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Week 18 Friday night matchups

July 29, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


NO. 1 WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PIONEERS (12-3) AT MANCHESTER WOLVES (5-10)
FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2004 - VERIZON WIRELESS ARENA (9,500) 7:30 P.M. ET

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers are about as high as a team can be as they travel to Manchester, New Hampshire to face the division rival Wolves. Last week the Pioneers went on the road to Fayetteville, North Carolina and defeated the Cape Fear Wildcats 53-46 after being down by seven points at halftime. ROCCO FORGIONE's two touchdown receptions and two-interception performance last week earned him U.S. Army Ironman of the Week honors. Manchester is looking to finish the 2004 season on a good note. They won their first game under interim head coach Ron Hill over Louisville, but has since lost three straight. With that said, the Wolves are a dangerous team. Quarterback CHRIS SANDERS leads the Wolves in passing and rushing. He has 3,939 passing yards and 63 passing touchdowns along with 122 rushing yards and fifteen rushing touchdowns. Despite playing in only seven games with the Wolves this season, ROBERT CAREY has made an impression on the Manchester defense. He ranks second on the team in tackles with 53.5 (41UA 25A) and has three interceptions with eleven passes broken up. TIM HICKS has been phenomenal for the Pioneers. Last week he had his seven game streak with no interceptions broken when he had a pass intercepted by Cape Fear. Limiting turnovers is key in Arena Football, and one interception in eight games for Hicks is certainly putting the Pioneers in a position to win. In uniform this week will be SHON KING. The former New York Dragon of the AFL has two af2 ArenaCup Championships to his name, winning in 2000 with Quad City and Tulsa last season. In 2000 he caught 39 touchdowns. If he can regain this form for the playoffs it will help the Pioneers make up for the loss of leading receiver J.R. THOMAS, who is expected to be out at least the next three weeks with a staph infection. The Pioneers have won the two previous meeting this season, but both of those games were at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

CENTRALVALLEY COYOTES (2-13) AT SAN DIEGO RIPTIDE (8-7)
FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2004 - SAN DIEGO SPORTS ARENA (12,920) 10:30 P.M. ET

The Central Valley Coyotes travel to San Diego to face the Riptide in their final game of the season. The Riptide hope this isn't their final game of the season. With 30 possible playoff scenarios the Riptide are only alive with a victory over the Coyotes. So for the Riptide they can worry about all the playoff possibilities if they would like, but what it all comes down to is they need to win for any of it to matter. They shouldn't over look the Coyotes though. Last week Central Valley defeated the Hawaiian Islanders to end their hopes of winning the West Division, now they look to play spoilers again. For the Coyotes' KENYATTE MORGAN it could be a record-breaking evening. Morgan needs 166 yards to break the record for all-purpose yards in a season. Current New Orleans VooDoo member IRA GOOCH holds the record with his 3,472 all-purpose yards performance in the 2002 season. Morgan, the current Baby Ruth Real Deal Offensive Player of the Week should feel good about getting big receiving numbers this week as his quarterback FRANK BORBA is coming off of an impressive game last week when he completed 23 of 33 passes for 265 yards and six touchdowns with zero interceptions. He also rushed for one score. Coming off a game like this, and a win over Hawaii with a receiver looking to have a record-breaking night, Borba also should feel confident. San Diego has won three straight games behind the leadership of KEVEN FETERIK, who has taken the starting quarterback position from KANE CLAUNCH, despite Claunch needing only 12 touchdown passes to reach 200 for his career. On the season Feterik is 57 of 94 for 706 yards and 12 touchdowns with four interceptions. He also has one rushing touchdown to his name this season. The Riptide's playoff chances may hinge on Feterik continuing his recent success.

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