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The deuce scoop

May 12, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


HUMPHREY LOOKING FOR RECORD ON WAY TO THE HALL: Birmingham head coach Bobby Humphrey headlines an eight-member class being inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame during a ceremony this Saturday night, but that won't be the only memorable moment of Humphrey's weekend. On Friday night, Humphrey will try to coach the Steeldogs to their fifth straight win. For Humphrey it would be his 45th career victory as an af2 head coach, which would tie him with Kevin Porter (Pensacola 2000, Macon 2001-2003) for the most wins by a head coach in af2 history. A win would also break Porter's record for the most regular season wins (41) in af2 history.

IT'S NOT HOW YOU START: In auto racing it's the driver that leads the last lap (not the most laps) that wins the race. The same holds true in Arena Football and the Florida Firecats have done the best job of putting distance between themselves and their opponents in the final quarter this season. By an 84-41 margin, the Firecats have outscored their foes by 43 points in the fourth quarter to lead the league in fourth quarter scoring differential. Below is a look at the Top 5 teams in fourth quarter scoring differential. Not surprisingly, these teams are a combined 12-0 when leading going into the final quarter.

4th QTR Scoring PF PA Differential
Florida 84 41 +43
Wilkes-Barre 81 46 +35
Louisville 102 69 +33
Tulsa 129 97 +32
Bossier-Shreveport 117 87 +30

CHASING IRA: Central Valley OS Kenyatte Morgan and Tulsa OS Mitch Allner are both on pace to break the current record for all-purpose yards in a season. Former Quad City Steamwheeler Ira Gooch, now a member of the AFL New Orleans Voodoo, currently holds the record for the 3,472 all-purpose yards he racked up in 2002. If Morgan continues on his current pace of 237 yards per game he will total 3,792 all-purpose yards for the season. Allner will top this mark with 3,948 all-purpose yards for the season if he continues on his pace of 246.8 yards per game.

GP Total AVG Projected Total
Mitch Allner 5 1,234 246.8 3,948
Kenyatte Morgan 5 1,185 237.0 3,792

TRIVIA TIME: Dave Bochette served as interim head coach of the Albany Conquest this past weekend and guided the team to its first victory of the season by beating the previously unbeaten Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers. Now that Rick Buffington has taken over as head coach of the Conquest, Bochette's official af2 head coaching career record stands at 1-0. Can you name the only other head coach to hold a perfect record in af2 history? Answer listed at the end of this release.

BRINGING IT TO THE HOUSE: Memphis' Kevin Prentiss tied a league record last weekend by returning three kickoffs for touchdowns. Over the past two weeks he has five return touchdowns and leads the league with six, putting him on track to shatter the all-time single season record. Quad City's Jeff Hewitt is second in af2 with three kick returns for touchdowns. The all-time record for kickoff return touchdowns in a season is eight, shared by three players. Lincoln Dupree did it for Peoria in 2002, Lawrence Pullen had eight for Jacksonville in 2002 and Adial Trone ran eight back for the Steeldogs during the 2000 season. Below is a look at pace of Prentiss and Hewitt.

PLAYER TEAM GP TDs PACE
Kevin Prentiss MEM 5 6 19.2
Jeff Hewitt QUA 6 3 8

GOOSE EGGS: During the 2003 season, the Wichita Stealth held an opposing teams scoreless in a quarter four times all year. Through just five games this season, they have shut out opponents in eight of the 20 quarters they have played.

HOME SWEET HOME: Last week home teams had their first losing week of the season, going 5-7. For the season home teams have gone 41-24 for a .631 win percentage. Last season home teams went 130-85-1 for a .604 win percentage. Overall in the history of af2 home teams have gone 501-330-1 for a .603 win percentage during the regular season. Below is a season-by-season chart:

SEASON HOME W-L-T HOME WIN %
2000 77-43-0 .642
2001 136-88-0 .607
2002 158-114-0 .581
2003 130-85-1 .604
2004 41-24-0 .631

SCORING LEADERS: Tulsa's Mitch Allner scored 24 points last week to join Green Bay's Randall Lane at the top of the league scoring chart with 102 points. Both men are on pace to challenge the all-time single season scoring record of 284 points by Shon King during the 2000 season. Lane and Allner are on pace to reach 326. Below is a look at the top six scorers in af2 through Week 5:

PLAYER TEAM GP POINTS
Randall Lane GBB 5 102
Mitch Allner TUL 5 102
Matt Burstein CPF 5 90
Ronney Daniels TEN 5 90
Al Hunt OKC 5 84
Timon Marshall OKC 5 84

A PERFECT 10: Last Saturday at Memphis, QB Matt Sauk threw 10 touchdowns to lead his Louisville Fire to 70-63 win over the Xplorers. In the history of af2, only two other QBs have thrown for 10 or more touchdowns in a single game. Will Burch (currently with Rio Grande Valley) threw 10 as a member of the Roanoke Steam against the Charleston Swamp Foxes on May 27, 2000, but the all-time record is 11 by Jon Nielsen as a member of the Arkansas Twisters on June 3, 2000 against the Greensboro Prowlers.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Last season, Rickey Jemison served as head coach of the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings for one game, winning a 34-31 decision over Columbus on May 24.



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