White and Burley Return to Arizona; Baron Faces Former Rush Teammates
Published on May 17, 2006 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I) News Release
NEW YORK - After an exciting conclusion to the regular season that saw the final four playoff spots clinched during Week 16 action, the Postseason Drive to ArenaBowl XX begins this week with four Wild Card Round showdowns - one on Saturday and three on Sunday.
The defending National Conference Champion Georgia Force begin the quest to reach a second-straight ArenaBowl on Sunday against the New York Dragons at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. Georgia defeated Tampa Bay (62-46) and Orlando (60-58) last season before falling to Colorado 51-48 in ArenaBowl XIX. They hope to take the next step this year.
Georgia QB MATT NAGY was the AFL's most efficient passer in the regular season leading the League in completion percentage (70.6 percent) and quarterback rating (125.5).
New York's WEYLAN HARDING, who is the AFL's youngest head coach, became the first coach to reach 10 wins in each of his first two seasons. The Dragons lost to Orlando 47-42 in the first round last season but hope to advance to the second round for the first time since 2003 behind QB NICK BROWDER, who posted a 6-3 record as the starter in the regular season.
The Philadelphia Soul and Austin Wranglers will go head-to-head on Sunday at Austin's Erwin Center at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. Both teams entered the AFL in 2004 and are making their first postseason appearances this year.
Both team boast difference makers. Philadelphia DS EDDIE MOTEN led the AFL with 13 interceptions tying the single-season record set by San Jose's CLEVAN THOMAS in 2003. Moten snagged six in the final three regular-season games, including three in the Soul's win over Dallas on May 6.
2006 AFL INTERCEPTION LEADERS
NAME, TEAM INT
Eddie Moten, Philadelphia 13
Jerald Brown, Columbus 11
Rashad Floyd, Colorado 10
Monty Montgomery, Nashville 9
Brian Unertl, Columbus/Chicago 9
Austin OS DERRICK LEWIS set a new AFL rookie record with 1,411 receiving yards breaking the previous mark of 1,372 set by Georgia OS TROY BERGERON in 2005.
ALL-TIME ROOKIE RECEIVING YARDAGE LEADERS
NAME, TEAM YEAR YDS
Derrick Lewis, Austin 2006 1,411
Ben Nelson, San Jose 2006 1,405
Troy Bergeron, Georgia 2005 1,372
Oronde Gadsden, Portland 1998 1,335
Utah Head Coach DANNY WHITE, OS SIAHA BURLEY, QB JOE GERMAINE and WR/DB ORSHAWANTE BRYANT all face their former team when the Blaze, making a playoff appearance in their expansion season, travel to Phoenix to take on the Arizona Rattlers at US Airways Arena on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on OLN. White spent 13 seasons as the Rattlers head coach and general manager and led the team to two world championships with wins in ArenaBowls VIII and XI. Burley spent two seasons (2004-05) with Arizona and was named the AFLWA's Offensive Player of the Year last season. In his first season with Utah, Burley set a new AFL record with 1,934 receiving yards and ranked second in the AFL with 44 touchdowns and 136 catches. Germaine spent 2005 with Arizona and Bryant spent the previous four seasons with the Rattlers.
Nashville OL/DL JAMES BARON, who ranks third in AFL history with 42.5 career sacks and was chosen as the sixth greatest player in AFL history by the League's 20th Season Historical Committee in January, will face his former teammates for the third time in 2006 this weekend when the Chicago Rush take on the Kats at Gaylord Entertainment Center on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. Baron spent three seasons (2002-04) with the Rush.
Following are the 2006 AFL Postseason Seeds and Wild Card Round matchups for this week:
National Conference American Conference
#1 Dallas* (13-3) #1 Colorado* (11-5)
#2 Orlando* (10-6) #2 San Jose* (10-6)
#3 New York (10-6) #3 Arizona (8-8)
#4 Austin (10-6) #4 Nashville (8-8)
#5 Philadelphia (9-7) #5 Chicago (7-9)
#6 Georgia (8-8) #6 Utah (7-9)
*Division Winner *Division Winner
#6 Georgia at #3 New York #6 Utah at #3 Arizona Sunday, May 21, 3 p.m. ET, NBC Saturday, May 20, 5 p.m. ET, OLN
#5 Philadelphia at #4 Austin #5 Chicago at #4 Nashville Sunday, May 21, 3 p.m. ET, NBC Sunday, May 21, 3 p.m. ET, NBC
This Week in AFL History
May 18, 1996: Albany's EDDIE BROWN sets an AFL record with nine touchdowns in a game against Minnesota.
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 17, 2006
- Two Avengers selected to All-Arena Teams - Los Angeles Avengers
- Austin, Philadelphia make playoff debuts - AFL I
- White and Burley Return to Arizona; Baron Faces Former Rush Teammates - AFL I
- 2002 SaberCats named AFL's best ever - San Jose SaberCats
- Philadelphia Soul DS Eddie Moten and OL/DL Ernest Allen receive All-Arena honors - Philadelphia Soul
- Lee and Smith named to All-Arena first team - Georgia Force
- Major Milestones Set During Regular Season - AFL I
- Gatewood Selected to AFL "All-Arena Team" - Arizona Rattlers
- Preds' Taylor tabbed First-Team All-Arena - Orlando Predators
- Destroyers' defensive specialist Jerald Brown named First Team All-Arena - Columbus Destroyers
- Chicago Rush game notes - Chicago Rush
- Dallas Places Three on First Team - Dallas Desperados
- Gladiators Marlion Jackson earns Second Team All-Arena honors - Las Vegas Gladiators
- Siaha Burley: Just your 'regular' superstar - Utah Blaze
- 2000 Predators voted 10th greatest team in AFL history - Orlando Predators
- 2006 All-Arena Teams announced - AFL I
- 20 Greatest Teams in AFL history revealed - AFL I
- Force Playoff Viewing Party - You're Invited - Georgia Force
- Rampage's Marshall Finishes as AFL All-Purpose Yardage Leader - Grand Rapids Rampage
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