Storm Shoot for Home Playoff Game

Published on April 30, 2003 under Arena Football League (AFL)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


The Tampa Bay Storm have their sights set on the top seed in the 2003 Arena Football League postseason, but the road to the top leads through three tough opponents, beginning this weekend with the Dallas Desperados. The Storm, currently with the best record in the AFL, can clinch at least one home playoff game with a win over the Desperados and, with help, can even clinch a top four seed and a first round bye. But the Desperados will not simply give the game away, as they, too, are playing for a first round bye and a division championship. The last time these teams met the game went into overtime and both teams had chances to pull out the victory in sudden death, with Dallas finally coming out the victor at American Airlines Arena in Dallas. This season the scene shifts to Reunion Arena, where the crowd should be rocking and another close, hardfought contest is expected.

TAMPA BAY VS DALLAS: THE FACTS
Date/Time: Sunday, May 4, 3:00 pm (ET)
Location: Reunion Arena (16,441), Dallas, TX
Television: NBC Sports (Mike Breen, Ray Bentley, and Lewis Johnson)
Radio: 620-AM WDAE (Jack Harris and Jason Dixon)
The Series: Dallas leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Desperados won 62-56 in overtime (at Dallas, June 22, 2002)

THE TAMPA BAY - DALLAS SERIES

The Storm and Desperados have a brief series history, given the youth of the Dallas franchise. The Desperados entered the AFL last season and faced the Storm once in the regular season. Dallas won that game in overtime, 62-56. Though it didn't count, the Storm actually hosted the Desperados in their first-ever game last season when Tampa Bay downed Dallas in a preseason contest in Tampa.

THE STAKES

The scenario is simple for the Storm -- win out and realize the preseason goal of obtaining the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. The Storm currently control their own destiny in the playoff race, but a bump in the road in Dallas could bring Tampa Bay back to the pack. Dallas is also seeking a victory in order to move closer to a top 4 seed and a first round playoff bye.

NUMEROLOGY

2: Number of wins needed by Storm head coach Tim Marcum to reach 100 career wins with Tampa Bay

6: Rushing attempts needed for Andre Bowden to become the AFL's all-time leader in that category

10: Consecutive games the Storm defense has recorded an interception

202: Passing yards needed for John Kaleo to break his career record in that category

THE COACHES

In his 15th season as a head coach, Tim Marcum is the winningest head coach in AFL history. The AFL Hall of Fame member holds AFL career coaching records in ArenaBowl championships, wins, winning percentage, games coached, and post-season victories. He enters his 9th season with Tampa Bay, owning a 153-54 overall record. He is 98-42 overall as head coach of the Storm.

Dallas' Joe Avezzano is in his second season as head coach of the Desperados. Avezzano coached the expansion Desperados to a 7-7 finish and the second round of the AFL playoffs last season. He is also regarded as one of the top special teams coaches in the NFL and was on the staff of the Dallas Cowboys as special teams coordinator from 1991-2002.

THE STORM LAST WEEK

Tampa Bay rebounded from its first loss in two months with a 59-45 victory over the New York Dragons at Nassau Coliseum. The Storm jumped out to a 19-3 lead and never looked back, as the Dragons never threatened to regain the advantage. The Tampa Bay defense held New York to just 208 yards of total offense and sacked New York quarterback Brent Petrus four times. Omarr Smith also recorded his eighth interception of the season and picked off a second pass, which was returned for a touchdown but later nullified because of a Storm penalty.

Quarterback John Kaleo finished 15-of-24 for 226 yards and six touchdowns. Game MVP Lawrence Samuels had five catches for 118 yards and a touchdown. He also returned an onside kick seven yards for a touchdown and recorded 2.5 tackles, including 0.5 sack, and a fumble recovery. BJ Cohen was named Ironman of the Game after catching a nine-yard touchdown pass and recordeing two sacks defensively.

THE STORM NEXT WEEK

The Storm return home for their final regular season contest at the St. Pete Times Forum. Tampa Bay takes on the San Jose Sabercats, the defending AFL champions. The Sabercats beat the Storm twice last season, once in Tampa in the regular season and once in the playoffs, overcoming an 18-point third quarter deficit.

THE DESPERADOS LAST WEEK

The Dallas Desperados began their late season push by defeating the Los Angeles Avengers 60-57 in front of 10,019 fans at Reunion Arena. The victory pushed the Desperados' record to 8-5, marking the first time in the club's short history the team has been three games above the .500 mark. A pair of Dallas receivers eclipsed the 1,000 receiving yards mark for the season, as Dialleo Burks had 83 yards on eight catches, putting him at 1,062 receiving yards on the season, and Andy McCullough posted 77 yards on eight catches to tally 1,050 receiving yards for the year. Burks and McCullough each caught a pair of touchdown passes and the pair are the first 1,000 yard receivers in the Desperados short history. Dallas quarterback Jim Kubiak was 25-of-36 for 248 yards and five touchdowns. He also tossed three interceptions in the game.

2002 STORM-DESPERADOS MEETINGS

DALLAS 62, Tampa Bay 56, OT (June 22, 2002)

Desperado quarterback Andy Kelly hit Shannon Culver with a 16-yard touchdown pass with 3:06 remaining in overtime, handing Tampa Bay its seventh loss of the season.

The extra period was the first overtime for the Storm in the 2002 season. Both teams had golden opportunities to win the game in the extra period, but both kickers missed short kicks that would have ended the contest. Storm kicker Mike Black was wide right on a 30-yarder, giving the Desperados the ball back in sudden death. But Dallas kicker Jason Wells could not close out the contest, missing on a 27-yard effort and allowing the game to continue.

The key play in the overtime session was when Storm Quarterback Scott Milanovich was hit from behind and stripped of the football by Dallas lineman Patrick Scott, allowing Andy McCullough to recover it at the Storm 16-yard line. Kelly then hooked up with Culver on the next play, clinching the victory for the expansion Desperados. Milanovich finished the game 27-of-52 for 316 yards and six touchdowns. Lawrence Samuels was the Storm's top receiver, catching nine passes for 82 yards and three scores. Dallas WR/LB Andy McCullough caught three touchdown passes on the night and recovered that crucial fumble, earning game MVP honors. He finished with eight catches for 95 yards. Adrian Lundsford was named Ironman of the Game after returning a kickoff 56 yards for a touchdown, catching two passes for 17 yards, and finishing with 4.0 tackles and a forced fumble on defense.

BACK ON TOP

The Tampa Bay Storm avenged its first loss in two months, downing the New York Dragons 59-45 last Sunday afternoon to improve to 10-3 on the season. The Storm's win, coupled with Dallas' victory over the Los Angeles Avengers, gave the Storm sole possession of the best overall record in the league.

With three weeks to play in the regular season, Tampa Bay is one game ahead of the Avengers, Orlando Predators, and San Jose Sabercats, all of which have four losses on the year. If the playoffs started today, the Storm would be the No. 1 overall seed.

CLOSING IN ON THE RECORD

The Storm are on track to record the most regular season wins ever by a Tampa Bay team, but much of that credit can be given to the longer season. For the first time the AFL schedule includes 16 regular season games, two games more than AFL teams have been playing in recent seasons.

The current record for most regular season wins by a Storm team is 12 set in 1996 and 1998, when the regular season consisted of 14 games. The Storm recorded 11 wins in 1999, also with a 14-game regular season schedule, and 10 regular season wins in both 1995 and 2001. The 1995 season, however, consisted of just 12 regular season games.

The most wins ever by a Storm team came in the championship season of 1996. That year the Storm went 15- 2, winning three postseason games en route to the team's fourth ArenaBowl championship.

A GAME WITH MEANING

Sunday's game against the Dallas Desperados is a big one for the Storm in terms of its postseason plans. Entering the season, Tampa Bay's stated goal was to be the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and win the ArenaBowl championship. The Storm can take a big step toward that this weekend.

Should Tampa Bay beat Dallas on Sunday, the Storm will become the first AFL team to clinch a home playoff game.

Additionally, if the Storm win and both Arizona and Grand Rapids lose, the Storm will clinch a top four seed and a first round playoff bye. Arizona plays Los Angeles this weekend in a Western Division showdown and Grand Rapids travels to San Jose to face the Sabercats. The Storm can also clinch the Southern Division championship with a win against Dallas and an Orlando loss.

KALEO COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR?

Though the Arena Football League does not have an award for Comeback Player of the Year, is there a better story than Storm quarterback John Kaleo? Kaleo fought off the challenge of Shane Stafford and Scott Milanovich a season ago to win the Storm's starting quarterback job, only to go down in the first game of the year with a torn ACL.

Despite questions about his age and health, Kaleo returned strong this season and has put together his best season to date. In his 11th AFL season, Kaleo has surpassed numerous milestones this year, including 20,000 career passing yards, 300 career passing touchdowns, and moving into sixth place on the AFL's career passing yards list.

Through 13 games, Kaleo has compiled 3,427 passing yards and 60 touchdowns. He has also completed 262- of-407 (64.4%) passes. Kaleo's previous single-season career high for pass completions was 61.9% in 1995 with the St. Louis Stampede.

The 60 touchdown passes thrown breaks Kaleo's singleseason career record and ranks fourth all-time in Storm history. Kaleo's previous best was 59 touchdown passes in 2001. Kaleo is also 203 yards shy of setting a new single- season best for passing yards in a season. He previously threw for 3,629 yards in 1996 with St. Louis. Kaleo currently ranks fifth in the league in total offense (263.3 yards per game), seventh in passing yards per game (263.6 yards), eighth in passing touchdowns (60), and sixth in passer rating (119.3).

IF NOT, HOW ABOUT FREDDIE?

If John Kaleo isn't the league's Comeback Player of the Year, how about Freddie Solomon? That would be justice served, since because of a quirk in the league's rules Solomon is ineligible to be on the Rookie of the Year ballot, an award for which he would be considered one of the frontrunners.

Solomon, the Storm's starting offensive specialist, has burst onto the AFL scene with a bang, ranking third in the AFL in all-purpose yards (2,259 yards), eighth in scoring (162 points), ninth in receptions (84), sixth in receiving yards (1,207), first in missed field goal returns (10), second in missed field goal return yards (144), tenth in kickoff return yards (886), and eighth in kickoff return touchdowns (2).

He leads the Storm in scoring, receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, kickoff returns, kickoff return yards, kickoff return touchdowns, field goal returns, and field goal return yards. He has also become just the fourth Storm player to ever surpass the 1,000- receiving yards mark in a single season.

Solomon has accomplished all of this after tearing an Achilles tendon in just the third day of training camp last season. After suffering an injury that usually takes one year from which to recover, Solomon was back working out in about half that time and was at full speed when training camp opened in January, just nine months after the injury.

But, since he's never played in the AFL he'll be a shoe-in as a finalist for the Rookie of the Year Award, right? Wrong. The AFL does not consider Solomon a rookie because he was on the Storm's injured reserve last season.

ADDING TO HIS RECORD

Though it's not an official record kept by the Arena Football League, Storm lineman BJ Cohen is the league's unofficial all-time receiving leader from the tight end position. Cohen added to his record on Sunday against New York, hauling in a nine-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter that put the Storm ahead 19-3. Cohen's catch was the 25th of his career. He now has 332 career receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns. This season he has two catches for 18 yards and a touchdown.

But Cohen's contributions did not come only on the offensive side of the ball last weekend. Cohen was named Ironman of the Game after recording a pair of quarterback sacks and a pair of quarterback hurries. He later received the AFL's Ironman of the Week award. This year Cohen is the Storm's sacks leader with 5.0. He is also the team's leading tackler among linemen, recording 16.5 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss. In addition, he has two interceptions, both of which he returned for touchdowns, three quarterback hurries, a pass breakup, and a blocked kick.

THE CONSUMATE IRONMAN

Though Cohen won the league's Ironman of the Week Award, it's hard to make a case against Lawrence Samuels as the Storm's and the league's Ironman of the Year. Samuels capped off a Game MVP performance last week against New York by recording his first 100+ receiving yards game of the season, catching five passes for 118 yards. He also returned an onside kick for a touchdown, recorded 2.5 tackles, including 0.5 sack, recovered a fumble, and broke up a pass.

For the season Samuels ranks second on the team in receptions (70), receiving yards (940), receiving touchdowns (16), all-purpose yards (981), and scoring (110 points). He has also recorded 27.5 tackles, a total that ranks fourth on the team, 3.5 sacks, which ranks second, and three interceptions, which ranks third. Samuels has scored in almost every conceivable fashion this season -- catching touchdown passes, returning a fumble for a touchdown, returning a kickoff for a touchdown, and catching a two-point conversion.

Like Kaleo, Samuels is on the verge of shattering many of his previous single-season highs. With 118 receiving yards against the Dragons, Samuels eclipsed his previous high for receiving yards. He currently sits at 940 for the season and is just 60 yards from becoming just the fifth player in Storm history to record 1,000 receiving yards in a season. Samuels' 70 receptions is one more than the 69 he posted last season and is also a career-best. With 16 receiving touchdowns, Samuels is just three away from matching the 19 he scored in 2000 with the Storm. Samuels' 3.5 sacks come after recording just one sack prior in his entire AFL career, and he needs just one interception to tie his career high in that category.

WHAT A COMBO

Freddie Solomon and Lawrence Samuels have proven to be one of the top receiving combinations in the AFL this season. They have also proven to be one of the best in Storm history.

With 60 receiving yards, Lawrence Samuels will join Freddie Solomon as a 1,000-yard receiver. Believe it or not, on only one previous occasion in Storm history has that occurred. George LaFrance and Stevie Thomas both surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in 1996, the season the Storm won their fourth ArenaBowl championship. In fact, just three other Storm players have ever had more than 1,000 receiving yards in a season - Thomas (1992, 1995, & 1996), LaFrance (1996 & 1997), and James Bowden (2001).

MORE FLAGS FLYING

One aspect of its game that Tampa Bay certainly needs to clean up prior to the postseason is penalties. The Storm recorded a season-high 13 penalties last week against New York and gave the Dragons five first downs via penalties. Two weeks ago the Storm recorded a season- high 79 penalty yards against the Colorado Crush.

KICKING CONCERNS

The Storm have had a difficult time trying to find a kicker that can accurately connect on field goals and extra point and get the ball to the net on kickoffs. The Storm have gone through four kickers this season, one short of the league record. Tampa Bay signed David Cool prior to last week's game against New York and he, too, struggled at times, getting his only field goal attempt blocked, missing two of seven extra point tries, and proving inconsistent in getting the ball to the net on kickoffs.

Storm head coach Tim Marcum is notorious for having a short fuse with kickers, and this season has not proven any different. Remember, Marcum cut Jay Feely in 2000 after one game following the kicker's 1-for-6 performance in an embarrassing loss to the Florida Bobcats. Feely later signed with the Atlanta Falcons and was the scoring leader in the NFC last season.

ROAD WARRIORS

With its win against the New York Dragons, the Tampa Bay Storm have now won four consecutive road games. That stretch follows a two-game road losing streak the Storm faced after suffering losses at Orlando and at Las Vegas in two of the first three games of the season. The Storm must continue to play well away from home to reach their ultimate goal - a chance to play in the ArenaBowl at the St. Pete Times Forum. Tampa Bay closes out the regular season with two of its final three games on the road, including this week's game at Dallas.

STRONG IN THE TRENCHES

For the second time this season the Tampa Bay Storm recorded four sacks in a game in last Sunday's win over New York. The four sacks gave the Storm 23 on the season and the league lead in that category. What's even more impressive is that fact that the Storm recorded just eight sacks all of last season.

The Storm also have one of the top pass blocking lines in the league. Tampa Bay has allowed just seven sacks this season, tied for third in the league and just one behind the league leaders. The Storm offensive protection will have to be excellent this weekend, as it faces a Dallas line that has sacked the quarterback 22 times, one less than the Storm.

TEXAS HOMECOMING

Sunday's game will be a homecoming for Storm head coach Tim Marcum. Marcum, a native of Snyder, Tex., made numerous coaching stops in the Lone Star State, including various high school jobs and coaching stints at Ranger Junior College, Rice University, and the San Antonio Gunslingers of the USFL. Texas is also home to Storm owner Woody Kern, who resides in Pilot Point, about an hour outside of Dallas.

TAKING DOWN TOP TEAMS

The Dallas Desperados will face the Storm this weekend, but don't expect them to enter the game wide-eyed and intimidated by the Storm's league-best record. Dallas has made a habit of facing and defeating some of the league's top teams. Last weekend, in fact, the Desperados topped the Los Angeles Avengers, who at the time were tied with the Storm for the league's best record. The Desperados have also faced Orlando, San Jose, Arizona, and Grand Rapids, all teams ranked ahead of Dallas in the latest playoff picture.

STORMING INTO TEXAS

The Tampa Bay Storm are 10-1 all-time against teams from the state of Texas. In fact, prior to last season's loss to the Desperados, the Storm were undefeated against the state, having never lost to the Dallas Texans, Ft. Worth Calvary, Texas Terrier, and the Houston ThunderBears. The Storm are 5-1 playing inside the state.

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY...

If the playoffs were to begin today, the Storm would be the top seeded team and receive a bye in the first round of the postseason. Following Tampa Bay, if the playoffs were to begin today, would be Los Angeles (9-4), Orlando (9-4), and San Jose (9-4), all of which would get first round byes. Arizona (8-5) would have the fifth seed, followed by Grand Rapids (8-5), Dallas (8-5), Georgia (7-6), Las Vegas (7-6), Chicago (6-7), Detroit (6-7), and Buffalo (5-8).

STORM AND AFL SALUTE THE MILITARY

The Tampa Bay Storm and the Arena Football League are offering free and discounted tickets to all military personnel and their families for the remainder of the 2003 AFL season. All military personnel and their families may receive up to four free terrace level tickets for each game with a proper military ID. Additionally, $10 reserved seats may be purchased with proper military ID. These tickets are available only at the St. Pete Times Forum Box Office. To order tickets over the phone or for more information on this special promotion, call (813) 301-6600.

MILESTONES

John Kaleo, who in Week 1 became the ninth player in league history to eclipse the 18,000 career passing yards mark, became the ninth player in league history to throw for 18,000 yards and 300 touchdowns in a career with a five-touchdown performance in Week 6 against the Buffalo Destroyers. With 60 touchdown passes this season, he now has 330 career touchdown passes, which places him ninth all-time in that category. Additionally, with 276 yards in Week 9 against Arizona, Kaleo became just the seventh player to eclipse 20,000 career passing yards.

Gary Compton, who in Week 1 became the third player in AFL history to surpass 10,000 receiving yards, recently became only the fifth player to score over 1,200 career points. Compton currently sits in fifth place on the league's all-time scoring list, one spot behind teammate Mike Black. Black currently sits in fourth place with 1,221 career points. Should he pass Black, Compton's next target would be former Storm receiver George LaFrance, who retired following the 2000 season with 1,292 career points.

After signing with the Storm on March 26, FB/LB Andre Bowden became just the second player in AFL history to go over 1,200 rushing yards for his career in his first game back with the Storm, rushing for seven yards and a touchdown against the Arizona Rattlers. Bowden, who is second in the league in career rushing yards and is the Storm all-time leader in that category, needs just six carries to surpass league all-time leader Les Barley in career rushing attempts.

Lawrence Samuels is just 60 yards away from joining Freddie Solomon in the 1,000 receiving yards club. Samuels has already eclipsed his previous career highs for receptions and receiving yards and needs just three touchdown catches to match the 19 he scored with the Storm in 2000.

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Arena Football League Stories from April 30, 2003


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