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Tampa Bay Storm game notes

February 11, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


TAMPA BAY STORM (1-0) vs. GEORGIA FORCE (0-1)
Feb. 13, 2004 7:30 pm No TV
St. Pete Times Forum (19,200) Tampa, Fla.
Overall record: TB leads, 4-0
Regular Season: TB leads, 4-0
Playoffs: never met

RADIO – 620 AM WDAE
Jack Harris, play-by-play
Jason Dixon, analyst
TV – none

TAMPA BAY EYES 2-0 SOUTHERN DIVISION START

Just five days after their opening night victory over the Orlando Predators, the Tampa Bay Storm return to the field for a Friday night tilt against Southern Division foe Georgia. The Storm have never lost to the Force, who enter their third season in the greater Atlanta area. The Storm enter Friday's contest coming off of a 52-41 victory over the Orlando Predators to jump out to an early lead in the division race. The Force dropped a 54- 28 decision to the New York Dragons. Friday's contest marks the first of only two times this season that a Tampa Bay Storm game is not slated to be aired on NBC. Ironically, the only other Storm game not scheduled to be broadcast on NBC is the Storm's rematch against the Force on March 27.

STORM OPEN SEASON IN STYLE WITH WIN OVER ORLANDO

After raising their fifth ArenaBowl banner to the rafters of the St. Pete Times Forum last Sunday, the Tampa Bay Storm displayed against the Orlando Predators the same kind of dominance that led them to the AFL championship in 2003. Tampa Bay amassed only 189 yards of total offense, but used an opportunistic defense to stall Orlando drives and set up a short field from which the Storm offense could work. Quarterback Shane Stafford, returning to the team after a season in NFL Europe, threw five touchdown passes and rushed for another score. Freddie Solomon, coming off of his record-setting rookie campaign, had seven catches for 66 yards and three touchdowns. TT Toliver and Clif Dell also added receiving scores, and David White rushed in from two yards out for Tampa Bay.

2004 STORM SCHEDULE/RESULTS
DATE OPPONENT RESULT
Feb. 8 Orlando Predators W, 52-41
Feb. 13 Georgia Force 7:30 pm
Feb. 22 at Austin Wranglers 3:00 pm
Feb. 29 Philadelphia Soul 3:00 pm
Mar. 7 at New Orleans VooDoo noon
Mar. 14 New York Dragons noon
Mar. 21 at Carolina Cobras 3:00 pm
Mar. 27 at Georgia Force 7:00 pm
Apr. 4 San Jose SaberCats noon
Apr. 11 at Chicago Rush 3:00 pm
Apr. 18 Austin Wranglers 3:00 pm
Apr. 25 at Columbus Destroyers noon
May 2 at Orlando Predators 3:00 pm
May 9 Los Angeles Avengers 3:00 pm
May 23 New Orleans VooDoo 3:00 pm
May 30 Dallas Desperados 4:00 pm
All times Eastern and subject to change

MEANINGFUL GAMES

Since the Georgia Force came into existence following the team's move from Nashville prior to the 2002 season, the Storm and Force have been pitted in some pretty meaningful games, two of which had a direct impact on the playoff race. In 2002 the teams met twice in the final four weeks of the regular season. The Storm entered the first contest against Georgia with a 3-7 overall record and needed a win in that contest to have any hope of a playoff berth. The Storm won that game in Atlanta, 60-50, and then won two of the next three games, including a 67-61 overtime win over Georgia in the season finale. That game pushed the Storm ahead of the Force for the final playoff spot, allowing Tampa Bay to advance to the playoffs and leaving Georgia out of the postseason.

In 2003 the Storm and Force also played a pair of games that had a direct affect on playoff seeding. The Storm again swept the season series from Georgia, with a 58-39 victory in Week 10 and a 42-38 win in the regular season finale. In that Week 16 game the Storm needed a victory to clinch a No. 2 seed in the playoffs. Georgia was also playing for playoff seeding in that contest, which the Storm eventually pulled out with a BJ Cohen sack on the final play of the game. Tampa Bay's win in that contest allowed the Storm to claim the No. 2 seed, which eventually resulted in being able to host the ArenaBowl. Georgia held on to a No. 12 playoff seed and would become the second No. 12 seed to win an AFL playoff game one year after the Storm became the first team to do so with their win over No. 5 seed Los Angeles in the 2002 postseason.

OLD RIVALRY

Though the Tampa Bay-Georgia rivalry may be a relatively new one, the Storm certainly are a known commodity to may of the Force's players and staff. The team now known as the Force moved to the Atlanta area from Nashville after a successful run as the Nashville Kats. The Storm and Kats were Southern Division rivals, with the Storm also getting the upper hand in that series. Tampa Bay beat Nashville in seven of the 10 games that the two teams played before the Nashville team made the move to Georgia for the 2002 season.

SCORE FIRST

Last week against Orlando, the Storm proved once again that they were difficult to beat when they get on the scoreboard first. Though Tampa Bay opened the contest with its defense on the field, the Storm were able to jump out to an early 7-0 lead after a fourth down stop by the defense and a short offensive drive by quarterback Shane Stafford and Co. Overall Tampa Bay is now 84-18 in games that it scores first. The Storm are 60- 38 overall in contests in which their opponent scores first. Last season Tampa Bay went 7-1 in games in which it scored first and was 8-3 in contests in which the opponent scored first.

GETTING IT DONE ON THE GROUND

The Tampa Bay Storm outrushed the Orlando Predators 31-3 last week, improving their overall record to 102-19 when they gain more yards on the ground than their opponent. The Storm were led by Shane Stafford, who rushed for 23 yards in the game. Stafford was the fifth leading rusher in the league last week and his 22-yard scamper was the longest run of the week. In 2003 the Storm were 9-1 in games in which they outrushed their opponents, and 6-3 in games in which the opponent had more rushing yards.

In Georgia this week the Storm face a team that traditionally likes to run the ball. In 2003 the Force were seventh in the league in rushing with 290 yards, an average of 18.1 yards per contest. But the Force are without all three of their fullback/linebackers from last season in Dan Curran, Travis Reece, and Tommy Dorsey. Curran, the Force's leading rusher last season, is now with the expansion New Orleans VooDoo and led the league last week with 45 rushing yards.

ENOUGH TO GET THE JOB DONE

Though Tampa Bay piled up just 189 yards of total offense last week against Orlando, the Storm offense was extremely efficient with the football and was able to take advantage of the short fields the defense handed it. The Storm scored on 8-of-10 possessions. The only time the Storm offense was stopped was a second quarter fumble and when the Storm ran out the clock at the end of the game. The Storm scored touchdowns on seven of their eight scoring drives, with a 30-yard Ian Howfield field goal.

The Storm's first offensive possession started on the Orlando 9-yard line after the Predators rolled the dice on fourth down and came up empty. Tampa Bay's average starting field position in the first quarter was the Orlando 21 yard line. For the game, the Storm's average starting field position was the Tampa Bay 19-yard line, which helped to account for the relatively low offensive yardage output.

As a comparison, the Predators' average starting field position in the game was their own 9-yard line.

The Storm's 189 total yards was by far the least amount of yards compiled by a Storm team in the past two seasons. The last time that the Storm had fewer total yards in a game was May 18, 2001, when they totaled 180 yards at Detroit. The last time the Storm had fewer yards in a home game was on May 17, 1997, when Tampa Bay had just 186 yards of total offense in a 43-17 loss to Orlando. The Tampa Bay team record for fewest yards of offense in a game is 145 yards, which was done twice, most recently on May 21, 1993.

UPWARD MIGRATION

Though he's only played in 17 regular season games, Tampa Bay offensive specialist Freddie Solomon has quickly escalated up the Storm alltime receiving charts. Solomon made another move last weekend after hauling in three touchdown receptions against Orlando.

Solomon now has 31 career receiving touchdowns, good for fifth place on the Storm all-time list. Solomon moved past Charles Wilson, who had 30 career receiving touchdowns, and is just four behind James Bowden, who currently resides in fourth place with 35.

Of Solomon's 17 regular season games played, he's recorded 11 multiple receiving touchdown games. In fact, there have been only three games in which he has failed to record a receiving touchdown.

Solomon's three touchdown performance in Week 1 tied him for the league lead in scoring with 18 points. Five other players scored three touchdowns in Week 1, including three other players who had three touchdown receptions.

HALF A CENTURY

When Clif Dell hauled in his 22-yard touchdown reception last week against Orlando, he recorded his tenth receiving touchdown as a member of the Storm and his 50th career receiving touchdown. Dell, in his second season with Tampa Bay, scored the touchdown against his former team and the organization for which he scored 40 of those 50 touchdowns. Dell played with the Predators from 1999-2002, with his best career season coming in his final year in Orlando. That season he caught 76 passes for 995 yards and 22 touchdowns.

FINALLY SOME STABILITY

That huge sigh of relief you heard after the Tampa Bay-Orlando game probably came from Storm head coach Tim Marcum. That's because for the first time in a long time, he did not have to worry about his kicker following the contest.

Last season the Storm won the ArenaBowl championship despite going through a league-record six kickers during the season. One of those kickers was Ian Howfield, who the Storm brought out of retirement to kick for them early in the season. Howfield's seven-week stint on the Storm roster was by far the most productive of any of the six kickers, but some missed extra points in back-to-back games caused Marcum to release Howfield prior to Week 11.

After Howfield went on to finish the season with a strong showing for the New York Dragons, Marcum brought Howfield back to Tampa Bay for the 2004 season. In the season opener, Howfield was perfect on his extra point tries and field goal attempts, connecting on all seven extra points and hitting a 30-yard field goal.

CLUTCH ON THIRD DOWN

Part of the Storm's success offensively against Orlando can be attributed to Tampa Bay's success on third downs. The Storm finished the game 6-of-8 on third down conversion attempts, a percentage that led the league in third down efficiency.

Tampa Bay quarterback Shane Stafford completed 4-of-5 third down passes, averaging 11.0 yards per attempt. One of those passes went for a touchdown. Stafford's quarterback rating on third down was 152.1, the best in the league on third down. Both of Storm WR/DB TT Toliver's receptions in the game were on third down, including his 19- yard touchdown catch. He finished the game with 34 yards receiving.

BACK IN THE ENDZONE

Tampa Bay Storm FB/LB David White scored his first rushing touchdown of the season on a two-yard run in the fourth quarter. White is coming off of a career year that saw him break multiple single-season career highs, including setting a single season career high with 11 rushing touchdowns in 2003. Including his score against Orlando, White now has 15 rushing touchdowns as a member of the Storm and has moved into a tie for fifth place on the Storm's all-time rushing touchdowns list with fellow FB/LB Basil Proctor. Both are just three rushing touchdown behind former FB/LB Tony Jones, who had 18 during his Storm career.

ANOTHER CLIMBER

Storm WR/LB Lawrence Samuels is no stranger to the Storm all-time production lists, as his name is high on many of the receiving and defensive lists. Samuels made another move up on Sunday against Orlando, as he moved into a sixth place tie with Eddie Brown on the Storm's all-time pass breakups list. He now has 28 career pass breakups, six behind fifth place Antoine Worthman.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF GAME

Week 1: Shane Stafford. TB
Week 2:
Week 3:
Week 4:
Week 5:
Week 6:
Week 7:
Week 8:
Week 9:
Week 10:
Week 11:
Week 12:
Week 13:
Week 14:
Week 15:
Week 16:
Week 17:

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF GAME

Week 1: Shea Showers, TB
Week 2:
Week 3:
Week 4:
Week 5:
Week 6:
Week 7:
Week 8:
Week 9:
Week 10:
Week 11:
Week 12:
Week 13:
Week 14:
Week 15:
Week 16:
Week 17:

IRONMAN OF THE GAME

Week 1: TT Toliver, TB
Week 2:
Week 3:
Week 4:
Week 5:
Week 6:
Week 7:
Week 8:
Week 9:
Week 10:
Week 11:
Week 12:
Week 13:
Week 14:
Week 15:
Week 16:
Week 17:

STORM RECORD WHEN ...

ALL TIME 2004
Leading after 1st quarter 84-18 0-0
Trailing after 1st quarter 40-29 0-0
Tied after 1st quarter 18-9 1-0
Leading after 2nd quarter 117-14 1-0
Trailing after 2nd quarter 14-37 0-0
Tied after 2nd quarter 11-5 0-0
Leading after 3rd quarter 117-8 1-0
Trailing after 3rd quarter 20-45 0-0
Tied after 3rd quarter 6-3 0-0
Tampa Bay scores first 84-18 1-0
Opponent scores first 60-38 0-0
Tampa Bay more tot. yards 107-24 0-0
Opponent more tot. yards 36-32 1-0
Tampa Bay more pass yards 99-26 0-0
Opponent more pass yards 44-30 1-0
Tampa Bay more rush yards 102-19 1-0
Opponent more rush yards 42-36 0-0
Tampa Bay more turnovers 26-45 0-0
Opponent more turnovers 113-11 0-0
Tampa Bay 300 yd passer 13-7 0-0
Opponent 300 yd passer 14-8 0-0
Tampa Bay 30 yd rusher 34-3 0-0
Opponent 30 yd rusher 9-9 0-0
Tampa Bay 100 yd receiver 71-26 0-0
Opponent 100 yd receiver 43-29 1-0
Tampa Bay 200 yd receiver 0-0 0-0
Opponent 200 yd receiver 1-2 0-0
Tampa Bay two 30 yd rushers 4-1 0-0
Opponent two 30 yd rushers 1-1 0-0
Tampa Bay two 100 yd rec. 4-3 0-0
Opponent two 100 yd rec. 1-2 0-0
Tampa Bay 300+ pass yds 12-7 0-0
Opponent 300+ pass yds 15-8 0-0
Tampa Bay 50+ rush yds 24-2 0-0
Opponent 50+ rush yds 10-8 0-0
Tampa Bay 70+ points 8-0 0-0
Opponent 70+ points 0-1 0-0
Tampa Bay 60+ points 39-0 0-0
Opponent 60+ points 7-11 0-0
Tampa Bay 50+ points 82-8 1-0
Opponent 50+ points 31-26 0-0
Tampa Bay 40+ points 121-22 1-0
Opponent 40+ points 59-45 1-0
Games decided 17+ points 64-16 0-0
Games decided 3 pts or less 16-11 0-0
TB holds opp. under 20 pts 23-0 0-0
TB held under 40 points 25-32 0-0
TB held to 30 pts or less 8-9 0-0
Home 79-26 1-0
Away 64-30 0-0
Overtime 4-5 0-0
Thursday 3-3 0-0
Friday 35-13 0-0
Saturday 81-32 0-0
Sunday 17-8 1-0
Monday 6-1 0-0
January 1-0 0-0
February 2-2 1-0
March 5-0 0-0
April 7-7 0-0
May 29-12 0-0
June 36-14 0-0
July 40-12 0-0
August 22-8 0-0
September 1-0 0-0

AFL THIS WEEK

Friday, February 13
Carolina at Columbus - 7:00 pm
Georgia at Tampa Bay - 7:30 pm
Austin at Orlando - 7:30 pm
Detroit at Arizona - 9:00 pm
Saturday, February 14
Chicago at New York - 3:00 pm
Indiana at New Orleans - 3:00 pm
Los Angeles at Las Vegas - 3:00 pm
Colorado at Grand Rapids - 12:00 pm
Sunday, February 15
Philadelphia at Dallas - 4:00 pm
BYE: San Jose


STORM INJURY REPORT

Player Injury Status
J. Diaz Knee Out – On IR
A. Langham Knee Out – On IR
S. King Groin Out – On IR
C. James Back Out – On IR
D. Bleisath Back Out – On IR
A. Bowden Hamstring Out – On IR
K. Kinney Groin Questionable

TALE OF THE TAPE

STORM FORCE
Category Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense 5 52.0 18 28.0
Scoring Defense 6 41.0 15 54.0
Total Offense 16 189.0 7 250.0
Total Defense 15 269.0 14 260.0

TRACKING THE STORM

Following the week listed, the Storm ranked:

SCORE SCORE SCORE SCORE
OFF. DEF. OFF. DEF.
Week 1: 5 6 16 15
Week 2:
Week 3:
Week 4:
Week 5:
Week 6:
Week 7:
Week 8:
Week 9:
Week 10:
Week 11:
Week 12:
Week 13:
Week 14:
Week 15:
Week 16:
Week 17:

TAMPA, AFL RATINGS LOOKING UP

The AFL on NBC garnered its highest ratings ever last week when it
was announced that the overnight rating for the league was a 2.5.
This rating was up 14% from the 2003 opening weekend rating of 2.2
and well above the national average of 1.1 for the 2003 season. As a
comparison, the NHL All-Star game, which was directly opposite
ArenaFootball on ABC, also received a 2.5 overnight rating.

In the Tampa market, the Storm-Predators game drew a 3.9 local
rating, up 200% from Tampa's local rating in Week 1 of the 2003
season. The 3.9 local rating was the fourth-highest local rating in the
league in Week 1. The only higher local ratings were New Orleans
(7.9), Philadelphia (5.8), and Orlando (4.3). The local 3.9 rating for
the Storm-Predators game also significantly outdrew all other local
sports on Sunday afternoon, including the NHL All-Star game (1.6), the
PGA Tour event from Pebble Beach (3.5), the NBA's Orlando Magic vs
Los Angeles Lakers on ABC (2.2), NASCAR's coverage of the Daytona
500 qualifying (2.8), and NCAA basketball on CBS (1.2).

OPENING DAY ATTENDANCE UP, TOO

Attendance for the first week of the 2004 AFL season broke four
records and was up nine percent vs. the first week of the 2003 season,
and up 25 percent vs. the 2003 season average. The gross attendance
of 128,175 and average per game attendance of 14,242 broke four
previous records: highest Week 1 total, highest Week 1 average,
highest total for any week, and highest average for any week. There
were sellouts in Colorado (18,063), Georgia (11,200) and Philadelphia
(17,484), and Indiana set a franchise attendance record with 14,007
fans Saturday night, the most in their 15-year history.

In addition, The Storm-Predators game drew 15,404 fans to the St.
Pete Times Forum. That crowd was nearly double the opening night
attendance in 2003, when 8,354 were at the St. Pete Times Forum to
watch the Storm take on the Carolina Cobras. Last season's regular
season game against Orlando at the St. Pete Times Forum drew
15,054 fans, and the Storm's home playoff game against the Predators
drew 14,028.

NEW FACES

Though the Storm return many of the impact players from last
season's ArenaBowl champion team, there are a number of new faces
on the Storm's opening night roster. Of the 29 players on the opening
night roster (24-man roster and Injured Reserve), 13 of those players
were not with the Storm for the ArenaBowl, including seven players
who played in the game against Orlando. Those players who played
last week but were not on the ArenaBowl roster include QB Shane
Stafford, WR/DB Jonathan Ordway, OL/DLs Evan Pilgrim and Cyron
Brown, DSs Shea Showers and Del Lee, and K Ian Howfield. Others
new to the roster this season include QB Stoney Case, WR/DB Carlos
James, OL/DLs Emil Ekiyor, Shawn King, and DJ Bleisath, and DS
Antonio Langham.

SUPER TIES

The 2004 Super Bowl pitted the New England Patriots and the Carolina
Panthers, a matchup which featured some strong loyalties among
members of the Storm. Tampa Bay's roster features three of players with ties to the Super Bowl champion New England
Patriots. Quarterback Shane Stafford was signed by the Patriots in January 2003 and allocated to NFL Europe by the
Patriots, where he played the 2003 season. FB/LB Andre Bowden enjoyed a three-year stint from 1994-96. Antonio
Langham played for the Patriots in 2000 and also played under current Patriots head coach Bill Belichick while with the
Cleveland Browns in 1994 and 1995. And, while not having direct ties to the two Super Bowl teams, Storm defensive
specialist Del Lee played for Belichick while both were with the New York Jets in 1999. The Storm roster also features a
pair of former Panthers in linemen Darion Conner and Shawn King. King was a second round draft choice by Carolina in
the 1995 NFL draft, the 36th overall selection.

PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS

The Tampa Bay Storm placed one player on the first-ever Preseason All-AFL team and was selected to finish second in
the league. The two preseason "polls" were taken by the newly-formed Arena Football League Writers Association.
Lawrence Samuels was selected as the preseason All-AFL pick at the WR/LB position. Also on the team was former Storm
lineman BJ Cohen, now of the New Orleans VooDoo. The Storm placed second in the AFLWA's preseason picks as the
eventual ArenaBowl champion. San Jose finished first in the voting, followed by Tampa Bay, Arizona, Los Angeles, and
Orlando.

SCORING
18, Freddie Solomon, vs Orlando, 2-8-04

PASSING YARDS
158, Shane Stafford, vs Orlando, 2-8-04

PASSING TOUCHDOWNS
5, Shane Stafford, vs Orlando, 2-8-04

RECEPTIONS
7, Freddie Solomon, vs Orlando, 2-8-04

RECEIVING YARDS
66, Freddie Solomon, vs Orlando, 2-8-04

RECEIVING TOUCHDOWNS
3, Freddie Solomon, vs Orlando, 2-8-04

RUSHES
6, David White, vs Orlando, 2-8-04
RUSHING YARDS
23, Shane Stafford, vs Orlando, 2-8-04

RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS
1, Shane Stafford, vs Orlando, 2-8-04; David White, vs
Orlando, 2-8-04

KICKOFF RETURN YARDS
23, TT Toliver, vs Orlando, 2-8-04

MFG RETURN YARDS
0

ALL-PURPOSE YARDS
66, Freddie Solomon, vs Orlando, 2-8-04
TACKLES
6.5, Shea Showers, vs Orlando, 2-8-04

FUMBLE RECOVERIES
1, Del Lee, vs Orlando, 2-8-04

SACKS
1.0, Cyron Brown, vs Orlando, 2-8-04

TACKLES FOR LOSS
1.0, Cyron Brown, vs Orlando, 2-8-04

INTERCEPTIONS
0

PASS BREAK-UPS
2, TT Toliver, vs Orlando, 2-8-04

MOVING UP THE STORM CAREER CHARTS

Career Receptions
1. Stevie Thomas 519
2. Lawrence Samuels 394
3. George LaFrance 391
4. James Bowden 160
5. Freddie Solomon 113
6. Bobby Byrd 100
7. David Saunders 93

Career Receiving Yards
2. George LaFrance 5,392
3. Lawrence Samuels 4,932
4. James Bowden 2,064
5. Freddie Solomon 1,619
6. Wayne Walker 1,307
7. Bobby Byrd 1,150
8. David Saunders 1,062

Career Receiving Touchdowns
4. James Bowden 35
5. Freddie Solomon 31
6. Charles Wilson 30
7. David Saunders 25

Career Rushing Yards
6. Ivan Caesar 200
7. Basil Proctor 187
8. Travis Pearson 175
9. David White 163

Career Rushing TDs
4. Tony Jones 18
5. Basil Proctor 15
5. David White 15

Career Sacks
6. Joe March 12.0
7. Rod Williams 10.0
8. Willie Wyatt 9.5
9. Nyle Wiren 8.5

Career Pass Breakups
6. Eddie Brown 28
6. Lawrence Samuels 28

Career Tackles
1. Tracey Perkins 348.0
2. Lawrence Samuels 280.5
3. Tommy Henry 204.0
4. Andre Bowden 188.0

Career Interceptions
2. Johnnie Harris 18
3. Lawrence Samuels 17

Career Kickoff Return Yards
3. Stevie Thomas 1,255
4. Freddie Solomon 1,037



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from February 11, 2004


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