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The deuce scoop

Published on June 2, 2004 under arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


PIONEERS CAMPING OUT TO SELL OUT: The Pioneers front office staff, as well as other guests, will continue to camp out in front of the team's administrative offices until this weekend's game against the Manchester Wolves is sold out. As of Wednesday afternoon, the team estimates nearly 4,000 tickets have been purchased or ordered. The team hopes to be able to present a check for $20,000 to the family of SGT Sherwood Baker, who was killed in Iraq last month. But the June 5th game must be sold out first. The June 5th game, which has been designated as Military Appreciation Night, will also feature an induction ceremony at halftime for 30 U.S. Army enlistees. Fans may inquire about ticket availability for the June 5th game by calling the team at (570) 270-5811 or (570) 270-3848. Anyone interested in purchasing tickets may also do so by visiting the "Pioneer Village," located directly in front of 275 Mundy Street in Wilkes-Barre Township.

af2 REPRESENTED ON AFL ALL-ROOKIE AND ALL-ARENA TEAM: On Tuesday the AFL announced its 2004 All-Rookie team. Of the 11 players selected to the team, two are former af2 players. Lincoln DuPree of the New York Dragons was selected as a WR/DB. DuPree led the Peoria Pirates to the ArenaCup Championship in 2002 and caught 17 touchdowns for the Dragons this season. Former Tulsa Talon and ArenaCup Champion Tacoma Fontaine was selected to the All-Rookie team as OS after leading the expansion Austin Wranglers with 72 catches for 1,076 yards and 21 touchdowns this season. In addition to the All-Rookie selections, the AFL today announced its All-Arena First and Second Teams and two former af2 players have made that list. Former Wichita Stealth OL/DL Bryan Henderson earned a First Team selection playing for the Arizona Rattlers and former Pensacola Barracuda Will Pettis was named to the Second Team as a WR/DB. Henderson, who was named ADT Defensive Player of the Week for the AFL on Tuesday, registered eight sacks for the Rattlers this season. Pettis hauled in 95 passes for 1,076 yards and 20 touchdowns for the Dallas Desperados this season.

IT'S UP AND IT'S GOOD: In a game where both teams combine to break the all-time af2 record for most points in a game, a player runs for 254 return yards including three touchdowns and QB passes for 379 yards, it's easy to overlook the kicker. But a noteworthy record was broken Saturday night in San Diego's 91-77 win over Hawaii. Riptide kicker Rich Ehmke made all thirteen of his extra point attempts, giving him the record for most extra points made in a single game. The record was held by Chris Chambers, who connected on all twelve of his attempts when playing for the Augusta Stallions in a game against the Greensboro Prowlers in 2000. As for the all-time combined points record, below is new Top 10:

Most Points in a single game, both teams combined:
168 - San Diego (91) at Hawaii (77), May 29 2004
165 - Arkansas (102) vs. Tulsa (63), June 22, 2002
160 - Birmingham (86) vs. Tallahassee (74), June 2, 2000
156 - Arkansas (83) vs. Hawaii (73), July 12, 2002
146 - Quad City (85) at Wichita (61), July 14, 2001
145 - Macon (80) vs. Pensacola (65), May 17, 2002
143 - Greensboro (81) vs. Rochester (62), June 15, 2002
143 - Wichita (76) vs. Bossier City (67), May 26, 2001
142 - Carolina (82) vs. Greensboro (60), May 4, 2002
141 - Baton Rouge (75) at Memphis (66), July 7, 2001

IT'S GUARANTEED: The Bakersfield Blitz have guaranteed their fans a win against the Hawaiian Islanders this Saturday. If the Blitz happen to lose, their fans receive free admission to the following Blitz home games until they win.

TIME CHANGE IN ALBANY: The Sunday afternoon tilt between the Albany Conquest and Cape Fear Wildcats has been moved from 2:00 p.m. ET to a 12:00 p.m. ET start.

"BACK" ON TOP: Thanks to Anthony Payton's remarkable game-winning touchdown catch against the Pioneers on Saturday night in which he caught a pass off the endzone net while laying on his back as time expired, the Louisville Fire have extended their win streak to two games and climbed back to the top of the Midwest Division standings, sharing the lead with Quad City. This weekend the Steamwheelers and Fire meet in Louisville with sole possession of first place on the line.

SECOND REALLY IS THE BEST: Conventional wisdom suggests you should always strive to be number one, but based on results of teams in the Top 12 this season, you may want to re-think that logic. So far this season, teams ranked No. 1 in the af2 Coaches' Poll are off to a 3-5 record in the games they enter ranked No. 1. Below is a look at how ranked teams have performed this season:

WHEN RANKED W-L .PCT
No. 1 3-5 .375
No. 2 8-1 .889
No. 3 3-4 .429
No. 4 7-1 .875
No. 5 6-3 .667

HOME SWEET HOME: Home teams dominated in Week 9, going 10-2 over the weekend. For the season home teams have gone 65-35 for a .650 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 65-35-0 .650

SCORING LEADERS: Green Bay's Randall Lane regained the scoring lead last week by racking up 12 points against the Wolves. Albany's Tony Locke continues his assault on the leaders, moving into a tie for second this week with Tulsa's Mitch Allner. Below is a look at the Top 5 scorers in af2 through Week 9:

PLAYER TEAM GP POINTS
Randall Lane GBB 8 144
Mitch Allner TUL 8 138
Tony Locke ALB 8 138
Timon Marshall OKC 8 132
Matt Burstein CPF 7 132

BOMBS AWAY: For the Memorial Day Weekend Wolves quarterback Chris Sanders and Blizzard signal caller Chris Greisen provided an air show for the good folks in Manchester, New Hampshire. The two combined for a total of 796 passing yards, with Sanders throwing for 396 and Greisen throwing for 400 yards, and zero interceptions between them. Greisen's performance ranks fifth best in passing yards for a single game in af2 history while Sanders' game ranks sixth. Greisen threw seven touchdowns while Sanders threw five.

SAUK PASSES SAUK: Matt Sauk's final pass of the game against Wilkes-Barre Scranton this past week not only won the game for the Louisville Fire but it also gave Sauk 61 pass attempts for the game, an af2 record. Don't feel bad for whose record he broke, since the previous record holder was himself, for his 60 tosses in 2001 against Arkansas when he was a member of the Tennessee Valley Vipers.

MORGAN GETTING CLOSER: Central Valley's Kenyatte Morgan is still on track to break the af2 record for all-purpose yards in a season. Ira Gooch, who is currently in the AFL ArenaBowl playoffs with the New Orleans VooDoo, holds the top mark for the 3,472 all-purpose yards he totaled during the 2002 season. Presently Morgan has 1,863 all-purpose yards for an average of 232.9 yards per game. On this pace he will total 3,726 all-purpose yards, beating Gooch by 254 yards.

HALFWAY HOME: With the 2004 regular season officially half over, let's take a look at how the playoff seedings would look if the season ended today. A total of 12 teams will qualify for the af2 postseason which begins the weekend following the last week of regular season play. As was the case in 2003, six teams from each the American and National Conference qualify for the playoffs. The six qualifying teams in each conference consist of the three division champions and three Wild Cards, which are determined by best overall record. In the First Round (August 6-7-8), the two division winners with the best overall records will have a bye. The division winner who did not earn a bye will host the lowest seeded Wild Card team. The top-seeded Wild Card team will host the remaining Wild Card team. Wild Card seeding is determined by overall record. In the Second Round (August 13-14-15), the division winners who had byes in the First Round will host the winners from the First Round. The top seeded division winner will play the lowest seeded team advancing from the First Round, while the second-seeded division winner will play the other winner from the First Round. The winners of the Second Round will meet for the Conference Championships on the weekend of August 20-21-22. The team with the better overall record hosts the Conference Championship game. The winners of the Conference Championships will face off in the 2004 ArenaCup on August 27, 28 or 29. The team with the better overall record will host.

AMERICAN CONFERENCE
1. Birmingham (7-1)
2. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (6-2)
3. Tennessee Valley (5-3)
4. Florida (5-3)
5. Cape Fear (4-3)
6. Memphis (4-4) - Currently Holds SOS over MAN
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7. Manchester (4-4)
8. Albany (3-5) - Currently holds better win% over common opponents with COL
9. Columbus (3-5)
10. Macon (2-6)
11. Bossier-Shreveport (2-7)
12. Arkansas (1-7) First Round games would be: MEM @ TEN; CPF @ FLO; BIR, WBS receive bye

NATIONAL CONFERENCE
1. Quad City (6-2) - Currently holds better win% over common opponents with OKC
2. Oklahoma City (6-2)
3. Hawaii (5-3) - Currently holds HTH advantage over BAK for West Division lead
4. Louisville (6-2) - Currently holds SOS over WIC
5. Wichita (6-2)
6. Tulsa (5-3) - Currently holds SOS over BAK
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7. Bakersfield (5-3)
8. San Diego (3-5) - Currently holds better win% over common opponents over GBB, PEO, RIO
9. Green Bay (3-5) - Currently holds better win% over common opponents over PEO, RIO
10. Peoria (3-5) - Currently holds better win% over common opponents with RIO
11. Rio Grande Valley (3-5)
12. Laredo (2-6)
13. Central Valley (1-7)
First Round games would be: TUL @ HAW; WIC @ LOU; QUA, OKC receive bye

*SOS = Strength of schedule; HTH = Head-to-head

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