af2 arenafootball2

The deuce scoop

Published on June 23, 2004 under arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


CLOSE CALLS: Week 12 saw a number of close games, as nine games were decided by less than 10 points including two that went into overtime. Prior to Week 12 the average margin of victory for af2 teams in 2004 was 16.18 points per game. In Week 12 the average was 9.25. If you take away the three blowouts from Week 12, that average drops to 4.22 points per game. So far this season, 23 games have been decided by three points or less. Last week alone five were decided by that margin, meaning 22% of the games decided by three points or less this season occurred in Week 12. Below is a table to help illustrate the tight games in Week 12.

WEEK AVG. MARGIN OF VICTORY GAMES DECIDED BY 3 OR LESS BY 7 OR LESS
1 23.38 0 1
2 14.17 2 3
3 15.90 3 3
4 18.83 1 3
5 18.18 2 2
6 14.00 1 6
7 14.91 3 4
8 11.33 2 6
9 14.75 1 3
10 17.08 2 2
11 15.50 1 3
12 9.25 5 7

RIDING THE TIDE: After starting the season 1-5, the Mouse Davis led San Diego Riptide have climbed back into contention with four straight wins, including two wins against Hawaii and one against Quad City. The Riptide's second half push has them sitting just two games back of the final Wild Card spot in the National Conference and two back of West Division leader Bakersfield who they still have to play two more times this season. As one might expect from a Mouse Davis team, the Riptide's offense has led the way during their current win streak. Over their last four games the Riptide are averaging 65.5 points per game. To put that in perspective, league-leading Oklahoma City has averaged 58.8 points per game this season.

DAN PATRICK MIGHT SAY: The Peoria defense bought into the philosophy that you can't stop Louisville OS James Scott you can only hope to contain him, in Peoria's 51-50 overtime victory at Louisville. The Peoria defense allowed Scott to catch 14 passes but not allow him into the endzone. Scott's fourteen catches ties a season high. Look below to see the stats for all receivers who have recorded 14 catches in a game this season.

Week Player/team Against Yards TDs
3 Eric Mahanke (BAK) San Diego 153 3
6 James Scott (LOU) Memphis 201 6
10 Robert Reed (TUL) Wichita 147 4
12 James Scott (LOU) Peoria 133 0

FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME: If the season ended today, five of the 12 teams in the postseason would be there for the first time. In fact, four of the six current division leaders (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Louisville, Oklahoma City*, Bakersfield*) are looking for their first-ever trip to the postseason in 2004. There are also three other teams (Columbus, Bossier-Shreveport, Green Bay) in Wild Card contention that have never made a postseason appearance. *Expansion team

IN A RUSH: With 39 yards last weekend against the Cape Fear Wildcats, Florida Firecats' FB/LB Steve Gorrie has amassed 352 yards rushing this season. Already good for the sixth 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 32.2 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 Gorrie's progress to date:

GP - GR YARDS LAST WEEK TOTAL YARDS TO 439 TO 500
11 - 5 39 at CPF 352 87 148

PIONEERS BREAK THE CURSE: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers became the first No. 1 ranked team in eight weeks to win in a game they were ranked No. 1 by beating the Albany Conquest. That means No. 1 teams are now 4-7 on the season. In fact, the No. 1 Pioneers were the only Top 5 team to win last week. No. 2 Birmingham, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Louisville and No. 5 Wichita all lost. Below is a look at how ranked teams have performed this season:

WHEN RANKED W-L .PCT
No. 1 4-7 .364
No. 2 9-3 .750
No. 3 5-5 .500
No. 4 8-3 .728
No. 5 7-5 .583

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 283.5 yards per game, he would reach 4,536 by the end of the season. Below is a look at Sauk's current pace compared to Vena's from last season:

PLAYER GM 11 YARDAGE SEASON TOTAL THROUGH GM 11 Next Game
Matt Sauk - LOU (2004) 249 vs. PEO 3,118 6/25 at MAN
Ryan Vena - ALB (2003) 321 at NOR 2,916 300 yards vs. MHG
*After his 10th game last season, Vena rattled off five straight games of 300 or more passing yards

HOME SWEET HOME: In Week 12 home teams went 6-6 for the weekend. For the season home teams have gone 85-51 for a .625 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 85-51-0 .625

SCORING LEADERS: Cape Fear's Matt Burstein is tied with Bossier-Shreveport's Bo Smith for the af2 scoring lead with 186 points each. Burstein's Wildcats, however, have only played 10 games while Bossier-Shreveport has played 12. With six games left, Burstein could challenge Shon King's all-time scoring record of 284 points. Currently Burstein is on pace to hit 297. Below is a look at the Top 5 scorers in af2 through Week 12:

PLAYER TEAM GP POINTS
Matt Burstein CPF 10 186
Bo Smith BOS 12 186
Tony Locke ALB 11 180
Anthony Arceneaux HAW 10 158
Kevin Prentiss MEM 10 156
Timon Marshall OKC 11 156

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 (9-2)
2. Birmingham (8-3) - Currently holds HTH advantage over TEN
3. Tennessee Valley (8-3)
4. Cape Fear (7-3)
5. Florida (7-4)
6. Memphis (6-5)
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7. Columbus (5-6)
8. Bossier-Shreveport (5-7)
9. Manchester (4-7) - Currently holds HTH advantage over ALB
10. Albany (4-7)
11. Macon (2-9)
12. Arkansas (1-9)
First Round games would be: MEM @ TEN; FLO @ CPF; WBS, BIR receive bye

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

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

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