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Tampa Bay Storm game notes

April 27, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


STORM/BRIGADE PREVIEW
The Storm and Kansas City Brigade will duel it out for the second time in the Brigade's inaugural season. The Storm handed the Brigade a, 69-59, loss in Week 6 earlier this season at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. Storm QB Shane Stafford stole the show in that game as he contributed with seven touchdowns (three rushing, four passing). He rushed the ball five times for 17 yards and completed 22 passes for 256 yards. The Storm rushed for five touchdowns total in the game as Jarrod Penright and Umar Muhammad also scored. The Storm offense ranked third in the AFL putting up 303 yards per contest will face the league's top-ranked defense in the Brigade as they allow 261 yards a game. Stafford is second in the league with 325 completions and 3,862 yards passing and the University of Connecticut graduate is third in the AFL with 70 touchdown passes. The Storm aerial attack will be confronted by the league's best passing defense as the Brigade are holding opponents to 261 yards through the air per contest. QB Chris Sanders leads the Brigade offense, former QB Andy Kelly was released after Week 11. Sanders has started the past six weeks for the Brigade and has completed 325 of 517 passes thrown for 1,656 yards, 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions this season. Among his targets is rookie sensation Jerel Meyers on the season he has made 97 receptions for 971 yards and 13 touchdowns.

STORM/PREDATORS RECAP
The Storm suffered it's worst loss in team history as it was beat, 52-13, at the hands of their War on I-4 rival the Orlando Predators last Saturday in front of a sold out crowd of 15,920 fans at TD Waterhouse Centre. The Predator win marks the first time they have swept the season series from the Storm since 2001. After a scoreless first half the Storm were able to cut into the Predator lead as Stafford found Freddie Solomon deep for a 40-yard score and Ronnie Daniels, returning from injured reserve, with a 3-yard score in the third quarter. On the evening Stafford completed 20 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns. Tramain Jones made his second appearance as a WR/DB of the season and led all Storm receivers with five receptions for 48 yards. The Predators now hold a one game advantage in the series, 19-18.

We Must Protect This House
The Storm have had great success with defending their home field throughout its 15-year history, including being only one of two teams in AFL history to have gone a perfect 8-0 at home in 2005 (Georgia Force). The Storm also hold the third longest all-time home win streak with 12 consecutive games spanning the last three contests in 2004, a perfect 8-0 in 2005 and this year's home opener against the Georgia Force.

The Storm have an all-time record of 95-32 (.748) at home, the Thunderdome from 1991-96 and the St. Pete Times Forum from 1997-present. In regular season games the Storm have posted a 80-30 including this season. Only one time in franchise history has the Storm finished with a sub par home record, in 2002 they posted a 2-5 record at home. This season the Storm have a record of 4-3 in games played at the St. Pete Times Forum.

What's On Tap...
The combined record of the Storm's remaining four opponents is 16-23. Taking a look at the teams that are in playoff contention in the Southern Division, the Storm will face the least winning record amongst their Southern Division rivals:
Combined Opponent Record
Tampa Bay 16-23
Austin 20-19
Orlando 20-19
Georgia 20-19

Injury Bug
In recent years the Storm have been able to elude the "injury bug" and stay healthy throughout the course of the season. This season is proving to be very different from that in the past. Here are key injuries the Storm have encountered this season...

DATE PLAYER INJURY GAMES LOST
2/10 Freddie Solomon Plantar fascia tear 4
2/10 Tramain Jones Neck 2
3/9 Mondre Dickerson Ankle 3
3/12 Jarrod Penright Shoulder, groin 2
3/12 Nyle Wiren Shoulder 2
3/12 Buck Gurley Rotator cuff 4
3/18 Rod Williams Torn achilles 4*
4/22 Tramain Jones MCL 1*
4/22 Jonathan Ordway PCL sprain 1
(Jones and Ordway will be placed on injured reserve this week)
* - Lost for the season

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 became the franchise leader in completions (Jay Gruden - 1,180) with his performance in Week 9 at Georgia. Coming into this week he is eight touchdown passes shy of setting the franchise record for touchdown passes (Jay Gruden, 280).
Through 13 Games
ATT COMP PCT YDS TD's
2005 520 338 .650 3,591 65
2006 518 325 .627 3,862 70

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 (97 receptions, 1,121 yards) this season and single-handedly rewriting the Storm record books, Samuels fourth in the AFL in special teams tackles with 13.5.

In Week 11 versus San Jose, Samuels surpassed the 9,000 receiving yard mark for his career and is now seventh all-time in the AFL with 9,183. Samuels passed Storm great George LaFrance (9,004) on the AFL's all-time receiving yards list. Earlier this season Samuels passed another Storm great, Stevie Thomas, as the franchise leader in receiving yards.

This season marks the third time in his career that Samuels' has gone over the 1,000 yard reception mark. He has accomplished this feat in three of the last four years (2003, 2005 and 2006).

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 second in the league with eight tackles for loss.

Starting Off On the Right Note
The Storm have scored on their opening drive in 12 of 13 games this season. The 12 opening drives ended with a touchdown (9 passing, 3 rushing).

The Storm are 5-2 this season when leading after the first 15 minutes of play. They have outscored their opponents 159-148 in the first quarter this season.

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 eight games this season he has caught 40 passes for 617 yards and nine touchdowns, including a 182-yard performance in Week 5's win versus Austin. That tied him for fifth in franchise history for receiving yards in a game with Samuels (2006) and Freddie Solomon (2004).

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

Kicking With Precision
Rookie kicker Bill Gramatica has converted on 62 of 67 (.925) 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 seventh in the AFL in points scored for kickers with 108 and is ninth (minimum of 30 attempts) in the league with a .897 conversion percentage on point after attempts.

No Harm, No Foul
The Storm offense is tied as the least penalized team in the AFL. They average 5.5 penalties per game for an average of 32.9 yards per contest. The co-leader is the Orlando Predators averaging 32.8 yards.

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.

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).

Defending the Ord-way
Jonathan Ordway leads the team in tackles this season with 78.5, which is also the fifth-best mark in the league (67 solo, 23 assisted). He is third in the league with 19 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.

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.

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 Bullard are currently on IR.

Hey Rook!
Ten 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.

Kuharchek Named Quality Control/Player Development Coach
Pete Kuharchek, 58, a native of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, graduated from the University of Tampa in 1969 and is a part of the University of Tampa Athletic Hall of Fame. He joins the company of Super Bowl Champions Fred Solomon and John Matuzak amongst others in that prestigious group. Kuharchek was the Spartans' leading tackler and defensive MVP in 1967 and 1968.

Kuharchek's coaching resume includes stops with the Tampa Bay Bandits from 1983-85 as linebacker coach, the Orlando Thunder of the World League as defensive backs coach in 1992, defensive coordinator for the University of Texas at El Paso from 1993-95, and with the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe as defensive coordinator from 1996-00 and head coach from 2001-05.

As defensive coordinator for the Fire he helped them reach the World Bowl five times while taking home the championships in 1998 and 2000. He also coached in one other championship game with Orlando in 1992.



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 27, 2006


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