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The Deuce Scoop

April 10, 2002 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE: In the first full week of af2 action, 97,072 fans attended 15 games, resulting in an average attendance of 6,471 per game. That's more than a 13 percent jump compared to last year's opening week average of 5,714. A look at the top five from af2's first full slate of games in 2002:

WEEK 2 MATCHUP ATTD.
Memphis at Louisville 12,835
Bakersfield at San Diego 9,747
Tennessee Valley at Arkansas 8,385
Greensboro at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 8,191
Bossier City at Quad City 7,831

PACK 'EM IN: The Louisville Fire had 12,835 fans at its home opener on Saturday night, the largest crowd ever for the team. In fact, it ranks as the sixth-largest crowd of all-time for any af2 regular season game.

HIGH SCORIN': There were 1,193 points scored in Week 2, an average of 79.5 per game.

SCORING 'X'PLOSION: Memphis has scored at least 60 points in three of its last four regular season games dating back to last season. The Xplorers scored an even-60 last Saturday at Louisville. Last year, it took Memphis the first four games combined for the Xplorers to score 60 points.

OUTTA SITE: The official Web site of arenafootball2 (www.af2.com) has undergone some exciting changes for the 2002 season. Fans can access live webcasts straight from the main page. In the Game Center area, fans can link to each day's league news release. And for those who crave even more information, team game notes are available on each team's page.

GOLDEN GRAHAM: Despite the loss to Bakersfield, San Diego OS MARTY GRAHAM set an af2 record for most all-purpose yards in a single game (400) and grabbed four touchdowns. He averaged more than 25 yards per touch in the contest with TD grabs of 40, 16, 36 and 46 yards (his other three catches went for 26, 19 and 14). He also added kickoff returns of 15, 24, 12, 38, 43, 46 and 21 yards.

af2 ALL-PURPOSE YARDAGE GAMES (ALL-TIME)
400 MARTY GRAHAM, San Diego 4/6/02 vs. Bakersfield
351 ARCHIE TURNER, Baton Rouge 7/7/01 at Memphis
349 SHON KING, Quad City 5/26/00 at Greensboro
345 ANTHONY STRINGFIELD, Norfolk 5/31/01 at Augusta
345 JARRAIL JACKSON, Tulsa 7/21/00 at Louisville

AND THE AWARDS GO TO: Weekly af2 award winners include: GLEN GAUNT (Offensive Player of the Week), DEE JEFFERSON (ADT Defensive Player of the Week), CARLOS McNEARY (Ironman of the Week) and CEDRIC BYRD (Built Ford Tough winner).

IN SYNC: Florida QB DERRICK TAITE threw three TDs in the 47-23 victory over Mobile and OS KENNY CAUSEY was on the receiving end of all of them. Taite hit Causey twice for 19 yards and once on a 17-yard strike.

GIMME FIVE: Macon QB MICHAEL GLUSKI tossed five TDs in the Knights' 54-18 opening-night win over Carolina.

BYE-BYE BUTLER: OS CY BUTLER was a last-minute replacement for CHRIS ORTIZ against Rochester, but finished with a game-high 108 yards with two touchdowns. Tack on 58 kick return yards, and he was the most productive member of the team. Unfortunately, Butler injured an Achilles in the third quarter and will be placed on IR.

WINDSOR'S WAY: How do you win a football game? Just ask Tallahassee QB CHRIS WINDSOR. In the Thunder's win over Pensacola, Windsor had a hand in all six Thunder TDs. He threw four TDs and he rushed for two more.

ALL-OUT BLITZ: Bakersfield OS STEVE WOFFORD looks to impress as a go-to guy for the Blitz. He set numerous rushing records at Southern University of the SWAC and spent time in training camp with the St. Louis Rams. Last week against San Diego, he scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime as the Blitz won 49-43.

EDDIE, EDDIE: Fresno WR/DB EDDIE KLANESKI had a great game in his return to the Hawaiian Islands two weeks ago. The former University of Hawaii star electrified the Blaisdell Arena crowd with a dazzling 56-yard kickoff return and a sensational catch for a 35-yard touchdown, winning game and league-wide Ironman honors.

YOU'LL GET A KICK OUT THIS: Two af2 kickers made headlines this week. Greenboro's JAMES THOMAS tied the af2 record with a 58-yard field goal against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Tallahassee's PHIL SETTERQUIST nailed a 30-yard four-point field goal and converted three drop-kick PATs - good for two points each - in the contest against Pensacola.

TWO THE HARD WAY: Mobile WR/DB JAKE JENSEN had the longest scoring play for the Wizards at Florida last week, and he doesn't even get yardage credit for it. On a missed extra point attempt, Florida kicker BRANDON KORNBLUE threw a pass that Jensen intercepted at the goal line and ran back 50 yards for two points.

STEALTH BOMBER: Wichita OL/DL BRYAN HENDERSON had two sacks in his first arenafootball2 game last week against Peoria. He also forced a fumble and was a terror on defense the entire game.

ISLANDERS SPELL DEFENSE.: Paogofie. Two of last week's af2 awards went to brothers and Hawaiian Islanders teammates CHRIS and SAE PAOGOFIE. Chris was the Built Ford Tough winner while Sae was named ADT Defensive Player of the Week. Sae leads the team in tackles with five while Chris is tied for second in total tackles with four.

CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF A GOOD THING: Last week's 49-43 overtime win by Bakersfield at San Diego was one of the most exciting games of this young af2 season. It also was the longest . not just of this season, but in league history. With an overtime period that lasted 10:38, the thriller totaled 70 minutes and 38 seconds of game clock time.

UPSET OF THE WEEK: The expansion Cape Fear Wildcats completely dominated Norfolk, holding the Nighthawks to 71 total yards of offense and beating them 69-19. It was only Norfolk's fifth loss at home in the three-year history of the team.

FLAG ON THE PLAY: Mohegan was penalized 13 times for 111 yards in its opener against the Conquest. Albany, a 29-14 winner, committed just one penalty for six yards.

SACK SOLUTION: After giving up 53 sacks (second-most in the league) and recording 24 a year ago, Rochester Head Coach MARK SAUNDERS decided to bolster his lines. It appears he might have been successful. The Brigade line didn't allow a single sack in its first game while dumping New Haven QB PHIL STAMBAUGH five times on the night.

OPENING NIGHT SUCCESS: After last week's win against Birmingham, Tulsa now is a perfect 3-0 in season openers since af2's inception. The Talons seek to win their second-straight road opener this Saturday in Bossier City against the Battle Wings.

NOT-SO-SPECIAL TEAMS: Arkansas outgained Tennessee Valley 240 yards to 178 yards last week, but the Twisters gave up 193 yards in returns to the Vipers in the 37-28 loss. Arkansas also was unsuccessful on each of its four field goal attempts, with one blocked kick. Trailing 30-28, the Twisters attempted to take a one-point lead late in the fourth quarter but Tennessee Valley blocked the kick and scored the game-clinching touchdown five plays later.

TWICE AS NICE?: If Memphis defeats Peoria on Friday, it would give the Xplorers their second two-game winning streak in team history. They last won back-to-back games on June 9 and 16, 2001 (55-48 at Lafayette, 45-39 vs. Pensacola in OT).

INDEPENDENCE DAYS: Tulsa has a football history in Bossier City/Shreveport, where the Talons play Saturday. The University of Tulsa played in Shreveport 's Independence Bowl game in 1976 and in 1989, losing to McNeese State (20-16) and Oregon (27-24), respectively.

CHARLESTON CHEMISTRY: Coach JIMMY DUNN will have a bit of an advantage when trying to form team chemistry with the 2002 Swamp Foxes. Currently, there are six sets of former college teammates on the Charleston roster: The Citadel: (2) LORENZO JACKSON, KENYATTA SPRUILL; East Carolina: (2) SAMEIN L. JONES, MICHAEL SETZER; South Carolina State: (2) CLARENCE MCCANTS, ALLEN CHISOLM; University of Maine: (3) BEN CHRISTOPHER, UFUOMA ALARIC PELA, A. DWAYNE WILMOT; Virginia Tech: (3) MIKE DAVIS, EUGENE MAYS, CHRIS SEGAAR; Charleston Southern: (5) CHRISTOPHER L. ROLLISON, MICHAEL BROWN, JAMIE HATTLEY, RUBEN POTTS, CHANG YI.

LOUISVILLE FITS THE BILL(S): A week after former Buffalo Bill RUSSELL COPELAND helped Memphis win in Louisville, two former Buffalo greats will participate in pregame ceremonies. JIM KELLY, the Hall of Fame QB who led the Bills to four Super Bowls, and KENT HULL, an All-Pro center for Buffalo in the 90s, will conduct the coin toss. WILL WOLFORD, also a member of those great Bills teams, is the operator of his hometown Fire.



arenafootball2 Stories from April 10, 2002


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