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Week nine af2 Friday night matchups

Published on May 26, 2005 under arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


MANCHESTER WOLVES (6-1) AT WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PIONEERS (4-3)

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2005 - WACHOVIA ARENA AT CASEY PLAZA (7,950) 7:30 P.M. ET

Despite last week's rather convincing 46-21 win over the South Georgia Wildcats, the Manchester Wolves slipped to third place in the Weekly Coaches Poll. Head coach Ben Bennett and the Wolves look to take remain perfect in the East Division while Pioneers look to catch their footing after losing three of their last four following a 3-0 start to the season. Last week the Wolves defense played stellar led by ALLISTAIR SEBASTIEN, one of af2's international players, who intercepted two passes in the win. So far this season the Wolves have held their opponents to just 37.0 points per game. One of the big reasons for the execution of the defense has been the superb play of rookie WILLIAM HAITH who leads the af2 in tackles. Manchester's opportunistic defense has forced 17 takeaways, third best in the league. The Wolves offense has only turned the ball over six times, best in the league. Combined, the Wolves hold a +11 turnover margin, third best in the league. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton looks to come back this week following a heartbreaking 52-49 loss at Rio Grande Valley which featured eight second half lead changes and three scores in the last minute. The offense nearly hit full stride in last week's loss for the Pioneers led by J.R. THOMAS had 11 receptions for 124 yards and four touchdowns while also racking up 137 return yards including 53-yard return. The dangerous Thomas is the main reason the Pioneers rank fourth in total touchdowns with 52. These two teams will meet again on July 8th in New Hampshire.


WOLVES PIONEERS SERIES LEADER Wilkes-Barre/Scranton leads series 6-3
LAST MEETING WB/Scranton won at Manchester 44-37 on 7/30/04
LAST FIVE GAMES 5-0 2-3
LAST GAME Won vs. South Georgia 46-21 Lost at Rio Grande Valley 52-49
2005 STATISTICS WOLVES PIONEERS PASSING Eaton: 224-161-3; 1708; 36 TDs Rowley: 240-161-8; 1883; 42 TDs
RECEIVING McKelvey: 61-583; 16 TDs Thomas: 54-654; 19 TDs
RUSHING Kimener: 33-80; 1 TD Austrum: 12-35; 1 TD
TACKLES Haith: 57.0 Hattley: 43.0
SACKS Fuller: 3.0 Austrum: 2.0
INTERCEPTIONS Sebastien: 6 Kaymore: 3
KICKING Ohlige: 28-46 PAT; 1-8 FG 31 Pts Davis: 39-48 PAT; 5-7 FG 54 Pts
TEAM OFFENSE 48.1 PPG (8); 262.0 YPG (9) 54.3 PPG (4); 275.9 YPG (6)
TEAM DEFENSE 37.0 PPG (4); 278.0 YPG (17) 46.4 PPG (10); 231.3 YPG (4)

ALBANY CONQUEST (2-5) AT LOUISVILLE FIRE (4-3)

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2005 - FREEDOM HALL (15,646) 7:30 P.M. ET

The Albany Conquest are hoping some of their midweek changes will pay off as they face the Louisville Fire on Friday night. The most significant change this past week was the hiring of PETE COSTANZA as head coach of the Conquest. If that name sounds familiar, it should. Costanza was head coach of Albany in 2003 when they went 13-3 and won their division. He left to become offensive coordinator of the AFL's Columbus Destroyers but returns looking to bring back winning ways. One of his first moves this week was bringing back old kicker VINNIE CIRRINCIONE, who started the season with Birmingham. Costanza brought in Big Ten talent with former Hoosiers quarterback TOMMY JONES being signed during the week. He also put Conquest players on alert by trading MIKAL AKBAR and DS DRAKUS LANGFORD to South Georgia. The Fire may need to undergo some changes as well if they don't get back on track. The Fire started 4-0 keeping pace with Green Bay and Manchester in the division. Now after three straight losses they are tied with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for third and could drop to fourth with a loss. With this said, the three losses have come to three of af2's top four teams (Manchester, Green Bay and Florida) and two of the losses were on the road. Veteran quarterback MATT SAUK has found a new target. After not playing in the first game of the season and recording only one catch in the second game, ROB MAGER has come on strong. Mager has grabbed at least two touchdown passes in the last five games, including four touchdown catches in the Fire's last two games. These two clubs will meet one more time this season, Week 13 in Albany.



CONQUEST FIRE SERIES LEADER Series tied 1-1
LAST MEETING Albany won at Louisville 60-56 on 5/15/04
LAST FIVE GAMES 2-3 2-3
LAST GAME Lost vs. Memphis 73-53 Lost vs. Florida 47-43
2005 STATISTICS CONQUEST FIRE PASSING Bryant: 242-154-10; 1655; 31 TDs Sauk: 269-181-6; 1906; 35 TDs
RECEIVING Talbert: 49-666; 12 TDs Mager: 45-553; 15 TDs
RUSHING Bryant: 29-70; 6 TDs Stallings: 23-51; 6 TDs
TACKLES Coleman: 30.5 Green: 32.0
SACKS Arah: 2.0 Forney: 1.5
INTERCEPTIONS Butler/Coleman: 3 Stallings: 2
KICKING Samuel: 35-46 PAT; 2-12 FG 41 Pts Kight: 33-43 PAT; 6-14 FG 51 Pts
TEAM OFFENSE 46.7 PPG (12); 254.9 YPG (14) 48.4 PPG (7); 280.7 YPG (3)
TEAM DEFENSE 51.0 PPG (15); 287.0 YPG (18) 48.9 PPG (13); 271.4 YPG (14)

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