af2 arenafootball2

Week 14: Friday Matchups

June 25, 2009 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


PEORIA PIRATES (3-8) AT ALBANY FIREBIRDS (5-7)

FRIDAY, June 26, 2009 - Times Union Center (13,901) 7:00 P.M. ET

Week 13 kicks off with the Peoria Pirates and the Albany Firebirds clashing for the second week in a row this Friday night. Thanks to a 46-42 home win last week, the Pirates lead the all-time series, 2-1. Albany came close to stealing the victory after WR JARROD JONES (8-83-1 TD) returned a Peoria kickoff for a touchdown to bring the Firebirds within four points with eight seconds remaining. The Pirates, however, smothered the ensuing onside kick and escaped with the win. Peoria QB LUKE DRONE put up some solid numbers, completing 22-of-31 passes for 306 yards and 3 TDs, he also added a rushing TD. Drone was great in the fourth quarter, extending the Pirates lead to 43-28 with 3 minutes left in the game on two TD passes. WR JON SCHOONOVER, a three-year league veteran playing in his first game with Peoria, caught nine passes for 130 yards and 2 TDs. DB MICHAEL PHILLIPS led the Pirates defense, coming up with 8.5 tackles, an interception and a pass breakup. The Peoria defense is tied with Rio Grande Valley in allowing the fewest first downs this season. The Pirates have also committed the third fewest penalties in the league this season, averaging 40.8 penalty yards per game. Peoria is now 2-2 under the leadership of longtime AFL head coach MIKE HOHENSEE. Albany QB STEPHEN WASIL put up good numbers in Albany's losing effort against the Pirates, going 31-of-50 passing for 344 yards and 5 TDs with one interception. His deep bomb to WR ADAM BEDNARIK kept Albany within a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Albany WR/LB ALVIN RAY JACKSON had another outstanding performance for the Firebirds. He grabbed 13 catches for 127 yards and one TD. The Albany defense, which held the Pirates scoreless in the third quarter of last week's game, kept the Firebirds close in spite of a dormant Albany offense. The defense is in the top half of the league in average yards allowed per game. Jackson has proved to be an impact player on defense as well as offense. He has seven interceptions, four fumble recoveries and a forced fumble on the season. He is in the Top-10 in the league in several categories, including interception return yards, fumble recoveries and interceptions. Albany will certainly be looking to tie up the series at home after losing the heartbreaker last week. Expect this week's game to be just as close as last week's with both clubs fighting for a playoff spot.

GREEN BAY BLIZZARD (7-5) AT MILWAUKEE IRON (5-7)

FRIDAY, June 26, 2009 - Bradley Center (7,017) 8:05 P.M. ET

Friday's second match up sees the expansion Iron hosting in-state and division rival Green Bay at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. This is the second of three head-to-head meetings between the two clubs in 2009. Green Bay won the first time out in Week 6 at Milwaukee, 56-28. The Blizzard enter this week's affair ranked No. 10 overall in the latest league coaches poll. They are also a half-game behind Iowa in the Midwest Division standings. Last week Green Bay lost a tough back-and-forth contest at home against No. 2-ranked Tulsa, 66-54. Despite the loss, WR NATE FORSE had another record-setting week. His 114 yards receiving on nine catches gave him a new team-record 1,348 yards receiving on the season. The previous week he had a Blizzard single-game record 220 yards receiving against Iowa. WR/LB ROBERT GARTH had a game-high 13 catches for 119 yards and 3 TDs. Guidugli also put up good offensive numbers, going 26-of-35 with 308 yards, 5 TDs and one interception. He also added a rushing TD. The Green Bay defense, however, struggled against the all-star combination of Tulsa QB JUSTIN ALLGOOD (22-36-2, 314 yards, 8 TDs) and WR JEFF HUGHLEY (10-129, 4 TDs). DB TRACY BELTON did snag two interceptions for 46 yards from the number-one scoring offense in the league. The Blizzard defense, which currently ranks second in the league in sacks, failed to record a sack against the Talons. It was the first time in 2009 that Green Bay failed to reach the quarterback. DL ANTHONY HOKE and DL ZARNELL FITCH lead the club individually with 7.5 sacks on the season. Milwaukee is coming off a 60-41 home win last week against Quad City. The Iron victory was their fourth in their last six games. The potent combination of QB TODD HAMMEL and WRs SCOTT BURNOSKI and BRYAN PRAY befuddled the Steamwheelers defense and Milwaukee never relinquished the lead. Hammel completed 16-of-22 passes with 5 TDs and no interceptions. He was extremely efficient as just under a third of his passes were completed for scores. Burnoski caught eight passes for 65 yards and two TDs while Pray followed with 4 catches for 43 yards and 2 TDs. The Milwaukee defensive backfield came up with three interceptions. DBs LARON RAGSDALE and BRANDON PAYNE each had one interception return for a touchdown. Ragsdale's came in the first quarter to put the Iron up 14-0. Milwaukee LB BLUE ALDRIDGE tied Mahoning Valley's PATRICK WELLS for the week's most tackles, recording 10 in the game. Payne contributed 9 tackles. Overall, Hammel has 20 TDs against four INTs in four games played. The Iron are 3-1 in Hammel's four games under center. Milwaukee's offense seems to finally be catching up to its defense. The Iron currently lead the league in total defense (240.5 total yards per game) and passing defense (217.8 yards per game). If Hammel can continue his strong play, this should be a much closer game the second time around.

OKLAHOMA CITY YARD DAWGZ (7-5) AT SPOKANE SHOCK (11-0)

FRIDAY, June 26, 2009 - Spokane Arena (10,653) 10:00 P.M. ET

Friday night's af2 action concludes with an intriguing matchup as Oklahoma City travel to Spokane to face the undefeated Shock for the first time ever. These two teams own extremely powerful airborne attacks and are both coming off high-scoring performances in their games last week. The No. 11-ranked Yard Dawgz set a team record with 93 points in a 93-41 home win against the Corpus Christi Sharks. QB ROBERT KENT completed 12-of-16 passes for 247 yards and 6 TDs. Kent currently has the second most rushing yards in the league with 294. Veteran WR AL HUNT was a favorite target for the night, grabbing three catches for three touchdowns for a total of 79 yards. WR CRAIG FULTON also added three grabs for 93 yards and 1 TD. FB FREDDIE ROLLINS recorded 61 yards rushing and 2 TD rushes as well as a TD reception on his way to a JLS Ironman of the Week Award. On the defensive side of the ball, Oklahoma City was just as good. The Yard Dawgz came up with four interceptions and also recorded three sacks. DB ANDRE BURNS had six solo tackles in the game and one INT. Oklahoma City owns the fourth best scoring offense in the league, averaging 61 points per game. The team is also tied for fourth in total touchdowns (104) and ranks third in total offense. The Yard Dawgz also lead the league in rushing yards with 617. The Shock extended their undefeated streak to 11 last week with a 69-22 victory against in-state and division rival Tri-Cities. The Shock were voted No. 1 in the league coaches poll for the 15th straight week, a new league record. Spokane's 11-0 start ties a team record that was originally set last year. QB NICK DAVILA keyed the Shock's win last week, completing 15-of-18 passes for 125 yards and 5 TDs. With the score at 42-0 at the end of the second quarter, Davila was replaced by backup CASEY HANSEN, who finished the game with a flourish, completing 10-of-15 passes for 177 yards and four TDs. WR RAUL VIJIL had 143 yards receiving and 3 TDs while ANDY OLSON added 86 yards and 2 TDs. WR MARKEE WHITE was good for 66 yards and 3 TDs. The Spokane defense came up with three sacks, one INT, and one fumble recovery. The defense is still the stingiest in the league, allowing an average of just 35.1 points per game. This week's game should test the Spokane defense. The Yard Dawgz, however, will need to excel on both sides of the ball if they hope to go the distance against the Shock.



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