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AFL I Arena Football League (1987-2008)

The Deuce Scoop

April 17, 2002 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I) News Release


WEEK 3 BY THE NUMBERS:
10,122 Attendance at Freedom Hall for Louisville's game against Quad City.
159 Penalty yards assessed to Cape Fear in their win over New Haven (T-2nd all-time).
121 Season high for points scored in a game: San Diego 69, Fresno 52.
41 Yard TD run by WILMONT PERRY (Cape Fear) against the Ninjas, a league season high.
32 Points scored by Memphis' RUSSELL COPELAND at Peoria, a league high for the season.
6 Number of kickoffs taken back for TDs league-wide.
3 Sacks by PRESTON VINSON of Charleston at Greensboro.
1 Margin of victory for Memphis over Peoria, the 12th one-point game in af2 history and the first this year.

AND THE AWARDS GO TO: Weekly af2 award winners include: RUSSELL COPELAND and TIM LESTER of Memphis (Offensive Players of the Week), PRESTON VINSON of Charleston (ADT Defensive Player of the Week), Arkansas' DARNELL SMALL (Ironman of the Week) and SHAWN SCALES of Richmond (Built Ford Tough winner).

FOOT NOTES: Field goals and extra points may look a little different to experienced Arena Football fans for the rest of the year. Coinciding with the start of the Arena Football League season this weekend, the AFL's Rules and Competition Committee has liberalized the defensive rules on field goal and PAT attempts, allowing four down linemen to rush in addition to legalizing twisting and the outside rush. Previously, only three down linemen could rush a kick, and they were limited to straight-ahead, one-on-one battles with the offensive linemen. In another change, the kicking team is allowed free substitution to help protect the kicker. The new rules were in effect on a test basis during all af2 preseason scrimmages, so the league's 34 teams are familiar with their dynamics.

Given the expected increase in action around the kicker and holder, any defender who runs into the kicker (even if blocked into him) will be assessed a 10-yard roughing penalty and will result in an automatic first down for the offense. On PATs, the foul will be marked off half the distance to the goal for a re-try or will be marked off 10 yards after the ensuing kickoff (kicking team's choice).

JUST WIN, BABY: Eight teams have taken the field more than once and come away with victories each time. The "great eight" are: Richmond (3-0); Albany, Bakersfield, Cape Fear, Florida, Macon, Memphis and Quad City (2-0). Three other teams (Augusta, Charleston and Tennessee Valley) are 1-0. There' s only one matchup of unbeatens in Week 4 - Augusta travels to expansion Cape Fear.

MISERY LOVES COMPANY: On the flip side, 12 teams have yet to taste victory. The disappointing dozen are: Fresno, Louisville, Mobile, New Haven, Norfolk, Roanoke, Wichita and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (0-2); Carolina, Columbus, Jacksonville and Pensacola (0-1).

TRACKING THE 10: The 10 expansion teams have had mixed success over the first three weeks of the season. Albany, Bakersfield and Cape Fear all are 2-0, including a combined 5-0 road record. Hawaii, Mohegan and San Diego are 1-1 while Fresno, Mobile, New Haven and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton are 0-2. The expansion teams' 9-11 combined record includes a 4-5 mark against "veteran" clubs.

CAN'T WAIT TO GET ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Attendance is up by more than 12,000 fans from last season, but it wasn't "home, sweet home" around the league in Week 3. Road teams went 10-4 (Birmingham, Bossier City, Florida and Mohegan were the only winners). This follows on the heels of a 9-6 mark for road teams in Week 2. Throw in a pair of home victories by Richmond and Hawaii in an abbreviated Week 1 and the slate stands at: Road teams 19, Home teams 12.

MAKING THE HOME FOLKS PROUD: These nine teams make their 2002 home debut this week: Albany, Bakersfield, Cape Fear, Carolina, Charleston, Columbus, Memphis, Pensacola and Tennessee Valley. Combined so far, the teams are 10-3 on the season, including six undefeated teams and four division leaders.

STREAKING SPEED: The Richmond Speed return to the Richmond Coliseum this week, putting their 13-game home winning streak on the line. The last team to beat the Speed in Richmond was Quad City (61-30 - 6/9/00).

ROAD SWEET ROAD: With its win at Arkansas two weeks ago, Tennessee Valley has won nine consecutive games on the road dating back to last year, the longest current streak in the af2. The league record is 10, set by Quad City with eight straight road wins in 2000 and two more to start 2001.

MISSING HOME BLUES: The long and winding road continues for Mobile this week as the Wizards journey to Huntsville, Ala., to play Tennessee Valley. Mobile plays its first four games on the road . and, thus far, the road hasn't been kind. An 11-hour bus ride to Fort Myers, Fla., resulted in a 47-23 loss to the Firecats. The five-hour trip to Birmingham ended in a 47-26 loss to the Steeldogs. The Wizards do not play at home until May 4 against Memphis.

'X'CELLENT XPLORERS: With its 49-48 overtime win at Peoria, Memphis now is 2-0 all-time in overtime games (45-39 vs. Pensacola - 6/16/01). Oddly enough, that June 2001 contest represented the second win in the team's only other two-game winning streak prior to its current one. Both of the Xplorers ' 2002 victories have come on the road, an accomplishment that already eclipses last season's total of one road win.

HALL OF FAME HALFTIME: Last Friday in Louisville, Pro Football 2002 Hall of Fame inductee JIM KELLY visited Freedom Hall to help with the pregame coin toss and sign some postgame autographs. But he couldn't resist testing out his record-setting arm at halftime when two women's tackle football teams squared off in an exhibition. Kelly served as all-time quarterback, delighting the crowd of 10,122 people, many of whom stayed in their seats for the unique halftime entertainment. Louisville's allegiance to hometown hero WILL WOLFORD, the University of Louisville product who now operates the Fire after a lengthy NFL career that included time with the Bills, didn't spare Kelly the fans' mock wrath. They booed the QB on several deep overthrows.

HIGH SCORIN': For the second straight week (and in one less game), the af2 schedule produced more than 1,100 points. The 28 teams that took the field in Week 3 combined for 1,104 points. The league average through 31 contests is 79.5 points per game.

THE BIG '5-0': In the high-scoring sport of Arena Football, reaching the 50-point mark typically serves as a good indicator of team success. League-wide this season, teams are 13-1 (93 percent) when they score 50 or more points in a game (Fresno lost to San Diego last week, 69-52). When teams score less than 50, they are 18-30 (38 percent). Here's a win-loss breakdown of the league by points scored:

Points W-L Pct.
10-19 0-6 .000
20-29 2-9 .182
30-39 6-7 .462
40-49 10-8 .556
50-59 6-1 .857
60-69 6-0 1.000
70-79 1-0 1.000

THRIFTY FIFTY: San Diego wasted little time getting to that "magical" 50-point mark in Week 3. The Riptide scored 50 points in the first half alone in its 69-52 win over Fresno. San Diego scored TDs on all seven possessions, needing just 13 plays.

IN THE ZONE: Everyone knows how important it is to convert in the Red Zone, especially Fresno, Florida, Peoria, Rochester, Mobile and Augusta. Those six teams are a combined 39-for-39 in the Red Zone (led by Fresno's 10-for-10 performance) with 32 touchdowns and seven field goals.

SHAPE AND 'BAKE': Conditioning seems to be a strong point for Bakersfield so far this season. In its games against San Diego and Hawaii, the Blitz has been able to wear down the other team and take advantage of their fatigue. As a result, Bakersfield has outscored its opponents 59-25 in the second half, holding Hawaii to only nine total points in the third and fourth quarters combined last week.

GETTING 'O'-FFENSIVE: Through three weeks, the Blitz ranks high in several offensive categories. QB CHAD ELLIOTT ranks first in total offense (618 yards) and first in passing yards (608). OS STEVE WOFFORD ranks in the top 10 in five different league categories, including third in receptions (22) and receiving yards (277).

WEBB MASTER: Despite the loss, Fresno OS LAMONT WEBB had an outstanding game against San Diego. He returned the opening kickoff 55 yards for a touchdown and hauled in a 39-yard scoring strike the next time he touched the ball. He totaled 245 all-purpose yards in the game, second only in Week 3 to his opposite number on the other sideline, San Diego's MARTY GRAHAM. Webb leads the Frenzy with eight receptions for 113 yards.

FROM THE BENCH TO MVP: Trailing 16-9 at halftime to Rochester, Albany Head Coach RON SELESKY replaced starting QB JOHN KRUEGER with back-up RYAN VENA. The switch paid off, as Vena completed 12-of-18 passes for 108 yards and three scores. He also rushed for another touchdown, leading the Conquest past the Brigade 42-36 and into first place in the Northeast Division. Vena earned MVP honors in the game.

HIGH-FIVE FOR GLUSKI: Fresh off his five-touchdown performance in Week 2, Macon QB MIKE GLUSKI matched his mark in Week 3, passing for five more scores.

NOT BAD FOR A HALF DAY'S WORK: Charleston QB RAY ISAAC completed 16-of-19 passes for 108 yards and four touchdowns, putting Charleston up 31-12 after one half. Backup QB MIKE BATH replaced Isaac for the second half and tossed two scoring strikes, completing 7-of-9 passes for 107 yards.

M-C-L TEAR: The Memphis trio of CARLOS MCNEARY, RUSSELL COPELAND and TIM LESTER have served notice in Weeks 2 and 3 that this is a different Xplorers team than the one that finished 3-13 in its 2001 inaugural season. Lester has accounted for 13 touchdowns this season, passing for 11 and running for two more. His 583 passing yards rank second behind Bakersfield's CHAD ELLIOTT. Copeland, who spent six seasons with the Buffalo Bills, is demolishing af2 defensive backs. Copeland led the league with 32 points scored last week against Peoria, and is the overall league leader in scoring (44 points), receptions (26) and receiving yards (322). He set Xplorers' records with his five TDs, 15 catches and 169 receiving yards at Peoria. Copeland and Lester shared the af2 Offensive Player of the Week award for Week 3. McNeary was a star on opening night at Louisville, gaining the league's Ironman award for the week with four touchdown receptions, one rushing TD and an interception. He followed it up with three more receptions and a pick against Peoria.

GROUNDED IN GREENSBORO: The Greensboro Prowlers have not been able to produce much offense by way of the pass so far in 2002. In fact, they rank last in the league with a 114 yards-per-game average.

WE'RE NOT WORTHY: Tennessee Valley WR/DB REGGIE WORTHY made his presence known in his Viper debut at Arkansas in Week 2. The former Auburn wide receiver caught six passes for 77 yards and one touchdown and rushed five times for 21 yards and two touchdowns. He also recorded one tackle and one pass breakup, a stat line that earned him strong consideration for league Ironman of the Week honors.

DO THE TWIST: Arkansas and Wichita play the second of back-to-back games on Saturday in Little Rock. The Twisters will be hard-pressed to duplicate their defensive performance from Week 3. In the 34-13 win, Arkansas had five sacks for minus-31 yards, forced six fumbles (recovering three) and held Wichita to 13 points, equaling the fewest points ever allowed by the Twisters (86-13 win over Charleston - 4/8/00). With a victory this weekend, Arkansas would improve its record to 2-1, marking the first time the Twisters have owned a plus-.500 record since that Charleston win made them 1-0 in their inaugural season.

HOW 'BOUT A LITTLE HELP HERE: New Haven QB PHIL STAMBAUGH will need all the help he can get as his Ninjas prepare to challenge the Richmond Speed. The Ninjas have allowed a league-high nine sacks in their first two games, and have to face a Speed defensive line that ranks second in the league with eight sacks.

LEADER OF THE SACK: Cape Fear's E.J. BURT tops the league sack total list with 4.5 in two games. Charleston's PRESTON VINSON (Week 3 ADT Defensive Player of the Week) is hot on Burt's heels with three sacks in the Swamp Foxes' first game this past Friday.

RICO SUAVE: San Diego WR/LB RICO CURTIS leads the af2 in tackles with 19.5 and his 12.5 against Bakersfield last week tops the af2 in a single game this year.

SHAKE IT, BABY: His nickname may be "Shake," but Albany's HENRY BAKER may want to change that to "Pick" if he keeps up his interception pace. The DS snatched two passes from Rochester QB MATT D'ORAZIO on Saturday, boosting his league-leading two-game total to four.

KENT TURNS SUPERMAN: Last weekend, Bossier City's MARTY KENT kicked a career-high four field goals (26, 36, 41, 42 yards) and also was successful on his only PAT attempt of the game. Kent's four field goals tied the second-highest single-game total in af2 history (LEE McDONALD holds the record with six FGs for Norfolk at Charleston - 4/22/00). Last season, Kent' s 135 points made him second in the league in kick scoring.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 17, 2002


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