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Tampa Bay Storm game notes

March 2, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


STORM RETURN HOME, LOOK TO GET BACK INTO WIN COLUMN
The Tampa Bay Storm return home for the first time in a month on Sunday when they host the Grand Rapids Rampage at the St. Pete Times Forum. When the Storm last played in the friendly confines of the Forum they had just completed a 62-45 victory over the Austin Wranglers to improve to 2-0 on the young season. Since then Tampa Bay has struggled, losing at Orlando and New Orleans. The pair of losses dropped the Storm to 2-2 and raised the stakes of Sunday's contest against the Rampage. The Storm hope to get back a few key players who have struggled with injuries since the start of the season. Included in those returnees could be WR/DB T.T. Toliver, OS Freddie Solomon, and OL/DL Kelvin Kinney. The return of any or all of those players should help the injury-plagued five-time World Champions get back in the hunt for a postseason berth.

TAMPA BAY LOSES LEAD, FALLS IN OVERTIME AT NEW ORLEANS
After the Storm jumped out to an early 10-0 lead at New Orleans, the VooDoo scored 21 unanswered points to turn what could have become a Storm runaway victory into a back-and-forth shootout. And, in the end, the VooDoo made enough plays in overtime and were the recipients of a close call by the referees en route to a 48-42 OT victory. After New Orleans scored the initial touchdown in overtime, VooDoo kicker Brian Schmitz missed the extra point, giving the Storm a chance to win the game. After advancing th4e ball to the New Orleans three-yard line, the Storm self destructed, as a pair of penalties backed them up to the 18. On 4th-and-goal from the 18, Stafford fired the ball to David Saunders, who made a leaping catch at the goal line. Saunders, who appeared to reach the ball into the endzone, was knocked backwards and fell on the goal line. The referees, however, huddled and said he never crossed the plane of the goal line, thus giving the VooDoo the victory.

THE SERIES
Overall record: Storm lead, 4-1
Regular Season: Storm lead, 4-1
Playoffs: Never met
Last Meeting: Tampa Bay won 58-56 (at Grand Rapids, 2-23-03)


RADIO – 620 AM WDAE
Jack Harris, play-by-play
Jason Dixon, analyst


SPANISH RADIO – 680-AM
Neil Fernandez, play-by-play
Enrique Oliu, analyst


TV -- No TV

2005 STORM SCHEDULE/RESULTS

DATE OPPONENT RESULT
Jan. 30 San Jose SaberCats W, 63-33
Feb. 6 Austin Wranglers W, 62-45
Feb. 11 at Orlando Predators L, 46-61
Feb. 25 at New Orleans VooDoo L, 42-48 OT
Mar. 6 Grand Rapids Rampage 1:00 pm
Mar. 13 Arizona Rattlers 12:00 pm
Mar. 20 at Philadelphia Soul 12:00 pm
Mar. 26 at Los Angeles Avengers 10:30 pm
April 2 Georgia Force 7:30 pm
April 9 Orlando Predators 7:30 pm
April 17 at Austin Wranglers 1:00 pm
April 24 at Nashville Kats 1:00 pm
April 30 New Orleans VooDoo 7:30 pm
May 8 at Georgia Force 1:00 pm
May 15 New York Dragons 1:00 pm
May 22 at Columbus Destroyers 3:00 pm
All times Eastern and subject to change

THE ONE THAT SLIPPED AWAY
The Tampa Bay Storm jumped out to an early 10-0 lead against the New Orleans VooDoo, only to see the advantage slip away. The contest marked the second straight game that the Storm lost a double-digit lead. In Week 3 against Orlando, the Storm quickly jumped out to a 17-6 lead early in the second quarter. But by halftime the Predators had turned the tide and went into the locker room with a 27-24 advantage.

The Storm saw much the same scenario unfold in their contest against the VooDoo. After the Storm went on top 10-0 early in the first quarter, the VooDoo pulled to within 10-7 and then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Three plays later Andy Kelly hooked up with Aaron Bailey on a touchdown pass that put New Orleans on top for the first time.

Like Orlando the game before, New Orleans went on to extend its lead before the Storm could answer. The VooDoo scored 21 unanswered points before Tampa got back on the scoreboard. Against the Predators, the Storm saw Orlando rip off 27 straight points to take control of the contest.

Tampa Bay has had double-digit leads in all four of its games this season. The Storm were able to put away their opponents at home, picking up decisive wins against San Jose and Austin. But those leads quickly evaporated in road losses at Orlando and New Orleans.

DUDE, YOU'RE GETTIN' A DELL
Tampa Bay Storm OS/WR/DB Clif Dell has become a touchdown scoring machine this season, as over 57% of his receptions have been touchdown grabs. Dell has hauled in 21 receptions to date, finding the endzone 12 times. He is tied for fourth in the AFL in touchdown receptions and ranks sixth in the league in scoring (74 points).

Dell, who has moved over from his WR/DB position to fill in for injured offensive specialist Freddie Solomon the past three weeks, leads the Storm in scoring and touchdown receptions and ranks second on the team with 21 catches for 194 yards. His performance against the VooDoo (8 catches for 62 yards and three touchdowns) marked the third time this season that the 7-year AFL veteran has scored at least three touchdowns in a game.

Dell's performance at New Orleans also allowed him to move up on the Storm career receiving charts. The third-year Storm receiver passed Eddie Brown and moved into eighth place on the Storm career receptions list (93). He also moved into eighth place on the Storm receiving yards list (1,194), passing Bobby Byrd. Dell now ranks seventh on the Storm receiving touchdowns list (31) after passing Charles Wilson in that category.

TAKE YOUR PICK
The Storm defense has had no problems forcing turnovers this season. The Tampa Bay defense added three more turnovers to its resume last week against New Orleans, including recording an interception in its fourth straight game.

Against the VooDoo it was WR/LB David Saunders doing the honors, making a leaping interception of New Orleans quarterback Andy Kelly at a key moment in the game. The Storm were backed up to their own three-yard line with just seven seconds left before halftime. Kelly attempted to float a pass over the linebackers and into the arms of a waiting VooDoo receiver, but Saunders quickly thwarted that plan with his first interception since the 2000 season and just his fourth career interception.

Saunders became the fourth different Storm player to record an interception this season. Lawrence Samuels and Jonathan Ordway each have two interceptions this season. Tramain Jones and Saunders each have one.

The Storm enter this week's contest against Grand Rapids tied for fifth in the league with 10 forced turnovers. Tampa Bay ranks fourth in the AFL with six interceptions and fifth in the AFL with four fumbles recovered.

Overall, the Storm are third in the AFL in turnover margin with a +5 differential. Tampa Bay has turned the ball over just five times this season, the second fewest turnovers committed in the league.

Grand Rapids ranks near the bottom of the league in turnover margin. The Rampage are tied for 13th in the AFL with a -4 turnover margin. They have turned the ball over a total of seven times and have forced a league-low three turnovers.

PROTECTING THE ROCK
As stated, the Storm's five turnovers this season are the second fewest in the league. Much of that credit goes to Tampa Bay quarterback Shane Stafford. Stafford has thrown just one interception this season, the fewest by any starting quarterback in the AFL. The fourth-year Storm quarterback made it a point this season to cut down on the number of interceptions he threw after struggling at times with them last season. And so far, that work has paid off. Including Stafford, only five quarterbacks have fewer that three interceptions on the season.

HOME, SWEET HOME
Tampa Bay returns home this week after two consecutive games on the road that dropped its overall record to 2-2. Before going on the road, the Storm were 2-0 at home and had outscored their opponents 125-78 in those two games. In two road games, the Storm have scored a combined 88 points and dropped from the league leader in points per game to seventh place. All-time, Tampa Bay owns an 85-29 home record and a 67-38 record on the road.

The Grand Rapids Rampage are 0-1 on the road this season, dropping a 72-56 decision at Colorado. Unlike the Storm, who have not played at home in a month, this road trip for the Rampage will mark their first game away from home in a month. Their last road contest was February 5.

KEEPIN' UP WITH THE JONESES
Storm defensive specialist Tramain Jones has been a tackling machine this season. Jones leads the Storm with 34.5 tackles, a total that ranks him fourth in the AFL. The third-year member of the Storm put together a career night in that department last week against the VooDoo. Jones recorded a career-high 12.5 tackles in the game, marking the second time this season that he has notched a career best. Jones' single-season career high is 63.0 tackles, which he recorded last season.

THE LONGEST GAME, ALMOST
During the offseason, five current Storm players took part in filming the remake of The Longest Yard. Last Friday night, those players nearly played the longest game in Storm history. The overtime contest against the VooDoo ended with 3:07 remaining in the extra period. The game lasted a total of 72 minutes and 53 seconds. It came just one second shy of matching the longest game in Storm history. That occurred in 2002, when the Storm played an overtime contest against the Dallas Desperados. That game lasted 72:54, and ended with a 62-56 Storm loss.

OVERTIME THRILLERS
Though the Storm couldn't pull out the victory against the VooDoo, the game marked another furious overtime finish for the five-time World Champions. The overtime loss dropped Tampa Bay's all-time overtime record to 5-6 and snapped a streak of two straight overtime wins by Tampa Bay.

Last season the Storm played one overtime game, winning in dramatic fashion against Austin. In that contest the Storm sacked former Tampa Bay quarterback John Kaleo on fourth down in overtime and stripped him of the football. Lawrence Samuels scooped up the fumble and returned it for the game-winning touchdown, marking the beginning of the six-game winning streak that the Storm put together to close out the 2004 regular season.

SACK DROUGHT
For the third consecutive game, the Storm defense failed to record a sack. Tampa Bay has just two sacks this season, far fewer than the Storm usually have through four games. To make matters worse, the Storm have given up at least one sack in every game this year. For the season, Tampa Bay has given up eight sacks and ranks 16th in the league in that category.

The Rampage have recorded three sacks in four games this season and have given up four.

STILL ON THE MEND
The Storm remain plagued by injuries in the early part of the season, but Tampa Bay could be getting back a few of those players who have been on the mend. Offensive specialist Freddie Solomon missed two of the last three games and played in just part of one quarter in the other after injuring his ankle in the season opener against San Jose. Solomon, one of the top receivers in the league, is likely to return this week against Grand Rapids.

Another player who will likely be back is lineman Kelvin Kinney. Kinney missed last week's game with a shoulder injury and has also played with a bad ankle this season. He has yet to finish a game this season due to various injuries.

Three players who have yet to suit up this season remain larger question marks. All-Ironman WR/DB T.T. Toliver has been out with a torn MCL. FB/LB Davis White has been out with an ankle sprain, and OL/DL Rod Williams has missed games with a broken finger. All three players were injured in the storm's preseason scrimmage against Orlando.

FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
Quarterback Shane Stafford shattered a couple Storm passing records in the game against New Orleans. Stafford finished with 32 completions in 54 attempts, throwing for 278 yards and five touchdowns. The 32 completions and 54 attempts were both single-game Storm records. The previous completions 31 set my Scott Milanovich in 2002. The previous record for attempts was 52 passes thrown by Jay Gruden in 1994 and Milanovich in 2002.

KICKING WITH CONFIDENCE
Tampa Bay Storm kicker Matt George has done what not many kickers in recent years have been able to do – stay out of head coach Tim Marcum's doghouse. After going through 10 kickers during the past two seasons, George has solidified himself as one of the top kickers in the league. Through four games, George ranks sixth in the AFL in scoring among kickers with 39 points and is the highest scoring kicker among teams that have played just four games. He has connected on 24-of-26 extra point attempts and five of 10 field goals.

PENALTIES NUMEROUS, COSTLY
The Tampa Bay Storm had a season-high 12 penalties for 69 yards against the New Orleans VooDoo. Not only were the flags against the Storm numerous, but they were also costly. With the VooDoo up 14-10, Shane Stafford tossed what looked to be a 17-yard touchdown to Clif Dell. But the play was called back because of an illegal formation penalty against the Storm. Tampa Bay would go on to miss a field goal, and instead of the Storm regaining the lead, the Voodoo extended their advantage to 21-10.

In overtime Stafford rushed to the New Orleans three-yard line. But instead of 3rd-and-goal from the three, a pair of Storm penalties knocked Tampa Bay back to the 18-yard line, where the Storm eventually failed to get into the endzone.

STRUGGLING ON THE GROUND
The Tampa Bay Storm running game has struggled mightily this season. Playing without FB/LB David White, who ranks fifth on the Storm career rushing list, the Storm have averaged just 10.3 yards per game on the ground, good for 15th in the AFL. Tampa Bay has only four rushing touchdowns this year, with Stafford the only player with multiple touchdowns on the ground.

The Storm have been outrushed in three of the four games this season and own a 1-2 overall record in those games. Overall, Tampa Bay is 48-44 in games when the opponent has totaled more rushing yards in the game.

The Storm rushing defense, which has been solid this season, will have its hands full this week against Grand Rapids. Tampa Bay, which ranks sixth in the AFL in rushing defense, will face the league's top rusher in Rampage quarterback Michael Bishop. Bishop has 194 rushing yards in three games, an average of 64.7 yards per game. He has rushed for four touchdowns, as many as the Storm have rushed for as a team this season.

HITTING THE CENTURY MARK
Storm wide receiver Lawrence Samuels reached a career milestone in Week 5 against New Orleans. Samuels hauled in his 100th career receiving touchdown on a seven-yard third quarter touchdown strike from Shane Stafford. The touchdown was his only TD grab of the game, in which he finished with seven receptions for 59 yards.

Samuels is putting together another great season for the Storm in 2005. He is the team leader in receptions and receiving yards, catching 34 passes for 395 yards. He enters this week's game against Grand Rapids needing just 12 catches to pass Stevie Thomas and take over as the Storm's career receptions leader. Samuels also has 91 touchdowns as a member of the Storm and needs nine more to become just the second player in Storm history with 100 touchdown catches in a Storm uniform.

SERIES FINALLY MOVES TO TAMPA
The Tampa Bay Storm lead the all-time series with the Grand Rapids Rampage 4-1. But all five of the meetings have come in Grand Rapids, Mich., one of the coldest AFL locales. This season the series moves south to sunny Tampa, Fla., where the two teams have never met.

The Storm have won the last three meetings in the series. The teams last met in 2003, when Tampa Bay won a 58-56 decision on an Ian Howfield field goal as time expired. The only Grand Rapids win came in 1999, when the Rampage claimed a 46-44 victory.

STREAKS SNAPPED
The Tampa Bay Storm saw a couple of impressive streaks snapped with their Week 3 loss at Orlando. The Storm entered the game with the longest active regular season winning streak in the AFL. But that eight-game streak came to an end, as did the Storm's four-game winning streak against the Predators. The loss also snapped the Storm's five-game winning streak against Southern Division foes. That streak included wins against all of the Storm's Southern Division opponents – Austin, New Orleans, Orlando, and Georgia.

SOLOMON'S STREAK HALTED
It took an injury to end Freddie Solomon's streak of consecutive games played with at least one touchdown reception. The Week 3 game against Orlando also marked the first time in his career that Solomon failed to catch a touchdown pass.

Solomon entered the Orlando game with touchdown receptions in 32 consecutive games played. After sitting out the Week 2 contest against Austin, Solomon attempted to play through the pain of his high ankle sprain against Orlando. But, after catching just one pass, Solomon finally succumbed to the pain and left the contest midway through the first quarter. He did not return to the field and finished with one catch for 10 yards and no touchdowns.

EUROPEAN DEPARTURES
Aside from the injuries, the Storm have also been raided by NFL Europe this season. Tampa Bay lost lineman Clint Mitchell before the start of the regular season. Mitchell was expected to be a contributor on the line of scrimmage this season. Mitchell was drafted by the Amsterdam Admirals in the free agent draft. Tampa Bay also lost WR/DB Lawrence Richardson and lineman DeMarco McNeil, both of whom were on the team's practice squad, to NFL Europe. Richardson was taken in the draft by the expansion Hamburg Sea Devils, and McNeil signed as a free agent with the Berlin Thunder.

STAFFORD GETS HONORED FOR RECORD SETTING DAY
Tampa Bay Storm quarterback Shane Stafford was recognized twice for helping lead the Storm to their big win against San Jose. Stafford was named the AFL Player of the Week by the Arena Football League Writers Association on Monday, and then on Tuesday he was honored as the league's Offensive Player of the Week.

The fourth-year Storm quarterback tied a team record and career high with eight touchdown passes and set a personal best with 28 completions in the game. Stafford finished the contest with 273 yards on 28-of-35 passing. He had no interceptions to go along with his eight touchdowns. Stafford led the Storm offense to 10 consecutive scoring drives in the game. The Tampa Bay offense scored on every drive that Stafford engineered in the contest.

The AFLPA honor and the AFL award marked the second time in his career that each organization bestowed their respective awards on Stafford. He was also named the AFLWA Player of the Week and the AFL Offensive Player of the Week after leading the Storm to a victory over the Los Angeles Avengers in Week 14 of last season.

SECOND PLACE TO HIMSELF
Storm lineman Nyle Wiren's 0.5 sack and safety against San Jose in Week 1 gave him 15.0 sacks for his career. It also allowed Wiren to take over sole possession of second place on the team's career sacks list. Wiren entered the season with 14.5 career sacks and was tied for second place on the list with Lynn Rowland. Wiren now stands behind only Andre Bowden, who has 33.0 career sacks.

Wiren's defensive play picked up right where he left off last season. The eighth-year player had his best season in 2004, recording a career-high six sacks. He also earned second-team All-AFL honors.

FIRST TIMERS
The Tampa Bay Storm's 20-man roster for the season opener featured six players making their Storm debuts, including three rookies. AFL veterans Anthony Derricks, Jarrod Penright, and Ricky Hall all played in their first game for the Storm, as did rookies Lynaris Elpheage, Ronney Daniels, and Omar Smith. Additionally, another player, QB Stoney Case, saw his first-ever AFL game action. Case spent the 2004 season with the Storm but never dressed for a game.

SOLOMON COMES UP BIG IN SEASON OPENERS
Freddie Solomon has now played in three season openers for the Storm, and in each of them he has posted terrific numbers. Against the SaberCats last week Solomon hauled in a game-high 10 catches for 126 yards and three touchdowns. In three career season opening games Solomon has combined for 27 catches for 324 yards and nine touchdowns. His first-ever game opened the 2003 season, and Solomon had 10 catches fro 132 yards and three touchdowns. Last season Solomon had six catches for 66 yards and three touchdowns in the season opener against the Orlando Predators.

HEY ROOK
The Storm have always been a veteran-laden team under head coach Tim Marcum. The same is the case this season, but the Storm opening day roster did include an inordinate number of rookies. This season's opening day roster included rookies Kenny Christian, Ronney Daniels, Lynaris Elpheage, Herb Haygood, DeMarcus Johnson, Elfrid Payton, Lawrence Richardson, and Omar Smith.

Elpheage, Smith, Payton, and Johnson were all included on the team's 24-man roster, while Daniels, Haygood, and Richardson started the season on the team's injured reserve list. Kenny Christian was on the team's practice squad to start the year.

GOING TO THE ‘BIRDS
The Storm roster includes a certain Midwestern flare this season. That's because the Storm roster features four players – Ricky Hall, Jarrod Penright, Mike Sutton, and Anthony Derricks – who played for the Indiana Firebirds last season. In addition, Storm assistant coach Mark Stoute served as an assistant coach for the Firebirds in 2004.

The Storm signed Hall and Derricks as AFL free agents, the only AFL free agents signed by the Storm in the offseason who did not previously play for Tampa Bay. Penright and Sutton were acquired by the Storm through the 2004 Dispersal Draft. Additionally, Jeff Cogell, a member of the team's practice squad, also played for Indiana in 2004 and was acquired by Tampa Bay from Indiana in the Dispersal Draft.

TOUGH DAY AT THE OFFICE
The Storm suffered some potentially devastating injuries during their scrimmage against the Orlando Predators on January 22. The scrimmage, which served as the final day of training camp for both teams, produced numerous injuries for the Storm.

No injury, however, was as costly as the torn MCL suffered by WR/DB T.T. Toliver. Toliver, an All-Ironman selection a season ago, was the Storm's starting WR/DB and the team's top kick returner. In 2004, Toliver led the team with 2,095 all-purpose yards and 1,233 kickoff return yards. He finished second on the team in scoring (108 points) and third in receptions (64) and receiving yards (749). Defensively he was third in the team with 55.5 tackles and finished tied for the team lead with three interceptions.

Aside from the injury to Toliver, the Storm lost FB/LB David White to a high ankle sprain, OL/DL Rod Williams with a finger injury, and OL/DL Rashied Simmons to a neck injury. Tampa Bay entered the scrimmage with WR/LB David Saunders out with an ankle injury.

TONS OF EXPERIENCE ON THE SIDELINE
If there's one thing the Storm coaching staff has, it is Arena Football coaching experience. Headed by Tim Marcum, the AFL's all-time winningest coach, the three-man coaching staff has a total of 37 years of AFL coaching experience entering the season.

Marcum has 16 seasons under his belt, all as a head coach. He enters his 11th season in Tampa Bay, and prior to that served as the head coach of the Detroit Drive and Denver Dynamite. Under his guidance his teams have won seven ArenaBowl titles and have played in 10 of the 18 championship games.

Storm assistant coach Dave Ewart is in his third season with the Storm and his 11th season in the AFL. Prior to joining the Storm he served as head coach of the Florida Bobcats. He has also been the head coach of the Texas Terror and St. Louis Stampede and served as an assistant with the Bobcats, Stampede, New England Sea Wolves, and Cleveland Thunderbolts.



Assistant coach Mark Stoute is in his first season with the Storm and his 12th year in the AFL. He is a former head coach of the Toronto Phantoms and was an assistant with the Indiana Firebirds, New England Sea Wolves, Florida Bobcats, Charlotte Rage, and Connecticut Coyotes.

O'HARA NAMED OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
Tampa Bay Storm quarterback Pat O'Hara has been named the team's offensive coordinator. The AFL veteran will continue to serve as one of the team's backup quarterbacks in addition to his coaching duties. O'Hara is in his 11th AFL season and his third season with the Storm. He is best remembered by Storm fans for relieving quarterback John Kaleo in the second half of ArenaBowl XVII and leading the Storm to their fifth ArenaBowl championship.

O'Hara owns three ArenaBowl rings and has played in five championship games. He spent the first six seasons of his career with the Orlando Predators, where he won ArenaBowl championships in 1998 and 2000. He also was with the Toronto Phantoms in 2001 and 2002.

O'Hara has thrown for over 13,000 yards and 200 touchdowns in his AFL career. His career totals include 988 completions in 1,749 attempts for 13,383 yards and 231 touchdowns.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION
Five members of the Tampa Bay Storm spent the summer shooting the remake of The Longest Yard starring Adam Sandler and Burt Reynolds. Nyle Wiren, Clif Dell, Louis Williams, and Matt George all had on-screen roles. Wiren served as the body double for former professional Wrestler Steve Austin, and also performed numerous stunts for the movie. O'Hara worked behind the scenes, helping to find and hire all of the athletes for the movie. He also assisted in designing the plays that were run in the movie. Additionally, he assisted in "coaching up" Sandler for his role as a quarterback in the movie.

STORM RECORD WHEN ...

ALL TIME 2005
Leading after 1st quarter 87-20 0-1
Trailing after 1st quarter 44-36 0-1
Tied after 1st quarter 21-10 2-0
Leading after 2nd quarter 126-16 2-0
Trailing after 2nd quarter 15-44 0-2
Tied after 2nd quarter 11-6 0-0
Leading after 3rd quarter 126-11 2-1
Trailing after 3rd quarter 21-51 0-1
Tied after 3rd quarter 6-4 0-0

Tampa Bay scores first 88-22 1-2
Opponent scores first 66-44 1-0
Tampa Bay more tot. yards 111-31 1-1
Opponent more tot. yards 42-35 1-1
Tampa Bay more pass yards 103-34 1-1
Opponent more pass yards 50-32 1-1
Tampa Bay more rush yards 106-21 1-0
Opponent more rush yards 48-44 1-2
Tampa Bay more turnovers 26-48 0-0
Opponent more turnovers 123-14 2-1

Tampa Bay 300 yd passer 14-11 0-0
Opponent 300 yd passer 15-9 0-0
Tampa Bay 30 yd rusher 34-3 0-0
Opponent 30 yd rusher 9-9 0-0
Tampa Bay 100 yd receiver 77-34 2-1
Opponent 100 yd receiver 47-33 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. 4-4 0-0
Opponent two 100 yd rec. 3-2 0-0
Tampa Bay 300+ pass yds 13-11 0-0
Opponent 300+ pass yds 17-9 1-0
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 0-2 0-0
Tampa Bay 60+ points 43-1 2-0
Opponent 60+ points 7-14 0-1
Tampa Bay 50+ points 90-11 2-0
Opponent 50+ points 36-34 0-1
Tampa Bay 40+ points 131-30 2-2
Opponent 40+ points 65-55 1-2

Games decided 17+ points 67-16 2-0
Games decided 3 pts or less 18-11 0-0
TB holds opp. under 20 pts 23-0 0-0
TB held under 40 points 25-34 0-0
TB held to 30 pts or less 8-9 0-0

Home 85-29 2-0
Away 67-38 0-2
Overtime 5-6 0-1
Thursday 3-3 0-0
Friday 35-16 0-2
Saturday 82-33 0-0
Sunday 26-14 2-0
Monday 6-1 0-0
January 2-0 1-0
February 4-6 1-2
March 6-3 0-0
April 9-9 0-0
May 33-12 0-0
June 36-15 0-0
July 40-12 0-0
August 22-8 0-0
September 1-0 0-0

WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF GAME
Week 1: Shane Stafford, TB
Week 2: Clif Dell, TB
Week 3: Michael Brown, ORL
Week 4: Jacques Rumph, NO
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: Tramain Jones, TB
Week 2: Jonathan Ordway, TB
Week 3: Rupert Grant, ORL
Week 4: Chris Pointer, NO
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: Lawrence Samuels, TB
Week 2: Lawrence Samuels, TB
Week 3: Idris Price, ORL
Week 4: BJ Cohen, NO
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:


LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS
Shane Stafford, Week 1 Offensive Player
of the Week
Jonathan Ordway, Week 2 Defensive
Player of the Week

STORM INJURY REPORT

Player Injury Status
D. White Ankle Questionable
F. Solomon Ankle Questionable
K. Kinney Shoulder Questionable
TT Toliver Knee Questionable
R. Williams Finger Out







TALE OF THE TAPE

STORM RAMPAGE
Category Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense 7 53.3 3 55.3
Scoring Defense 7 46.8 17 65.0
Total Offense 14 268.8 4 304.8
Total Defense 6 267.0 11 293.5
Passing Offense 10 258.5 13 241.8
Passing Defense 7 250.5 11 271.8
Rushing Offense 15 10.3 1 63.0
Rushing Defense 6 16.5 11 21.8





TRACKING THE STORM

Following the week listed, the Storm ranked:

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

2005 STORM INDIVIDUAL GAME HIGHS

SCORING
20, Clif Dell, February 25 at New Orleans

PASSING YARDS
278, Shane Stafford, February 6 vs Austin

PASSING TOUCHDOWNS
8, Shane Stafford, January 30 vs San Jose

RECEPTIONS
11, Lawrence Samuels, February 11 at Orlando

RECEIVING YARDS
139, Lawrence Samuels, February 6 vs Austin

RECEIVING TOUCHDOWNS
4, Clif Dell, February 6 vs Austin

RUSHES
4, Jarrod Penright, January 30 vs San Jose

RUSHING YARDS
16, Jarrod Penright, February 11 at Orlando

RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS
1, 4 times

KICKOFF RETURN YARDS
98, Anthony Derricks, February 11 at Orlando

MFG RETURN YARDS
26, Anthony Derricks, February 6 vs Austin

ALL-PURPOSE YARDS
154, Anthony Derricks, February 11 at Orlando

TACKLES
12.5, Tramain Jones, February 25 at New Orleans

FUMBLE RECOVERIES
1, Lawrence Samuels, February 6 vs Austin; Ernest Certain, February 6 vs Austin; Tramain Jones, February 25 at New Orleans; Clif Dell, February 25 at New Orleans

SACKS
1.0, Mike Lawson, January 30 vs San Jose

TACKLES FOR LOSS
1.0, Mike Lawson, January 30 vs San Jose

INTERCEPTIONS
2, Lawrence Samuels, January 30 vs San Jose; Jonathan Ordway, February 6 vs Austin

PASS BREAK-UPS
3, Tramain Jones, January 30 vs San Jose; Jonathan Ordway, February 25 at New Orleans

MOVING UP THE STORM CAREER CHARTS

Career Receptions
1. Stevie Thomas 519
2. Lawrence Samuels 508
3. George LaFrance 391
4. Freddie Solomon 209
5. James Bowden 160
6. David Saunders 144
7. Bobby Byrd 100
8. Clif Dell 93

Career Receiving Yards
1. Stevie Thomas 7,784
2. Lawrence Samuels 6,303
3. George LaFrance 5,392
4. Freddie Solomon 2,888
5. James Bowden 2,064
6. David Saunders 1,651
7. Wayne Walker 1,307
8. Clif Dell 1,194

Career Receiving Touchdowns
2. George LaFrance 127
3. Lawrence Samuels 91
4. Freddie Solomon 63
5. James Bowden 35
5. David Saunders 35
7. Clif Dell 31

Career Rushing Yards
4. Lynn Bradford 289
5. David White 258

Career Rushing TDs
3. Cedric McKinnon 25
4. David White 22

Career Sacks
1. Andre Bowden 33.0
2. Nyle Wiren 15.0
3. Lynn Rowland 14.5
4. Deatrich Wise 13.5
5. Les Barley 12.5
6. Sylvester Bembery 12.0
6. Joe March 12.0
6. Rod Williams 12.0
9. Darion Conner 11.0

Career Pass Breakups
4. Corey Dowden 36
5. Lawrence Samuels 35

Career Tackles
1. Tracey Perkins 348.0
2. Lawrence Samuels 315.0

Career Interceptions
1. Tracey Perkins 34
2. Lawrence Samuels 21

Career Kickoff Return Yards
2. James Bowden 2,210
3. TT Toliver 1,848
4. Freddie Solomon 1,443



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from March 2, 2005


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