af2 arenafootball2

Week nine Friday night af2 matchups

May 27, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


GREEN BAY BLIZZARD (3-4) AT MANCHESTER WOLVES (3-4)
FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2004 - VERIZON WIRELESS ARENA (9,500) 7:30 P.M. ET

The Manchester Wolves play hosts as the Green Bay Blizzard come to town. Both Green Bay and Manchester bring in identical 3-4 records, each losing a close game last week. The Blizzard couldn't pull out a victory over division rival Louisville and lost 59-54. The Wolves lost to Birmingham 52-49 even after head coach Rik Richards guaranteed a victory if the Manchester faithful sold out Verizon Wireless Arena. Now one of these teams will jump back to .500 while the other falls two games under. After the two previous games where he threw fifteen touchdown passes and only one interception, CHRIS GREISEN threw two interceptions last week. Greisen will need to limit the turnovers if the Blizzard want to come out ahead. On the other hand, if the Wolves want to come out on top they will want to create turnovers, MARVIN OWENS with his four interceptions and ALLISTAIR SEBASTIEN with his three interceptions lead a defense in which nine different players have recorded an interception. DERONN FINLEY for the Blizzard is no slouch in the interception category though, as he has three on the season while adding six receiving touchdowns on offense for good measure. Manchester commits 84.3 penalty yards per game, the highest in the league, this could be something to keep an eye on. The Wolves redzone defense is second in the, allowing points 61.5% when opposing teams reach inside the ten. This is the first ever meeting between the Wolves and Blizzard and the only meeting this season.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY DORADOS (3-4) AT TULSA TALONS (4-3)
FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2004 - TULSA CONVENTION CENTER (7,111) 8:30 P.M. ET

The Rio Grande Valley Dorados travel to Tulsa to take on the Talons in the first of three meetings this season between these division rivals. MICHAEL WALL started the season at quarterback season for the Talons, but recently BOB BEES was brought in. Lately Bees has been getting the majority of snaps and look for him to lead the Talons into action on Friday night. The Dorados have some changes at quarterback themselves, as last week they traded WILL BURCH for CALEB SLOVER. They also added some depth at receiver, bringing in af2 veteran LAWRENCE PULLEN. Pullen joins a receiving corps which has eight players with two or more touchdown receptions on the season. This group will face a test in a Tulsa defense that has 25 pass break ups on the season. Despite playing in only four games this season JAY BROOKS already has five pass break ups but has yet to record an interception. His 20.5 tackles (18UA 5A) is second on the Talons. Rio Grande Valley has one of the best defenses in the league giving up only 37.0 points a game. The Dorados have the league's best rushing defense, allowing only 4.0 yards on the ground a game and are second in the af2 in sacks with 22 on the season. But the Dorados line isn't as strong on the offensive side of the ball, the twenty sacks they have given up ranks 23rd in the league. The next meeting between the Dorados and Talons will be June 12 at Dodge Arena in Hidalgo, Texas.

SAN DIEGO RIPTIDE (2-5) AT HAWAIIAN ISLANDERS (5-2)
FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2004 - NEAL BLAISDELL ARENA (6,033) 6:30 P.M. LOCAL

The Hawaiian Islanders play host to the San Diego Riptide in a Week 8 showdown. The Riptide are sky high after last week's surprising victory over the Quad City Steamwheelers. Going in to the game last week the Riptide had only one victory on the season while the Steamwheelers were last week's top ranked team on the af2 Coaches' Poll. The key play in the game came in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. With the Riptide up by two, QUINCY LEJAY forced a fumble to give the Riptide the ball which quarterback KANE CLAUNCH quickly turned into six points and give the Riptide a two possession advantage and a lead they never relinquished. On the season Claunch has thrown 37 touchdown passes while running for three more. Lejay leads the Riptide in tackles (38.5), pass breakups (6) and forced fumbles (2). DWIGHT CARTER leads the Riptide offense in receptions with an even 50 but Claunch moves the ball around as four different receivers have six touchdowns or more. The Islanders got a lift last week as ANTHONY ARCENEAUX returned from the injury list and brought in five catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns. On the season Arceneaux leads the Islanders in receiving with 22 catches while picking off two passes on defense. JOSH ROBINSON is the reigning ADT Defensive Player of the Week, for his 12.5 tackles, interception and fumble recovery performance. Hawaii won the first meeting this season in overtime on a successful two-point conversion attempt on a run by Islanders quarterback DARNELL ARCENEAUX.



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