
Wood, Forney and Mason earn week nine honors
May 31, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release
CHICAGO - Central Valley quarterback JUSTON WOOD, Louisville fullback/linebacker DEMETRIUS FORNEY and Rio Grande Valley defensive specialist NORMAN MASON have been named the Offensive Player, U.S. Army Ironman and ADT Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, for Week 9 of the 2005 season.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Wood (6-1, 210, Portland State), in his second season, was the main reason the Central Valley Coyotes defeated the San Diego Riptide 83-70 in af2's fifth highest scoring game. Wood completed 24-of-32 passes for 317 yards and eight touchdowns. Half of Wood's touchdowns came on passes of 20 yards or more. These numbers alone are impressive, but what made Wood's performance unique was his 73 rushing yards on five carries with two rushing touchdowns. Wood's 73 rushing yards is a high for this season and ranks as the eighth highest single game rushing performance in af2 history. Wood is now third in the league in rushing with 121 yards and seven touchdowns. His longest run was a 37-yard dash down the field to help put the game away late in the fourth quarter. Wood won this same award in Week 6 of this season.
U.S. ARMY IRONMAN OF THE WEEK
Forney (6-0, 275, Cambellsville) in his fourth season, made game changing plays on both sides of the ball in Louisville's 62-55 overtime win against Albany. On offense Forney rushed nine times for 31 yards and five touchdowns. Forney's five scores tied the af2 record for rushing touchdowns in a game, a feat not accomplished since 2003. Four of Forney's scores came from one-yard out but his last touchdown was the game-winner. With Louisville facing a third and one the Fire handed the ball to Forney just looking for that one yard. Instead he took the ball up the middle, cut left and scampered 21 yards to the endzone. After scoring Forney went on defense and clinched the game for the Fire. He sacked quarterback D Bryant and forced a fumble ending Albany's possession and hopes. Forney finished the game with 5.0 tackles (3UA-4AT), one tackle for loss, one forced fumble and one sack. In addition to his rushing statistics Forney also caught one pass for eight yards on offense. This is the second weekly award for the Fire this season as Tony Stallings won this same honor in Week 2.
ADT DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Mason (5-10, 185, Kentucky), in his fifth season, has earned the ADT Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second straight week. Signed by the Dorados last week, Mason finished the game with three solo tackles and four takeaways. He recorded three interceptions, forced a fumble which he recovered. His three interceptions tied a league high this season. Three of his four takeaways came in the second half as the Dorados scored 39 second half points after being shut out in the first half to defeat the South Georgia Wildcats 39-37. His four takeaways led to 18 Dorados points. Before these last two weeks the last time Mason won a weekly award was in Week 2 of 2003 he won the U.S. Army Ironman of the Week award as a member of the Louisville Fire. He has a chance to tie Bobby Sippio's record of three straight weekly honors when Sippio won U.S. Army Ironman of the Week in Weeks 14-16 when playing for Greensboro in 2003. Mason and the Dorados play at Oklahoma City this week. The only other player to win consecutive awards this season was Quad City's Matt Forbes in Weeks 3 and 4.
Offensive Player of the Week candidates included: Albany's D Bryant, Manchester's Jake Eaton and J.J. McKelvey, Birmingham's Detronn Harris, Amarillo's Chavis McCollister and Julian Reese, Florida's Chris Wallace and Cainon Lamb, Macon's Chris Johnson, Oklahoma City's Jarrail Jackson, Craig Strickland and Brandon Daniels, Central Valley's George Williams, San Diego's Kane Claunch and Steve Gonzalez, South Georgia's Matt Burstein, Tulsa's Donovan Morgan.
U.S. Army Ironman of the Week candidates included: Manchester's J.J. McKelvey, Birmingham's Herman Bell, Florida's Cainon Lamb, Macon's Matt Jackson, Quad City's Tim Dodge, San Diego's Steve Gonzalez, Rio Grande Valley's Marquis Floyd, Tulsa's Robert Reed.
ADT Defensive Player of the Week candidates included: Louisville's Rob Green, Manchester's William Haith, Birmingham's Keon Mainor, Florida's Brent Burnside and Chris Morant, Macon's Laney Hosea, Quad City's John Culp, San Diego's Asi Faoa, Bakersfield's Alex Wallace.
arenafootball2 Stories from May 31, 2005
- Central Valley Coyotes game notes - Central Valley Coyotes
- Coach Barto Looking to Return to .500 - Memphis Xplorers
- Steamwheelers Weekly Notes - Quad City Steamwheelers
- Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz game notes - Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz
- Forney Named US Army Ironman of the Week - Louisville Fire
- Mason Jars Up Back-To-Back ADT Defensive Player of the Week Honor - Rio Grande Valley Dorados
- Birmingham Steeldogs game notes - Alabama Steeldogs
- Wood, Forney and Mason earn week nine honors - af2
- Dorados Weekly - Rio Grande Valley Dorados
- Green Bay Blizzard game notes - Green Bay Blizzard
- Smoke Signals - Louisville Fire
- Donald Driver To Be Honorary Captain - Green Bay Blizzard
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
