af2 arenafootball2

Stoker Leads Wolves

May 28, 2002 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


CHICAGO - BRANDON STOKER isn't your average football player. And his exploits on Saturday weren't your average football achievements.

Stoker, a lineman for Mohegan, is this week's af2 Built Ford Tough Man of the Week. The 6-foot-4, 265-pounder out of Central Missouri State University joined the Wolves last week and played brilliantly in Mohegan's 36-30 win at New Haven Friday. In just over a quarter of action, Stoker recorded two sacks, two tackles and forced the fumble that teammate CHRIS SMITH returned for the game-winning touchdown in overtime. Not only did he do all of this with just two days of practice under his belt, he did it despite the fact he is essentially deaf on the field. Stoker uses hearing aids when he isn't playing, but on the field he is forced to rely strictly on reading lips and watching the ball.

Bossier City QB SHERARD POTEETE is af2's Offensive Player of the Week for Week 9. Poteete accounted for eight touchdowns in the Battle Wings' 67-61 come-from-behind victory over Memphis Saturday. In addition to his league-leading 11th rushing touchdown, he threw seven TD passes, capped by the game-winning strike to LARRY NIXON with 23 seconds left. Poteete totaled 365 yards through the air, the second-most in af2 this season and 11th-most all-time

Augusta DS LAVAR RAINEY turned in one of the finest defensive displays of the season Friday to earn ADT Defensive Player of The Week honors. Rainey created five turnovers, three leading to touchdowns, in the Stallions' 69-41 victory over Charleston. Rainey forced three fumbles and recovered two of them, returning one of his forced fumbles 12 yards for a touchdown. Against the air attack, Rainey was a menace to Charleston QB RAY ISAAC, nabbing two interceptions and breaking up another pass. Rainey also recorded a game-high eight tackles to help the Stallions remain undefeated on the season.

Norfolk Nighthawks DS/KR DESMOND WASHINGTON earned Ironman of the Week honors for his efforts in Norfolk's 39-34 win over Carolina on Saturday. The third-year man out of Liberty University recorded five tackles (team high), two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and two passes defended on the defensive side of the ball. He also played on special teams for the first time since Week 2 and ran back a missed field goal 47 yards for a first-quarter score and returned four kickoffs for 114 total yards.

Every team's coaching staff selects up to five players who display a "get it done" attitude after each game. At season's end, the league will honor the "Built Ford Tough Man of the Year," a player who will win a Ford truck.

----------------------------------------------------------

QUOTES FROM AROUND af2

"IF PEOPLE CAN FIND SOMETHING MORE EXCITING THAN THIS GAME ON A SATURDAY NIGHT, PLEASE TELL US SO WE CAN QUIT AND GO DO THAT. THIS WAS ABOUT AS GOOD AS IT GETS." - Bossier City Head Coach PAT TILLEY on his team's 67-61 come-from-behind win over Memphis.

"(DEUMAINE) REEDER COULDN'T COVER ME AND THAT MADE FOR AN EXCITING NIGHT. WE ALWAYS HAVE CONFIDENCE WE CAN COME BACK AND THE FAN SUPPORT REALLY HELPED US TONIGHT." - Bossier City receiver KEVIN STEVENSON after his 226-yard, five-touchdown performance.

"WE WERE HUNGRY. WE WANTED TO GET AFTER THE QUARTERBACK AND PRESSURE HIM ALL NIGHT." - Former Mobile OL/DL JAMES GREEN (now with Pensacola) on the Barracudas' defensive performance against Tennessee Valley.

"WELL, FINALLY. THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN PREACHING SINCE THE BEGINNING. WE'RE ABSOLUTELY AS GOOD AS ANY OF THE TEAMS. WE JUST HAVEN'T BEEN CONSISTENT." - Pensacola Head Coach MIKE BUCK on his team's 51-38 win over Tennessee Valley.

"WE FLAT-OUT GOT OUT PLAYED. WE GOT OUTCOACHED. WE WERE NOT PREPARED TO PLAY. THEY GOT AFTER US DEFENSIVELY AND WE HAD TROUBLE PROTECTING THE QUARTERBACK." - Tennessee Valley Head Coach KEVIN GUY on his team's loss to Pensacola.

"WE CAME OUT LIKE WE WERE PLAYING A JUNIOR HIGH TEAM. IT WAS A VERY BIG GAME ... AND WE JUST WEREN'T IN IT FROM THE START." - Roanoke's TACOMA FONTAINE on Saturday's 53-32 loss to Cape Fear.

"BEING ABLE TO LOOK AT THIS B-MOVIE HORROR FILM AND GET THESE GUYS A WAKE-UP CALL WILL REALLY SERVE A PURPOSE.'' - Albany coach RON SELESKY on his team's performance in the Conquest's 37-35 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Saturday.

"BIGGEST WIN EVER! EVER! MARK IT DOWN." - Wichita's GREG KYLER yelling on his way back to the locker room after the Stealth's upset win over Quad City.

"THIS GUY HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE AS GOOD OR BETTER THAN ANY QUARTERBACK IN ARENA2. THIS IS A HUGE, HUGE PLUS FOR OUR TEAM, THE ORGANIZATION AND OUR FANS ... I GUARANTEE YOU WHEN THEY SEE THIS TRANSACTION IN QUAD CITY, IT'S GONNA RAISE SOME EYEBROWS." - Wichita Head Coach LAND JACOBSEN - prior to last week's win against Quad City - on the Stealth's signing of RON LOPEZ.

"JOBS ARE SCARCE FOR A LOT OF GUYS, SO I WAS AVAILABLE WHEN COACH (BOB) CORTESE CALLED AND ASKED ME TO COME DOWN AND PLAY SOME BALL. I HAVE NO PROBLEM DOING THIS FAVOR FOR HIM AND HAVING SOME FUN PLAYING THE GAME I LOVE." - New Wichita QB RON LOPEZ, a seven-year AFL veteran, on his opportunity in af2.

''IT'S MY FIRST EXPERIENCE INDOORS AND I'VE ALREADY LEARNED A LOT. IT'S A FAST-TEMPO GAME ... THERE'S SO MUCH MORE ACTION.'' - Pensacola's newly-acquired QB CHARLIE PETERSON.

"HE CAN LEARN THE GAME AND WORK ON HIS TECHNIQUE, GETTING RID OF THE BALL FASTER WHEN HE GOES BACK TO THE NFL. HIS REACTION TIME WILL BE SO MUCH BETTER AND THE FIELD WILL LOOK WIDER." - San Diego General Manager GEORGE LAFRANCE on what RYAN LEAF could learn in af2. The Riptide offered a contract to Leaf following the NFL QB's release from the Dallas Cowboys.

"WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO SAY? I KEEP TELLING PEOPLE, 'I MAKE PLAYS.' MY PARENTS DROVE IN FROM OHIO AND MY DAD TOLD ME, 'I DIDN'T DRIVE ALL THIS WAY NOT TO SEE YOU SCORE.'" - Peoria's JERMAINE SHEFFIELD on his two-TD performance in the Pirates' 72-20 win over Louisville.

"WE'RE (UNDEFEATED) AND RIDING HIGH, BUT WE'RE STILL NOT SATISFIED. I THINK THIS TIME LAST YEAR WE GOT SATISFIED, AND A LOT OF GUYS STARTED RELAXING. WE THOUGHT WE WERE A BETTER TEAM THAN WE REALLY WERE. IT SHOWED WHEN WE STARTED PLAYING SOME TOUGH TEAMS." - Augusta WR/DB TIM DUMAS on his 7-0 Stallions. Augusta started last season 6-0, but finished 9-7.

"TO BE IN FIRST PLACE IS TWICE AS HARD, EVERYBODY'S TRYING TO GET YOU AND KNOCK YOU OFF THE TOP. WE'RE JUST GOING TO TAKE THINGS ONE GAME AT A TIME. YOU CAN NEVER BE SURE WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IN ARENA FOOTBALL." - Tallahassee's MESIAH PORTER.

"YOU CAN'T BE NEGATIVE IN THIS SITUATION, THIS IS A POSITIVE SITUATION. WE HAVE A FOOTBALL TEAM IN HAWAII. THEY'RE GIVING IT ALL THEY HAVE AND THEY'RE GOING TO WIN." - Hawaii Head Coach CHAD CARLSON after his team's 55-48 loss at Fresno.

"IT IS NICE TO GET AWAY FROM FOOTBALL FOR A FEW DAYS. THE BATTERIES ARE RECHARGED AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT NINE WEEKS." - Birmingham Head Coach BOBBY HUMPHREY on his team's just-completed bye week.

"THEY'RE PLAYING REALLY WELL RIGHT NOW. THEY'RE ON A ROLL. I'M SURE THEY WOULD LIKE TO GET US BACK AFTER OUR FIRST GAME A FEW WEEKS BACK, SO IT SHOULD BE REAL GOOD GAME." - Bakersfield Head Coach JAMES FULLER on facing Fresno, which is on a three-game winning streak.

"TWO TEAMS FROM CONNECTICUT AND TWO TEAMS FROM NEW YORK, THAT'S TWO STATES WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO LEARN TO HATE." - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton FB/LB LAMONTE COLEMAN on the Pioneers' division alignment with Albany, Mohegan, New Haven and Rochester.



arenafootball2 Stories from May 28, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central