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July 21, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


BACK-UPS BREAK OUT: The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz and Hawaiian Islanders both had to play arguably the most important games of their respective seasons last weekend and they both had to do it without their starting quarterbacks. For many teams, that might mean disaster. For the Yard Dawgz and Islanders it meant victories. Behind the arms of the second-string gunslingers, the Yard Dawgz and Islanders both claimed crucial late season wins. Joe Phears stepped up for the Yard Dawgz in place of the injured Craig Strickland and put up numbers typical of the 2003 ArenaCup MVP by completing an efficient 14-of-24 for 280 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for another score, leading the Yard Dawgz to a 62-42 win over division rival Wichita and clinching a postseason berth. In Hawaii, rookie signal-caller Shawn Withy-Allen amazed the hometown crowd with an Arcenaux-like outing. Withy-Allen completed 24-of-33 passes for 326 yards and five touchdowns while rushing for 48 yards and two more scores as the Islanders dropped the Louisville Fire 62-59 and remained in the hunt for a playoff spot. Withy-Allen's performance broke Islander team records for completions, completion percentage and total offense. He also was named the af2 Baby Ruth Real Deal Offensive Player of the Week.

WHO IS YOUR PICK: Anthony Jordan (Birmingham) and Terrell Sutton (Columbus) currently lead af2 with eight interceptions each. But seven other players are within two picks of the leaders, meaning the title for the 2004 league interceptions leader is still up in the air. Here's a look:

PLAYER TEAM GP INTs
Anthony Jordan BIR 14 8
Terrell Sutton COL 14 8
Traco Rachal LAR 14 7
Ryan Smith SDG 14 7
Dahnel Singfield MEM 14 7
Mat Forbes QUA 15 6
Jamie Hattley WBS 14 6
Josh Robinson HAW 14 6
Frank West PEO 12 6

PIRATES RIGHT THE SHIP: After starting the season a dismal 2-5, the Peoria Pirates have rebounded to win five of their last six and now find themselves in a playoff spot if the season ended today. Should they go on to make the postseason, the 2004 Pirates season would go down in history as one of the best single-season comebacks ever. Only one other team has ever started a season worse than the 2004 Pirates and gone to the playoffs. Wichita started the 2002 season 1-6 and finished 6-10 with a berth in the playoffs. The reason they got that berth was because Quad City (10-6 in 2002) was banned from the postseason in 2002. Below is a look at some other single season comebacks.

TEAM SEASON START/FINISH PLAYOFFS
Wichita 2002 1-6/6-10 Lost in First Round
Peoria 2004 2-5/TBD* TBD*
Florida 2003 2-4/10-6 Lost in First Round
Macon 2001 2-4/10-6 Lost in Quarterfinals
*The best the Pirates can finish is 10-6, which would be good enough for the playoffs.

IN A RUSH: With 26 rushing yards Saturday night against Laredo, Florida Firecats FB/LB Steve Gorrie surpassed Darnell Arceneaux's single season rushing record of 439 yards. Gorrie now has 447 yards and needs just 53 to become the first 500-yard rusher in af2 history. Only three other players in af2 history have rushed for 400 or more yards: Quentin Cradle rushed for 402 yards for Memphis in 2001, Sherard Poteete ran for 405 yards for Bossier-Shreveport in 2002 and Arceneaux's record-setting 439 yards for Hawaii in 2002. Averaging 31.9 yards per game, Gorrie is on pace to rack up 510 yards before the season ends. Below is Gorrie's progress to date:

GP - GR YARDS LAST WEEK TOTAL YARDS TO 500
14 - 2 26 vs. LAR 447* 53
*af2 Single Season Record

WHEN GLUSKI STARTS, CAPE FEAR WINS: Mike Gluski threw for 266 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Wildcats past the Manchester Wolves on Friday night, extending the Wildcats' win streak to eight games. In 2002 Gluski started eleven games for the Cape Fear Wildcats. As a starter he was 10-1 with his only loss being by one point, 36-35, to Richmond in a game where he was injured on the final drive of the game as he was moving the Wildcats down the field for a winning score. This injury ended Gluski's season. After starting this season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Gluski was traded back to Cape Fear in Week 9. Since then Gluski has been the starter for the Wildcats and has guided Cape Fear to eight consecutive victories. This brings Gluski's record to 18-1 as a starting quarterback for the Caper Fear Wildcats. The Wildcats and Tulsa Talons' eight-game winning streaks are the longest winning streaks of the season in af2.

THREE OF A KIND: Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz receivers Kris Peters, Al Hunt and Timon Marshall have become only the second trio of receivers on the same team to each register at least 1,000 receiving yards in a season. Peters leads the squad with 1,190 yards. And with 71 and 73 yards last week, Al Hunt and Timon Marshall have both reached 1,061 for the season. The only other team to accomplish this feat was the 2003 Quad City Steamwheelers who had Ira Gooch rack up 1,465 yards, Jeff Hewitt record 1,338 yards and Tim Dodge total 1,275 yards.

THE WILLIAMS WATCH: The af2 features Ironman players, guys who play multiple positions and rack up stat lines not usually seen in outdoor football. Kevin Williams of Arkansas is working on one of the more interesting set of season stats this season. Williams started the season as the Twisters' starting quarterback. On the season Williams has completed 134 of 258 attempts for 1,624 yards and 23 touchdowns with six interceptions. He has also rushed 43 times for 173 yards and nine touchdowns and is Arkansas' leading rusher. After Week 10 Williams was moved back to his natural position of offensive specialist. Since then Williams has recorded 39 catches for 701 yards and 15 touchdowns to become the Twisters' second leading receiver. With Ted Alford, the Twisters' current leading receiver with 64 catches, headed to Canada to play in the CFL Williams could catch Alford and become the Twisters' leading receiver on the season if he gets 25 more receptions over the last two weeks of the season. If he does this, and current quarterback Travis Motley doesn't reach Williams' 134 completions Williams could finish the season as Arkansas' leading passer, receiver and rusher.

SAUK PASSING FOR A RECORD : Matt Sauk helped his chances of reaching the all-time single season passing yards record by exploding for 359 yards against Hawaii. He now needs just 497 yards over the last two games to break the 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 Sauk. The all-time single season record for passing yards is 4,462 by Ryan Vena with Albany last season. Below is a look at Sauk's current pace compared to Vena's from last season:

PLAYER GM 13 YARDAGE SEASON TOTAL THROUGH GM 14 Next Game
Matt Sauk - LOU (2004) 359 at HAW 3,966 7/24 vs. GBB
Ryan Vena - ALB (2003) 310 at WBS 3,868 337 yards vs. ROC
*After his 10th game last season, Vena rattled of five straight games of 300 or more passing yards

HOME SWEET HOME: For the second straight week, home teams went 8-4. For the season home teams have gone 107-69 for a .608 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 107-69-0 .608

SCORING LEADERS: Cape Fear's Matt Burstein scored six points on Friday to increase his league-leading total to 240 for the season. With two games left, Burstein needs eight receiving touchdowns to break Jack Walker's record of 45 last season with Peoria. Should he do that, Burstein would match Shon King's all-time scoring record of 284 points. Below is a look at the Top 5 scorers in af2 through Week 16:

PLAYER TEAM GP
POINTS
Matt Burstein CPF 14 234
Kevin Prentiss MEM 13 222
Tony Locke ALB 14 216
Bo Smith BOS 14 210
Jerrian James TEN 12 202

THE BEST PLAYOFF RACE IN HISTORY: With two weeks left in the regular season, there are four playoff spots remaining up for grabs and 16 teams that have either already clinched a spot or are still mathematically alive for a spot. The af2 postseason race has never been this tight and over the final two weeks 11 teams will battle for five division titles, and at least three remaining playoff spots won't be decided until Week 18, meaning just about every game left on the schedule has some postseason implication. Take a look at the numbers through Week 16:
2 Weeks remaining in the regular season
1 Division titles clinched to date (TEN - Mid-South Division)
11 Teams still alive for a Division title
5 Teams that can clinch Division titles in Week 17 (CPF, WBS, FLO, TUL, BAK)
8 Playoff spots clinched to date (CPF, WBS, FLO, BIR, TEN, TUL, OKC, BAK)
4 Playoff spots remaining
8 Teams still mathematically alive for playoffs that have not already clinched a spot
1 Teams that can clinch playoff spots in Week 17 (MEM)

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 STANDINGS
1. Cape Fear (11-3) - Current Northeast Division Leader
2. Tennessee Valley (10-4) - Clinched Mid-South Division
3. Florida (9-5) - Current South Division Leader
4. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (11-3) - Currently losing HTH with CPF for Northeast Division tiebreaker
5. Birmingham (9-5) - Loses HTH tiebreaker with FLO for South Division lead
6. Memphis Xplorers (8-6)
7. Columbus Wardogs (6-8)
8. Manchester Wolves (5-9) - Currently has SOS over ALB, BOS
9. Albany Conquest (5-9) - Currently has better win% over common opponents with BOS
10. Bossier-Shreveport (5-9)
11. Macon Knights (3-11)
12. Arkansas Twisters (2-12)

NATIONAL CONFERENCE STANDINGS
1. Tulsa (11-3) - Current Southwest Division Leader
2. Bakersfield (10-4) - Current West Division Leader
3. Quad City (9-6) - Current Midwest Division Leader
4. Oklahoma City (10-5)
5. Louisville (8-6) - Currently holds SOS over PEO, HAW
6. Peoria (8-6) - Currently holds better win% over common opponents with HAW
7. Hawaii (8-6)
8. San Diego (7-7) - Currently holds better win% over common opponents with WIC
9. Wichita (7-7)
10. Green Bay Blizzard (5-9) - Currently holds better win% over common opponents with RGV
11. Rio Grande Valley (5-9)
12. Laredo (3-11)
13. Central Valley (1-13) Division leaders in bold; HTH = Head-to-head; SOS = Strength of schedule

DIVISION RACES: Only one division title has been claimed as Tennessee Valley clinched the Mid-South title last weekend. The other five division races remain up for grabs. Four of them could be decided this weekend. Below is a breakdown of each division race.

AMERICAN CONFERENCE NORTHEAST DIVISION: Cape Fear and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton are both 11-3 with two games to play. They play each other this weekend. The winner of that game clinches the Northeast title, a First Round bye and the No. 1 seed for American Conference in the postseason. The No. 1 seed earns home field advantage throughout the American Conference bracket of the playoffs.

AMERICAN CONFERENCE SOUTH DIVISION: Both Florida and Birmingham have 9-5 records. Florida, however, owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with Birmingham. If Florida beats Columbus this week and Birmingham loses to Peoria, Florida clinches the South Division title. Birmingham has a couple of ways in which they can win the division. The first one is if Florida loses its last two games and Birmingham wins one more game. The other way is if Birmingham wins both of its last two games and Florida splits its last two games.

AMERICAN CONFERENCE MID-SOUTH DIVISION: Tennessee Valley has clinched the Mid-South Division. They can clinch the No. 2 seed with a win combined with a Florida AND Birmingham loss this weekend. If Tennessee Valley ends up tied with the winner of the South Division (Florida or Birmingham) after Week 18, they would lose the head-to-head tiebreakers and the No. 2 seed would go to the South Division winner.

NATIONAL CONFERENCE MIDWEST DIVISION: No team can clinch the Midwest this week. It will be decided in Week 18 because Quad City has a bye this week. In Week 18, Quad City hosts Louisville, so we know that one of those two teams will end season with seven losses, and in the case of Louisville possibly eight losses. So here is how it looks in the Midwest with regard to all the possible ties that could occur:

If Quad City beats Louisville in Week 18, Quad City gets the division title because Louisville would have at least seven losses and Quad City owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with Peoria, should Peoria also finish 10-6.

If Quad City, Louisville and Peoria end in a three-way tie at 9-7, the winner is Peoria because Peoria is 3-1 against Quad City and Louisville this season and the best Quad City and Louisville could be in that three-way head-to-head is 2-2.

If Louisville and Peoria end up tied at 10-6, Peoria wins the division because they have the head-to-head tiebreaker over Louisville.

If Louisville and Quad City end up tied at 9-7, Louisville wins the tiebreaker over Quad City.

NATIONAL CONFERENCE SOUTHWEST DIVISION: Tulsa can clinch the division and the No. 1 seed with win over Oklahoma City this week. Oklahoma City can win the division if they beat Tulsa this week and Tulsa loses in Week 18 because Oklahoma City owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with Tulsa.

NATIONAL CONFERENCE WEST DIVISION: Bakersfield can clinch the division and at least the No. 2 seed with a win or a Hawaii loss. Hawaii can win the division if they win this week combined with Bakersfield losing this week and Hawaii beating Bakersfield by more than five points in Week 18.

WILD CARD RACES: While the final spot in American Conference Wild Card race is down to two teams, the National Conference picture won't be hashed out until Week 18. Below is a look at the Wild Card races and scenarios we know at this point:

AMERICAN CONFERENCE
TEAM RECORD GMS BACK
W-B/Scranton* 11-3 -
Birmingham* 9-5 -
Memphis^ 8-6 -
Columbus 6-8 2.0
*Clinched a playoff berth; ^ Would have Wild Card if season ended today

Cape Fear and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton: The loser of this weekend's CPF/WBS game clinches the fourth seed (top Wild Card seed) in the conference. The fourth seed gets a first round home game. The reason the loser of the CPF/WBS game clinches the fourth seed is because only Florida and Birmingham could reach the 11 wins that Cape Fear and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton already have. If Florida gets 11 wins they win the South Division. If Birmingham gets 11 wins and doesn't win the division, they would also lose a head-to-head tiebreaker with Cape Fear or Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the fourth seed.

Birmingham, Florida, Memphis: Either Florida or Birmingham will win the South Division. The team that doesn't win the South, will most likely have the fifth seed. In order for Memphis to get the fifth seed in the conference, they need to win their remaining two games and hope that Birmingham or Florida loses their last two games. Memphis would not win a head-to-head tiebreaker with Florida or Birmingham for the fifth seed. Memphis can officially clinch a playoff spot this week with a win or a Columbus loss.

Columbus: Columbus' only shot is the sixth seed. They can get the sixth seed if they win their remaining two games and Memphis loses its last two games because Memphis and Columbus play in Week 18. If Columbus wins this week and Memphis loses this week, the sixth and final playoff spot in the American Conference will go to the winner of the Week 18 Columbus at Memphis matchup.

NATIONAL CONFERENCE
TEAM RECORD GMS BACK
Oklahoma City* 10-5 -
Louisville^ 8-6 -
Peoria^ 8-6 -
Hawaii 8-6 -
San Diego 7-7 1
Wichita 7-7 1
*Clinched a playoff berth; ^ Would have Wild Card if season ended today

Oklahoma City: If Oklahoma City wins this week, they are guaranteed no worse than the fourth seed and a home game in the first round. Oklahoma City can also secure the fourth seed if they lose combined with losses from Peoria, Hawaii and Louisville.

Peoria: If Peoria wins and Hawaii, San Diego and Wichita lose, Peoria clinches a playoff spot.

Louisville/Quad City, Hawaii: None of these teams can clinch playoff spots or be officially eliminated this week.

San Diego, Wichita: Would be eliminated if they lose or if two of the three following teams win: Louisville, Peoria, Hawaii.

EXPLAINING THE TIEBREAKERS: For those who don't know, here are the af2 tiebreaker rules:

Tiebreaking Procedures

If, at the end of the regular season, two or more clubs in the same division (or conference) are tied with identical won-lost percentages, the following steps will be taken to determine rank.

Two Clubs
1. Head-to-head (best won-lost percentage in games among clubs).
2. If teams split head-to-head games, the next tiebreaker will be the point differential in those two games.
3. Best won-lost percentage in common games, if applicable
4. Strength of schedule (strength up).
5. Best net (total) touchdowns in all games
6. Coin toss

Three or More Clubs
· If two clubs remain tied after a third club is eliminated during any step, tiebreaker reverts to step 1 of the two-club format.
· If one team wins multiple-team tiebreaker to advance to playoff round, remaining teams revert to step 1 of the two-club format.
· All teams must have played head-to-head for step 1 to be utilized in a multiple-team tie.
1. Head-to-head (best won-lost percentage in games among clubs).
2. Best won-lost percentage in common games, if applicable.
3. Strength of schedule (strength up).
4. Best net (total) touchdowns in all games.
5. Coin toss

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arenafootball2 Stories from July 21, 2004


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