Breaking it Down – 2011 Week One

Andy Lopusnak
Wednesday March 16, 2011

Welcome back my friends to show that never ends. Come inside; come inside for the most detailed review of this past week’s AFL action on the planet. This week featured six games decided by eight or fewer points, while the seventh game was hyped as the best of the week and ended with the defending champs being beat by 28 points.

• Tampa Bay didn't have a passing touchdown in the game, which is one of the rarest things in Arena Football. Instead, the team had five rushing touchdowns, six sacks, a safety, a field goal and a kickoff return for a score in the win.
• Sadly, I was the PR director for the team that last didn't record a passing touchdown in a game - the Grand Rapids Rampage did so in 2006 at Las Vegas when FB/LB Chris Avery had four rushing scores in the 56-28 loss.
• Game books are a bit elusive for the early years of the league, but the Storm is probably one of a very few teams to not record a passing score and actually win the game.
• Tampa Bay's Cliff Dukes had a Storm record four sacks (tied with five others for the third most in league single-game history).
• The only good thing Storm QB Mike Potts did in this game was hand the ball off. He misfired on his first three passes and completed just 57.1% of his passes for the game (again with no TDs).
• VooDoo WR/KR P.J. Berry led all AFL players this week with 223 all-purpose yards. He had a 57-yard kickoff return for a TD, two receiving scores and rushing TD.
• The last AFL game played in the Big Easy before this one was 958 days ago when Philadelphia beat San Jose 59-56 to win ArenaBowl XXII. Both Philadelphia and San Jose played, and won, their first games since that day on the same night no less.
• This VooDoo team is actually the third incarnation of the team and fourth AFL team to play in the Crescent City. The first New Orleans AFL team was the Night, which played in the Superdome and lasted just two years (1991-92). In 2004, the VooDoo started and then became the Kansas City Brigade in 2006 after New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. A year later, the VooDoo came back and played two more seasons before folding two months before the league collapsed. This VooDoo team was the Bossier-Shreveport BattleWings last season.
• The 6,335 announced attendance was the lowest in New Orleans' AFL history (including both VooDoo incarnations and the Night). However, in BattleWings history it was the largest since 2001. The last game played in this building (ArenaBowl XXII) drew nearly three times as many fans (17,244)

• This marked the first AFL game played in Pittsburgh since July 14, 1990 when the Pittsburgh Gladiators beat the Albany Firebirds 27-24 in front of 4,523.
• Philadelphia head coach Mike Hohensee threw the first touchdown in AFL history when he was the QB of the Pittsburgh Gladiators in 1987.
• Philadelphia is Hohensee's sixth team he's been the head coach of during his now 17th season as a head coach. Prior to this win, Hohensee had won just one of his first games as head coach with those teams - 1994 with the Albany Firebirds.
• The Soul trailed by 14 entering the second quarter, then took its first lead with ten minutes to go in the third quarter. Pittsburgh tied it as time expired to force overtime.
• ArenaBowl XXII Ironman Mike Brown won the game with a 15-yard interception return for a touchdown on the third play in overtime.
• Philly receiver Donovan Morgan set Soul team records for receptions (14) and total touchdowns (six- five receiving, one rushing) to go along with his AFL Week One best 189 yards.
• Soul QB Justin Allgood completed 25-of-36 for 300 yards with five scores (all to Morgan) and no interceptions.
• Both Allgood and Morgan were members of the Tulsa Talons last season, where Allgood led the league in touchdown passes and Morgan led the league in receiving touchdowns.

• Game featured the only active former ArenaBowl MVPs (last year’s MVP Kyle Rowley from Spokane and two-time MVP Mark Grieb from San Jose).
• It was 958 days between SaberCats games (last one was ArenaBowl XXII on July 27, 2008)
• In that timeframe, Spokane played 43 total games (including in the af2) and won the final ArenaCup title in the af2 and the first AFL title in the re-launch of the league.
• SaberCats led 14-0 and 41-14 in the contest.
• The San Jose defense had two interceptions returned for touchdowns.
• Grieb misfired on his first toss, but then completed 19 of his next 20 passes for 202 yards with five TDs. He finished with an 84% completion percentage (21-of-25) for 222 yards and six scores.
• Rowley's three INTs match his worst AFL performance (in the 54-52 road win at Orlando last season).
• The SaberCats scored touchdowns on all but the last drives of each half. San Jose had just two seconds left and still managed to gain 15 yards on one play to end the first half. In the second half, the SaberCats ran out the clock.
• San Jose FB/LB Chad Cook had three rushing scores in the game (each from just a yard out).
• The 28-point loss is the Shock's second worst in franchise history (including af2). Spokane's first ever loss was by 32 points at home against the Bakersfield Blitz in 2006. In addition, the 28-point loss is the worst road loss in team history.
• This marks just the fourth 20-point loss for the Shock in the team's 106-game history.
• Spokane is now on a two-game regular season losing streak (lost by 15 in the 2010 regular season finale at Jacksonville last year).
• This is just the second two-game regular season losing streak in Shock history. The other was in 2007 when the team lost to Quad City and Ft. Wayne in back-to-back weeks.
• San Jose was so efficient that Grieb only attempted two passes on third down - one a nine-yarder for a first down and the other was the last play of the game to kill the clock.
• In the last two SaberCats home games, San Jose has averaged 78.5 points per contest (81 points in the 2008 American Conference championship game against Grand Rapids).
• Spokane has lost its season opener at home against the Milwaukee Iron 74-48, but went on to win the ArenaBowl.
• Including time in the af2, the Shock is now 4-2 in season openers (4-0 in the af2, 0-2 in the AFL).
• San Jose is now 10-1 in home openers since 1999. The lone loss was in 2006 against Utah.
• The 76 points scored by San Jose is the most in a regular season game for the SaberCats since dropping 81 on the road at Las Vegas in 2005. It is the most at home in the regular season since 2004 when San Jose had 79 also against Las Vegas.
• San Jose has won 21 straight games when scoring 60 or more points.

• Game was the first as an AFL head coach for Clint Dolezel, who still ranks second all-time in most passing categories (behind Aaron Garcia, who passed him last season).
• Dallas FB Derrick Ross scored the game's first points on a 37-yard rushing touchdown, one of four he had in the contest. Ross had 15 rushing attempts and gained 66 yards.
• The Vigilantes never trailed in the game and led by 19 with five minutes to go before the Command outscored Dallas 19-7 over the final four-plus minutes.
• Kansas City had two players over 100 yards receiving: Bret Smith (7-133-3) and Steven Savoy (10-108-1).
• In a losing effort, Ken Fontenette posted 11.5 tackles, had an interception, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble.

• Arizona trailed 9-0 to start the game and was down by as many as 12 midway through the third quarter.
• Rattlers WR/LB Jason Geathers caught a nine-yard touchdown with 31 seconds left and DB Kevin McCullough intercepted Sharks QB Aaron Garcia eight seconds later to give Arizona the win.
• Arizona QB Nick Davila passed for 264 yards, five scores and no picks. His favorite targets were Trandon Harvey (12-130-4) and Geathers (9-100-1).
• This marks two straight season-opening wins for the Rattlers. Prior to 2008, Arizona was 1-6 from 2001-07 in season openers.

• In a losing effort, Tulsa QB Bobby Reid posted 94 rushing yards and four rushing scores. His 94 rushing yards ranks third most in league history and is the most since Grand Rapids QB Michael Bishop posted the only 100-yard rushing game in league history in 2005 at Colorado. I was there and it was quite amazing. Running the ball isn't usually pretty in this sport (unless you're at the goal line) and players like Reid and Bishop make you yearn for more rushing.
• Reid also tossed for 218 yards with three passing scores and no interceptions in the loss.
• Georgia WR/KR C.J. Johnson had the second most all-purpose yards in the league this week after posting 213 (107 receiving on ten catches) and 106 in returns (including a 56-yard touchdown).
• The Force never trailed in the game and was up by 20 with two minutes left before Reid had two late touchdown passes to Trent Shelton that cut the deficit to six.
• This game featured seven rushing scores, seven passing scores and a kickoff return for a touchdown.
• Georgia had a league-low minus-five yards rushing this week, but still managed to have three rushing scores.

• The Iron is no more as Milwaukee has adopted the nickname Mustangs to honor the greatest of the 46-66 former AFL team that lasted from 1994-2001.
• If you were to include only Mustangs games (nothing from the Iron) then this would be the fifth straight home-opening loss for the team.
• Milwaukee was held scoreless in the third quarter and went for it on fourth down six times (converting three times).
• In a winning effort, Chicago failed to convert any of its four third-down conversions.
• Last year's AFL Kicker of the Year, Chicago's Chris Gould, missed both field goals he attempted (from 47 and 20 yards - both in the last four minutes of the fourth quarter). He did convert all seven extra points though.
• Chicago has won its last two season openers after losing its previous three.
• Rush QB Russ Michna's first pass of the game went 27 yards to Reggie Gray for a touchdown.
• A measly 3,157 attended this game, which is sadly higher than the lowest attendance from 2010 when Bossier-Shreveport had less than 3,000. FYI, the three teams with the lowest average attendance for 2010 are all no longer in those markets this season (Alabama, Bossier-Shreveport and Oklahoma City). Come on Milwaukee fans. Over three times as many fans showed up for the last Mustangs game when Milwaukee lost to Arizona 64-47 on July 20, 2001.
• It bums me that I will be in Chicago this weekend, but can't cover the AFL game Friday night because I will be at the United Center at the same time covering the NCAA tournament for CBS Sports.