The Deuce Scoop

July 2, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I) News Release

SHOOTING FOR 200: Arkansas QB RICKY HEBERT went head-to-head with Tulsa QB CRAIG STRICKLAND last Saturday in pursuit of passing touchdown 200 of their respective careers. Hebert, who was at 198 entering the game, completed a 12-yard pass to Sacha Lancaster in the third quarter to reach the milestone, while Strickland, who had 194 coming in, was held to two throwing touchdowns in the game. Strickland will get a chance to reach 200 in Week 16 against Hawaii as the Talons have a bye this week. Hebert reached another milestone in the game against Tulsa, as along with being the first to 200 passing touchdowns, he also became the first QB to pass for over 10,000 yards in his career.

AND THE AWARDS GO TO: Week 14 award winners are: San Diego's KANE CLAUNCH (Offensive Player of the Week), Greensboro's BOBBY SIPPIO (Ironman of the Week) and Quad City's ASA FRANCIS (ADT Defensive Player).

HOME SWEET HOME: Home teams went 9-4 in Week 14, continuing their season-long dominance. So far this season, home teams are 104-62 for a .627 win percentage. In 2002 home teams went 157-113 throughout the regular season for a .585 win percentage. The table below shows the best regular season home winning percentages of all-time among active teams.

Regular Season at Home Record Pct. Streak
Tulsa 28-3 .903 Won25*
Quad City 27-3 .900 Won 5
Tennessee Valley 26-5 .839 Won 7
Albany 11-2 .846 Won 7
Cape Fear 10-3 .769 Lost 1
Norfolk 23-6 .793 Won 1
Macon 17-5 .773 Lost 1
Wichita 15-7 .714 Lost 1
Birmingham 21-9 .700 Lost 1
Hawaii 10-5 .666 Lost 1

*Tulsa's 62-49 win over Bakersfield in Week 13 extended their af2-record regular season home win streak to 25 games. The longest overall home win streak (regular season and playoffs) is 25 held by the Quad City Steamwheelers, which spanned from 2000-2002. Tulsa lost at home in the playoffs last season, meaning its current overall streak is at seven games.

THE PERFECT HISS: The Tennessee Valley Vipers beat rival Birmingham for the second straight week last Saturday, improving to 12-0 for the season. The Vipers, the only undefeated team in af2 this season, are 12-0 for the first time in team history and now hold the record for the second best start to a season. The Quad City Steamwheelers are the only other team to get off to a better start in af2 history, as they went 16-0 during the 2000 season. If the Vipers stay undefeated for two more weeks, Quad City will have a chance to spoil the Vipers' bid for a perfect season. The 'Wheelers and Vipers hook-up on July 19 at Moline, IL.

NOT ALL TEAMS LOSE ON THE ROAD: The Tennessee Valley Vipers have gone 20-1 since 2001 on the road, which is the best road record in af2 during that span. If they win their remaining three road games, they'll become the first team to record undefeated road records in more than one season. The Vipers went 8-0 on the road in 2001. The Albany Conquest has the next best road record with a 12-3 all-time mark on the road. Below is a look at af2's best road records this season.

Team 2003 Road Record Pct. Streak (regular season)
Tennessee Valley 5-0 1.000 Won 9
Quad City 5-1 .833 Won 5
Florida 3-1 .750 Won 2
Albany 5-2 .714 Lost 1

AIRING IT OUT: Currently there are four QBs in af2 who have passed for over 3,000 yards and 60 touchdowns, which means those QBs are on pace to break the 4,000 yard passing plateau and the 80-touchdown mark. In the history of af2 only the 2000 season saw three players pass for over 4,000 yards, while two passers have reached 80 or more touchdowns in each af2 season. The all-time record for passing yards in a season is 4,417 by JON NIELSON in 2000 and the most touchdown passes in a season is 86 by MATT SAUK in 2001. Below is a look at the 2003 passing leaders with their projected pace for the season.

Quarterback-Team GP Yards TDs Projected Yards Projected TDs
Tony Zimmerman-QUA 12 3,273 68 4,364 91
Ryan Vena-ALB 12 3,208 63 4,277 84
Matt Sauk-TEN 12 3,158 67 4,211 89
Craig Strickland-TUL 13 3,154 68 3,882 84

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. In Week 14, 12 teams broke the 50-point barrier, going 9-3 in those games. Teams under 50 points went 4-10 in Week 14. For the season, teams that score better than 50 are 98-26, while teams under 50 have gone 67-141. Below is a breakdown:

2003 W-L Pct. All-time W-L Pct.
0-19 0-6 .000 0-19 2-74 .026
20-29 1-31 .031 20-29 15-172 .080
30-39 21-59 .263 30-39 98-239 .290
40-49 45-45 .500 40-49 218-208 .512
50-59 59-25 .702 50-59 226-94 .706
60-69 38-1 .974 60-69 173-21 .892
70-79 1-0 1.000 70-79 54-2 .964
80+ 0-0 .000 80+ 23-0 1.000

SCORING LEAD UP FOR GRABS: Peoria's JACK WALKER still leads among the league's top scorers but the race has tightened up with four weeks left in the season as Macon's JACQUES RUMPH is only ten points behind. The all-time record for scoring in a single season is 284 points by SHON KING during the 2000 season. Below is an update of the current af2 scoring leaders and the projected pace of those men.

Name - Team GP Points Projected Total
Jack Walker - PEO 12 190 253
Jacques Rumph - MAC 12 180 240
Derek Baker - ROC 13 172 211
Tacoma Fontaine - TUL 12 172 229
Nian Taylor - HAW 13 164 202

ALLNER SETS ALL-TIME SCORING MARK: Tulsa WR/LB MITCH ALLNER'S 35-yard touchdown reception from CRAIG STRICKLAND in the fourth quarter of the game at Arkansas last Saturday broke the all-time individual career scoring record. With 610 career points, Allner is the new all-time leader surpassing WAYNE THOMAS (Birmingham 2000-02) who had 606 points.

SURVEY SAYS: According to the current Web poll on www.af2.com, 67% of respondents believe the Charleston Swamp Foxes will not make the postseason. Charleston, with the big win over first-place Cape Fear last Saturday, is currently seeded eighth in the American Conference, one game out of playoff contention.

ROAD THEIVES: The Swamp Foxes lead the league with 25 interceptions this season and 17 of those have come on the road. Twice this season, the Swamp Foxes have registered five picks in a single game including last week's win over Cape Fear. Cape Fear QB BRYAN SNYDER had thrown only five picks all year before the Charleston game.

CONGRATS TO QUAD CITY AND TENNESSEE VALLEY: The Tennessee Valley Vipers and Quad City Steamwheelers (combatants in the first ArenaCup) both clinched their respective divisions last weekend. Quad City claimed the Midwest with a 54-36 win over Hawaii, while the Vipers beat the Steeldogs in front of a standing-room-only crowd in Huntsville. The attendance of 6,827 was the fourth largest total in Vipers' history.

RACES WE'RE WATCHING: While Quad City and Tennessee Valley have officially clinched division titles, af2's other four divisions remain undecided with four weeks to go in the season. Cape Fear leads the Atlantic Division, but only three games separate them from fifth- place Greensboro. In the West Division, one game separates Hawaii and Wichita. If they should finish the regular season with identical records, Wichita has the edge due to a 91-90 advantage in the two head-to-head meetings between the teams this season. In the Northeast, Albany leads Mohegan by two games, but the clubs play against each other once more this season. In the Central, Arkansas' big win over Tulsa kept the Twisters division title hopes alive. Arkansas would need to win out and hope that Tulsa drops at least two of its final three games, but the Twisters do hold the tie-breaker edge over the Talons as a result of last weekend's win.

BYE-BYE-BYE: With Tennessee Valley's win over Birmingham and the Cape Fear Wildcats' loss to Charleston, the Vipers clinched the South Division crown and a first-round bye in the postseason. The top two of the three division winners (based on overall record) from each conference claim a first-round bye in the playoffs. With Cape Fear losing to Charleston, the best they could finish the season is 12-4, which is the best record that could come out of the Atlantic Division. Since Tennessee Valley owns the tie-breaker with Cape Fear, they would get the nod for the first-round bye if Cape Fear did finish 12-4.

BLIZZARD'S OFFENSE EXPLODES: The Green Bay Blizzard record the fourth highest single game point total this season in their 68-34 thumping of Louisville last Saturday. Albany, Charleston, Florida and Memphis have also posted 68-point totals this season. Bossier City has the season high with 72 points on April 4, while Albany and Cincinnati each posted 69 once this season.

FIRECATS ROLLING: Last season the Florida Firecats entered the month of July 6-6 and went on to win three games in July (two on the road) to advance to the postseason, where they won three straight road games to advance to the ArenaCup. This year Florida is entering July 7-5 due to a four-game win streak and has all four remaining games on the road, where they are 3-1 this season.

WHAT A DEBUT: Rookie QB JOSH KELLET made his af2 debut for the Steeldogs last week against the undefeated Tennessee Valley Vipers and passed for 417 yards and seven touchdowns, nearly pulling off the upset over the league's top squad. Kellet's 417 yards was the third most passing yards for a single game in af2 history. PLAYOFF CLINCHERS: Below are some scenarios for teams that can clinch a playoff spot or division title this week:

American Conference:

Tennessee Valley: Clinched division title and first round bye.

Albany: Clinches a playoff berth with win or losses from Birmingham, Charleston and Norfolk

National Conference:

Tulsa: Clinched playoff berth. Has bye. If Arkansas loses this week, Tulsa would only need one more win or one more Arkansas loss to clinch title.

Quad City: Clinched division title. If they win this week, they need one Hawaii loss to clinch first-round bye.

Hawaii: Has bye this week. Can clinch playoff spot if Memphis loses this week. Wichita: Has bye. If Memphis loses this week, Stealth need win next week or losses from three of the following: Memphis, San Diego, Cincinnati and Bakersfield to clinch a playoff spot.

IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY: Below is the breakdown of which teams would make it if the season ended today. Division winners grab the first three spots in each conference, based on overall records. Wildcard teams seed based on overall records for the final three spots in each conference. Bold teams are teams that would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.

American Conference
1. Tennessee Valley (12-0) - x^
2. Albany (10-2)*
3. Cape Fear (8-4)*
4. Mohegan (8-4)
5. Florida (7-5) - Holds HTH advantage over Macon
6. Macon (7-5)
7. Birmingham (6-6) - Holds SOS over CHA and NOR
8. Charleston (6-6) - Holds HTH advantage over NOR
9. Norfolk (6-6)
10. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (5-7) - Holds better win% in HTH matchups with RIC and GRE
11. Richmond (5-7) - Currently holds HTH advantage over GRE
12. Greensboro (5-7)
13. Columbus (3-9)
14. Rochester (2-11)

National Conference
1. Quad City (10-2) - x
2. Tulsa (10-3) - y
3. Hawaii (9-4)*
4. Wichita (8-5)
5. Arkansas (7-5)
6. Bakersfield (6-7)
7. Memphis (5-7)
8. San Diego (5-8)
9. Cincinnati (4-8) - Currently holds better win% over common opponents with PEO
10. Peoria (4-8)
11. Louisville (3-10) - Currently holds better win% over common opponents with BOS
12. Bossier City (3-10)
13. Green Bay (2-10)

*Denotes current division leader
x - clinched division title
y - clinched playoff berth
^ - clinched first round bye
HTH = head-to-head; SOS = strength of schedule

In the American Conference, Tennessee Valley and Albany would have a bye in the first round. Cape Fear would host Macon and Mohegan would host Florida. In the National Conference, Quad City and Tulsa would have first round byes while Hawaii would host Bakersfield and Wichita would host Arkansas.

THURSDAY NIGHT MATCHUP

ROCHESTER BRIGADE (2-11) AT CINCINNATI SWARM (4-8)
Thursday, July 3, 2003-US BANK ARENA (14,000) 7:30 P.M ET

The Rochester Brigade travels to Cincinnati to take on the Swarm for the first meeting between these teams. Both teams are 1-4 in their last five games, and they are pretty evenly matched in offensive points and yards per game. Cincinnati is looking to break a tie for second place with the Peoria Pirates in the National Midwest Division, while the Brigade hopes to carry their momentum from last week's thrilling one-point overtime victory versus the Columbus Wardogs in which LAMONT COLEMAN rushed for a one-yard touchdown with just fifty-seven seconds left on the clock and MARTINO THEUS caught the winning two-point conversion in overtime. The Swarm hopes to stop DEREK BAKER, who is third in the league in scoring and leads the team with three interceptions. Cincinnati has been strong on defense, averaging 44.4 defensive points per game and its 228.5 defensive yards per game average makes them sixth in the league. Defensive specialists ROB GREEN and MIKE MILLS have each pulled in four interceptions this season, which puts them among the top ten interception leaders in the league. This is the first and final meeting between these teams of the regular season.

Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from July 2, 2003

• Blake Ready to Lead FoxForce - Carolina Cobras
• The Deuce Scoop - AFL I
• Crush Introduces Head Coach Mike Dailey - Colorado Crush

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