VIPERS OPEN CAMP ON MONDAY
March 16, 2002 - United Indoor Football Association (UIF)
Tennessee Valley Raptors News Release
The run for the 2002 ArenaCup Championship begins Monday for the Tennessee Valley Vipers. The team will hit the field for the first time at 3:50 at the Calvary Hills Athletic Complex.
The Vipers will practice two times on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and once on Wednesday and Friday. The team will host the Columbus Wardogs in a scrimmage game on Saturday afternoon at 2:00.
Columbus finished the 2001 season 0-16 but have hired former Quad City assistant coach, Pete Costanza as their new head coach. Former Viper and Birmingham Steeldog player, Adlai Trone is with the team this year along with former Auburn wide receiver, Clifton Robinson.
VIPERS ADD FOUR TO CAMP ROSTER
The weekend that the Vipers report for training camp, head coach Kevin Guy announced that the team has added four players to the roster, including former Alabama fullback, Ed Scissum and former Middle Tennessee State quarterback, Wes Counts. The team also added former North Alabama defensive tackle, Darin Damron, and former Tennessee-Chattanooga noseguard, Troy Mathews. Scissum played in 11 games with the Chicago Rush last season and rushed for 43 yards on 17 carries and scored one touchdown. He also caught seven passes for 42 yards and two touchdowns and recorded 22 tackles, one tackle-for-loss for one yard, three pass break ups, two quarterback hits and one fumble recovery. He was a four-year letterman at Alabama from 1994-1997 and rushed for 145 yards on 42 carries and scored one touchdown and caught 23 passes for 245 yards and five touchdowns.
Counts was a four-year starter at MTSU from 1998-2001, where he completed 706-of-1,079 passes for 8,007 yards and 50 touchdowns while only throwing 24 interceptions. He was voted 2001 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and made the all Sun Belt Conference first team. He led the Nation in Completion percentage (.726) as a senior and was rated 3rd nationally in passing efficiency and 42nd in total offense. He had perhaps the best statistical season of any quarterback in school history in 1999, when he set five new single-game records and six single-season marks. He collected three 300-yard passing games, including a school record 362 against Wofford. He holds single-game records in passing yards (459), passing completions (29, three times), passing attempts (47), total offensive plays (60) and total offense yardage (451). He owns single-season records in passing yards (2,603), passing completions (249), passing attempts (390), completion percentage (72.6), total offensive plays (481), total offensive yardage (2,684) and 300-yard passing games (3). He holds career marks in passing completions (706), 200-yard passing games (18) and 300-yard passing games (7).
Damron played the 2001 season with the Arkansas Twisters. He played in 12 games and recorded 18 tackles, 10 solo, two tackles-for-loss for 9 yards, 4.5 sacks for 19 yards and one forced fumble. He also had one reception for eight yards. He was a four-year letterman at defensive end at North Alabama from 1997-2000. He finished his career with 146 total tackles, 81 solo, 6.5 sacks, 34 tackles for loss and one forced fumble.
Mathews was a four-year letterman at noseguard the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga from 1998-2001. He recorded 116 tackles, 67 solo, 20 tackles-for-loss for 68 yards, eight sacks, three pass break ups and two fumble recoveries. He had best season as a senior in 2001 when he recorded 42 tackles, three sacks and eight tackles-for-loss. He also recorded three sacks and seven tackles-for-loss as a junior.
INDIVIDUAL GAME TICKETS GO ON SALE MONDAY
Your first chance to purchase tickets to the Tennessee Valley Vipers home opener will be Monday. Individual game tickets for all eight Viper home games will be available at the Von Braun Center Box Office or by calling the Vipers front office at (256) 551-3240. Ticket prices are $27.00, $17.00 and $12.00, however the Von Braun Center is adding a .50 charge to all ticket for their own personal use.
The Vipers will host the Mobile Wizards in the first home game on Saturday, April 20 at 7:30. The Vipers will be doing the Ultimate Giveaway as the first 1,500 adults 21 and over will receive a Vipers hat, the first 5,000 fans will receive a Vipers Magnetic Schedule and the first 5,000 adults 21 and over will receive a pair of Vipers Thuderstix. The game matches the Snakes vs "the Snake," as former Alabama quaterback, Kenny Stabler, is a minority owner and director of football operations for the Wizards.
af2 ANNOUNCES PLAYOFF FORMAT
CHICAGO - Arenafootball2 will culminate its third year with one of the most unique postseason tournaments in professional sports.
The af2 league office announced today a four-round, 16-team playoff format that promotes geographical rivalries in the conference quarterfinals and semifinals. For the first time, conference affiliations will carry into the playoffs, with the American and National Conference champions meeting in ArenaCup 2002 on Thursday, Aug. 15. TNN will nationally-televise the af2 championship game for the third consecutive season.
Under the new af2 playoff plan, the top two teams from each of the league's eight divisions will qualify for the postseason, with each pair of divisional opponents battling in the opening round July 30-31. Each first-round winner will meet the team closest to them (within their respective conference) in the geographically-based conference semifinals, to be played Aug. 2-4. The teams with the best records in each geographical match-up will host the second-round games.
"We believe our fans are going to love this new format," af2 executive director Jay Marcus said. "Not only do twice as many teams advance to the playoffs this year, but the early-round games will showcase those regional rivalries fans love. This setup also will make it easier for fans to travel to support their teams if they're on the road, and with ArenaCup on national television again, they'll be able to watch their teams virtually every step of the way to a possible championship."
The second-round winners will meet in the conference finals (Aug. 9-10), again hosted by the teams with the best records remaining in each conference. The conference champion with the best record will earn the right to host ArenaCup 2002.
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United Indoor Football Association Stories from March 16, 2002
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- VIPERS OPEN CAMP ON MONDAY - Tennessee Valley Raptors
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