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Week 10 af2 Quick Hitters

June 1, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


FORMER af2 PLAYER, DEMARY, BREAKS AFL SACK RECORD, NAMED AFL LINEMAN OF THE YEAR: Los Angeles Avengers OL/DL SILAS DEMARY was named Lineman of the Year yesterday. Demary played with the Norkolk Nighthawks in 2000 and just finished his fifth AFL season. His 13.5 sacks broke the AFL record for sacks in a season. He also totaled 26.0 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, two pass breakups, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries for the Avengers.

PETTIS AN IRONMAN: The AFL U.S. Army All-Ironman team was named last week and former af2 player WILL PETTIS made the list. The All-Ironman team honors the best two-way players in the AFL. Pettis played with the Pensacola Barracudas in 2002 With the Barracudas Pettis recorded 32.0 tackles (24UA-19AT) including 2.0 tackles for a loss. He led the team in interceptions (9) and pass breakups (34) and recovered one fumble. With the Desperados this season he led the league in kickoff returns for a touchdown with six.

MORE FORMER af2 PLAYERS HONORED: Last week the All-Arena First and Second teams were named by the AFL and two former af2 players made first team and three former af2ers were named to the second team.

First Team

FB/LB – Frank Carter – Las Vegas Gladiators – af2: Quad City Steamwheelers (2001 & 2002)

The former Steamwheeler, Carter finished the season tied for second in the league with nine sacks despite playing in only 12 games. Defensively, Carter totaled 21.5 tackles and one fumble recovery. On offense, he carried the ball 32 times for 106 yards with five touchdowns.

OL/DL – Silias Demary – Los Angeles Avengers – af2: Norfolk Nighthawks (2000)

The lineman finished the season with 13.5 sacks to break the AFL record for sacks in a season. Demary registered a sack last week in the Quarterfinals of the AFL Playoffs against Chicago. He was also named the Lineman of the Year.

Second Team

OL/DL - E.J. Burt – Orlando Predators – af2: Cape Fear Wildcats (2002)

Burt's 27.5 sacks in his 2002 season with the Wildcats is the record for sacks in a season at any level of Arena Football. With the Predators this season he finished in the top four in several categories this season, including quarterback sacks (8.5, 4th), tackles-for-loss (10.5, 3rd), and forced fumbles (5, tied 1st). He also finished the season with 30.5 tackles, four pass break-ups and two blocked kicks.

WR/DB – Will Pettis – Dallas Desperados – af2: Pensacola Barracudas (2002)

In his third season with Dallas Pettis caught 89 passes for 986 yards and 14 touchdowns. On defense Pettis picked off five passes and recorded 47.5 tackles (45UA-5AT), career bests for him. Pettis also returned six kickoffs for touchdowns to lead the league.

DS – Kahlil Carter – Nashville Kats – af2: Arkansas Twisters (2000, 2003)

This Twister turned Kat intercepted seven passes for Nashville to tie for second in the league. In 2003 he was the af2's Defensive Player of the Season when he picked off 14 passes. He spent last year playing in NFL Europe. Carter led the Kats in pass breakups with 15 finished second on the team with 70 tackles.

MIRACLE AT THE MARK REDUX: The Louisville Fire return to The Mark of the Quad Cities for the first time since their 53-48 playoff victory last season. How the Fire won goes down as "The Miracle at the Mark". With four seconds left Danny Kight lined up for a 53-yard field goal to win the game for the Fire. The kick had the distance and it looked good, but it hit the left upright. Jeff Hewitt couldn't control the bounce off the iron and the ball bounced away. The Fire's DERRICK SHEPPARD came rumbling down the field to pick up the ball and DEMETRIUS FORNEY delivered the key block to allow Sheppard to run into the endzone to win the game for the Fire. Now the Fire are sitting at 5-3 in the East Division. They need a win to catch up with the Manchester Wolves who are 7-1. Quad City needs a win as well, holding a 3-5 record in the competitive Midwest Division.

EFFICIENT EATON: Arena Football is not all about the long bomb and the big play. Teams that avoid turnovers and pay consistent football win games. The Manchester Wolves and their quarterback JAKE EATON are proving this. Eaton is in the range of two, while they may not be exciting, impressive passing records. Eaton has completed 183-of-253 passes for a 72.3 completion percentage. This mark is tops in the league and if Eaton can finish at this number it would rank as the best in af2 history. JAY MCDONAGH's 71.5 completion percentage while with the 2001 Quad City Steamwheelers currently ranks as the best mark in league history. Another mark Eaton is near is highest passer rating. McDonagh also holds this record with a 131.9 rating. Eaton's passer rating is currently 129.64.

HUMPHREY TURNS THE BIG 5 – 0: Birmingham head coach BOBBY HUMPHREY became the first head coach to win 50 career games with Birmingham's victory last week in Birmingham's 55-26 win over Green Bay. His all time record stands at 50-43. Second in terms of active coaches is Rio Grande Valley's KEVIN GUY, who holds a 45-15 all-time record.

af2 CONNECTIONS IN THE AFL PLAYOFFS: In the AFL conference quarterfinals last week former af2 players came up big

In the Chicago Rush - Los Angeles Avengers game former Albany Conquest offensive specialist TONY LOCKE was the game's leading receiving with eight catches for 166 yards and three touchdowns. He helped LA take an 18 point lead, but another former af2 player helped Chicago come back for a 52-45 win. CHARLIE COOK, who spent time with New Haven and Mohegan of af2, rushed five times for four yards and two touchdowns. His last touchdown proved to be the game winner and came just minutes after Cook recovered an LA fumble to give the ball back to Chicago. Cook earned the U.S. Army Ironman of the Week award for his performance.

In the San Jose SaberCats – Colorado Crush contest former af2 player, now Crush Offensive Coordinator BRIAN PARTLOW guided the Crush to 56 points over the defending champion SaberCats to help lead the Crush to the American Conference Championship against Chicago on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

In the Orlando Predators-New York Dragons game former af2er E.J. BURT recorded two sacks and forced one fumble as he helped the Predators slow down the high scoring Dragons' offense. Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneer KEVIN NAGLE rushed for one yard, recorded one tackle and registered one hit on the quarterback as the Predators beat the Dragons 47-42.

In Atlanta, the Georgia Force defeated the Tampa Bay Storm 62-46. In the contest TROY BERGERON was his normal self, he caught eight passes for 85 yards and three touchdowns. He also racked up 102 return yards including a 56-yard missed field goal return for a touchdown as the second quarter clock ended to swing the momentum to the Force. The Force earned a spot to host division rival Orlando on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC in the National Conference Championship game.



arenafootball2 Stories from June 1, 2005


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