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The deuce scoop

June 16, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


THE CENTURY CLUB: In the history of af2 there have only been 35 players to record 100 or more receptions in a single season. The most players to accomplish the feat in the same season were 12 during the 34-team 2002 season. So far in 2004, 13 players are on pace to possibly reach 100 receptions. Below are a look of the season-by-season breakdown of players who totaled 100 receptions or more and the list of players on the 100 receptions pace this season:

SEASON PLAYERS W/100 REC. TEAMS IN LEAGUE
2000 8 15
2001 8 28
2002 12 34
2003 7 27

PLAYER - TEAM REC GP - GR* AVG/G PROJECTED
Adrian Cockfield - COL 94 10 - 6 9.4 150
Kenyatte Morgan - CEN 77 10 - 6 7.7 123
J.R.Thomas - WBS 77 9 - 6 8.6 129
Tim Dodge - QUA 73 10 - 6 7.3 116
Eric Mahanke - BKF 72 10 - 6 7.2 115
George Williams - MAN 71 10 - 6 7.1 114
Cainon Lamb - FLO 69 10 - 6 6.9 110
Matt Burstein - CPF 64 9 - 7 7.1 114
James Scott - LOU 64 8 - 6 8.0 112
Kevin Prentiss - MEM 63 9 - 6 7.0 105
Dwight Carter - SDG 63 9 - 7 7.0 112
Jamaal Garmen - MAC 62 10 - 6 6.2 99
Robert Reed - TUL 62 10 - 6 6.2 99
* GP = Games Played; GR = Games Remaining

IN A RUSH: Florida Firecats' FB/LB Steve Gorrie has amassed 313 yards rushing this season. Already good for the 10th best single season total in af2 history, Gorrie is looking to continue his climb up the record chart as he had six games left to play. Averaging 31.3 yards per game, Gorrie is on pace to rack up 500 yards before the season ends. If he does hit the magic 500 mark, he'd be the first 500-yard rusher in league history. The current all-time single season rushing record is 439 yards by Darnell Arceneaux with Hawaii in 2002. Below is his progress to date:

GP - GR YARDS LAST WEEK TOTAL YARDS TO 439 TO 500
10 - 6 47 vs. COL 313 126 187

THE CURSE OF NO. 1: The Curse of the No. 1 Team continued in Week 11 as the No. 1 ranked Louisville Fire fell to the Peoria Pirates. So far this season, teams ranked No. 1 in the af2 Coaches' Poll are off to a 3-7 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 3-7 .300
No. 2 9-2 .818
No. 3 5-4 .555
No. 4 8-2 .800
No. 5 7-4 .636

MORE ON THE CURSE: What was just an amusing joke a few weeks ago has turned into a full blown curse, as the af2 Coaches' Poll this week has a different team in the top spot for the eight straight week. The only team to lose their number one ranking not due to a loss was Wichita, who was ranked first in Week 5, then moved down one spot for the Week 6 after being idle for Week 5. The other seven number one ranked teams have been defeated to lose their ranking. The average margin of defeat for a top ranked team has been 10.1 points. This average is inflated because of Wichita's 34-point loss to the Steamwheelers in Week 7. If this is taken out the average margin defeat is just 6.2 points. Interesting to note, all seven losses have come on the road. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, this week's number one ranked team, is on the road this week at Albany, this same situation occurred in Week 6 when the Conquest knocked off the Pioneers. Below is a look at how the eight different number one ranked teams have faired.

Week No. 1 Team Lost To Score Margin Fell To
4 Quad City WBS 40-27 13 Fourth
5 Wichita IDLE IDLE IDLE Second
6 WBS Albany 52-45 7 Third
7 Wichita Quad City 73-39 34 Fourth
8 Quad City San Diego 62-52 10 Third
9 WBS Louisville 48-47 1 Fourth
10 Birmingham Columbus 44-42 2 Third
11 Louisville Peoria 35-31 4 Fourth

SAUK BIDDING FOR 4,000 PASSING YARDS AND RECORD: In the history of af2, a QB has eclipsed 4,000 passing yards in a single season only eight times. Two of those times were by current Louisville gunslinger Matt Sauk. This season Sauk is on pace to add his name to that list for third time, but this time around it could be at the top of the list. The all-time single season record for passing yards is 4,462 by Ryan Vena with Albany last season. If Sauk maintains his current pace of 286.9 yards per game, he would reach 4,590 by the end of the season. Below is a look at Sauk's current pace compared to Vena's from last season:

PLAYER GM 10 YARDAGE SEASON TOTAL THROUGH GM 10 Next Game
Matt Sauk - LOU (2004) 252 at PEO 2,869 6/19 vs. PEO
Ryan Vena - ALB (2003) 285 vs. NOR 2,595 321 yards at NOR
*After his 10th game last season, Vena rattled of five straight games of 300 or more passing yards

HOW "FOUR"TUNATE: Last week Stealth OL/DL Henry Bryant recorded 4.0 sacks in Wichita's 70-35 victory over division rival Oklahoma City. Bryant's achievement earned him the ADT Defensive Player of the Week award. While impressive, his performance is still short of the af2 record for sacks in a game. Asa Francis, who recorded 5.0 sacks on June 28 last season at Hawaii, holds the top spot. Francis is currently signed with the Buffalo Bills. Nine other players have also recorded 4.0 or more sacks in a game, including E.J. Burt who set the record for sacks in a season with 27.5 in 2002 for the Cape Fear Wildcats.

KENYATTE CAN: Central Valley Coyotes' OS Kenyatte Morgan is on track to break two af2 records this season. The first record Morgan has in his sights is for all-purpose yards in a season. The current record holder is Ira Gooch, who in 2002 racked up 3,472 total yards, averaging 174.1 yards a game. Currently on the season Morgan has totaled 1,282 kickoff return yards, 918 receiving yards, and 94 missed field goal return yards for a total of 2,284 and an average of 228.4 yards per game. If Morgan continues on this pace he would total 3,654 yards, breaking Gooch's record by 182 yards. The second record Morgan is nearing is most games in a season with 200 or more all-purpose yards. The current record is also held by Gooch, who in 2002 gained 200 or more all-purpose yards in a game ten times. Morgan has already gone over 200 yards in a game eight times this season. With six games remaining for the Coyotes, Morgan needs to have 200 or more all-purpose yards in half of his games to break Gooch's record. One record Morgan already has is the Coyotes' team record for all-purpose yards in a season. Last week Morgan eclipsed Steve Wofford's old mark of 2,212 all-purpose yards in a season.

HOME SWEET HOME: In Week 11 home teams went 7-5 for the weekend. For the season home teams have gone 79-45 for a .637 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 79-45-0 .637

SCORING LEADERS: Cape Fear's Matt Burstein and Albany's Tony Locke share the af2 scoring lead with 174 points each. Burstein's Wildcats, however, have only played nine games while Albany has played 10. With seven games left, Burstein could challenge Shon King's all-time scoring record of 284 points. Currently Burstein is on pace to hit 309. Locke, with only six games left, is slightly below the recording setting pace. Below is a look at the Top 5 scorers in af2 through Week 11:

PLAYER TEAM GP POINTS
Matt Burstein CPF 9 174
Tony Locke ALB 10 174
Bo Smith BOS 11 168
Randall Lane GBB 8 144
Timon Marshall OKC 10 144

IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY: In 2004 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. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (8-2) - Currently holds better win% over common opponents with BIR
2. Birmingham (8-2)
3. Tennessee Valley (7-3)
4. Florida (7-3)
5. Cape Fear (6-3)
6. Memphis (5-5)
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7. Albany (4-6) - Currently holds better win% over common opponents with COL, MAN
8. Columbus (4-6) - Currently holds better win% over common opponents with MAN
9. Manchester (4-6)
10. Bossier-Shreveport (4-7)
11. Macon (2-8)
12. Arkansas (1-9)
First Round games would be: MAN @ TEN; CPF @ FLO; WBS, BIR receive bye

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

*Teams in bold currently lead their respective division; SOS = Strength of schedule; HTH = Head-to-head



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