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San Jose at Arizona Game Notes

January 27, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
San Jose SaberCats News Release


THE QUICK FACTS:
Game: SaberCats (0-0) at Arizona Rattlers (0-0). Date: Sunday, February 2, 2003.
Kickoff: 12:00 p.m. (PST).
Site: America West Arena (16,923).
Officials: Referee: Bill Athan; Umpire: Rick Nelson; Head Linesman: Tim Podroza; Line Judge: Jim Hatfield; Back Judge: Rob Vernatchi.
Television: Sunday's game kicks off NBC's coverage of the Arena Football League on network television. NBC's announcing crew of Mike Breen (play-by-play), Ray Bentley (color) and Dave Burns (sidelines) will call this historic contest.
Radio: San Jose's flagship station The Ticket (KTCT) 1050-AM will broadcast the game live with Bob Fitzgerald handling play-by-play duties and George Atkinson supplying the color commentary. Internet: Log on to www.ticket1050.com to hear a live webcast of the game.
Series Record: Arizona leads 10-8.
Last Meeting: ArenaBowl XVI: San Jose 52, Arizona 14 (August 18, 2002 in San Jose).
Series Streaks: San Jose Won 1.
Coaches: San Jose, Darren Arbet (5th season; 41-15 regular season, 46-17 overall). Arizona, Danny White (12th season; 100-44 regular season, 115-52 overall).

OVERVIEW: The World Champion San Jose SaberCats begin defense of their title by visiting rival Arizona in a re-match of last year's ArenaBowl. The Arena Football League's 17th season is a historic one as the league will be showcased on network television for the first time. NBC will broadcast regular season games every Sunday and all playoff games for a total of up to 70 games. Sunday's battle will be regionally televised on NBC and seven other San Jose games during the season will be featured. The SaberCats are coming off a record setting 2002 campaign that saw them post league records for wins to start a season (12), regular season wins (13) and overall wins in a season (16). This game marks the fourth meeting in less than 10 months between the SaberCats and Rattlers. The teams opened the 2002 season in San Jose on April 20, squared off in Arizona on July 12 and met in ArenaBowl XVI on August 18. San Jose QB Mark Grieb returns to the scene of the crime, so to speak. He will be playing in his first game since sustaining a broken collarbone when the Rattlers beat San Jose 59-52 on July 12 ending the SaberCats' bid for a perfect season. Arizona leads the all-time series 10-8 but San Jose has won six of the last seven meetings between the division rivals.

THE SERIES: Arizona leads the all-time series 10-8 and has won five of seven series games played in Arizona...The Rattlers handed the SaberCats their only loss last season with a 59-52 win at America West on July 12. The Rattlers broke a 5-game losing skid to the SaberCats with that victory...The SaberCats won the last meeting between the teams with a 52-14 win in ArenaBowl XVI in San Jose on August 18, 2002, and have won six of the last seven games in the series...The two teams will be meeting for the 19th time and the series is the second-longest running in the league. Only Orlando and Tampa Bay have a longer running division/conference rivalry (started in 1991)...The home team has won the last four games in the series and five of the last six.

SERIES NOTABLES: The SaberCats and Rattlers have each won four Western Division titles in the 8 years since the AFL went to a four-division format in 1995. San Jose won its third straight division championship last season and also won the title in 1995. Arizona won four straight division titles from 1996 to 1999...The Rattlers have dealt the SaberCats their worst two defeats in franchise history: 75-37 (38 pts) on June 5, 1999 in Arizona and 59-22 (37 pts) on June 9, 1997 in San Jose...San Jose's 38-point win on August 18, 2002 in ArenaBowl XVI (52-14) was Arizona's worst defeat since a 71-21 loss at Orlando on July 17, 1992...The SaberCats handed Arizona its third-worst home defeat in 78 games with a 55-34 win (21 pts) on June 1, 2000...San Jose has played the most games (18) and has the most wins (8) against Arizona than any other opponent...San Jose's point total in a 73-63 win in Arizona on July 6, 2001 was the most allowed by the Rattlers in their history...San Jose played its first-ever regular season game against Arizona on May 12, 1995 losing to the Rattlers, 43-37, in overtime...Arizona and San Jose combined to return back-to-back kickoffs for TDs, the only time in SaberCats history that has happened, on Aug. 6, 1995. Arizona's Hunkie Cooper and Titus Dixon did the honors in a 41-40 Rattlers win...Eleven of the 18 games in the series have been decided by 11 or fewer points, while the other seven games have seen the winning team victorious by an average of nearly 28 points per game.

LAST SERIES MEETING: San Jose 52, Arizona 14 (ArenaBowl XVI • Sunday, August 18, 2002, Compaq Center) – The SaberCats won their first-ever Arena Football League title defeating the Arizona Rattlers 52-14 before 16,942 fans at the Compaq Center. The 38-point win was the largest in ArenaBowl history. San Jose finished the 2002 season by scoring 50 or more points in all 17 games, while the 16 wins are the most-ever in an AFL season. San Jose QB John Dutton earned game MVP honors as he threw for 236 yards and five TDs while completing 20-of-26 passes. WR/DB Omarr Smith earned Ironman of the Game honors after recording 5 solo tackles, one interception and a defensive fumble recovery, while adding 4 receptions for 34 yards and 9 rushing yards on 2 attempts. OS James Hundon caught 8 passes for 97 yards and three scores for the winners. Veteran WR/DB Barry Wagner moved into a tie for second place in ArenaBowl history for career rushing TDs with 3 after scoring on a two-yard run in the second quarter. Arizona QB Sherdrick Bonner completed just 14-of-32 passes for 172 yards for the Rattlers, who were held scoreless for the first three quarters of the game. The SaberCats scored the only points in the opening quarter as Dutton found Hundon on a 28-yard scoring strike three plays after Arizona kicker Kyle Pooler misfired on a 37-yard field goal attempt. The Rattlers second possession was foiled after Bo Kelly committed the first turnover of the 2002 title game. San Jose DS Clevan Thomas, the AFL's 2002 Rookie and Defensive Player of the year, stripped Kelly of the ball and recovered it in the end zone for a touchback. San Jose took a 24-point lead into halftime, the largest halftime lead in ArenaBowl history, after scoring 17 second-quarter points. Dutton and Hundon connected on a two-yard scoring pass, Daron Alcorn converted a 31-yard field goal, and Wagner added his rushing score. This was only the second time in ArenaBowl history a team had been shut out in the first half (the Pittsburgh Gladiators were held scoreless by the Denver Dynamite in ArenaBowl I in 1987). In addition, this was the first time in Arizona's 11-year history that it had been shut out in any half. San Jose continued its offensive prowess in the third quarter tacking on two more scores, 12-yard and 32-yard scoring receptions by James Roe and Jerry Reese, respectively. Arizona joined Pittsburgh as the only teams in league championship history to be held scoreless through the first three quarters. Arizona finally scored with 9:24 left in the game as Bryant hauled in a 30-yard TD pass from Bonner. WR/LB Hunkie Cooper caught the ensuing two-point conversion, cutting the lead to 45-8. Hundon tacked on his third score of the game a little over three minutes later to push San Jose over the 50-point mark.

THE IFS...:
If the SaberCats defeat Arizona it would...
*Be San Jose's 5th straight opening season win.
*Give San Jose a 5-4 record in season opening games.
*Be San Jose's 9th win over the Rattlers.
*Give San Jose 26-16 record vs Western Division foes.
*Give San Jose a 71-40 all-time regular season record.
*Be San Jose's 34th all-time regular season road win.
*Give San Jose 11-9 road record vs Western Division.

THE COACHES:

San Jose – Darren Arbet, 5th season
41-15 (.732) reg. season; 46-17 (.730) overall 7-3 (.700) career vs. Arizona
Last season Arbet guided the SaberCats to the best regular season record (13-1) ever in league history, the most victories in a season (16) and the franchise's first league title. Arbet has compiled a 41-15 (.732) career mark in regular season games and currently owns the third-best regular season winning percentage in AFL history among coaches with at least 10 victories. Named AFL Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2002, Arbet's teams have gone 40-9 (.816) overall in the past three seasons. Spanning the 2000 and 2001 seasons, Arbet led the SaberCats to a league record 15-game regular season winning streak and twice in the last three years the SaberCats have had 12-game win streaks.

Arizona – Danny White, 12th season
100-44 (.694) reg. season; 115-52 (.689) overall 10-8 (.556) career vs. San Jose
White is the only head coach the Rattlers have had joining the team in 1992. In 2001, he became the second head coach in AFL history to reach 100 career wins when the Rattlers defeated Houston 77-67 on June 30. He also won his 100th regular season game when the Rattlers beat New Jersey in the 2002 season finale. White's career win total is second only to Tampa Bay's Tim Marcum, who has 143 career victories. He was named the league's Coach of the Year in 1993 and has led the Rattlers to two AFL Championships (1994 and 1997.

RECENT RESULTS: The Arena Football League's past two champions battled right down to the end in a scrimmage game at HP Pavilion on January 19. San Jose rookie Rashied Davis returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and scored a third on a 5-yard pass reception and lineman Brian Johnson sacked Grand Rapids' quarterback Nick Browder on the game's final play as the defending champion SaberCats held off the Rampage, 54-49. SaberCats' quarterback Mark Grieb, seeing his first game action since last July when he was injured in a game at Arizona, played three series and completed 4-of-6 passes for 51 yards and two TDs. The 2002 Offensive Player of the Year had his first pass attempt intercepted before leading the SaberCats on consecutive scoring drives. Grieb's first TD pass was a 27-yard dart to James Roe that gave San Jose a 7-0 lead. He connected with Barry Wagner in the back of the endzone on a 9-yard scoring toss on San Jose's next possession to up the SaberCats lead to 14-0. Grieb completed his final four attempts of the game before sitting for the remainder of the contest. Bob Bees and newly signed John Turman shared the quarterbacking duties for the SaberCats the rest of the evening. Bees threw a pair of scoring strikes and completed 8-of-11 for 103 yards. Turman hit 6-of-12 for 64 yards. Bees' 9-yard scoring toss to Anthony Cobbs early in the third quarter gave San Jose a 35-21 lead before Rampage backup quarterbacks Browder and Jeff Welsh each threw a TD pass to knot the game at 35-35 with four minutes left in the third. Davis, a former San Jose State star, gave the SaberCats the lead back when he took the ensuing kickoff 56-yards for his second kickoff return touchdown of the game. Turman led San Jose on a 7-play, 45-yard scoring drive at the start of the fourth quarter. Rookie Mawuko Tugbenyoh busted into the endzone from a yard out giving the SaberCats a 47-42 lead. The two-point PAT failed. Turman completed 3-of-4 passes for 37 yards on the drive. After Davis intercepted a Browder pass in his own endzone, it was time for Bees to run the offense. He led the SaberCats on another 7-play, 45-yard scoring drive as San Jose increased its lead to 54-42. Bees completed all four of his attempts for 44 yards and capped off the drive by taking a bootleg 2-yards for paydirt with 52 seconds left in the game. A nice 34-yard return by Ricky Ross on the ensuing kickoff gave Grand Rapids great field position and Browder cashed in when he hit Damon Hodge on a 7-yard scoring play. A successful on-sides kick gave Grand Rapids possession on its own 11-yard line. But following three pass plays that netted only 13 yards, Browder couldn't get his last pass attempt off as Johnson pursued him from the other side of the line and recorded the sack to end the game. Grand Rapids' quarterback Clint Dolezel, one of the top signal-callers in the AFL, completed 8-of-19 passes for 96 yards and a pair of scores. Clevan Thomas, the 2002 Defensive Player of the Year, intercepted one of Dolezel's offerings.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT: Arizona's 31-11 regular season record since the start of the 2000 season is the second-best in the league behind only San Jose's record of 35-7...The Rattlers own a distinct home-field advantage with a record of 66-21 (.759) all-time in America West Arena

ROSTER MOVES: The SaberCats trimmed their roster to the league mandated 24-man limit by releasing seven players and placing six others on injured reserve

RECENT ROSTER MOVES
Date Action
Jan. 27 Released QB Johnny Turman, WR/DB Larry Thompson, DS Hamin Milligan, WR/LB James Battle, FB/LB Mawuko Tugbenyoh, OL/DL Akaba DeLaney, WR/DB Brandon Nash.
Jan. 27 Placed WR/LB Shalon Baker, FB/LB James Williams, OS Aaron Bailey, OL/DLs Frank Beede, Devin Wyman, George Williams on IR.

INJURY REPORT: OL/DL Joe Jacobs sustained a sprain in his right thumb against Tampa Bay on August 3, but played well in San Jose's semifinal win over Orlando. He is listed as probable for the ArenaBowl.

INJURY REPORT
Player Injury Status
DS Gana Joseph Hamstring strain Probable

MILESTONES:
*OL/DL Sam Hernandez needs 1 sack for 50 career.
*OL/DL Joe Jacobs needs 2.5 sacks for 30 career.
*K Daron Alcorn needs 7 field goals for 100 career.
*QB Mark Grieb needs 90 pass yards for 10,000 career; 93 pass yards for 9,000 in SJ career; 5 pass attempts for 1,000 in SJ career; 19 TD passes for 200 in SJ career.
*OS James Hundon needs 7 receptions for 150 career.
*WR/DB Barry Wagner needs 70 all-purpose yards for 4,000 in SJ career.
*WR/LB James Roe needs 258 receiving yards for 2,000 career.
*WR/LB Shalon Baker needs 1 solo tackle for 100 career and 1 TD for 60 career.

TALE OF THE TAPE: The SaberCats led the AFL in 17 of 67 team statistical categories in 2002, including matching a league record for touchdowns scored with 123, and they also ranked in the top 5 in 25 other categories. San Jose ranked last in the AFL in INTs thrown (7), kickoff return attempts (66) and time of possession, which are good categories to be ranked last in.

2002 SEASON REVIEW:

REGULAR SEASON – The SaberCats posted the best start to season in league history by winning their first 12 games, breaking the old mark of 11 by the 1994 Orlando Predators. San Jose ended the season by establishing another record, 13 victories on the season, going one win better than six other teams, including the 2000 San Jose squad. The records didn't come easy as the SaberCats won their first three games by a combined total of 14 points and needed defensive heroics in an offense-oriented game. Rookie Clevan Thomas made a statement in the first game of the year by intercepting a Sherdrick Bonner pass in his own endzone with one minute to play to preserve a 1-point San Jose victory. Week 2 saw another defensive play decide the game. Bob McMillen returned an INT 46-yards for a TD with 34 seconds left in the game to give San Jose a 61-54 win. The defense again rose to the occasion in a Week 3 win over Georgia. The SaberCats shutout the Force in the final quarter and overcame a 10-point third quarter deficit to improve to 3-0. San Jose went on a scoring rampage the next three games posting wins over Los Angeles, 78-44, at Orlando, 77-45, and against Dallas, 77-54, to become the first club in AFL history to score at least 76 points in three straight games. The SaberCats' first extended road trip of the season saw them get wins at Buffalo, 63-35 and at Los Angeles, 52-33, to run their record to 8-0. In perhaps the wildest game of the season, San Jose upended Chicago, 74-68, behind a record-setting performance by Thomas. The rookie amassed single-game records of 252 combined kick return yards and returned three for scores. The return of Steve Papin to San Jose couldn't derail the SaberCats in Week 10 as they posted a 65-41 win over the Dragons despite 257 all-purpose yards from the former San Jose player. San Jose tied the 1994 Orlando Predators league record for consecutive wins to start a season and clinched its third straight Western Division crown with a 58-41 at Dallas on June 29 behind 6 TD passes from Mark Grieb. The SaberCats broke the record the following week and wrapped up the No. 1 seed for the postseason with a 52-41 win over Indiana. Just two wins away from a perfect season the SaberCats saw it end in Arizona with a 59-52 loss to the Rattlers on July 12. Not only did San Jose lose the game, it also lost starting QB Mark Grieb with a broken collarbone when lineman Stacy Evans threw him to the turf late in the third quarter. John Dutton rallied the troops to a tie late in the fourth quarter, but an 11-yard TD run by Chris Horn with :43 left gave Arizona its final advantage. Dutton's fourth down pass in the corner of the endzone with :07 left glanced off the fingertips of a diving James Hundon and the SaberCats suffered their first loss of the season. Dutton, making his first start of the year in the season finale, threw 5 TD passes and the SaberCats won their league record 13th game of the year, 58-41, at Carolina to close out the regular season.

PLAYOFFS – In order for the SaberCats to claim their first league title, they had to beat the three teams that have been around in one city longer than they have. The SaberCats were up to the task. Tampa Bay, Orlando and Arizona are the only teams in the AFL that have been in the same city longer than San Jose and each has claimed multiple championships. San Jose overcame an 18-point second half deficit to defeat Tampa Bay in the quarterfinals, 54-48. The SaberCats never trailed in beating Orlando 52-40 in the semifinals and they posted the largest ArenaBowl victory in AFL history with a 52-14 win over Arizona.

TRENDS:

OPENERS – The SaberCats have won four straight season openers and are 4-4 all-time in season opening games. This will be just the third season opener on the road for San Jose and the first since 1999 when the SaberCats won their first-ever season opening game with a 54-53 win at Grand Rapids. San Jose opened the 1997 season on the road at Nashville and suffered a 47-21 loss. For the second straight season the SaberCats and Rattlers will play on opening day. San Jose defeated Arizona 52-51 in the 2002 opener in San Jose.

ROAD WARRIORS – Over the past three seasons the SaberCats have posted a 16-5 (.762) record in regular season road games. San Jose went 6-1 in both 2000 and 2002 and tallied a 4-3 record in road games during the 2001 campaign.

THE HALF CENTURY MARK – The SaberCats led the league in scoring at 62.7 points per game last season and became the first team in league history to go an entire 14-game regular season schedule scoring at least 50 points in each contest. Dating back to the 2001 season, the SaberCats have scored at least 50 points in 20 consecutive regular season games and are 18-2 in that stretch. The last time San Jose failed to reach the half century mark came on June 2, 2001 in a 47-44 loss at Los Angeles.

52 FOR YOU – The SaberCats have Arizona's number, and it's 52. San Jose scored exactly 52 points in each of the three meetings between the teams last season winning twice. The SaberCats posted a 52-51 win in San Jose on April 20 and won the rubber game of the series 52-14 in ArenaBowl XVI on August 18. Arizona dealt San Jose its only defeat of the year posting a 59-52 win in Arizona on July 12. The 52 points represented the lowest total amassed in a game by the SaberCats last season.

HEATED RIVALS – In the eight years since the AFL went to a four-division format, the SaberCats and Rattlers are the only teams to win a Western Division title. San Jose has won the title the last three seasons and won it for the first time in its inaugural season of 1995. The Rattlers posted four straight division titles from 1996-99. The series itself has been a tale of two teams. In the first 11 games between Arizona and San Jose, the Rattlers posted a 9-2 mark. San Jose has had the better of the series lately winning six of the last seven series games.

NOTES:

ROSTER MAKE UP – The 2003 opening day 24-man roster includes 16 players who played for the team last year and 11 players who competed in ArenaBowl XVI last August. Of the six rookies on the roster, three have spent time on the SaberCats practice squad in the past. WR/DB Rashied Davis and FB/LB Kevin Buck each spent time on the team's practice squad last year, while FB/LB Keala Keanaaina was on the practice squad in 2001. Keanaaina had a shot at making last season's active roster before sustaining a ruptured tendon in his foot in a preseason game and spending the entire year on injured reserve.

GRIEB RETURNS – San Jose QB Mark Grieb will be playing in his first game since being injured in Arizona last July 12, and by looking at his career stats against the Rattlers, he probably can't wait. In seven career games as a SaberCat against Arizona, Grieb has thrown for 1,659 yards (237 ypg) with 37 TDs and ZERO interceptions. That's right, NO interceptions. In his last four games he's even been more surgeon-like completing 67.4 percent (91-of-135) of his passes for 1,178 yards (294.5 ypg) and 29 TDs. Grieb had career-highs of 27 completions and 42 attempts for 310 yards and six TDs in San Jose's 52-51 2002 season opener. Grieb also threw for a team single-game record nine TD passes in the SaberCats 73-63 win at Arizona on July 6, 2001.

CATCH THIS – OS James Hundon has been a favorite target of San Jose QBs since joining the team midway through the 2001 season. Last year JHun led the league in receiving yards (1,464) and receiving touchdowns (35) and placed 4th in receptions (98) capturing San Jose's Triple Crown for receivers. The former Cincinnati Bengal set new team single-season records in all three categories breaking Steve Papin's records for receptions (91 in '99) and receiving yards (1,256 in '98) and shattering James Roe's 2001 mark (28) for TD catches in a season. In five career games against Arizona, Hundon has totaled 569 yards on 44 receptions and 13 TDs with half of his six career double-digit reception games coming against the Rattlers.

SACK MASTERS – In the history of the Arena Football League only 14 players have tallied 20 or more quarterback sacks in a career. This year's edition of the SaberCats boasts three of those 14 players. Sam Hernandez, a 10-year AFL veteran who enters his sixth season with San Jose, is the league's all-time leader with 49 career sacks. Hernandez is also San Jose's career leader with 28.5. Joe Jacobs enters 2003 needing just 2.5 sacks to become the fifth player to reach the 30-sack plateau. Prior to joining the SaberCats, Jacobs played four years with the Albany Firebirds amassing a team record 22 career sacks. The third member of the 20 Sack Party is Chuck Reed, who sits in 14th place all-time with exactly 20 career sacks. Reed played just two games last year in his first season in San Jose and recorded his 20th career sack in one of the games.

CLEVAN THE MAN – A huge key to San Jose's success last year was due to the play of Rookie and Defensive Player of the Year Clevan Thomas. The second-year DS from Florida State played every defensive play of every game last season and led the team in tackles (55.0), interceptions (5) and pass breakups (19). Thomas collected two of his interceptions off Arizona QB Sherdrick Bonner, one in each of the regular season games. Thomas' first career INT came in the season opener last season when he picked a Bonner offering in his own endzone with a minute to play to preserve a 52-51 San Jose win.

JUST FOR KICKS – San Jose kicker Daron Alcorn had a short off-season to rest a tired leg. In 2002 Alcorn became the first kicker since Carlos Huerta in 1999 to perform in every game for the SaberCats and he equaled Clay Rush's 2001 league record of 118 PAT attempts. Alcorn placed 3rd in the league with 134 kicking points and became the 5th player in AFL history to reach the 600-point mark. He enters the '03 season 4th all-time with 622 points. Alcorn converted 10-of-16 field goals in '02 for a league-best 62.5 percent success rate. He is one of just three kickers with 75 or more attempts to convert over 50 percent of his career field goal attempts.

WAGS – When you play 11 years in a 16-year-old league you are bound to have a few records, and Barry Wagner has a few records. The self-proclaimed ‘Michael Jordan of the Arena Football League', Wagner enters the season as the AFL's career leader in scoring (2,160), touchdowns (355), rushing TDs (89) receiving yards (11,854) and tackles (551.5) and ranks 2nd in receptions (842) TD receptions (251) and interceptions (40). Wags is making his move up the San Jose career charts as well. Having played in every game in his three seasons, Wags ranks in the top five of 21 San Jose career categories.

A SWARM OF BEES – With ArenaBowl XVI MVP John Dutton gone to Colorado, the backup QB duties will fall in the hands of Bob Bees. The former af2 star with the Richmond Speed, Bees was on the SaberCats roster in 1999 but never played a regular season game. In three season with the Speed, Bees threw for 9,481 yards and 168 TDs. His best season came in 2002 when he went 293-of-481 (60.9%) for 3,650 yards and 64 TDs. He led Richmond to the 2001 ArenaCup title game by throwing for 3,579 yards and 73 TDs while posting a 13-3 record.

COBBS MAKES THE SWITCH – Anthony Cobbs, a DS his first two seasons in the league with San Jose, will make the transition to a two-way player in 2003, a move predicated by the loss of free agent Omarr Smith. Cobbs is no stranger to playing offense as he was an all-city performer in high school and began his collegiate career at UCLA as a receiver. "If I can catch the ball, I should be okay," said Cobbs of his move. Smith had been Wagner's backup at the WR/DB spot the past two seasons and earned game Ironman honors in ArenaBowl XVI.

EUROPEAN VACATION – OL/DL Cedric Pittman and WR/LB Kevin McKenzie were teammates last year on the Scotland Claymores NFL Europe team. McKenzie had 10 catches for 141 yards while Pittman had a team-high 4.0 sacks for the 5-5 Claymores.

HOW ABOUT A REPEAT – The San Jose SaberCats are looking to become the first repeat ArenaBowl Champions since 1996 when the Tampa Bay Storm won its second straight title. The Detroit Drive is the only other team in AFL history with back-to-back titles, winning three straight from 1988-90. The last team to make consecutive Arena Bowl appearances was the Orlando Predators, who lost to Albany in 1999 and beat Nashville in 2000.

OFFENSE SELLS TICKETS – For the second time in three seasons the SaberCats led the league in scoring offense by posting the 2nd-highest point total in league history (878) in 2002. San Jose reached that milestone by tying the 2001 New York Dragons league record for touchdowns scored with 123. San Jose also became the first team in AFL history to twice average over 60 points in a season with their 62.7 ppg average in 2002. The SaberCats led the league in 2000 by scoring an average of 62.2 ppg. San Jose now holds three of the top five single-season scoring marks in league history.

DEFENSE WIN TITLES – The SaberCats led the league last season in pass defense rating (95.9) and ranked 2nd in the league in rush defense (10.3 ypg), 3rd in total defense (245.7 ypg) and 4th in pass defense (235.4 ypg). The SaberCats faced the 2nd-most pass attempts in the league during the regular season (533) but allowed the fourth-fewest passing yards (3,296) and had the lowest completion percentage against (52.9%). Only two opposing starting quarterbacks, Buffalo's Jeff Loots (60.5) and Dallas' Andy Kelly (69.7), had a completion percentage greater than 60 and only one (Kelly) threw for over 300 yards against San Jose's defense. In their three playoff games, the SaberCats held Tampa Bay's Shane Stafford, Orlando's Jay Gruden and Arizona Sherdrick Bonner to a combined completion percentage of 42.1% (45-of-107) and tallied at least one interception against each for a total of five.

JUST WIN – Not only did the SaberCats set a new AFL record for regular season wins in 2002 with 13, they also established a league record for most overall wins in a season with 16. Since the start of the 2000 season, the SaberCats own a league-best 35-7 regular season record. Only one other team, the Arizona Rattlers with a 31-11 mark, has topped the 30-win total in the same time frame.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: SAN JOSE'S FB/LBs – The SaberCats' FB/LB trio of Matt Kinsinger, Keala Keanaaina and Kevin Buck will be closely watched early on. With only Kinsinger having seen regular season duty last year, rookies Buck and Keanaaina will have to fill the void left by last year's leading rusher James Williams and regular starter Bob McMillen. Williams was placed on IR with a knee injury and McMillen signed a free agent contract with Chicago during the off-season. Buck and Keanaaina are no strangers to the SaberCats' program, however, as each has spent time on the team's practice squad. Buck for most of last season and Keanaaina during the 2001 season. Keala was in the running for a roster spot last year until an injury in a preseason game sidelined him for the entire year. Kinsinger had a breakout season last year finishing 4th on the team with 60 rush yards and scored seven times in his 20 attempts.

SAN JOSE WR/LB JAMES ROE – After playing in just four games last season, WR/LB James Roe is healthy and looks to put up numbers similar to what he did in 2001. Roe led San Jose's receivers with 78 catches for 1,232 yards and 28 TDs that season. In fact, Roe tied a SaberCats single-game record with 13 catches in San Jose's 48-37 win over Arizona on April 21, 2001. In six career games against the Rattlers, Roe has totaled 31 receptions for 419 yards with eight TDs.

ARIZONA QB SHERDRICK BONNER – In 15 career games against San Jose, Arizona QB Sherdrick Bonner has thrown for 3,357 yards and has completed 59.4 percent (272-of-458) of his passes with 61 TDs. He has thrown six TD passes in a game six times and twice has thrown for over 300 yards. However, in his last seven games against San Jose, six of which the SaberCats won, Bonner has struggled completing just 51.8 percent of his passes (112-of-216) for 1,443 yards (206.1 ypg) and 27 TDs. In those seven games he's been sacked nine times and intercepted six times. In the previous eight games against San Jose he was sacked just once and picked off five times.

ARIZONA WR/DB HUNKIE COOPER – The two-time AFL Ironman of the Year (99, 00) has feasted on San Jose. In 17 career games against the SaberCats, Cooper has returned 5 kickoffs for TDs and 2 interceptions for scores. He's also caught 10 TD passes and rushed for four other scores. In fact, Cooper is the only San Jose opponent to return a kickoff and an interception for a TD in the same game. Hunkie turned the trick on April 21, 2001 when he scampered 56 yards for a TD on a kickoff and returned an INT 31 yards for a score. Despite his efforts, the SaberCats pulled out a 48-37 win.

ARIZONA OS CHRIS HORN – The league's leading scorer last season hopes to make a return from a knee injury that kept him out of the ArenaBowl last year. Horn scored just one TD in the last regular season meeting between the teams, but it was a big one. Horn scored on an 11-yard run with under a minute left in the game to give the Rattlers a 59-52 win in Arizona handing San Jose its only loss of the season on July 12. In four career games against the SaberCats, Horn has scored eight times and amassed 568 all-purpose yards. He had four TD catches in Arizona's 2002 season opening loss at San Jose on April 20.

CONNECTIONS:

San Jose OL/DL Darrin Kenney spent four seasons (1997-00) with the Rattlers and was the starting center on Arizona's 1997 Arena Bowl champion team. Since joining the SaberCats prior to the start of the 2001 season, Kenney has started every game at center and won his third AFL title last year. Kenney was a member of the 1993 Tampa Bay Storm team that captured a championship...Not that Rocky Mountain College is a pro football hotbed, but the NAIA school in Billings, Mont., has produced a couple of players in the AFL ranks. San Jose QB Bob Bees was a NAIA All-America pick after playing the 1996 season at Rocky Mountain and Arizona OS Chris Horn was a three-time All-America selection while at RMU.



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from January 27, 2003


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