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The deuce scoop

June 30, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


MULTI-TALENTED MITCH: Arena Football makes for some interesting stat lines and Mitch Galloway of Cape Fear may have the most interesting stats in all of af2. As Cape Fear's second leading receiver Galloway has 47 catches for 461 yards, but only six of these 47 catches have gone for touchdowns. It isn't that Galloway doesn't have a nose for the endzone, he just finds different ways to get there. Galloway leads the team in rushing touchdowns, running eleven times for 15 yards and seven touchdowns. Keeping on the offensive side of the ball, Galloway has thrown three passes for sixteen yards this season, all three passes have been completed for touchdowns. Defensively, Galloway has recovered one fumble, and it was for a touchdown also. He also has 15.0 tackles (8UA 14A) to his name and six pass breakups, two of them being interceptions. While neither interception was returned for a touchdown, give Galloway some time, the Wildcats have five games left.

STRICKLAND NOTCHES ANOTHER MILESTONE: Craig Strickland of the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz took over the crown as the all-time af2 passer after recording the most passing yards in a game (319) in team history last week at Columbus. In Strickland's remarkable four-year career in arenafootball2, he has thrown for 13,341 passing yards. Strickland entered last week's game at Columbus 168 yards behind current Bossier City quarterback Sherard Poteete with 13,190 career passing yards. Poteete had a bye last week and now both the Dawgz and the Battlewings have played an even 12 games. Strickland passed Poteete after his record setting performance going 24-for-47 for 319 yards and six touchdowns last week against the Wardogs.

FOR SOME, IT'S ALREADY A SEASON TO REMEMBER: While only one team can win the ArenaCup, several teams already have reason to celebrate their season. Green Bay, Columbus, Louisville, Memphis, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton all have set a franchise record for wins in a season. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton currently has nine victories, three better than the six games they won each of the last two seasons. Memphis has won seven games already, one better than last seasons total of six. Louisville also has seven victories, one more than their six victories in their 2001 inaugural season. The six wins for Columbus is two better than the four victories they totaled each of the past two seasons. In their second season, Green Bay has won four games, two more than they won all of last season. Below is a look at all the teams that have or could break their team records for wins in a season:

TEAM 2004 WINS MOST WINS PRIOR TO 2004 GAMES LEFT WINS NEEDED
W-B/Scranton 9 6 - 2003 and 2002 4 0
Louisville 7 6 - 2001 4 0
Memphis 7 6 - 2003 4 0
Columbus 6 4 - 2003 and 2002 4 0
Green Bay 4 2 - 2003 4 0
Birmingham 9 12 - 2001 4 4
Wichita 7 8 - 2003 5 2
Florida 7 10 - 2003 4 4
Hawaii 6 10 - 2003 5 5
San Diego 5 7 - 2002 5 3

DOG TURNAROUND: If you need further evidence that avoiding turnovers is the first step toward winning Arena Football games, take a look at the Columbus Wardogs. In Columbus' first six games they went 1-5 and threw nine interceptions. In Columbus' last six games they are 5-1 and have thrown four interceptions, with three of those coming in Columbus' lone loss in this stretch against Florida.

ONE BOAT TO ANOTHER: With Peoria's improved play of late, this week's match up against Quad City will be more than just a rivalry game. The Pirates sit in third place, just behind Louisville and Quad City and are thinking playoffs and a win would greatly improve Peoria's chances of making the postseason. The storyline in this game is intensified with the number of Steamwheelers players who once wore Pirate black. Quarterbacks Ronnie Gordon and Matt Pike, wide receiver/defensive back Billy Cook, wide receiver/linebacker Charles Sheffield, offensive linemen/defensive linemen Bear Brown, Rasche Hill, Jon Verdegan, Brandon Williams, and defensive specialist Chazz Moore all once played in Peoria. The winner will take home the Ruler of the River traveling trophy, which features a steamboat and pirate ship.

IN A RUSH: Florida Firecats FB/LB Steve Gorrie rushed nine times for 32 yards and one touchdown last week against Macon. He now has 384 yards rushing this season. Already good for the fifth best single season total in af2 history, Gorrie is looking to continue his climb up the record chart as he has four 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
12 - 4 32 vs. MAC 384 55 116

CURSE IS BACK: Last week 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, but they were unable to do it two weeks in a row, as the streaking Cape Fear Wildcats topped the Pioneers 57-49 on Saturday night. That means No. 1 teams are now 4-8 on the season. Below is a look at how ranked teams have performed this season:

WHEN RANKED W-L .PCT
No. 1 4-8 .333
No. 2 9-4 .692
No. 3 6-5 .545
No. 4 8-4 .667
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 279.8 yards per game, he would reach 4,477 by the end of the season. Below is a look at Sauk's current pace compared to Vena's from last season:

PLAYER GM 12 YARDAGE SEASON TOTAL THROUGH GM 10 Next Game
Matt Sauk - LOU (2004) 240 at MAN 3,358 7/10 vs. COL
Ryan Vena - ALB (2003) 300 vs. MHG 3,216 342 yards vs. WBS
*After his 10th game last season, Vena rattled of five straight games of 300 or more passing yards

HOME SWEET HOME: In Week 13 home teams went 5-4 for the weekend. For the season home teams have gone 90-55 for a .621 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 90-55-0 .621

SCORING LEADERS: Cape Fear's Matt Burstein scored 24 points on Saturday night to take the scoring lead with 210 points. With five games left, Burstein could challenge Shon King's all-time scoring record of 284 points. Currently Burstein is on pace to hit 305. Below is a look at the Top 5 scorers in af2 through Week 13:

PLAYER TEAM GP POINTS
Matt Burstein CPF 11 210
Bo Smith BOS 12 186
Kevin Prentiss MEM 11 180
Tony Locke ALB 12 180
Jeff Hewitt QUA 12 168

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. W-B/Scranton (9-3) - Current Northeast Division leader; has better win% over com opponents with BIR
2. Birmingham (9-3) - Current South Division Leader
3. Tennessee Valley (8-4) - Current Mid-South Division Leader
4. Cape Fear (8-3)
5. Florida (7-5) - Currently holds HTH advantage over Memphis
6. Memphis (7-5)
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7. Columbus (6-6)
8. Manchester (5-7) - Currently holds SOS over BOS, ALB
9. Bossier-Shreveport (5-7) - Currently holds SOS over ALB
10. Albany (5-7)
11. Macon (3-9)
12. Arkansas (1-10)
First Round games would be: MEM @ TEN; FLO @ CPF; WBS, BIR receive bye

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

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

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