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Week nine af2 quick hitters

May 25, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


COSTANZA BACK IN ALBANY: After the Albany Conquest let go of head coach RICHARD DAVIS last week, they knew they needed to bring in someone like former coach PETE COSTANZA who knew the area and knew how to win. So who better than Pete Costanza? Costanza, who led Albany to a 13-3 season and division championship in 2003 returned this week to take over as head coach once again. Costanza spent the last five months as the offensive coordinator of the AFL's Columbus Destroyers where he coached former af2 players RYAN VENA, MATT D'ORAZIO and DONVETIS FRANKLIN. Costanza's first game back as Albany head coach is at Louisville this week.

GREEN BAY FOR REAL? Looking back at last week's Blizzard-Steamwheelers matchup, it's hard not to be impressed with Green Bay's victory. It was the Blizzzard's first franchise victory over the Steamwheelers and they did it with great defense. The Blizzard forced five Quad City turnovers, including four in the first half and three fumbles inside the red zone. As would be expected the Steamwheelers fought back, holding a one-point lead and the ball with 1:45 left in the game. Then the Blizzard defense fought right back, not allowing a first down and giving the ball back to their offense after the Steamwheelers turned the ball over on downs. Green Bay took the ball down field and JOHNNY TURMAN found ROBERT GARTH for a touchdown in the back of the endzone with 14 seconds left. A two-point conversion and a defensive stand put the final score at 56-49.

STABLER CLOSING IN ON 300: With 9.5 tackles (7 solo) last week against Louisville, ROY STABLER became af2's all-time leading tackler with 294 career tackles (225 solo). Stabler passed former teammate QUINCY SORRELL who had previously held the record with 287.5 (233). Now Stabler has another milestone on his table. He needs just six tackles to become af2's only player to register 300 tackles.

ANOTHER FIRECAT RECORD-SETTER: By connecting on 5-of-5 extra points, Florida kicker BRANDON KORNBLUE became af2's career leader in extra points made with 251. Going into the contest against Louisville last week Brandon was tied with TONY DODSON (Tulsa 2000-2003) at 246 extra points made. Kornblue's five gives him 251. Brandon now has his sights fixed on JAMES THOMAS' (Greensboro 2000-2003) record for most field goals made in a career. Coming into the 2005 season he had made 36 field goals, two behind Thomas. After making one already this season, Kornblue needs just one more to tie the record and two more to be the career leader. Kornblue is also the record holder for most points by a kicker (363) and most PAT's Attempted (321). Florida hosts Amarillo this Saturday.

AFL's ALL-ROOKIES HAVE af2 FLAVOR: The AFL on Tuesday announced it's 2005 All-Rookie squad. Of the 11 players selected to the elite group, four have ties to af2. Those players are Nashville OL/DL JOE MINUCCI, Austin WR/DB KEVIN NICKERSON, Georgia OS TROY BERGERON and Grand Rapids K PETER MARTINEZ. Below is profile of each player's accomplishments this season:

OS - Troy Bergeron - Georgia Force - Columbus (2004): At the age of 20 Bergeron was the youngest player in the history of af2. He joined the Columbus Wardogs after never playing a down of college football. In 12 games with Columbus Bergeron caught 77 passes for 1,220 yards and 26 touchdowns. He was named af2's Offensive Player of the Week twice, Weeks 13 and 15. With Georgia Bergeron recorded 105 catches (13th in the league) for 1,370 yards (team high, 10th in the league) and 31 touchdowns (tied for 7th in the league). The dangerous Bergeron helped the Georgia Force to earn the number one seed in the National Conference of the AFL Playoffs. Georgia hosts the Tampa Bay Storm on Sunday, 3:30 E.T. on NBC.

OL/DL - Joe Minucci - Nashville Kats - Tennessee Valley (2004): Minucci spent the first three games with the Nashville Kats as a back up, but after three games he was inserted into the starting lineup and took advantage, starting in all of the Kats' final 13 games. With Nashville Minucci registered five sacks, tops for the Kats and tops for all rookies. He also totaled 19 tackles, 5.5 for a loss. In addition Minucci broke up four passes, and forced and recovered a fumble. In only 14 games with Tennessee Valley last season Minucci totaled 16.5 tackles (12 solo), 3.5 tackles for a loss, 3.0 sacks and 15 hits on the quarterback. He also broke up two passes, recovered a fumble, blocked a kick.

WR/DB - Kevin Nickerson - Austin Wrangles - Tulsa (2002): After a successful 2002 season with Tulsa, Nickerson moved up to the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders before signing with the Wranglers. Nickerson was the Wranglers' leading receiver 1,028 yards on 85 catches for a team-high 23 receiving touchdowns. He also scored a rushing touchdown and returned 12 kickoffs for 148 yards (12.3 yard average). On defense Nickerson totaled the second-most tackles on the team with 39.5 (37 solo) three passes defended, one interception and one forced fumble. In nine games with Tulsa, Nickerson caught 14 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns. On defense Nickerson registered 6.0 tackles (five solo), eight passes broken up and one interception he returned 30 yards for a touchdown.

K - Peter Martinez - Grand Rapids Rampage - Richmond (2003), Oklahoma City (2004): After two seasons in af2 Martinez got his shot at the next level and took full advantage. Martinez finished fifth in scoring among kickers with 139 points. His 18 field goals made were the second most in the AFL this season, including a 54-yarder against New Orleans which is the fourth-longest in Grand Rapids history. He also led the AFL in field goal attempts (44) with 15 of those coming from 50 or more yards out. Under 50, he connected on 17-of-29 attempts (58.6%). Martinez also finished third among kickers in touchdown-saving special teams tackles (10.5). Martinez made 85-of-95 extra points for the Rampage. In af2 his career numbers are 10-of-45 on extra points and 141-of-168 on extra points, including a two-point drop kick last season with Oklahoma City. He was named to the All-af2 first team last season.

FROM af2 TO THE AFL PLAYOFFS: With the AFL playoffs beginning this weekend, it's interesting to see the influence of former af2 players in each matchup. NBC is supplying regional coverage of each game on Sunday beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. Check your local listings for the game being broadcast in your area. A breakdown of each matchup's af2 roots is detailed below:

Orlando Predators at New York Dragons

The Orlando Predators have several af2 connections. Backup quarterback CHRIS SANDERS kept Orlando in the playoff race when starting quarterback JOE HAMILTON was injured. Sanders finished the regular season 68-of-128 for 897 yards and 16 touchdowns with just two interceptions. Sanders played with the Manchester Wolves last season. The Predators' leader in sacks with 8.5, E.J. BURT, registered 27.5 for the Cape Fear Wildcats in 2002. MIKE BROWN, JERRIAN JAMES, ARKEE THOMPSON, MARLON MOYE-MOORE, JUSTIN SKAGGS and KEVIN NAGLE are all former af2 players as well. For New York, FB/LB JOSH WHITE leads the Dragons in rushing with 180 yards and 12 touchdowns. White finished as the Dragons' fourth leading tackler with 31 tackles. Dragons' kicker ROB BIRONAS, another former af2 player, connected on 99-of-117 extra point attempts and 7-of-16 field goals for 120 points. DESHANE DENNIS, CHRIS BODEN, CHRIS ANTHONY, JAMAAL CHERRY, TYRONN JOHNSON and JOE LAUDANO have also worn af2 uniforms.

Tampa Bay Storm at Georgia Force

The arenafootball2 experience starts at the helm for Tampa, with starting quarterback SHANE STAFFORD. Stafford played in af2 in 2000 and has since found success with Tampa, including an Arena Bowl victory in 2003. RONNEY DANIELS has caught eight touchdowns for the Storm this season. ERNEST CERTAIN is another former af2 player now wearing the Storm uniform. Georgia's main af2 contributor is TROY BERGERON. On the season Bergeron has caught 105 passes for 1,370 yards and 31 touchdowns. His 31 touchdowns ranked seventh in the league. Georgia has a former af2 quarterback on their bench as well: former Augusta Stallion GLEN GAUNT backs up MATT NAGY. JUSTIN TAPLIN, and ROB CAREY are former arenafootball2 players as well.

San Jose SaberCats at Colorado Crush

The former NFL Pro Bowler and Louisville Fire member TREMAIN MACK suits up for the SaberCats as they travel to Colorado. Mack registered 38.5 tackles (33UA 11A) and three interceptions on the season. MATT KINSINGER is another former af2 player. This season the FB/LB from Slippery Rock has registered 15.5 tackles and two interceptions. On offense Kingsinger has totaled 74 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on 30 carries with six receptions for 79 yards. ERIN DAMOND is the other former af2 player on the 'Cats roster. The only Colorado Crush player to play in the af2 is JABIR WALKER. The former Louisville Fire player is currently on their practice squad but recorded four tackles during the regular season. Another former af2 player who wears Colorado blue is offensive coordinator BRIAN PARTLOW. In 2003 Partlow played four games with the Cincinnati Swarm, completing 28-of-57 passes for 366 yards and seven touchdowns with two interceptions.

Chicago Rush at Los Angeles Avengers

Former Augusta Stallions kicker KEITH GISPERT has been one of the most dependable kickers in the AFL making 90-of-103 extra points and 11-of-18 field goals for 123 total points. OL/DL CHARLIE COOK was a member of the 2003 American Conference All-af2 First Team. Now he looks to win an ArenaBowl title with Chicago. SCOTT POSPISILL played last season for Green Bay and has moved down south to Chicago. Los Angeles found TONY LOCKE in the middle of the season and wished he was on the roster the entire season. The former Ohio State Buckeye holds franchise records for the Albany Conquest and leads the Avengers in receiving yards (1,182), receiving touchdowns (27) on 82 receptions this season. AFL's sack leader SILAS DEMARY with 12.5, JERMAINE SMITH and SEAN MCNAMARA are former af2 players also.

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