VooDoo Head to the Jungle for the NET10 NFL Network Game of the Week
June 21, 2012 - Arena Football League (AFL)
New Orleans VooDoo News Release
NEW ORLEANS (June 21, 2012) - The New Orleans VooDoo (6-7) will travel to face the Orlando Predators (2-11) on Friday looking to gain the club's first win in The Jungle. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Amway Center for the NET10 NFL Network Game of the Week.
This all-time series is swayed 7-4 to Orlando, and since the two teams first met in 2004, the VooDoo have never left Orlando with a victory. New Orleans is 0-6 in The Jungle, but is 4-1 in The Graveyard.
The two teams' first meeting this season came in The Graveyard and the VooDoo emerged 68-61. It was the Predators quarterback Chris Leak's first start with Orlando, and he has remained in that role since.
"Chris has improved a lot since our first game and sometimes it just takes a few games to really settle in," said VooDoo Head Coach Pat O'Hara, a former Orlando quarterback. "Orlando has a great pass rush and they protect well up front. This is a good football team. We expect their best."
Last week, the VooDoo gained a road victory over the Cleveland Gladiators, 54-42, at The "Q", and hope to have similar success this weekend at South Division foe Orlando. Trailing through three quarters to the Gladiators, New Orleans turned the game around in the fourth quarter by out-scoring Cleveland 26 to 0 to overcome a 14-point deficit.
Despite having a rough season thus far, the Predators stuck it to their long-time rival Tampa Bay last week, 64-40, to win the "War on I-4". The Predators had lost six straight games until this past weekend. The only other team Orlando defeated was the Georgia Force, and before that win, the Predators had lost five in a row.
"Their record is a bit deceiving and they are a better football team than a two-win team," said VooDoo Head Coach Pat O'Hara about Orlando. "The South Division has historically been a very tough, very competitive division, which has been proven over and over again. Overall records mean very little."
O'Hara will be making his first coaching appearance in The Amway Center against the Predators since being dismissed from the club after a first round playoff loss to Jacksonville. As head coach, O'Hara led the Predators to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2010 and 2011 and to an overall record of 20-17. O'Hara also spent six years with the Predators as a player, winning ArenaBowl XII and XIV with the team. ArenaBowl XII was the Predators first league championship in franchise history.
"This is an important divisional game for our team, and an important game for us to maintain our playoff seeding. That is what is really important about this game," added O'Hara.
VooDoo on Television: NFL Network
VooDoo on the Radio: 99.5 FM WRNO "Rush Radio"
VooDoo Broadcast Team: Ken Trahan (play-by-play), Jon Norris (color analyst), Brandon Rizzuto (sideline)
VooDoo on the Internet: www.wrno.com
VooDoo live game feed: Not available for NFL Network games
VooDoo live statistics: http://livestats.prestosports.com/neworleansvoodoo
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