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Tampa Bay Storm game notes

April 5, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


STORM/SABERCATS PREVIEW
The Tampa Bay Storm and the San Jose SaberCats renew one of the best coast-to-coast rivalries in Arena Football. Both franchises are saturated with tradition. The Storm and SaberCats have combined to win the last three of four ArenaBowl Championships. The Storm's last World Championship coming in 2003 and the SaberCats last taking the crown in 2004. Both teams are headed up by two of the league's elite coaches, the Storm's Hall-of-Fame Head Coach Tim Marcum has won, a league record, 180 games and in his eighth season SaberCats Head Coach Darren Arbet has notched 86 victories. Both teams are lead on the field by two of the AFL's premiere quarterbacks. Storm quarterback Shane Stafford and SaberCat signal caller Mark Grieb are among the top-20 all-time leaders in passing yardage. Stafford is 33 yards shy of 14,000 which places him 17th all-time and eight year veteran Grieb holds the seventh spot with 25,875 passing yards. The quarterbacks lead their respective teams tied with the top rated passing offenses in the league averaging 303.5 yards per game. Last season the Storm were victorious in their season opener against the SaberCats, 63-33. Stafford led the way completing 28 passes for 273 yards and eight touchdowns. The Storm are 3-3 against San Jose at the St. Pete times Forum. In three Storm victories at home the Storm have beaten the SaberCats by an average of 21-points.

STORM/BLAZE RECAP
The top ranked offense in the league, the Storm, used defense to defeat the Utah Blaze, 56-41, in front of 13,404 fans at the St. Pete Times Forum Saturday night. The Storm defensive front four hurried, knocked down and sacked Blaze rookie QB Jason Gesser en route to their lowest point total given up this season. The Storm defensive backfield capitalized on their pass rush as Tramain Jones intercepted Gesser and Jonathan Ordway came up with three key pass breakups. Stafford completed 20 passes for 252 yards and tied a team record with eight touchdown passes, a feat he's accomplished five-times in his career. Lawrence Samuels caught eight passes for 75 yards and three touchdowns. Freddie Solomon continued his comeback bid from injury as he caught six passes for 83 yards and two touchdowns. The Storm victory marked Coach Marcum's 180th win.

Seventh Heaven
With Week 11 looming, the Storm (6-4) were in the same predicament in 2005 and finished the final seven weeks with a 5-2 record. Since the AFL expanded to a 16-week schedule (2003), the Storm have never finished with more than two losses with seven weeks left in the season.
Last 7 Weeks Final Record
2003 5-2 12-4
2004 6-1 9-7
2005 5-2 10-6
2006 1-0 6-4

Starting Off On the Right Note
The Storm have scored on their opening drive in 10 consecutive weeks to start the season. All 10 game-opening drives ended with a touchdown (7 passing, 3 rushing).

The Storm are 5-0 this season when leading after the first 15 minutes of play. They have outscored their opponents 128-118 in the first quarter this season.

Getting Offensive
The Storm lead the AFL in yards per game with 316 yards per contest. The bulk of those yards are 303 through the air, tied for tops in the league with this week's opponent the San Jose SaberCats.

The team's highest output of yardage came in Week 5 versus the Orlando Predators where they put up 452 yards of offense, a team record.

Stafford Season-to-Season Comparison
Last year Stafford had one of the most prolific seasons by any Storm signal caller, establishing Storm season highs. Last season he finished with 405 completions on 631 attempts for 4,522 yards and 83 touchdowns.

Stafford is on track to become the first quarterback in league history to throw for 5,000 yards in a season and became the franchise leader in completions (Jay Gruden - 1,180) with his performance in Week 9 at Georgia.
Through 10 Games
ATT COMP PCT YDS TD's
2005 403 266 .660 2,956 56
2006 395 253 .641 3,093 57

Hunker Down
The Storm defense leads the league in stopping opposing offenses from converting on third and fourth down. The defense has allowed 32 first downs on 79 attempts (40.5%). Second in the league is the Georgia Force who have allowed 42 first downs on 103 attempted (40.8%). Worst in the league is the Nashville Kats they have allowed teams to convert 56 times on 98 attempts (57.1%).

Ben-d Don't Break
Second-year man OS Demetris Bendross certainly makes good use of his time and speed on the playing field. In five games this season he has caught 30 passes for 505 yards and seven touchdowns, including a 182-yard performance in Week 5's win versus Austin. That ties him for fifth in franchise history for receiving yards in a game with Samuels (2006) and Freddie Solomon (2004).

Including Week 7's 164-yard performance, Bendross holds two of the top 20 receiving games in the AFL this season.

Last season, in three games played, he made 13 receptions for 212 yards and five touchdowns.

Certain Puts a Hurtin'...
Fifth-year lineman Ernest Certain has corralled quarterbacks on three different occasions this season setting a career best for sacks in a season. In Week 2's win over Grand Rapids Certain put his clamps on Rampage QB Jose Davis for a sack and in Week 8 he put New York Dragons QB Nick Browder on the turf twice totaling a loss of five yards. It was the first two-sack performance of Certain's career.

The Storm record for sacks in a season is held by Les Barley who had 8 in 1998. Entering the week Certain is tied for 15th in the AFL with his three sacks and is tied for third in the league with six tackles for loss.

No Harm, No Foul
The Storm are tied with the Orlando Predators as the least penalized teams in the AFL. They average 4.9 penalties per game for an average of 31.3 yards per contest.

The least penalties they've had in a game this season is one for five yards against the Georgia Force in Week 3. The most times the Storm have been caught "red handed" is nine for 65 yards against the New York Dragons last week.

Defying Father Time
Future Hall-of-Famer Lawrence Samuels continues to show that it's the little things that have made his 13-year career so successful. Amidst leading the Storm in receiving (75 receptions, 875 yards) this season and single-handedly rewriting the Storm record books, Samuels is tied for first in the AFL in special teams tackles with 12.5.

The Magic Number
The Storm are 49-3 in franchise history when they score 60 points or more. This season the Storm have scored 60 points or more on four occasions and are 3-1.

Kicking With Precision
Rookie kicker Bill Gramatica has converted on 49 of 52 (.942) point after attempts since February 19. Against the Kansas City Brigade in Week 6 he connected on a career-high 47-yard field goal and another from 34 yards out en route to a career-high 15 points in the game.

The former University of South Florida place kicker is third in the AFL in points scored for kickers with 89 and is fifth (minimum of 30 attempts) in the league with a .915 conversion percentage on point after attempts.

Defending the Ord-way
Jonathan Ordway leads the team in tackles this season with 63.5, which is also the fifth-best mark in the league (55 solo, 17 assisted). He is third in the league with 15 passes defended.

A season ago Ordway set the third-best mark in Storm history with 87.5 tackles. Teammate Tramain Jones set the all-time record in the same season with 114.

A Game For The Ages...
Stafford and Samuels set numerous records February 19 versus their rival from 85 miles east, the Orlando Predators.

Shane Stafford completed 36 passes for 458 yards and eight touchdowns. All of which are all-time Storm game highs.

The 36 completions ties him for second most all-time in AFL History with Andy Kelly (Nashville, 1999). The most completions in a game record belongs to Tommy Maddox with 38 (New Jersey, 2000).

Stafford's 458 passing yards gained is the third highest mark in the AFL's 19-plus year history. In 1999, Clint Dolezel passed for 479 yards and in 2000 Todd Marinovich passed for 469 yards.

This is the fourth time he has thrown for eight touchdowns in a game. He shares that Storm record with John Kaleo (three times) and Jay Gruden (7/18/92). The last time Stafford accomplished the feat was January 30, 2005 in last year's season opener versus the San Jose Sabercats.

Samuels caught 15 passes, tying him for most receptions all-time by any Storm player in a game (Freddie Solomon, 2004). His 182 yards receiving was a career high and tied him for fifth on the Storm list with teammate Freddie Solomon who achieved the feat in May 2004 and a week later duplicated by Demetris Bendross (Week 5, 2006).

Stafford, So Nice Let's Do It Twice...
Shane Stafford became the first quarterback in AFL history to pass for 400 or more yards in consecutive games against the Austin Wranglers during Week 6.

Stafford passed for 424 yards in the win and tossed for 458 yards, a Storm record, Week 5 against the Orlando Predators. That gave him a two week total of 882 yards passing on 62 completions and 15 touchdowns.

Leading at the Half
The Storm were unstoppable during the 2005 regular season when leading at the half, going 8-0. They are 136-16 all-time when leading after two quarters.

They are 4-0 this season (30-27, Week 3 vs. Georgia; 34-33, Week 6 versus Kansas City; 31-21, Week 8 versus New York; 35-21, last week versus Utah) when leading at the half.

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 = 287.0 lbs.; 2005 = 277.8). New lineman include Thaddeus Bullard (275 lbs.), Mondre Dickerson (300 lbs.), Buck Gurley (300 lbs.), A.J. Ricker (295 lbs.) and Greg Taplin (280 lbs.). Taplin and Gurley are currently on IR.

Hey Rook!
Seven players on the current 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, Kevin Dogins and Steve White, wide receiver/linebacker Mickey Peters and 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 and Smith spent time in the Chicago Bears camp in 2005. Alphonso Roundtree spent three seasons with the Miami Dolphins (2003-05). White played on the defensive line with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996-2001 and with the New York Jets in 2002.

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 39 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 19 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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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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