats Won 6.
Last Meeting: SaberCats 68, Columbus 47 (May 13, 2006 at HP Pavilion, San Jose, Calif.).
Coaches: San Jose, Darren Arbet (9th season; 96-40 reg. season; 12-5 post season; 108-45 overall).
Columbus, Doug Kay (5th season; 30-42 reg. season; 3-0 postseason; 33-42 overall).
MEDIA CONTACTS:
San Jose, Phil Simon (wk: 408.573.5587; cell: 408.234.4677; email: psimon@sanjosesabercats.com).
Columbus, Brian Dancel (wk: 614.246.7258; cell: 614.546.5197; email: bdancel@bluejackets.com)
OVERVIEW: The SaberCats advanced to ArenaBowl XXI with a 61-49 defeat of the Chicago Rush in the American Conference Championship game on July 14 and will play in their third AFL title game in the last six seasons against the Columbus Destroyers. San Jose dispatched of the past two ArenaBowl champions in this year's postseason, defeating Colorado ('05) in the Divisional Round and the defending champion Rush in the conference final. This year's ArenaBowl will once again take place at a neutral site, this time in New Orleans, La., on Sunday, July 29. ESPN on ABC will televise the game live and in HD at 12 noon (PT) and San Jose's flagship radio station KNBR 1050 will air the game live. The SaberCats avenged last year's Conference Championship game loss to Chicago by forcing five turnovers and making seven defensive stops extending their winning streak to 12 games. Of teams that have appeared in more than one ArenaBowl, the SaberCats are the only club to have a perfect record after winning titles in 2002 and 2004. San Jose and Columbus have met just once, a 68-47 SaberCats win on May 13, 2006, but San Jose is 6-0 against the Destroyers (Buffalo) franchise. San Jose's last loss in 2007 was back on April 13, when the SaberCats fell to the VooDoo, 67-54, in New Orleans and the team is 0-2 all-time in New Orleans Arena.
THE SCHEDULES
2007 SAN JOSE SABERCATS (13-3; 2-0)
Date Opponent Result Score (Rec)
Mar. 4 @Los Angeles Won 66-58 (1-0)
Mar. 9 @Chicago Lost 45-48 (1-1)
Mar. 24 @Georgia Lost 62-64 (1-2)
Mar. 31 TAMPA BAY Won 69-49 (2-2)
Apr. 6 COLORADO Won 72-44 (3-2)
Apr. 13 @New Orleans Lost 54-67 (3-3)
Apr. 21 LOS ANGELES Won 73-49 (4-3)
Apr. 28 UTAH Won 69-48 (5-3)
May 5 @Arizona Won 56-49 (6-3)
May 12 LAS VEGAS Won 61-34 (7-3)
May 19 GRAND RAPIDS Won 69-44 (8-3)
May 25 @Nashville Won 48-34 (9-3)
Jun. 1 ORLANDO Won 59-52 (10-3)
Jun. 9 @Utah Won 70-49 (11-3)
Jun. 16 ARIZONA Won 66-26 (12-3)
Jun. 25 @Las Vegas Won 73-46 (13-3)
Date Playoff Opponent Result Score
July 7 COLORADO Won 76-67 (1-0)
July 14 CHICAGO Won 61-49 (2-0)
2007 COLUMBUS DESTROYERS (7-9; 3-0)
Date Opponent Result Score
Mar. 1 @Nashville Won 58-56 (1-0)
Mar. 9 @New Orleans Lost 45-52 (1-1)
Mar. 24 CHICAGO Lost 47-55 (1-2)
Mar. 30 GEORGIA Won 62-61 (2-2)
Apr. 5 @Dallas Lost 51-53 (2-3)
Apr. 14 AUSTIN Won 72-49 (3-3)
Apr. 23 PHILADELPHIA Won 44-21 (4-3)
Apr. 29 @Tampa Bay Lost 32-34 (4-4)
May 4 NEW YORK Won 51-42 (5-4)
May 11 GRAND RAPIDS Won 59-56 (6-4)
May 18 @Colorado Lost 40-58 (6-5)
May 26 DALLAS Lost 47-56 (6-6)
Jun. 2 @Georgia Lost 33-54 (6-7)
Jun. 8 KANSAS CITY Lost 34-47 (6-8)
Jun. 16 @Philadelphia Lost 53-56 (6-9)
Jun. 23 @New York Won 74-43 (7-9)
Date Playoff Opponent Result Score
Jun. 30 @Tampa Bay Won 56-55 (1-0)
July 7 @Dallas Won 66-59 (2-0)
July 14 @Georgia Won 66-56 (3-0)
THE SERIES: San Jose and Columbus have faced each other just once, a 68-47 SaberCats win in San Jose on May 13, 2006. The SaberCats do have a history with the Destroyers franchise however, winning all five games against the Buffalo Destroyers from 1999-2003 giving them a 6-0 all-time mark. The Destroyers franchise was sold and relocated to Ohio in September 2003...San Jose has outscored the Destroyers 385 to 258 in the six games...San Jose has not faced an Eastern Division team since beating Columbus back on May 13, 2006.
SERIES NOTABLES:
The Destroyers franchise played in Buffalo from 1999 through 2003 before being sold and relocated to Ohio prior to the 2004 season. San Jose is 6-0 all-time against the franchise...WR James Roe has 11 TD catches among his 20 career receptions against the Destroyers...Mark Grieb has started the last five series games against the Destroyers completing over 70 percent of his passes (107-of-152) for 1,368 yards and 32 TDs with just three INTs...San Jose defeated Buffalo, 52-46, in the first ever meeting between the clubs on Jul. 9, 1999, extending the Destroyers' losing streak to 11 games to open their inaugural season. They would finish the campaign 1-13...Destroyers' QB Matt Nagy (Georgia), WR Damian Groce (Arizona) and K Peter Martinez (Grand Rapids) all played against San Jose during the 2006 season as members of other clubs...San Jose's Phil Glover rushed for a career-high 42 yards against Columbus on May 13, 2006, the 5th highest game total in franchise history...The last time San Jose played an Eastern Division team was in its battle with Columbus on May 13, 2006. The SaberCats extended their win streak against Eastern Division foes to four with a 68-47 victory...Columbus' Doug Kay has faced San Jose as a head coach three times, the last being May 13, 2006. Kay's previous two meetings came with Charlotte in 1995 when he saw the SaberCats in back-to-back games. San Jose won, 66-35, at Charlotte on July 7, and defeated the Rage, 52-20, in San Jose on July 14...San Jose overcame a 15-point first half deficit and an 11-point halftime deficit by outscoring the Destroyers 35-3 in the second half of its 68-47 win on May 13, 2006...OL/DL Dan Loney collected his 1st career sack against the Destroyers on Jun. 1, 2002...Destroyers B.J. Barre and Howard Duncan and SaberCat A.J. Haglund all played under current SaberCats assistant Jeff Jarnigan at af2 Oklahoma City in 2005...Kelvin Kinney, David Saunders and Omarr Smith were all members of the 2003 ArenaBowl champion Tampa Bay Storm...SaberCats assistant Jeff Jarnigan and Destroyers assistant Skip Foster were both members of the Austin Wranglers inaugural coaching staff in 2004.
LAST SERIES MEETING:
SABERCATS OVERCOME DEFICIT, BEAT DESTROYERS
SAN JOSE, Calif. (May 13, 2006) - Mark threw for 302 yards, setting a new Arena Football League record for most in a season, and eight touchdowns leading the San Jose SaberCats to their 7th straight win, 68-47, over the Columbus Destroyers. Grieb threw four scoring passes in the second half as San Jose outscored Columbus 35-3 in the final two quarters to overcome an 11-point halftime deficit. He finished the night 26-of-42 and raised his season total to 4,841 yards, breaking his own 2005 season record of 4,796 yards. Columbus quarterback John Kaleo completed 14-of-15 passes for 216 yards and five touchdowns in the first half helping the Destroyers to an early lead. He connected with David Saunders and Darcey Levy on 24-yard strikes in the first 4:07 of the game lifting the Destroyers to a 14-0 lead. Kaleo also scored on a 2-yard run at 8:06 of the second period lifting Columbus to its biggest lead of the game, 34-19. He ended 23-of-35 for 284 yards but tossed a pair of second half interceptions. Following that score the SaberCats ended the game with a 49-13 scoring run. Phil Glover, who ran for a career-high 42 yards, scored twice during the outburst and ended the season with a league-best 15 rush TDs. Ben Nelson caught six passes for 81 yards, but missed setting the league rookie record falling 6 yards shy of Austin's Derrick Lewis. The SaberCats amassed 346 yards of offense and established a league record for total yards in a season with 5,066. They became the first team in league history to total over 5,000 yards in a single season.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Destroyers....................... 20 24 0 3 - 47
SaberCats........................ 13 20 14 21 - 68
SCORING SUMMARY
CLB Saunders 24 pass from Kaleo (Lewis kick)
CLB Levy 24 pass from Kaleo (Lewis kick)
SAN Roe 8 pass from Grieb (Schmitz kick failed)
CLB Levy 15 pass from Kaleo (Lewis kick failed)
SAN Nelson 5 pass from Grieb (Schmitz kick)
SAN Roe 18 pass from Grieb (Schmitz kick failed)
CLB Levy 42 pass from Kaleo (Lewis kick)
CLB Kaleo 2 run (Lewis kick)
SAN Glover 3 run (Schmitz kick)
CLB Saunders 2 pass from Kaleo (Lewis kick)
SAN Roe 18 pass from Grieb (Schmitz kick)
CLB FG Lewis 37
SAN Nelson 34 pass from Grieb (Schmitz kick)
SAN Roe 18 pass from Grieb (Schmitz kick)
SAN Wagner 4 pass from Grieb (Schmitz kick)
CLB FG Lewis 22
SAN Nelson 27 pass from Grieb (Schmitz kick)
SAN Glover 4 run (Schmitz kick)
TEAM STATISTICS CLB SAN
First Downs 15 26
Total Net Yards 269 346
Rush Atts-Net Yards 8-3 7-44
Net Yards Passing 266 302
Comp-Att-Int 23-35-2 26-42-1
KO Returns-Yards 8-159 7-115
MFG Returns-Yards 0-0 1-26
INT for-Yards 1-0 2-(-1)
Penalties-Yards 6-50 2-4
Fumbles-Lost 5-2 3-3
Sacks By-Yards 0-0 2-17
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing: CLB-Kaleo 23-35-2-283. SJ-Grieb 26-42-1-302.
Rushing: CLB-Kaleo 3-4; Greetis 1-0; Thompson 4-(-1). SJ-Glover 5- 42; Wagner 2-2.
Receiving: CLB-Levy 9-168; Saunders 5-51; Knight 5-41; Bond 3-20; Jones 1-3. SJ-Wagner 7-82; Roe 6-84; Nelson 6-81; Johnson 2-28; Geathers 2-15; Pauley 2-6; Floyd 1-6.
Kick Returns: CLB-Knight 4-85; Barre 4-74. SJ-Pauley 5-86; Geathers 2-29; Wagner 1-26.
ALL-TIME SERIES SCORES
Date Score
May 13, 2006 @San Jose 68, Columbus 47
Mar. 14, 2003 @San Jose 58, Buffalo 41
June 1, 2002 San Jose 63, @Buffalo 35
July 22, 2000 @San Jose 83, Buffalo 54
May 19, 2000 San Jose 61, @Buffalo 35
July 9, 1999 @San Jose 52, Buffalo 46
THE COACHES
San Jose - Darren Arbet, 9th season
108-45 (.706) overall; 12-5 (.706) postseason
1-0 (1.000) career vs. Columbus
6-0 (1.000) career vs. Destroyers franchise
1-0 (1.000) career vs. Doug Kay
Two-time Arena Football League Coach of the Year and ArenaBowl champion Darren Arbet is in his 9th season as head coach of the San Jose SaberCats and second as the club's general manager. In 2007 Arbet became the fifth head coach in AFL history to win 100 games when San Jose defeated Las Vegas on May 12 and is currently tied with Colorado's Mike Dailey for fourth place in career wins with 108. Arbet also guided the SaberCats to their eighth straight winning season and playoff appearance by going 13-3, the seventh time in his nine seasons the team has posted a double-digit regular season win total. The team also captured its second straight Western Division title and sixth under Arbet (7th overall). Arbet owns the AFL's best postseason winning percentage (.706) and has collected the third-most playoff wins (12). Under the direction of Arbet San Jose has enjoyed unmatched success vaulting the franchise to elite status in the AFL. Since the start of the 2000 season, Arbet's second as head coach, the SaberCats have claimed two ArenaBowl championships (2002, 2004), compiled the most regular season wins (93) and playoff wins (12) while averaging nearly 13 victories a season. In addition, the club has set league records for regular season wins in a season (13 in 2002), overall wins in a season (16 in 2002), consecutive wins in a regular season (12 in 2002), regular season wins to end a season (11 in 2000) and the longest regular season win streak (15 in 2000-01). Arbet's ties to the AFL date back to the late 1980s when he played two seasons as a fullback/linebacker with the Los Angeles Cobras (1988) and Maryland Commandos (1989) before a wrist injury that required three surgeries ended his career. During his playing days, Arbet lined up against former Philadelphia head coach Michael Trigg, who was a quarterback with the Detroit Drive, and Georgia Force offensive coordinator Steve Thonn, who played WR/DB with the Chicago Bruisers.
Columbus - Doug Kay, 5th season (2nd w/CLB)
33-42 (.440) overall; 3-0 (1.000) postseason
0-3 (.000) career vs. San Jose
0-1 (.000) career vs. Darren Arbet
The Destroyers hired Doug Kay as their head coach on July 14, 2005. Now in his second season with Columbus Kay brings 14 years of Arena Football coaching experience. In 11 of his 14 seasons, Kay's teams have qualified for the playoffs, including two ArenaBowl championships. Kay also has coached the Charlotte Rage (1995) and the Carolina Cobras (2000-01) posting a 15-25 record prior to his arrival in Columbus. He led the Cobras to a 7-7 mark in 2001, after going 3-11 the season before, and their first playoff berth, however, Kay vacated his position prior to the Cobras first round playoff defeat. Kay guided Columbus to a franchise-best 8 wins last season and the team's first playoff appearance, and third in franchise history, this year. In his two seasons with Columbus, Kay has a 15-17 regular season record and is 18-17 overall.
2007 FINAL TEAM STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Category (Rank) SaberCats Destroyers
Scoring Offense 63.2 (2) 50.1 (16)
Scoring Defense 47.6 (2) 49.6 (5)
Total Offense 300.7 (7) 256.9 (18)
Total Defense 281.3 (5) 284.5 (7)
Pass Offense 288.7 (6) 233.9 (18)
Pass Defense 266.2 (5) 267.3 (7)
Rushing Offense 12.0 (15) 22.9 (4)
Rushing Defense 15.1 (6) 17.2 (8)
Pass Rating 125.0 (3) 103.4 (16)
Pass Defense Rating 99.1 (4) 115.3 (12)
Interceptions 22 (3) 12 (15)
Kickoff Return Avg. 19.7 (4) 18.8 (9)
Field Goal Return Avg. 3.7 (19) 6.5 (17)
Turnover Margin +21 (2) -1 (10)
3rd Down Conversions 54.1% (3) 48.3 (9)
4th Down Conversions 65.0% (1) 61.3 (4)
Sacks By 19 (t-5) 16 (10)
Sacks Against 17 (t-10) 13 (8)
2007 SABERCATS AMONG AFL LEADERS
Player Category No. Rank
Mark Grieb Pass Avg/Game 288.0 4th
Mark Grieb Completion Pct. 71.0 2nd
Mark Grieb Passing TDs 100 4th
Mark Grieb Pass Attempts 562 5th
Mark Grieb Pass Yards 4,608 3rd
Mark Grieb Pass Completions 399 2nd
Mark Grieb Passer Rating 125.4 3rd
Mark Grieb Total Offense 4,635 3rd
Mark Grieb Total Offensive TDs 102 4th
Mark Grieb Pass Yards/Attempt 8.2 4th
A.J. Haglund Kick Scoring 158 1st
A.J. Haglund FG Percentage 55.6 5th
A.J. Haglund PAT Percentage 92.8 5th
A.J. Haglund FGs Made 10 t-8th
A.J. Haglund PATs Made 128 1st
A.J. Haglund PAT Attempts 138 1st
James Roe Receiving Yards 1,560 6th
James Roe Receptions 127 7th
James Roe Receiving TDs 40 t-7th
Ron Jones Fumbles Recovered 3 t-8th
Ron Jones Fumbles Forced 4 t-9th
Ron Jones Sacks 7.0 t-8th
Ron Jones Tackles for Loss 9.5 t-7th
Clevan Thomas Interceptions 9 t-3rd
Clevan Thomas Passes Defended 30 4th
Clevan Thomas Fumbles Forced 5 t-3rd
Clevan Thomas INT Return Yards 119 6th
Clevan Thomas INT Return TDs 2 t-4th
Phil Glover Fumbles Forced 5 t-3rd
Phil Glover Fumbles Recovered 4 t-3rd
Trestin George KOR Average 23.6 1st
Trestin George KOR Yards 872 9th
Trestin George KOR TDs 2 t-8th
Steve Watson Fumbles Recovered 3 t-8th
Rodney Wright KOR Average 22.9 3rd
Rodney Wright KOR TDs 3 t-5th
Omarr Smith INT Return TDs 2 t-4th
Omarr Smith INT Return Yards 86 10th
Omarr Smith Passes Defended 22 t-10th
Marquis Floyd Passes Defended 22 t-10th
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