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Tampa Bay Storm game notes

March 20, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


The Tampa Bay Storm take on conference rival New York Dragons Friday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m. Tampa Bay won the 2006 match-up, 60-44 in Tampa, led by Ironman of the Game Lynarise Elpheage. Elpheage set career game-highs with eight reeptions for 72 yards and three touchdowns. Defensively he made three tackles, forced a fumble and broke up one pass.

Coming into the game fullback Rodney Filer is second in the league with eight rushing touchdowns and third with 77 yards rushing. He rushed for seven touchdowns in the past two games and has scored in each contest this season. Lawrence Samuels surpassed 800 career receptions against the Force and needs four more against New York to move into fifth place all-time in the Arena Football League. Meanwhile receiver T.T. Toliver has quietly collected 534 all-purpose yards, sixth in the AFL. He has five touchdowns and has scored in each game this season.

The Dragons have settled on former LSU quarterback Rohan Davey to lead the offense until Aaron Garcia makes his return. The Dragons offense improved last week after a first week drubbing 60-7 against Dallas. Davey threw for 245 yards on 25 completions for three touchdowns against Chicago last weekend. Davey's primary targets are receivers Kevin Swayne and Mike Horacek. They are tied for the team lead with 13 receptions apiece.

Marcus Owen and Geir Gudmundsen hope to give their former teammates a rude welcoming as the Storm seek its first victory of the 2006 season. Rickey Hall, Craig Moore and Mondre Dickerson, who all played for the Storm in 2006, make their first trip to Bill Currie Ford Field in a visiting uniform.

TAMPA BAY - GEORGIA RECAP

Tied 40-40 going into the fourth quarter, the game slipped away a Georgia outscored Tampa Bay 21-7 in the fourth quarter. Four Touchdowns on the ground by fullback Rodney Filer were not enough to overcome the Georgia Force (3-0) as they defeated the Tampa Bay Storm (0-3) 61-47 in front of 13,664 fans at the St. Pete Times Forum. Filer finished the game with 43 yards and four touchdowns on ten carries. His four touchdowns tied a team game-high last accomplished by Andre Bowden in a 45-38 OT victory over the Carolina Cobras April 11, 2003. Filer has seven rushing touchdowns in his last two games. Receiver T.T. Toliver finished the game with 239 yards of total offense as he scored two touchdowns for the second consecutive game. Quarterback Chris Greisen completed 22-of-26 passes for 242 yards with seven touchdowns as the Force improve to 2-0 in division play. Georgia's special teams played a big role as defensive back Willie Gary recovered a kickoff of the net for a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to put the Force up 61-47. Quarterback

John Kaleo finished the game 29-of-38 with 296 yards and three touchdowns.

TAMPA BAY - NEW YORK

All-Time Regular Season Records

Tampa Bay

Overall: 164-87, (.653) Home: 88-38, (.698) Away: 73-48, (.603) Neutral: 3-1, (.750)

New York - (Iowa Barnstormers from 1995-2000, moved to N.Y. in 2001)

Overall: 103-73, (.585) Home: 56-33, (.629) Away: 47-40, (.540) Neutral: 0-0, (.000)

2006

Tampa Bay defeated New York, 60-44, in their only meeting in 2006 . . . The Storm defense hassled New York QB Nick Browder all night as lineman Ernest Certain sacked him twice and former defensive back Tramian Jones intercepted Bowder twice . . . Lynarise Elpheage had a career game en route to being named U.S Army Ironman of the game . . . Certain earned ADT Defensive Player of the Game honors . . . New York out gained Tampa Bay in total offense 300 yards to 280, however, the Storm won the turnover battle (4-2) as the defense caused four fumbles, recovering two, to go along with two interceptions . . . The offensive line did not surrender a sack in the contest . . . Tampa ran the ball nine for 22 yards and two touchdowns and held the dragons to 12 yards on eight carries . . .

SERIES HISTORY

Regular season series is tied 3-3 . . . Tampa Bay leads post-season series 1-0 after a, 42-38, victory in ArenaBowl X . . . Tampa Bay won the game on a goal-line defensive stand, as Barnstormer QB Kurt Warner failed to get his team into the endzone . . . This was the last Game Hall of Fame quarterback Jay Gruden played in a Storm uniform . . . Marcus Owen and was a member of the Dragons in the past four contest.

1996: Away - TB 42 Iowa 38 Storm at Home: 3-2

1997: Home - Iowa 61 TB 38 Storm Away: 2-1

1998: Home - TB 71 Iowa 44 Total Points: Storm 400, Dragons 3828

2000: Away - Iowa 52 TB 34 Storm High: 71 - 7/25/98

2003: Away - TB 59 NY 45 Storm Low: 34 - 5/25/00

2004: Home - NY 40 TB 35 New York High: 61 - 7/19/97

2005: Home - TB 61 NY 58 New York Low: 38 - 8/26/96

2006: Home - TB 60 NY 44

STORM FAMILY TIES

Returning to the St. Pete Times Forum this week are fullback/lineman Ricky Hall, and Lineman Craig Moore and Mondre Dickerson. Hall spent two seasons with the Storm (2005-06) and recorded 32 tackles and three sacks on defense while accumulating 35 yards on offense. Moore joined the Storm in Week 14 of the 2006 season and finished the season with three tackles. Dickerson played his AFL rookie season with the Storm in 2006. He appeared in 11 games (spent 5 on IR) and recorded five and a half tackles.

LAST TIME VS. THE DRAGONS

QUARTERBACK

John Kaleo - He was 12 of 22 for 190 yards and four touchdowns in a 57-64 loss vs. New York 4/14/06.

RECEIVERS

Lawrence Samuels - Had eight receptions for 77 yards and one touchdown. Defensively he had one and a half tackles and one pass breakup.

Terrill Shaw - Named Offensive Player of the Game against the Dragons in an 82-38 victory vs. New York 5/12/06 with Dallas. With three touchdowns he recorded his 10th multiple-touchdown game with a team-high 9 receptions for 81 yards.

T.T. Toliver - Caught nine receptions for 132 yards and two touchdowns at New York 1/28/06 in 57-28 victory over the Dragons. In 2004 against the Dragons he le the Storm with 128 all-purpose yards and recorded one interception

Karl Williams - This is his first appearance against the Dragons ... Looks to score for the second week in a row.

FULLBACKS

Jarrod Penright - Did not appear against New York in '06 or '05,was on IR.

Torrance Marshall - In his only game against the Dragons he recorded one quarterback hurry in a 56-59 loss vs. New York with the Austin Wranglers.

Rodney Filer - Began his career with Iowa and moved with the teamto New York. He spent 2005-06 with Las Vegas. Last played New York 2/11/05 a 41-37 victory. He accumulated 5.5 tackles and one sack.

DEFENSIVE BACKS

Lynarise Elpheage - Had a career game against New York in 2006 with eight receptions for 72 yards and three touchdowns, returned four kicks for 65 yards and one missed field goal for 23 yards. Defensively he has three tackles and a forced fumble. Named Ironman of the game 3/18/06.

Jeroid Johnson - Held Horacek and Swayne to 161 yards combined as he accumulated four and a half tackles with one for a loss of five yards in a 35-55 loss at New York 2/26/06.

Khalid Naziruddin - Will make his first appearance with the Storm

LINEMAN

Marcus Owen - Faces his former team for the first time after spending five seasons in New York.

Tom Briggs - Played both sides of the line, broke up one pass. Briggs suffered a knee injury that put him on IR for the rest of season.

Ernest Certain - Named Defensive Player of the game vs. New York 3/18/06 as he collected two sacks and forced a fumble that led to a Storm touchdown.

Rod Williams - Had one assisted tackle before suffering a season ending Achilles injury against New York in '06.

Dwayne Morgan - Will miss the contest with a right knee injury

Tom Kaleita - This is his first contest against Georgia.

Geir Gudmindsen - Will play against his former team for the first time.

Tim McGill - Will make his first appearance in a Storm uniform.

SWEET HOME FLORIDA

The Storm currently has 14 players on the roster that have ties to Florida. Eight playes have played college football in the State of Florida while 13 enjoy the sunshine state year round.

COLLEGE'S REPRESENTED:

Bethune-Cookman: (1) T.T. Toliver

Florida: (2) Thaddeus Bullard and Clint Mitchell

Florida A&M: (2) Ernest Certain and Rod Williams

Florida State: (1) Leroy Smith

Jacksonville State: (1) Mark Word

South Florida: (1) Huey Whittaker

THOSE WHO CALL THE STATE OF FLORIDA HOME:

These players did not play college football in the State of Florida, yet the found a way to enjoy the sun: John Kaleo, Torrance Marshall, Lawrence Samuels, Hank Edwards, Ronald 'Bo' Rogers and Nyle Wiren. Among those who went to school in Florida and still live here are; T.T. Toliver, Thaddeus Bullard, Clint Mitchell, Ernest Certain, Rod Williams, Leroy Smith and Huey Whittaker.

AGE OR EXPERIENCE . . . WHICH MATTERS MOST

No team in the Southern Division has more experience than the Tampa Bay Storm. The Storm has 14 more years of combined experience than the closest team in the division, the Georgia Force and 21 more years of experience than Week 2's opponent the Dallas Desperados. The Storm also has the highest average age of any team in the division, while its receiving corp is the most experienced position in the division.

TAM ORL AUS NWO GEO

Yrs of Exp. 94 38 50 64 80

Avg. Age 30 27 27 26 28

QB 16/35 6/28 1/24 13/30 2/28

WR/DB 37/30 7/26 25/28 19/26 25/27

OL/DL 28/30 17/28 11/26 23/27 41/29

FB/LB 25/31 5/27 10/32 9/27 8/26

Rookies 3 5 8 7 3

(yrs of exp./avg. age)

SACK FULL-O-BRIGGS

In need of a stronger pass rush Coach Marcum sought out a true sack-master.

Tom Briggs wasted no time proving why Tampa Bay signed him this past off-season. It only took Briggs his first game in a Storm uniform to wrap up the opposing quarterback for his 42-career sack. He followed that up with another sack in week two against the Desperados. He now sits tied for second place all-time on the AFL career sack list with 43.

AFL All-Time Sack Leaders

Player Sacks # Seasons Teams

Sam Hernandez 59.0 13 Charlotte, Las Vegas, Anaheim and San Jose

TomBriggs* 43.0 11 Ana., Portland, Oklahoma, Dallas, Austin, TB

Sylvester Bembery 43.0 13 N.England, Albany, Tampa Bay, Buffalo

James Baron* 42.5 11 Nashville (pre-GEO), Chicago and Nashville

* Currently Active

CATCHING ON TO THINGS

All-Arena performer Lawrence Samuels is catching up to those ahead of him on the all-time career receptions list. He currently sits in sixth place with 801 receptions and needs 4 to surpass Nashville great Darryl Hammond for fifth place.

AFL All-Time Reception Leaders.

Player Rec. # Seasons Teams

Barry Wagner 991 15 Orlando, San Jose

Eddie Brown 950 10 Albany, Indiana

Cory Fleming 846 10 Nashville, Carolina, Orlando, Nashville

Greg Hopkins 832 11 Albany, Indiana, Los Angeles

Darryl Hammond 804 16 Albany, St. Louis, Nash/Ga., Austin, Nash

Lawrence Samuels 801 14 Tampa Bay, New Jersey

INJURY REPORT

Player POS Injury Status

Storm

Huey Whittaker WR/LB L. Thumb Out

Nyle Wiren OL/DL R. Ankle Out

Thaddeus Bullard OL/DL L. Ankle Out

Bo Rogers DB Quad Out

A.J. Ricker OL R. Shoulder Out

B.J. Symons QB R. Shoulder Out

Hank Edwards WR Ribs Out

Clint Mitchell DL L. Groin Out

Dwayne Morgan OL L. Knee Out

Tom Kaleita OL R. Wrist Out

O'HARA NAMED OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR

Former Tampa Bay Storm quarterback Pat O'Hara has been named the team's offensive coordinator. The AFL veteran finally hung up his spikes at the conclusion of the 2006 season as he seeks to enter a career in coaching.

O'Hara is in his fifth season with Storm (second as a coach) and 13th season in the AFL. 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 more than 13,000 yards and 200 touchdowns in his AFL career.

TONS OF EXPERIENCE ON THE SIDELINE

If there's one thing the Storm coaching staff has, it is Arena Football coaching experience with the addition of Pat O'Hara. Headed by Tim Marcum, the AFL's all-time winningest coach, the four-man coaching staff has a total of 42 years of AFL coaching experience entering this season.

Marcum is in his 19th season in the AFL, all as a head coach. He enters his 13th 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 20 championship games.

Storm assistant coach Dave Ewart is in his fifth season with the Storm and his 13th season in the AFL. Prior to joining the Storm he served as head coach of the Florida Bobcats, Texas Terror and St. Louis Stampede. He served as an assistant with the Bobcats, Stampede, New England Sea Wolves, and Cleveland

Thunderbolts.

Assistant coach Eddie Vowell is in his fourth season with the Storm and his 8th year in the AFL. He was an assistant coach with the Austin Wranglers and the Grand Rapids Rampage.

YOU BRING THE FOOTBALL WE'LL BRING THE BUTTER

Lawrence Samuels, Jeroid Johnson and Tom Briggs sit fourth, fifth and sixth respectively on the AFL all-time forced fumbles list. A list led by none other than Barry Wagner.

Player FF # Seasons Teams

Barry Wagner 32 15 Orlando and San Jose

Sam Hernandez 24 13 Charlotte, Las Vegas, Anaheim and San Jose

Damon Mason* 21 12 Orlando, New Jersey, L.V., Carolina, Grand

Rapids and Austin

Lawrence Samuels* 19 14 Tampa Bay and New Jersey

Jeroid Johnson* 18 8 New Jersey/Las Vegas, Chicago, Orlando, TB

Tom Briggs* 15 11 Ana., Portland, Oklahoma, Dallas, Austin, TB

* Currently Active

FIRST TIMERS

The Tampa Bay Storm's 20-man roster for the 2007 season features ten players making their Storm debuts, including four rookies. AFL veterans Tom Briggs, Rodney Filer, Jeroid Johnson, Torrance Marshall, Marcus Owen and Terrill Shaw will play their first season for the Storm. AFL rookies Tom Kaleita, Dwayne Morgan, Karl Williams and Mark Word will make their AFL debut with the Storm. Kaleita, Morgan and Word are all starting.

HEY ROOK

The Storm has always been a veteran-laden team under head coach Tim Marcum. The same is the case this season, as the Storm opening day active roster included only three rookies: Tom Kaleita, Dwayne Morgan and Mark Word. However, six additional rookies did make the roster only to find their way to the practice squad or injured reserve list. Beginning the season on the practice squad were Khalid Naziruddin and Karl Williams. Starting the season on injured reserve are Hank Edwards, B.J. Symons, Bo Rogers and Clint Mitchell.

WHEW . . . HAS IT BEEN THAT LONG

Storm wide receiver Lawrence Samuels begins his 14th season in the AFL. Samuels has tied Hunkie Cooper for second all-time seasons played with one team, as 2007 is his 13th campaign with the Storm.

MOST AFL SEASONS WITH ONE TEAM

Player Team # Seasons YEARS

Sherdrick Bonner* Arizona 14 1993-98, 2000-07

Lawrence Samuels* Tampa Bay 13 1994-2000, 2002-07

Hunkie Cooper Arizona 13 1993-2005

* Indicates active

HAIL TO THE CHIEF

Legendary AFL head coach Tim Marcum enters his 13th season as head coach of the Tampa Bay Storm in 2007 and his 19th overall as an AFL head coach. A charter member of the Arena Football League Hall of Fame, Marcum's AFL coaching legacy is unmatched and his incredible on-field achievements continue to overwhelm.

Marcum is the winningest head coach in Arena Football history. He enters the 2007 season having won seven ArenaBowl championships and has coached in ten of the league's 20 ArenaBowls. Marcum is the only coach in Arena Football history to lead three different teams to ArenaBowl championships (Denver, Detroit, and Tampa Bay), and is the AFL leader in victories (181), games coached (259), and postseason victories (25).

ALL-TIME COACHING VICTORIES

Coach Team Wins This Week

Tim Marcum Tampa Bay 181 NEW YORK

Danny White Utah 150 GRAND RAPIDS

Mike Hohensee Chicago 108 @ Columbus

Mike Dailey Colorado 101 @ Philadelphia

Darren Arbet San Jose 94 @ Georgia

Perry Moss -- 86 --

ARENABOWL XXI - New Orleans, a city renowned for sports championships, will host its first team championship since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina when ArenaBowl XXI is played at New Orleans Arena on Sunday, July 29, 2007 at 2 p.m. CT on ABC.

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