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Tampa Bay Storm game notes

February 8, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


STORM/FORCE PREVIEW
The Tampa Bay Storm (1-1) begin their home schedule and Southern Division play this week as they face the Georgia Force (1-1) at the St. Pete Times Forum. Last season the Storm didn't drop a contest at home (8-0) as they became the second team in AFL history to do so. The only other team to reach the feat is today's opponent the Force, who also accomplished the feat last season. Last season the Storm beat the Force 48-38 at the St. Pete Times Forum. Storm QB Shane Stafford completed 24 passes for 319 yards and five touchdowns en route to being named Offensive Player of the Game. The Storm defense recorded four takeaways as they recovered three fumbles and intercepted a pass. The four turnovers by the Force were a season-high. Georgia returned the favor at Phillips Arena in Atlanta as they clinched their first Southern Division Championship in a, 52-40. The teams also met in the playoffs for the first time in the National Conference Divisional Playoffs. Special teams ruled the game for the Force as they defeated the Storm, 62-46. Force OS Chris Jackson recorded 103 kickoff return yards and WR/DB Troy Bergeron returned a missed field goal for a touchdown.

STORM/RAMPAGE RECAP
The Storm offense scored on 7 of 12 possessions in a, 51-43, win versus the Rampage in front of 7,714 fans at Centennial Wireless Field at Van Andel Arena. QB Shane Stafford completed 26 of 37 passes for 271 yards and four touchdowns. Stafford also scored on a pair of one-yard touchdown runs. Lawrence Samuels had a huge game in the absence of Freddie Solomon. Samuels caught 10 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Ronnie Daniels, who started at offensive specialist, hauled in eight passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns. The Storm defense was able to stop the Rampage offense and QB Jose Davis five times, and hold the offense to three field goals.

We Must Protect This House!
The Storm have not lost a game at the friendly confines of the St. Pete Times Forum in 11 consecutive regular season games dating back to April 18, 2004. The streak is currently the longest in the AFL. The Storm are also 22-5 at home since the 2003 season including the playoffs.

Last season the Storm became one of two teams in AFL history to finish the regular season 8-0 at home. They outscored their opponents 644-516, averaging a margin of victory of more than 11 points per game.

Stat-ford Keeps The Numbers Rollin'
QB Shane Stafford is coming off one of the most remarkable seasons in Storm history. He broke season passing records for attempts (631), completions (405), touchdowns (83), yards (4,522) and completion percentage (64.2).

His career totals also benefited from his huge season in 2005. Including his performances in the first two weeks of this season, he has passed for 11,430 yards and 212 TD's, only the 2nd QB in Storm history to pass for more than 11,000 yards and 200 TD's (Jay Gruden 15,623 yards, 280 TD's).

They Fought The Law and The Law Won
Future AFL Hall-of-Famer and perennial AFL Ironman Lawrence Samuels continues to shatter Storm all-time numbers. Hauling in 10 catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns last week at Grand Rapids, the Livingston graduate is now 302 yards from tying the all-time reception yards record by Storm great Stevie Thomas. On defense he tallied two and a half tackles and is now four tackles from tying the all-time mark for tackles set by Tracey Perkins with 348.

Lawrence Samuels set a Storm record for receptions last season with 123 grabs in 16 games. The previous record was held by Freddie Solomon, who made 106 catches in 2003. Samuels' 166 receiving yards in Week 16 of 2005 versus Columbus were a career high. He also tied his career best of three touchdowns in the game.

Samuels cracked the 100-catch plateau for the first time in his career during last season's Week 14 match up with New Orleans. He finished the 2005 season with 123 receptions, his previous best was 81 in 2004, when he also racked up 951 yards and nine touchdowns. He finished the 2005 campaign with 19 touchdowns to tie his career best for scoring grabs in a season (last accomplished in 2000). He averaged 88.2 receiving yards per game last season. His previous best was 64.8 in 2003.

Give Em A Second Look
Ronney Daniels, now in his second season with the Storm, is fitting in quite well into coach Marcum's system. Daniels in two games has hauled in 12 passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns.

Last season in nine games played Daniels made 22 receptions for 306 yards and eight touchdowns.

In The Market
General Manager/Head Coach Tim Marcum and Director of Player Personnel Dave Ewart were busy during the off-season signing highly sought after free agents WR/LB Bobby Sippio (Dallas), as well as linemen Thaddeus Bullard (Las Vegas) and Buck Gurley (Orlando).

The Storm returned 15-of-20 players from last season. Of the players lost during the off season, two were kicker Matt George and backup QB Stoney Case.

Super Size Me!!!
The average weight of the Storm lineman this season in comparison to last is up nearly 10 pounds (2006 = 287.3 lbs.; 2005 = 277.8). New lineman include Thaddeus Bullard (275 lbs.), Mondre Dickerson (300 lbs.), Buck Gurley (300 lbs.), Aaron Hunt (275 lbs.), A.J. Ricker (295 lbs.) and Greg Taplin (280 lbs.). Bullard and Hunt are currently on IR.

Hey Rook!
Eight players on the 2006 Storm roster are in their first AFL season. The Storm rookies include kicker Bill Gramatica, linemen A.J. Ricker, Mondre Dickerson, Aaron Hunt, Greg Taplin and Kevin Dogins, as well as wide receiver/defensive backs Alphonso Roundtree and Leroy Smith.

Gramatica saw time in the NFL for four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins. Ricker spent time in the Chicago Bears camp in 2005 and Alphonso Roundtree spent three seasons with the Miami Dolphins (2003-05).

In their first two weeks of the season Gramatica has converted on 11-of-12 point after attempts and Taplin has three tackles.

Youth Movement
Tim Marcum football teams are usually veteran laden. This year's team features 11 players on the current 24 man roster with less than three years of experience.

Lynarise Elpheage, Jarrod Penright, Ronney Daniels, and DeMarcus Johnson are key returnees from the 2005 Storm roster with less than three years in the league.

The average age on the team is 28 years, 10 months.

Buck's Back In Town!
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneer lineman Buck Gurley is back in Tampa with the Storm. The University of Florida standout won a Super Bowl ring with the Buccaneers in 2003. In that season he played in eight games for the Bucs and recorded two tackles.

Gurley has spent his last two AFL seasons with the Orlando Predators. This season he has assisted on one tackle and recorded one quarterback hurry.

Ordway Climbs to the Top
Defensive specialist Jonathan Ordway finished the 2005 season second in the AFL in passes defended. He made 29 pass breakups and intercepted six passes. His 29 breakups were second in the league. His six interceptions were tied for fifth in the AFL.

In week one, Ordway intercepted Soul quarterback Tony Graziani at the goal line to keep the Storm in the game. Ordway has five passes defended this season.

Leading at the Half
The Storm were unstoppable during the 2005 regular season when leading at the half, going 8-0. They are 132-16 all-time when leading after two quarters. Tampa Bay outscored opponents 423-388 in the first half last season, including 254-204 in the second quarter.

This season the Storm have gone into the locker room at halftime trailing in both games and have a record of 1-1.

The Magic Number
The Storm are 46-2 in franchise history when they score 60 points or more. They scored 60 points or more on six separate occasions during the 2005 season and won all contests excluding one loss to the Philadelphia Soul. They put up 63 points in Week 1 vs. San Jose, 62 in Week 2 vs. Austin and 70 in Week 6 vs. Grand Rapids. Tampa Bay also improved to 9-0 all-time when they score 70 points or more. The last time the Storm scored 70 points in a game was July 7, 2001 vs. Houston when they won 70-47. They posted 61 points in their Week 16 game against the New York Dragons and won 61-58 while finishing the season by putting up 78 points in Columbus.

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 18 seasons under his belt, all as a head coach. He enters his 12th 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 fourth 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.

Special teams coach Jimmy Dunn has coached arena football for 10 years. He was the head coach with the Miami Hooters in 1994 and Charleston Swamp Foxes of the arenafootball2 from 2000-2002. Also, he has served as offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Rockers, Miami Hooters, Charlotte Rage and special teams coach for the Orlando Predators.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from February 8, 2006


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.

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