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Tampa Bay Storm game notes

April 3, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


STORM - VOODOOO PREVIEW

The Tampa Bay Storm take on the New Orleans VooDoo Saturday, April 7th at the St. Pete Times Forum (7:30 p.m. EST) for the first time since New Orleans suspended operations due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina. The division rivals have split the each season series (2004 and 2005) as the home team has won each game.

The Storm will host Building Industry Night, a minimum of 25 percent of the proceeds will go to Habitat for Humanity and split the proceeds between the Tampa Bay and New Orleans Chapter.

Tampa Bay quarterback Stoney Case will start his first home game. He went 22 of 36 for 271 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start last week against San Jose. Case has a tremendous duo of receivers to throw to in T.T. Toliver and Lawrence Samuels. Toliver is fourth in the league with 866 all-purpose yards and ninth with 39 receptions. Samuels, fifth all-time in the Arena League with 815 career receptions, leads the league in third down receptions with eight and tied for 12th in the league with 38 receptions. He needs 17 receptions to Greg Hopkins and move into fourth place all-time on the AFL career receptions list.

Quarterback Andy Kelly leads the New Orleans offense. He is the AFL all-time leader with 793 touchdowns, 7,210 yards passing and 3,752 completions. This season he leads the league with 131 completions, is tied for fifth with 26 touchdowns and tied for sixth with 1382 yards. Kelly's primary target is receiver Tyrone Jones. A nine-year veteran, Jones is tied for sixth in the league with 40 receptions and has 439 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns.

With an offensive line decimated by injuries, the Storm acquired Lincoln Kennedy via a trade with the Dallas Desperados.

TAMPA BAY -SAN JOSE RECAP

The Storm arrived in San Jose with a new quarterback, fullback, cornerback and offensive lineman. Change is sometimes necessary, but this time it did not work as the Storm fell to the SaberCats 69-49 in front of 13,916 fans at the HP Pavilion at San Jose Saturday, March 31. Quarterback Stoney Case, who started his first career AFL game, played well as he finished the game 22 of 36 for 271 yards, three touchdowns in the air and one on the ground. However, the defense could not stop an efficient San Jose offense led by Mark Grieb. He threw at least two touchdowns to three receivers, completed 23 of 26 passes and need only 2.86 plays per possession to score. Receiver T.T. Toliver recorded his 250th career reception, 75 career touchdown reception and surpassed 3,000 career receiving yards while receiver Terrill Shaw Surpassed 6,000 career receiving yards.

TAMPA BAY - NEW ORLEANS

All-Time Regular Season Records

Tampa Bay

Overall: 164-88, (.651) Home: 88-38, (.698) Away: 73-49, (.598) Neutral: 3-1, (.750)

New Orleans

Overall: 23-14, (.622) Home: 14-5, (.737) Away: 9-9, (.500) Neutral: 0-0, (.000)

2005

Tampa Bay won its eighth game of the season 47-36, to move to 8-5 to leap frog the New Orleans VooDoo for the fourth and final playoff spot in fron to f 16,005 fans at the St. Pete Times Forum . . . Offensive Player of the Game Matt George led the way with a career night, making four field goals and five extra points for 17 points . . . He set a Storm single-season record with 16th field goal, the most since Mike Black hit 15 field goals in 2002 . . . Defensive Back Jonathan Ordaway set a Tampa Bay single-game high with 14.5 tackles on his way to earning Defensive Player of the Game . . . The Storm scored three touchdowns on the ground as they rushed for 15 yards . . . Lawrence Samuels caught 11 passes for 80 yards . . . VooDoo quarterback Andy Kelly completed 30 of 47 passes for 279 yards, five touchdowns and one interception . . . The VooDoo outgained the Storm in total yardage 273-215 . . . Tampa Bay won the turnover battle 1-0 . . . Tampa Bay was 1 of 1 on fourth down . . . New Orleans went 3 of 3 on fourth down . . . The Storm were a perfect 7 of 7 in the Red-Zone . . . New Orleans went 4 of 5in the Red-Zone . . .

SERIES HISTORY

The series is tied 2-2 . . . Tampa Bay won the last meeting . . . Tampa Bay and New Orleans have never met in the post season . . . The home team has won ever game in this series . . . . . . Tampa Bay averaged 53.0 points a victory and 42.5 points a loss . . . New Orleans averaged 51.5 points a victory and 43.5 points a loss . . . The average margin of victory is 9.3 points . . . One game has been decided by seven or fewer points, won by New Orleans . . . Tampa Bay's average margin of victory is 9.5 points . . . New Orleans' average margin of victory is 9 points.

2004: Away NO 55 - TB 43 Storm at Home: 2-0

2004: Home TB 59 - NO 51 Storm Away: 0-2

2005: Away NO 48 - TB 42 Total Points: Storm 191, VooDoo 190

2005: Home TB 47 - NO 36 Storm High: 59 - 5/23/04

Storm Low: 42 - 2/25/05

Storm Avg.: 47.8

San Jose High: 55 - 3/7/04

San Jose Low: 36 - 4/30/05

San Jose Avg.: 47.5

STORM FAMILY TIES

Storm assistant head coach Dave Ewart coached VooDoo line coach Junior Ili in 1995-96 with the St. Louis Stampede, where Ewart was the defensive coordinator in 1995 and head coach in 1996. Ili played on the offensive and defensive line . . . Eric Houle played with Rodney Filer in 2006 at Las Vegas . . . Henry Bryant played with Tom Briggs and Torrance Marshall in 2005-06 at Austin . . . Anthony Hines played with fullback Jarrod Penright in 2004 with the Albany Firebirds . . . Andy Kelly was a teammate of Tom Briggs in 2002 with the Dallas Desperados . . .Troy Mason played with Terrill Shaw in 2006 with the Desperados . . . Henry Taylor played with Tom Briggs in 2003 at Dallas . . . Offensive lineman Jimond Pugh spent the 2006 training camp with the Storm.

LAST TIME VS. THE VOODOO

QUARTERBACK

Stone Case - Will start his second consecutive game, first against New Orleans. Completed 22of 36 for 271 yards and three touchdowns vs. San Jose in Week 5.

RECEIVERS

Lawrence Samuels - Has 25 career receptions for 207 yards in four games against the Voodoo. He recorded his 100th career touchdown reception against New Orleans 2/25/05. Defensively he has 7.5 tackles, one forced fumble and one pass breakup in four contests.

Terrill Shaw - This is his first career game against the VooDoo.

T.T. Toliver - Played New Orleans twice 3/7/04 and 5/23/04. Accumulated 10.5 tackles and had a 19-yard fumble recovery on defense. He caught 6 passes for 67 yards and returned 5 KO's 69 yards in the two games.

Karl Williams - Through three games he has five receptions for 58 yards, one touchdown and nine kickoff returns for 162 yard (18.0 per return).

FULLBACK/LINEBACKERS

Jarrod Penright - Ran for 12 yards and one touchdown on five carries vs. New Orleans 4/30/05 and recorded two tackles, one for a loss.

Torrance Marshall - Played primarily fullback vs. San Jose. He has never played the New Orleans VooDoo.

Nyle Wiren - Recorded 1.5 tackles vs. New Orleans in 2005. Recorded 5.5 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble in two games vs. VooDoo in 2004.

Rodney Filer - OUT

DEFENSIVE BACKS

Jeroid Johnson - Last played New Orleans 3/20/05 as a member of the Chicago Rush. He recorded nine tackles, one forced fumble, one pass breakup and return a recovered fumble 11 yards.

Khalid Naziruddin - Will make his third start after spending the beginning of the season on practice squad.

Byron Jones - Starts the second game of his career. Finished with 4.5 tackles against San Jose in his first career start.

LINEMAN

Marcus Owen - Has yet to play New Orleans. Due to injuries to lineman, Owen has played three positions this season; nose guard, center and offensive guard.

Tom Briggs - In four career games vs. the VooDoo he accumulated four tackles, three quarterback hurries and two receptions for 22 yards and one touchdown

Ernest Certain - Has played New Orleans four times and accumulated five tackles, one sack, one pass breakup and one QB pressure. He also caught one pass for three yards

Dwayne Morgan - Has not played the VooDoo, on IR for fourth week.

Tom Kaleita - Has not played the VooDoo, on IR for third week.

Tim McGill - Had two pressures vs. San Jose. This is his first game against the VooDoo

A.J. Ricker - Activated last week for game against San Jose, played guard and center.

Lincoln Kennedy - This is his first career Arena Football game.

SWEET HOME FLORIDA

The Storm currently has 12 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: Hank Edwards, 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. 104 59 52 80 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 20/28 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 815 11 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

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 16 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, Lincoln Kennedy, 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 and Lincoln Kennedy in Week 5.

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-regular season, 35-post season), and postseason victories (25).

ALL-TIME COACHING VICTORIES

Coach Team Wins This Week

Tim Marcum Tampa Bay 181 @ San Jose

Danny White Utah 152 @ Las Vegas

Mike Hohensee Chicago 110 LOS ANGELES

Mike Dailey Colorado 102 NASHVILLE

Darren Arbet San Jose 95 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.

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

162 yards - T.T. Toliver, (12 rec., 2 TD) at San Jose 3/31

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 is out for at least 12 weeks after suffering a broken left leg and dislocated left ankle he ended Week 4 as one of the leading rushers in the AFL. He was third in rushing yards with 94 and second in rushing touchdowns with nine. Stepping into his shoes was Torrance Marshall, he ran for three touchdowns and 19 yards at San Jose 3/31.

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 and Trandon Harvey from the Arizona Rattlers. They each have eight Third-Down receptions.

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

T.T. Toliver leads the Storm with 542 yards from the line of scrimmage good for 5th in the AFL and is 8th with 29 first downs made (Two rushing and 27 receiving). Additionally, Toliver is fourth in the league in all-purpose yards with 866.

All-Purpose Yardage Leaders

Name Yards Team

Will Pettis 955 Dallas

Tiger Jones 929 New Orleans

Timon Marshall 878 Grand Rapids

T.T. Toliver 866 Tampa Bay

Chris Jackson 798 Georgia

TEAM GAME HIGHS

Rushes 15 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 April 3, 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.

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