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Tied for second in the AFL's Eastern Division, Destroyers take on five-time World Champion Storm

April 25, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Columbus Destroyers News Release


COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Destroyers (4-3), presented by Germain, will travel to take on the Tampa Bay Storm (1-6) on Bill Curry Ford Field at St. Pete Times Forum on Sunday, Apr. 29 at 3 p.m. (ET).

THIS WEEK: The Destroyers will take on the Storm for the sixth time in franchise history. The Storm holds a 4-1 advantage over the Destroyers, but the Destroyers shattered Tampa Bay's playoff chances last season in a 51-48 victory on May 13, 2006. It marked the first time in 16 seasons that the Storm missed the playoffs. At the helm of the Storm is charter member of the Arena Football League Hall-of-Fame, Head Coach Tim Marcum. Now in his 19th season as an AFL head coach, Marcum is the winner of seven AFL titles. He is the AFL's all-time leader in coaching victories (182) and has taken his teams to the title game 10 of the 20 times the ArenaBowl has taken place. The Storm receiving corps are flanked by two of the leading "Ironmen" in the game, T.T. Toliver and Lawrence Samuels. Toliver leads the team with 674 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns on 55 receptions. An All-Ironman team member in 2004, Toliver is the Storm's leading kickoff returner with 17 returns for 315 yards (18.5 avg.). Samuels, a perennial Ironman of the Year candidate at the end of every season, is tied with Tolliver for the team lead with 55 receptions for 502 yards and four touchdowns. The 14-year AFL veteran has accumulated 10.5 tackles and is second on the team with two interceptions.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE: The practice schedule for this week is below. Practices times and locations are subject to change. All practices at the Columbus FieldHouse are open to the public. Practices/Walk-Thru's at Nationwide Arena are closed to the public.

Day Event Time Place

Thursday, Apr. 26 Practice 11 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. Columbus FieldHouse

Friday, Apr. 27 Practice 9:55 - 11:35 a.m. Columbus FieldHouse

Saturday, Apr. 28 Walk-Thru Practice 9-9:50 a.m. Columbus FieldHouse

LAST WEEK: The Destroyers used eight defensive stops to defeat the Philadelphia Soul (4-3) 44-21 on Russell Athletic ESPN Arena Football on Monday Night. The game was broadcast live nationally on ESPN2 and a crowd of 14,664 fans were in attendance at Huntington Field at Nationwide Arena. Offensive Player of the Game Damien Groce scored the first four touchdowns of the night for the Destroyers, as he hauled in passes from 25 and 20 yards and rushed in from five and two yards. On the night Groce led all receivers with nine receptions for 116 yards and added 16 rushing yards on three carries. QB Matt Nagy finished the game 16-of-28 for 208 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Defensive Player of the Game Leroy Thompson came up with what may have been a game changing tackle. At the end of the first half with 0:01 left on the clock, Thompson stuffed Soul QB Clint Stoerner at the 1-yard line and stripped the ball not allowing a score. The Destroyers took a 10-point lead in to the half.

TOUCHDOWN MACHINE: Destroyers wide receiver Damien Groce set an all-time AFL record with eight consecutive touchdowns scored spanning two games. He scored the final four touchdowns against the Austin Wranglers on Apr. 14 and led the game off with the first four Destroyers touchdowns last Monday night against the Soul. The previous record for consecutive touchdowns was held by Derek Lee of the Georgia Force in 2005 (Week 7-8) with seven. The previous franchise record was held by Sedrick Robinson in 2004, who scored four-straight against the Dallas Desperados on May 22.

IT'S ALL ABOUT LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: With great kickoff returns provided by Josh Bush and Groce, field position comes into play. The Destroyers are starting on average from the 17-yard line, a league best. In Week 1 at Nashville the team average start was from their own 20-yard line. In a Week 2 loss at New Orleans the Destroyers started from their own 12-yard line. In a Week 5 victory against the Georgia Force, Columbus' average start was from the Force 24-yard line. The Destroyers average starting point against the Philadelphia Soul last week was from their own 17-yard line as the defense pinned the Soul to an average start of their own 10-yard line.

JOLTING JONES: Ken Jones is the all-time franchise leader in sacks with 13.5 to his credit. Last season he eclipsed the mark of Kerwin Hairston by leading the Destroyers with five sacks in 2006. This season he leads the team with 6.5. He sacked Rush QB Matt D'Orazio twice in Week 4, Georgia's Chris Griesen for 1.5 in Week 5, while stripping the ball and recovering it on one occasion and a pair of sacks this past Monday night against Soul QB Clint Stoerner. Jones also forced a fumble.

Being able to get pressure on the quarterback is his specialty and he's making a statement against offensive lineman as he leads the AFL in sacks with 6.5 (6UT-1AT) and holds the league lead in tackles for loss with 10 (6.5 sacks, 3.5 tackle in the backfield).

DESTROYERS ON TELEVISION: The next edition of Columbus Sports Network's weekly magazine show, Destroyers Digest, will air on Thursday, Apr. 26, at 6:30 p.m. The show provides in-depth coverage and analysis of the team and the AFL. CSN's lead anchor Ray Crawford is the host of the half-hour show. Scheduled to appear on this week's show is Head Coach Doug Kay, Defensive Assistant Coach Mitch Matuska, QB Matt Nagy, WR Damien Groce, DL Ken Jones, DL Kelvin Kinney and LB Leroy Thompson.

ON THE AIRWAVES: This week's contest between the Destroyers and the Storm can be heard on your home for Destroyers football, the new WINK 107.1 FM with the broadcast tandem of Steve Sefner (play-by-play) and Rob Blackman (color commentator) on the call. Tune in at 2:30 p.m. (ET) as the Destroyers pre-game show gets underway with a one-on-one interview with Destroyers Head Coach Doug Kay, player interviews and insider information.

GAME PROMOTIONS: On Friday, May 4, the Destroyers will host Spiderman and Friends Mascot Night presented by Columbia Gas. Bring the kids to meet Spiderman, Stinger (Columbus Blue Jackets), Cozy Cat (Columbia Gas), Moon Dog (Cleveland Cavaliers), Crew Cat (Columbus Crew), Chilly Bear (Chiller Ice Rinks), Iceburg (Pittsburgh Penguins), Maya and Miguel (WOSU), Patriot and Dodger (Columbus Zoo and Aquarium), plus other area mascots. Check out the Destroyers Spiderman Premier Package, which includes: one ticket to the game (200 level), one ticket to the post-game showing of Spiderman 3 at the Arena Grand on opening night of the movie, and a coupon for a small popcorn (a $3 value) redeemable at the Arena Grand Concession stand. Visit www.ColumbusDesroyers.com or call (614) 246-HITS for more information. Dispatch/Mix 97.1 Family Night presented by Wendy's packages are available for May 4. Receive four tickets, four hot dogs, four Pepsi's, four popcorns, one foam football and four Dispatch Ice Haus skate passes for as low as $66. The Huntington $10 Ticket Blitz offers a minimum of 225 lower bowl seats to each home game for just $10. They will be available at the Nationwide Arena Box Office two hours prior to every home game. The Destroyers and Giant Eagle are teaming up with the Mid-Ohio FoodBank to TACKLE HUNGER in Central Ohio. Last year, with the help of fans, the Destroyers raised enough resources to provide over 27,000 meals to those in need. Fans are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to all Destroyers home games to receive a raffle ticket. In addition, if fans bring a non-perishable food item from Giant Eagle they will receive a voucher for $3 off a regularly priced ticket.

TICKET INFORMATION: Single game tickets are now on sale at the Nationwide Arena Box Office, ticketmaster outlets and The Blueline locations at Chiller Dublin, Chiller Easton, Chiller North and the Mall at Tuttle Crossing. Single game tickets for the 2007 season are available for as low as $12 by visiting www.ColumbusDestroyers.com. For information on season tickets call (877) COLS-AFL. Groups of 10 or more are eligible for group rates by calling (614) 246-HITS.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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