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Week seven af2 quick hitters

May 11, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release


IF YOU'RE KEEPING SCORE AT HOME: With 14 catches for 195 yards and six touchdowns in a losing effort to Central Valley last week, Tulsa's DONOVAN MORGAN grabbed the league lead in scoring with 138 points through five games. His 14 catches matched a league high for 2005 and tied a Tulsa team record. The six receiving touchdowns also tied a team record. Both of those team records were held by af2's career scoring leader MITCH ALLNER, who now serves as the Talon's offensive coordinator. The all-time af2 record for single season scoring is 284 points by SHON KING in 2000. Morgan has collected nearly half of that total in just five games, meaning he is on pace for over 440 points by season's end. Despite playing in one more game than Morgan, Memphis' KEVIN PRENTISS and Bossier-Shreveport's BO SMITH also remain on pace to challenge the all-time mark.

PLAYER (Team) GP POINTS
Donovan Morgan (Tulsa) 5 138
Kevin Prentiss (Memphis) 6 126
Bo Smith (Bossier-Shreveport) 6 108
Julian Reese (Amarillo) 5 90
Magic Benton (Florida) 5 84

WILDCATS "BURSTEIN" WITH OPTIMISM: With an AFL caliber quarterback under center and a former af2 Offensive Player of the Year catching passes, it was only a matter of time for a big offensive outing for the South Georgia Wildcats. Connecting 10 times for 141 yards and five touchdowns, BOBBY PESAVENTO and MATT BURSTEIN showed af2 what their capable of in a much-needed 69-49 win over the Birmingham Steeldogs on Saturday night. In just his second back with the Wildcats, Burstein now has already amasses 20 receptions for 293 yards and seven touchdowns. Last week's performance netted the Wildcats first win of the season. At 1-4 on the season, the Wildcats have plenty of time to climb back in the playoff picture.

FROM WORST TO FIRST: The 2001 Tallahassee Thunder are the only team in af2 history to win their division after finishing in last place the previous season. But the Thunder could get some company this season. The Green Bay Blizzard and Manchester Wolves both stand at 4-1 and are tied with the Louisville Fire for first place in the East Division. Last season both Green Bay and Manchester finished last in their respective divisions. The Blizzard finished 6-10 and the Wolves ended last season with a 5-11 record. Out west Central Valley won three games and lost 13 last season. This season the Coyotes have a 4-1 record and have sole possession of first place in the West Division.

HOLD OUT IN MACON: The Macon Knights became the third team to change their head coach this season when they let go of MIKE HOLD this past week. Hold played 11 years in the AFL and had AFL and af2 head coaching experience previous to joining Macon. But in just over a season of work Hold compiled a 5-17 record. The Knights have a bye this week.

TACKLE THIS: With a 12-tackle performance last weekend against the Louisville Fire, Manchester defensive specialist WILLIAM HAITH earned ADT Defensive Player of the Week honors and established himself among the league leaders in total tackles with 40 for the season. Macon's HOSEA LANEY (46) is the only other player with a higher total than Haith's 40, but Laney Knights have also played one more game than Haith's Wolves. Both players are on pace to challenge the all-time single season tackle record of 121 set by RICO CURTIS in 2002 with the San Diego Riptide. With 37.5 through five games, Bakersfield's KHAREE SHORTER is also on pace to go after the mark.

NBC DRAFTS af2 TEAMS: If you've been watching the AFL on NBC the last few weeks you've seen that AFL on NBC studio hosts AL TRAUTWIG and GLENN PARKER have adopted af2 teams. Trautwig has adopted the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings and Parker has selected the Louisville Fire. Each week during halftime the NBC crew will update the nation on the Battle Wings and Fire. So far the Battle Wings are 1-5, but Parker's Louisville Fire sit at 4-1, tied for first in the East Division.

A PICK ABOVE THE REST: Currently there are seven players with four or more interceptions on the season, including three guys with five picks each. All seven players are on a pace to have 11 or more interceptions by season's end. Last year's co-leaders (TRACO RACHAL and EDDIE MOTEN) each totaled 10 interceptions for the entire season. In fact, only nine guys had seven or more interceptions last season. Interestingly enough, the amount of interceptions per game this season is not any higher than last year. It's actually down a bit. This year teams are combining for, on average, 2.12 interceptions per game. Last season that number was 2.15 per game. The all-time single season record for interceptions is 15 by KELLY SNELL in 2002.

PLAYER (Team) GP INTs
Matt Forbes (Quad City) 5 5
Ryan Bowers (Green Bay) 5 5
Scott Cunningham (Memphis) 6 5
Marquis Floyd (Rio Grande Valley) 5 4
Allistair Sebastien (Manchester) 4 4
Leo Fenceroy (South Georgia) 4 4
Dahniel Singfield (Memphis) 6 4

af2 IN THE AFL: Los Angeles offensive specialist TONY LOCKE is giving the Avengers a boost down the stretch of the regular season. Last week at San Jose Locke grabbed eight passes for 174 yards and five touchdowns in LA's 54-42 victory over the SaberCats. On the season Locke has 75 catches for 1,118 yards and 24 touchdowns ... RANDALL LANE, a former member of the Green Bay Blizzard, caught two passes for 23 yards and one touchdown for the Columbus Destroyers against the New York Dragons ... In the Nashville Kats' 54-33 victory over the Grand Rapids Rampage former af2ers OL/DL JOE MINUCCI recorded a sack while KAHLIL CARTER intercepted a pass, his seventh pick of the season ... Former Tulsa Talon, Austin's KEVIN NICKERSON, caught eight passes for 95 yards and three touchdowns in the Wranglers' 56-42 upset of the Orlando Predators ... Check out former af2er FB/LB JOSH WHITE on NBC at 1 p.m. eastern as he suits up for the New York Dragons. On the 2005 season White has 12 rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns and one interception.

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