Tampa Bay at Utah Preview

March 15, 2011 - Arena Football League (AFL)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


The Tampa Bay Storm (1-0) travel to Utah to take on the Blaze (0-0) at Energy Solutions Arena Thursday evening at 9:00 PM EST. Not only is this the season opener for the Blaze, the team also returns to play in Energy Solutions Arena for the first time since 2008. The Blaze is looking to rebound from a 3-13 season in 2010 and get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

Ron James leads the Blaze from the sidelines after taking over the head coaching post midway through the 2010 season. With his first offseason under his belt he retooled the team in brought in quarterback Tommy Grady, who at 6-foot-7, 245 lbs., is the biggest quarterback in the Arena Football League. Grady brings a big arm to the team. In 2010 with the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz Grady passed for 4,307 yards with 81 touchdowns, a significant improvement for the Blaze who saw four different quarterbacks accumulate 3,692 yards with 79 touchdowns in 2010.

Offensively the Storm opened the season in bizzaro world fashion defeating the New Orleans VooDoo 46-40, however a season after passing for 107 touchdowns, the team did not score once in the air against New Orleans as all the scores came on the ground or via return. The last time in franchise history the team failed to score a touchdown in the air was July 17, 1990 versus the Albany Firebirds when the team was known as the Pittsburgh Gladiators with Brendan Folmar at quarterback. Even so, quarterback Mike Potts led a resourceful offense that muscled its way into the endzone on the ground once the team got into the redzone.

Defensively the Blaze is anchred by defensive lineman Caesar Rayford and new acquisition cornerback William Mulder. Rayford led the Blaze last season with 9.5 tackles for a loss and six sacks. He also forced and recovered two fumbles and added three touchdowns on the defensive side of the ball. Mulder will make an impact on a defensive unit that finished 11th in the AFL in pass defense. His three interceptions from 2010 would have led the Blaze in interceptions, he also had 74.5 tackles, 16 PBUs, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Storm defense picked up where it left of last season, second in the AFL in scoring defense, holding the VooDoo to 40 points. The defense was led by linebacker Cliff Dukes who set a franchise record with four sacks and earned AFL Defensive Player of the Week. Also recording sacks were Greg Taplin and Richard Clebert. They were supported in the defensive backfield by Deonte Bolden who nabbed his first interception of the season in the second quarter that led to a Kyle Chilton field goal to put the Storm up by 12 in the second quarter.



Arena Football League Stories from March 15, 2011


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