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Week five af2 game recaps

May 2, 2007 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


FRIDAY, APRIL 27

Rio Grande Valley Dorados 38, AMARILLO DUSTERS 35 (Attendance: 2,701)

The Dusters failed to score on three possessions inside Rio Grande's 10-yard line, the red zone in Arena Football, and it resulted in a 38-35 loss Friday night at Cal Farley Coliseum. The Dorados made it 24-14 on a 29-yard field goal by Cameron Broadwell early in the third quarter and then increased the lead to 38-21 with 8:19 remaining to play. The Dusters made things interesting by scoring two TDs in the final 3:48. Moments later Aaron Williams intercepted a Josh Kellett pass. Amarillo got within three points with only 47.5 seconds to play. The Dorados covered the ensuing onside kick at their 19 and made one first down to run out the clock. Panella completed 18-of-30 passes for 179 yards and four TDs for Amarillo. Bergeski enjoyed another solid game with nine catches for 107 yards and the two TDs. For RGV, Kellett completed 18-of-29 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns. Jermaine Carpenter caught eight for 135 yards and a touchdown. He also added one rushing TD. The Dorados improved to 3-1 while the Dusters fell to 1-3.

BOSSIER-SHREVEPORT BATTLE WINGS 64, Laredo Lobos 45 (Attendance: 4,252)

The Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings overcame a sluggish start and rode their opportunistic defense to a 64-45 win over the Laredo Lobos. The Lobos opened the scoring with a 31-yard Jonathan Scifres 1st-quarter field goal, but the Battle Wings found the end zone first when quarterback Quincy Carter connected with P.J. Winston for a 27-yard touchdown pass. Winston was named the Schutt Offensive Player of the Game. Kendrick "Boss" Walker worked his magic once again for the Wings by earning U.S. Army Ironman honors as well as ADT Defensive Player of the Game for intercepting two passes and returning a Laredo kickoff 54 yards for a touchdown. With 2:03 remaining in the third quarter, Laredo grabbed a 37-33 lead with a four-play, 37-yard drive punctuated by a 34-yard scoring pass from Forrest to Shaun Rochon. Carter responded by leading the Battle Wings to a score on a 17-yard pass to Manwell Talbert to regain the lead, which they would not relinquish. Carter attempted 26 passes, completing 17 for 260 yards and six touchdowns. He threw two first-half interceptions. Jamaal Perry led the Battle Wings with nine catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns. The Battle Wings, ranked #3 in the af2 coaches' poll, improved to 4-0 while the Lobos remain winless in four tries.

GREEN BAY BLIZZARD 44, Quad City Steamwheelers 14 (Attendance: 7,010)

With the University of Wisconsin Badger Band on hand alongside current NFL running back Brian Calhoun, and 7,010 rowdy fans in the seats at US Cellular Field at the Resch Center, the Green Bay Blizzard rolled over Quad City 44-14, holding the Steamwheelers to their second lowest scoring total in franchise history. The first quarter was a struggle for both teams on offense. Midway through the second, the Blizzard struck pay-dirt first, when QB Zeke Dixon drilled a 16-yard strike to WR Kellen Allen. The Steamwheelers answered right back on their following possession when QB J.J. Raterink threw a 24-yard score to WR Kris Peters. Right before halftime, Quad City tied up the score at 14-all when WR Tom Anthony hauled in a 7-yard pass from Raterink. It would be a cold night for Quad City from this point on as the Blizzard defense froze the Steamwheelers offense, not allowing them to score another point. Beginning in the third quarter, the Blizzard offense went on a tear, scoring 30 unanswered points and after three quarters, Green Bay led 24-14. WR Nate Hardwick stepped up in the fourth, as he accounted for two touchdown grabs; the first from 32 yards out and the second from 8 yards out. Green Bay improved to 2-2 with the win while the Steamwheelers slipped to 3-2.

SATURDAY, APRIL 28

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PIONEERS 94, Cincinnati Jungle Kats 25 (Attendance: 4,645)

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - In the first ever meeting between the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers and the Cincinnati Jungle Kats, the crowd of 4,645 witnessed the Pioneers defeat the Jungle Kats, 94-25. Pioneers QB Ryan Vena who threw for eight touchdown passes and 282 yards tied his all-time career high and Pioneers single game touchdown record. The Pioneers set a franchise record for points scored in a game and tied two af2 league records by having the fourth largest margin of victory, and fourth most points scored in a game. Pioneers K David Davis also tied an af2 league record by having the second most (one-point) points after a touchdown made in a game with a total of 12. Former Pioneer, Jungle Kats QB Kelvin Robinson, threw for two touchdowns and 172 yards in a losing effort. The game was decided in the second quarter when the Pioneers outscored the Kats 35-7. The Pioneers continued their outstanding play in the second half cruising to a 94-25 victory over Cincinnati. The Pioneers improved their record to 4-0, while the Jungle Kats fell to 0-4 on the season.

MANCHESTER WOLVES 67, Mahoning Valley Thunder 49 (Attendance: 5,748)

The Manchester Wolves (2-2) extended their home-win streak to a franchise best five straight games with a convincing 67-49 win over the previously undefeated Mahoning Valley Thunder (3-1), Saturday night on Brady Sullivan Field at the Verizon Wireless Arena. The Wolves defense was led by a great performance by rookie lineman Maurice Fountain as he collected the ADT Defensive Player of the Game Award with his 2.5 total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and one forced fumble performance. Wolves quarterback Ryan Porter accounted for seven of the eight touchdowns in the game and his efforts, 20-of-30 for 200 yards and seven touchdowns, earned him his second straight Schutt Offensive Player of the Game Award. Five-year veteran Jarrail Jackson led the way for the Wolves offensively with five catches for 69 yards and two touchdowns, while Patrick Rouzard caught five balls for 60 yards and two touchdowns. David Bailey earned his second-straight U.S. Army Ironman Award with his three-catch 22 yard, one touchdown performance and seven tackle one pass deflection on defense. Thunder receiver Chris Archie made an amazing self-tipped touchdown grab in the fourth quarter to earn the Cutters Catch of the Game. Thunder starting quarterback Glen Gauntt performed valiantly as he threw for 331 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. Mahoning Valley was led offensively by receivers Chris Archie (13 catches for 140 yards, two touchdowns) and Kenneth Johnson (13 catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns).

Albany Conquest 35, FORT WAYNE FUSION 21 (Attendance: 4,434)

The Fort Wayne Fusion came into Saturday night's game against the Albany Conquest looking to continue their trend of winning at home, but injuries and mistakes led to a 35-21 defeat in front of 4,434 fans at Ford Fusion Field at Memorial Coliseum. On the first play of the game, Fusion QB Cody Hodges took a big hit and he played until the middle of the 4th quarter and finished the night 19-of-30 passing for 131 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT. WR Tyrone Walker led the team in rushing with 1 carry for 3 yards, but he did pull in a 32-yard TD pass from Micco in the 4th quarter. WR Jermaine Jackson led the Fusion with 8 catches for 44 yards and 1 TD. The defense didn't fare much better. DB Nathan Williams, who was ranked #2 in the af2 in tackles going into the game, was carried off the field and taken to a hospital after going head-first into the wall trying to break up a pass play. While the rest of the D worked hard to pick up where Williams left off, they were unable to keep the Conquest down. Conquest QB Ryan Hart went 23-of-36 for 218 yards and 5 TDs. WR Antwun Williams led Conquest receivers with 9 catches for 99 yards and 3 TDs, and FB Agean Robinson led the Conquest in rushing with 5 carries for 14 yards.

Tennessee Valley Vipers 39, FLORIDA FIRECATS 38 (Attendance: 4,467)

The Tennessee Valley Vipers did what the Florida Firecats could not by capitalizing on miscues to earn a 39-38 victory at Germain Arena where 4,467 fans were on hand to watch the Vipers down the Firecats for the 1st time since the 2004 season.

The Firecats used just one play to get on the scoreboard as Chris Wallace threw the 300th touchdown pass of his career, hooking up with Magic Benton who scored his 898th career point on the play. Florida took a 13-0 lead on Chris McKinney's catch in the endzone, but the Vipers would answer with Chris Gunn connecting with Travis Blanchard minutes later. Florida led at the break 26-21 and looked to be in the driver's seat scoring on the 1st possession of the 3rd quarter. Tennessee hung in and pulled back to within 5 heading to the games final 15 minutes. Florida turned the ball over on downs deep inside Tennessee territory with less than a minute to go on their next possession. Colston threw the eventual game winner to Blanchard with six seconds left on the clock to lead the Vipers to the win.

ARKANSAS TWISTERS 93, Corpus Christi Sharks 19 (Attendance: 5,555)

The Arkansas Twisters spent the first month of the season on the road. The team made up for lost time in its home opener by defeating Corpus Christi 93-19 in front of 5,555 fans at Allstate Field at Alltel Arena. Corpus Christi led 7-0 to start the game when Brandon Hussey tipped a pass from John De Los Santos to himself and ran it 30 yards for the score but Arkansas responded when Terrance Freeney ran 35 yards on the Twisters first play from scrimmage. Arkansas ran off 46 unanswered points to run away with the game. Twisters quarterback Brian Villanueva completed just nine of 12 pass attempts, but racked up 158 yards and six total touchdowns to earn Schutt Offensive Player of the Game. Arkansas fullback Terrance Freeney ran for a Twisters record 89 yards. Freeney added a 45 yard touchdown run which is the fifth longest run from scrimmage in league history. Reggie Cooley finished with three tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, a fumble recovery, a forced fumble, and a pass breakup and earned ADT Defensive Player of the Game honors. Robert Kilow earned U. S. Army Ironman of the Game honors and William's earned Cutters Catch of the Game with his interception returned for a touchdown. Brandon Hussey led the Sharks receivers with four catches for 69 yards and a score.

LUBBOCK RENEGADES 65, Texas Copperheads 27 (Attendance: 2,641)

The Lubbock Renegades (1-3) earned their first win in franchise history Saturday night with a 65-27 decision over the Texas Copperheads (1-3) at City Bank Coliseum. Newly acquired quarterback Robert Kent was 13-for-31 in his Renegades debut for 197 yards passing with five touchdowns. Chris Highshaw, a former Copperhead and new edition to the Renegades, led the team with six receptions for 123 yards and three touchdowns against his former squad. The two teams were 13-13 until midway late in the first half until Highshaw recorded a 26-yard touchdown pass from Kent with four seconds remaining in the half. The score began a 20-0 run for Lubbock who would go on to tally a franchise-high 65 points in a game. After a trio of touchdowns on the ground with Kent going the distance on a couple of runs and Victor Mann getting his second of the game with a rush in the final seconds of the game, Kenyon Scott recovered a fumble for a touchdown as time expired.

TULSA TALONS 57, Alabama Steeldogs 33 (Attendance: 4,045)

It was a loud crowd and some hard hits at Dodge Field that kept the Talons on top for their first 4-0 start since 2001. The Steeldogs scored first on a Mitch Tanney TD pass to Bradley Chavez, but the Talons answered with a 9-yard TD pass from Josh Blankenship to Jeff Hughley to tie the score at 7-7 at the end of the first quarter. The Tanney-to-Chavez combo struck again for a 9-yard TD, and then the Talons' Spiderman, Donovan Morgan, made his first appearance in the end zone on a 28-yard touchdown grab to tie the score. With 10 seconds left in the half, Blankenship found Morgan once again, putting the Talons on top 21-14. In the third quarter, Tulsa scored once again putting the Talons up 35-20 when Blankenship hit Andre Forde for a TD pass. The fourth quarter began 42-20 and Forde scored his third touchdown for the Talons on a 19-yard pass from Blankenship, keeping the Talons in the lead, 48-26. Talon fullback Michael Shack rumbled for a 19-yard TD and McLain made his season debut with a safety on the Steeldogs QB to cap the game off for Tulsa.

BOISE BURN 48, Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz 42 (Attendance: 5,222)

Nearly four months after the Fiesta Bowl miracle in Glendale, the Boise Burn got a taste of what it was like to win a nail biter, as they defeated the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz 48-42 in front of 5,222 fans at Qwest Arena. Bart Hendricks first pass of the game was picked off by Clarence LeBlanc, setting up a Danny Howard 12 yard run and the early 7-0 Yard Dawgz lead. It didn't take long for Hendricks to get back on track as he found Cole Clasen in the end zone for a 27 yard score, tying the game at 7. Lee Marks gave the Burn the lead on a 4-yard run just into the 2nd quarter giving the Yard Dawgz the lead 14-13. Howard finished the game with 12 catches for 210 yards and 4 TDs (1 rush). Marks sent Hendricks a 23-yard strike that gave the Burn the 20-14 lead. In the third, the Dawgz came out biting, scoring 21 3rd quarter points - Danny Howard caught a 44 yard pass from Stan Hill (28-41-1, 349 yards, 3 TDs) giving Oklahoma the 28-27 lead. With less than a minute left in the 4th, Hendricks hits Casey Allen for a 4-yard strike giving the Burn the lead for good. The Burn pulled out a dramatic 48-42 victory after a player interference call that led the officials to add 11 seconds to the play clock.

CENTRAL VALLEY COYOTES 61, Bakersfield 42 (Attendance: 4,051)

The Central Valley Coyotes scored four touchdowns on five possessions in the first half and five touchdowns on six possessions in the second half to down the undefeated Bakersfield Blitz, 61-42. Bakersfield had 13 offensive possessions on the night and would get snuffed by the Coyotes defense six times. Central Valley jumped out of the gate, scoring on their second offensive play of the game, when quarterback Clay Groefsema (16-of-24, 7 TDs) connected on a 38-yard pass to Jason Barnes. The Coyotes extended their lead to 21-0 before the Blitz could score. A second quarter, 8-yard touchdown pass from Blitz quarterback Chad Elliott to WR Nathan Munson would be the only points scored by the Blitz in the first half. Barnes finished the game with six catches for 123 yards and four touchdowns receiving and one 2-yard rushing touchdown on his way to earning Schutt Offensive Player of the Game honors. ADT Defensive Player of the Game Tierre Sams had seven solo tackles and covered the Blitz receivers like a blanket even while playing with a broken hand. U.S. Army Ironman of the Game Tonae Martin lead the defense with outstanding efforts with three tackles and a forced fumble as well as catching five passes for 58 yards and two touchdowns on offense.

Spokane Shock 58, STOCKTON LIGHTNING 55 (Attendance: 4,843)

The Lightning fell to a 58-55 defeat to the Shock at Stockton Arena. Rookie Lightning QB Evan Gray threw for a 20-for-34 effort along with 237 yards and seven touchdowns. Spokane QB Andrico Hines completed 22-of-33 passes for 244 yards and three touchdowns. Gray began with three touchdown passes, connecting with two to WR Sale' Key and one to B'Jay Jones.

Spokane answered with two red-zone touchdown rushes by Ben Gray and Katon Bethay and the game was tied 27-27 going into the half. Both teams exchanged 21 points each in the fourth quarter as Jones collected two more touchdown receptions from Gray to keep the Lightning at a three-point deficit, while Savage scored on a five-yard touchdown grab with 41 seconds remaining to put Spokane ahead, 58-48. Morgan collected a nine-yard strike from Gray with 17 seconds remaining to close the Lightning gap to 58-55. Carl Walker then recovered an onside kick at the Stockton 18-yard line to set up one final rally attempt. Kicker Alex Walls lined up a 47-yard field goal attempt which was deflected by two Spokane defenders, ending the rally and the game at 58-55.

MONDAY, APRIL 30

TRI-CITIES FEVER 48, Everett Hawks 39 (Attendance: 3,415)

Only a few minutes after the game began, it became evident that an in-state rivalry was formed between the Tri-Cities Fever and the Everett Hawks. After the first quarter, the Fever took an early 16-6 lead behind back-to-back touchdowns to WR J.R. Thomas. The Hawks would not give up and closed that gap to four (36-32) by the end of the third quarter. However, with 2:11 left in the game, WR/LB Robert "Superman" Garth caught an incredible one-handed 33-yard touchdown pass that extended the score to 48-39. Thomas and Garth put on a show to lead the Fever to their first af2 home win. Thomas finished with nine receptions for 115 yards and three TDs earning him the Schutt Offensive Player of the Game. Garth had very similar numbers finished with seven receptions for 110 yards and 3 TDs; as well as an interception for 14 yards, which earned him the US Army Ironman Player of the Game.



arenafootball2 Stories from May 2, 2007


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