Sports stats

Tampa Bay Storm game notes

March 28, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


The Tampa Bay Storm take on the San Jose SaberCats Saturday, March 31 at the HP Pavilion at San Jose (10:30 EST). Quarterback Stoney Case, a four-year Arena Football League veteran, will make his first start as the Storm seek their first win of the season. The SaberCats hope to give Case a rough welcome as he returns to face his former teammates.

Case is not the only change Tampa Bay made this week, as the team will activate fullback/linebacker Nyle Wiren off of injured reserve to replace Rodney Filer who dislocated his left ankle and broke his left leg against the New York Dragons. Additionally, the Storm will start a new corner in place of Lynarise Elpheage who was waived earlier in the week.

Tampa Bay arrives for the San Jose home opener with two of the top receivers in the league, Lawrence Samuels and T.T. Toliver. Samuels moved into fifth place on the AFL's all-time reception list against the Dragons and currently is the third leading receiver in the league with 34 receptions. Toliver, who has 27 receptions, is fourth in the AFL with 683 all-purpose yards.

Quarterback Mark Grieb, a 10-year veteran, leads the way for the SaberCats. Grieb set a league record in 2006 with 4,841 passing yards. This season he is 91 of 135 for 887 yards and 18 touchdowns. He has a trio of receivers to throw to including 2006 AFL rookie of the year Ben Nelson. Nelson, fifth in the league with 33 receptions, leads the way while James Roe and Rodney Wright have combined for 56 receptions for 470 yards and ten touchdowns between them.

TAMPA BAY - NEW YORK RECAP

52-38 early in the fourth quarter, the game slipped away as New York outscored Tampa Bay 21-7 in the fourth quarter in front of 13,134 fans at the St. Pete Times Forum. Tampa Bay failed to score on all four fourth quarter possessions as the Dragons scored with under a minute to go to take the lead 59-52. The Storm offense, which lost fullback Rodney Filer right before the half with a broken left ankle, stalled after losing Filer. Mike Horacek was named Offensive Player of the Game as he caught eight receptions for 181 yards and three touchdowns to help New York win its first game of the season. The Dragons took advantage of three Storm turnovers in the fourth quarter as Dragons' quarterback Roahn Davey threw six passes Horecek's way, connecting on two for touchdowns as New York scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

TAMPA BAY - SAN JOSE

All-Time Regular Season Records

Tampa Bay

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

San Jose SaberCats

Overall: 113-64, (.638) Home: 63-24, (.724) Away: 49-40, (.551) Neutral: 1-0, (1.000)

2006

Tampa Bay dropped its fifth game of the season to San Jose, 52-43, to move to 6-5 . . . With the score tied 43-43 Omarr Smith returned Shane Stafford interception for a touchdown . . . Demetris Bendross fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Alphonso Roundtree was tackled by Charles Pauley for a safety . . . Tampa Bay had no rushing attempts in this game, the last time Tampa Bay did not run the ball was 5/16/98 in a 52-25 victory over the Houston Thunderbears . . . Stafford surpassed 14,000 career passing yards with his 252-yard performance . . . Lawrence Samuels earned U.S. Army Ironman of the Game honors with six receptions for 69 yards and one touchdown and one interception on defense . . . Freddie Solomon earned Offensive Player of the game honors as he caught eight passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns . . . San Jose quarterback Mark Grieb went 20 of 39 for 223 yards with one interception as the SaberCats scored six touchdowns on the ground . . . Barry Wagner scored his AFL career leading 126 rushing touchdown.

SERIES HISTORY

The series is tied 6-6 . . . San Jose has a one game win streak . . . Tampa Bay trails the post-season series 2-1 and leads the regular season series 5-4 . . . Tampa Bay's lone playoff win against San Jose came in the first round of the 1998 playoffs 65-46 . . . The visiting team has won seven of the 12 games . . . Tampa Bay averaged 53.2 points a victory and 47.7 points a loss . . . San Jose averaged 55.5 points a victory and 34.3 points a loss . . . The average margin of victory is 5.5 points . . . four games have been decided by seven or fewer points, all won by San Jose . . . Tampa Bay's average margin of victory is 18.8 points . . . San Jose's average margin of victory is 7.8 points.

1996: Home TB 36 - SJ 22 Storm at Home: 3-4

1997: Away TB 58 - SJ 34 Storm Away: 3-2

1998: Away TB 45 - SJ 23 Total Points: Storm 605, SaberCats 539

1998: Home TB 65 - SJ 46* Storm High: 65 - 8/8/98

1999: Away TB 52 - SJ 48 Storm Low: 34 - 5/11/03

2002: Home SJ 61 - TB 54 Storm Avg.: 50.4

2002: Away SJ 55 - TB 48* San Jose High: 62 - 4/4/04

2003: Home SJ 47 - TB 34 San Jose Low: 22 - 6/1/96

2004: Home SJ 62 - TB 55 San Jose Avg.: 44.9

2004: Away SJ 56 - TB 52*

2005: Home TB 63 - SJ 33

2006: Home SJ 52 - TB 43

* Playoff games

STORM FAMILY TIES

Stoney Case returns to the HP Pavilion at San Jose where he was the back-up to Mark Grieb during the 2006 season. He played in one game and threw one touchdown pass. John Kaleo played for San Jose in 1997. The first pick of the 1997 expansion draft by New Jersey, San Jose traded Charles Miller, Tom Petithomme and Spencer Wray for Kaleo. He played in the first seven games and accumulated 1385 passing yards and 20 touchdowns on 115 receptions. After the seventh game of the 1997 season Anaheim acquired Kaleo from San Jose for Jai Hill. SaberCat DB Omarr Smith played for the Storm in 2003and earned second team All-AFL honors.

LAST TIME VS. THE SABERCATS

QUARTERBACK

Stone Case - This is his first career start. He played for San Jose in 2006.

RECEIVERS

Lawrence Samuels - Named Ironman of the Game after he caught eight passes for 75 yards and three touchdowns to go along with one interception.

Terrill Shaw - Last played against the SaberCats 5/22/04. He caught four passes for 31 yards. He has 13 receptions for 173 yards and four touchdowns in his career against San Jose (three games).

T.T. Toliver - Caught three passes for 51 yards and returned one MFG 12 yards against San Jose 3/25/06 as a member of the Nashville Kats. He has 663 all-purpose yards and 13 touchdowns in six games against San Jose.

Karl Williams - In his first two games he has five receptions for 58 yards and one touchdown.

FULLBACK/LINEBACKERS

Jarrod Penright - Assisted on one tackle for a loss in 2006. In 2005 he rushed four times for eight yards and ad half a sack against San Jose 1/30.

Torrance Marshall - Recorded one tackle 4/22/06 vs. San Jose.

Rodney Filer - On injured reserve.

Nyle Wiren - Did not record any stats in the 2006 match-up.

DEFENSIVE BACKS

Jeroid Johnson - Last played San Jose 4/10/05 with the Chicago Rush. He recorded 4.5 tackles.

Khalid Naziruddin - Recorded three special team tackles inside the five-yard line along with tow pass breakups in his debut against the Dragons.

LINEMAN

Marcus Owen - He had two tackles and a seven yard sack vs. San Jose 3/7/04 in a 64-50 victory with the New York Dragons.

Tom Briggs - Totaled six tackles and a four-yard sack vs. San Jose 4/6/03 in a 67-64 victory with the Dallas Desperados. Briggs has tallied 33.5 tackles, four forced fumbles, two recovered fumbles 10 pass breakups and 6.5 sacks in 25 games against the SaberCats.

Ernest Certain - Tallied a season-high 3.5 tackles and recorded his second touchdown reception of the season in a 52-43 vs. San Jose 4/7/06.

Rod Williams - Missed 2006 and 2005 games on IR. Had 1.5 tackles in last game vs. San Jose 4/4/04

Dwayne Morgan - Has not played the SaberCats, on IR for third week.

Tom Kaleita - Has not played the SaberCats, on IR for second week.

Geir Gudmindsen - This is his first game against the SaberCats.

Tim McGill - Recorded one assisted tackle vs. San Jose 3/7/04 in a 64-50 victory with the New York Dragons.

SWEET HOME FLORIDA

The Storm currently has 11 players on the roster that have ties to Florida. Six players have played college football in the State of Florida while 10 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

Jacksonville State: (1) Mark Word

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, 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 and Rod Williams.

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. The Storm also has the highest average age of any team in the division, while its receivers are 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. Briggs has recorded three sacks in four games this season. He now sits alone in second place all-time on the AFL career sack list with 44.

AFL All-Time Sack Leaders

Player Sacks # Seasons Teams

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

TomBriggs* 44.0 11 Ana., Portland, Oklahoma, Dallas, Austin, TB

James Baron* 44.0 11 Nashville (pre-GEO), Chicago and Nashville

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

* 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 fifth place with 811 receptions and needs 22 to surpass Greg Hopkins for fourth 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

Lawrence Samuels 811 14 Tampa Bay, New Jersey

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

INJURY REPORT

Player POS Injury Status

Storm

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

Clint Mitchell DL L. Groin Out

Dwayne Morgan OL L. Knee Out

Tom Kaleita OL R. Wrist Out

Rodney Filer FB L. Ankle/Leg 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, sixth and seventh respectively on the AFL all-time forced fumbles list. A list led by none other than Barry Wagner. Briggs has two on the season.

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 Orl., N. J., L.V., Carolina, G. Rapids and Austin

Lawrence Samuels* 19 14 Tampa Bay and New Jersey

E.J. Burt 19 5 Chicago, Philadelphia, Orlando

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

Tom Briggs* 17 11 Ana., Portland, Oklahoma, Dallas, Austin, TB

* Currently Active

FIRST TIMERS

The Tampa Bay Storm's 20-man roster for the 2007 season features 15 players making their Storm debuts, including four rookies. AFL veterans Tom Briggs, Stoney Case, Rodney Filer, Jeroid Johnson, Torrance Marshall, Tim McGill, Marcus Owen and Terrill Shaw will play their first season for the Storm. AFL rookies Geir Gudmundsen, Tom Kaleita, Seth Marler, Dwayne Morgan, Khalid Naziruddin, Karl Williams and Mark Word will make their AFL debut with the Storm. Naziruddin and Word are 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. Geir Gudmundsen was added during Week 3.

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 (263), and postseason victories (25).

ALL-TIME COACHING VICTORIES

Coach Team Wins This Week

Tim Marcum Tampa Bay 181 @ San Jose

Danny White Utah 151 @ Las Vegas

Mike Hohensee Chicago 109 LOS ANGELES

Mike Dailey Colorado 101 NASHVILLE

Darren Arbet San Jose 94 TAMPA BAY

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.

CALIFORNIA COOL

This is the eighth trip to California for the Tampa Bay Storm. The Storm is 3-4 in its previous seven trips. The last trip to California was on March 26, 2005 a 59-26 loss to the Los Angeles Avengers. The Strom have not won in California since 1999.

Team Date Result

Anaheim 6/15/96 W, 34-28

San Jose 8/02/97 W, 58-34

San Jose 7/24/99 W, 54-20

Los Angeles 5/17/02 L, 38-24

San Jose 8/03/02 L, 48-55

San Jose 6/05/04 L, 56-52

Los Angles 3/26/05 L, 59-28

RAC-ING UP YARDS - Tampa Bay's 100-yard Receivers

126 yards - T.T. Toliver, (9 rec., 2 TD) at Dallas 3/10

124 yards - Demetris Bendross (10 rec., 2 TD) vs. Orlando 3/2

117 yards - Lawrence Samuels (11 rec., 1 TD) vs. New York 3/23

105 yards - Lawrence Samuels (11 rec., 0 TD) vs. Georgia 3/17

FILLING IN FOR FILER

Even though Rodney Filer missed the second half of the game against the New York Dragons he ended Week 4 as one of the leading rushers in the AFL. He is third in rushing yards with 94 and second in rushing touchdowns with nine. After suffering a broken left leg and dislocated left ankle Filer will probably miss the remainder on the 2007 season. Stepping into his shoes are Jarrod Penright, Torrance Marshall and Nyle Wiren.

YOU'RE IN GOOD HANDS WITH LAWRENCE

With one of the best set of hands in the league, Samuels is the receiver you want to go to when you need those hard yards. He currently is tied for the league lead in Third-Down receptions with Bobby Sippio of the Chicago Rush. They each have seven Third-Down receptions.

RUN ... T.T. ... RUN

T.T. Toliver leads the Storm with 380 yards from the line of scrimmage good for 14th in the AFL and is 12th with 22 first downs made (Two rushing and 20 receiving). However, Toliver is fourth in the league in all-purpose yards with 683.

All-Purpose Yardage Leaders

Name Yards Team

Timon Marshall 878 Grand Rapids

Tiger Jones 848 New Orleans

Will Pettis 713 Dallas

T.T. Toliver 683 Tampa Bay

DeAndrew Rubin 630 Orlando

TEAM GAME HIGHS

Rushes 13 vs NEW YORK (3/23) Yds Rushing 47 vs GEORGIA (3/17)

Yds Per Rush 4.3 vs GEORGIA (3/17) TD Rushes 4 vs GEORGIA (3/17)

Pass atts. 43 at DALLAS (3/10) Pass comps. 28 vs GEORGIA (3/17)

Yds Passing 280 vs GEORGIA (3/17) Yds Per Pass 7.6 vs GEORGIA (3/17)

TD Passes 4 vs NEW YORK (3/23) Total Plays 51 at DALLAS (3/10)

Total Off. 327 vs GEORGIA (3/17) Yds Per Play 6.8 vs GEORGIA (3/17)

Points 52 vs NEW YORK (3/23) Sacks By 2 vs NEW YORK (3/ 23)

First Downs 25 vs GEORGIA (3/17) Penalties 12 vs NEW YORK (3/23)

Penalty Yds 92 vs NEW YORK (3/23) Turnovers 4 vs NEW YORK (3/ 23)

Ints. By 2 vs NEW YORK (3/23)



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from March 28, 2007


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.

Other Recent Tampa Bay Storm Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central