Breaking it Down - 2011 Conference Championships
Andy Lopusnak
Wednesday August 10, 2011
In Week One, Arizona hosted Jacksonville with the Rattlers pulling off a last-minute win. Five months to the day later, the two teams will meet this Friday in ArenaBowl XXIV. Arizona and Jacksonville had two of the greatest regular seasons of any team in league history and play in one of the most anticipated matchups in title game history. Join me as I breakdown the conference championships, the ArenaBowl and these two terrific teams.
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2011 AFL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
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NATIONAL: ARIZONA 55, Chicago 48
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AMERICAN: JACKSONVILLE 64, Georgia 55
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Home team in BOLDED ALL CAPS
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ARIZONA 55, CHICAGO 48
· The Rattlers never trailed in the game.
· Both teams fumbled the ball away on their first drives of the game.
· Chicago turned the ball over on its first possession of each half. The Rush tossed interceptions on its first three drives of the second half.
· There were a combined seven turnovers (five by Chicago, two by Arizona).
· Arizona QB Nick Davila completed 23-of-41 for 283 yards with seven scores and an interception.
· Davila's favorite target was WR/LB Jason Geathers who nabbed ten balls for 150 yards with four touchdowns. WR Chris Jackson caught the other three Davila touchdown passes.
· In a losing effort, Rush WR Reggie Gray had seven catches for 101 yards with three scores.
· Each team had three sacks.
JACKSONVILLE 64, GEORGIA 55
· Sharks QB Aaron Garcia had more touchdown passes (eight) than incompletions (six), completing 78.6% of his passes for 313 yards with a passer rating of 152.83.
· In fact, both starting QBs finished with 313 yards passing with eight touchdowns. However, Force QB Darnell Kennedy was nowhere near Garcia in completion percentage (60.4) or rating (110.50). The rookie gunslinger was also picked off once on Georgia's final drive of the game.
· There were ten lead changes in the game thanks to a few missed extra points. With nine seconds left in the first half, Jacksonville took the final lead chance on a 19-yard Garcia to Jomo Wilson touchdown. The Sharks would not trail the rest of the game.
· Jacksonville scored touchdowns on its first nine drives, had a field goal on its tenth and ran out the clock on its eleventh possession.
· Sharks WR/KR Jeff Hughley tallied 225 all-purpose yards and three scores. He caught seven passes for 168 yards with three receiving touchdowns. Hughley also had 57 yards on four kickoff returns.
· Georgia WR/KR C.J. Johnson, who finished the regular season with the second most all-purpose yards had 202. He returned six kickoffs for 141 yards and caught five balls for 61 yards with two receiving scores.
· The Force also had a strong performance from rookie WR Maurice Purify, who caught a game-high 13 passes for 153 yards with three touchdowns.
· The Sharks lost their starting center (Randy Degg) on the team's first touchdown of the game. On Tuesday, Jacksonville added Mike Mabry, who was the starting center for the 2008 ArenaBowl champion Philadelphia Soul.
HOME TEAMS WIN CONFERENCE TITLES AGAIN
The home team has won the conference championship game in each conference for the third straight season. You'd need to go back to 2007 when a home team in a conference championship lost. That was Georgia when Columbus beat the Force to advance to ArenaBowl XXI.
WEEK ONE REMATCH
In the season's first game, the Rattlers overcame a 9-0 deficit to beat the Sharks 55-52 thanks to a nine-yard touchdown from Nick Davila to Jason Geathers with 31 seconds left. Arizona sealed the win with Jacksonville QB Aaron Garcia interception on the first offensive play after the Geathers score. In the game, Davila tossed six scores and ran in another. Four of those touchdowns went to Trandon Harvey, who caught twelve passes for 130 yards and also ran in a two-point conversion. Garcia had five scores for the Sharks, but was picked off twice.
WHERE THEY RANKED
In the regular season, the Rattlers and Sharks were among the league's best in many categories. Here's a look at each category either team finished in the top five out of 18 teams.
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ARIZONA
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2011 REG. SEASON TEAM STATS
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JACKSONVILLE
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OFFENSE
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FIRST
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Games Won
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2nd
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2nd
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Points Scored
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FIRST
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2nd
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Total Touchdowns
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FIRST
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3rd
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Offensive Touchdowns
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FIRST
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FIRST
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Passer Rating
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2nd
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7th
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Passing Offense
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4th
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2nd
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Completion Pct
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FIRST
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FIRST
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Least INT Thrown
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T-3rd
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2nd
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Pass Touchdowns
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3rd
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FIRST
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Least Giveaways
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3rd
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FIRST
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Turnover Differential
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2nd
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T-2nd
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First Downs
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10th
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2nd
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First Downs by Passing
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8th
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2nd
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First Downs by Penalty
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17th
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FIRST
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3rd Down Conversions
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2nd
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6th
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4th Down Conversions
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2nd
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T-2nd
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Sacks Allowed
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FIRST
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DEFENSE
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2nd
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Points Allowed
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6th
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4th
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Total Defense
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17th
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2nd
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Def. Passer Rating
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5th
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4th
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Pass Defense
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LAST
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5th
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Rushing Defense
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3rd
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3rd
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Most Takeaways
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5th
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3rd
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Interceptions
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5th
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T-5th
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Fumbles Recovered
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T-5th
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14th
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Least Opp. 3rd Down Conv.
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4th
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15th
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Least Opp. 4th Down Conv.
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2nd
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T-6th
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Sacks by
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2nd
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SPECIAL TEAMS
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FIRST
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Kickoff Return Avg.
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4th
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5th
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PAT Made Pct
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15th
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2nd
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PAT Attempted
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1st
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T-FIRST
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PAT Made
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T-4th
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2nd
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MFG Return Avg.
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8th
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T-FIRST
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Kickoff Return TD
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T-12th
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FIRST
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Combined Return TD
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T-12th
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6th
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Touchbacks
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FIRST
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14th
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Kickoff Coverage
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FIRST
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LUCKY SEVENS?
Seems like every seven years Arizona gets to host the ArenaBowl. This trend began 14 years ago when the Rattlers hosted ArenaBowl XI in 1997. Arizona beat Iowa for its second AFL title that day thanks to backup QB Donnie Davis ArenaBowl MVP performance. Seven years later in 2004, Phoenix hosted again but fell to San Jose in what was the last ArenaBowl before the league started neutral site title games. Likely, this will be the last time that the team with the best record hosts the ArenaBowl with the league likely going back to a neutral site next season.
TIES TO ARENABOWL XXII
Arizona receivers Jason Geathers and Chris Jackson return to the ArenaBowl three years after playing against each other in the final AFL title game prior to the league's financial collapse. Geathers was with the San Jose SaberCats and produced one of the greatest two-way performances in ArenaBowl history (though the attending media didn't recognize him). Jackson was named the Offensive Player of the Game with the winning Philadelphia Soul. Geathers caught eight passes for 101 yards with five touchdowns and a two-point conversion (his 32 points scored is an ArenaBowl record). He also recovered a fumble and posted 2.5 tackles. Jackson caught eleven balls for 146 yards with three scores.
ACTION JACKSON
In his first season with his last three teams, Arizona WR Chris Jackson has helped each advance to the ArenaBowl. In 2005, he did so with the Georgia Force that lost to Colorado in ArenaBowl XIX. He was the Offensive Player of the Game for ArenaBowl XXII in his first season with the Philadelphia Soul in 2008. Moreover, this year, he's done so with the Arizona Rattlers.
MOST TD PASSES BY ARENABOWL STARTING QUARTERBACKS
This year's ArenaBowl starting quarterbacks have combined for more passing touchdowns in the regular season than any previous starting signal callers in ArenaBowl history. Of the previous top five combined passing TD ArenaBowls, the player with the fewer number of passing scores in the regular season won the ArenaBowl three times, including the last two. NOTE: the QB bolded below was a member of the winning ArenaBowl team.
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YEAR
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COMBINED TD
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QUARTERBACKS
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2011
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223
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Davila, 117
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Garcia, 116
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2010
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206
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Dietz, 106
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Rowley, 100
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2007
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175
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Grieb, 100
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Nagy, 75
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2008
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172
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Grieb, 100
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D'Orazio, 72
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2003
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164
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Bonner, 89
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Kaleo, 75
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2005
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155
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Dutton, 89
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Nagy, 66
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TOP PASS TD QUARTERBACKS IN ARENABOWL
For the first time since 1990 (and second time ever), the ArenaBowl will have the top two QBs in passing touchdowns. Davila and Garcia finished in the top two. The last time this happened was in ArenaBowl IV when pass TD leader Art Schlichter (27 TDs) of Detroit and Ben Bennett (24) of Dallas faced off. Schlichter was named the ArenaBowl MVP not because of his arm, but his four rushing touchdowns. The two QBs combined for just three touchdowns through the air (1 by Bennett) and three interceptions (two by Schlichter).
DAVILA vs. GARCIA
The quarterbacks in this game were two of the best in the league this season. These two were so close in many categories. Garcia threw for just 37 more yards, but Davila had more touchdowns and far fewer interceptions. Let's take a look at where each ranked all the passing categories.
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DAVILA
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2011 STATS
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GARCIA
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2nd
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Completions
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3rd
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2nd
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Attempts
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7th
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2nd
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Completion Pct
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FIRST
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3rd
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Pass Yards
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2nd
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FIRST
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Pass TD
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2nd
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FIRST
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Fewest INT Thrown
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Tied for 11th
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FIRST
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Passer Rating
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2nd
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FIRST
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Wins as Starter
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2nd
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DAVILA vs. GARCIA - PART II
This will be the second time this season that the two QBs have met. In the first meeting, Davila won the game and had a better statistical performance.
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DAVILA
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STATS (3/12/2011)
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GARCIA
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58.7
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Completion Pct
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61.5
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284
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Pass Yards
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259
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6
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Pass TDs
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5
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0
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INT Thrown
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2
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109.33
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Passer Rating
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91.72
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0
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Times Sacked
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0
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1
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Rushing TDs
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0
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DAVILA vs. GARCIA - PART III
These two QBs have faced each other three times with Davila's team winning both times. The first was June 26 of last year when the Rattlers visited Jacksonville and beat the Sharks 66-50. Both QBs had similar performances. Davila completed 63.3% for 206 yards with five TDs and an interception (he also added a rushing score in the win), but didn't play the final drives because the game was decided by that point. Garcia hit on 55.5% of his passes for 286 yards with five scores and an interception.
MORE GARCIA NOTES
Here's some interesting Aaron Garcia notes that I thought you might like to know about.
· It took the AFL's all-time regular season leader in nearly every passing category 201 games played (regular season & playoffs) to reach his first ArenaBowl. That is by far the longest wait by any QB in league history (and perhaps the longest of any player in league history).
· Garcia is the oldest starting QB in ArenaBowl history. The previous oldest starting QB was Sherdrick Bonner, who was 35 when the Rattlers lost the 2004 ArenaBowl. As a side note, Jay Gruden won four ArenaBowls before he turned 30.
· If Garcia wins he would be seven years older than the oldest starting QB to win an ArenaBowl - Mark Grieb, who was named the MVP of the 2007 ArenaBowl when he was 33 years old.
· If Garcia wins, he would do so with the most interceptions thrown (17) in the regular season of any ArenaBowl winning QB.
· Garcia's 17 interceptions are the most ever by a player that was named AFL Offensive Player of the Year. The previous high was also by Garcia (16) in the 2001 season when he was a member of the New York Dragons.
· Garcia is the first QB to earn Offensive Player of the Year twice. If he is named Offensive Player of the Game for the ArenaBowl, he'd be just the second player in league history to be named Offensive Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Game for the ArenaBowl in the same season. He'd join 2008 winner Chris Jackson, who did so with the Philadelphia Soul and is now a member of the Arizona Rattlers.
NOTE: the MVP of the Year hasn't been given out since 1995 and assuming if Garcia or Davila receive this award and then earn the same honor in the ArenaBowl, it would be just the third time that this has happened. It happened in 1990 (Detroit QB Art Schlichter) and in 1989 (Detroit OS George LaFrance).
LOOK TO HUGHLEY
One of the biggest differences in this matchup compared to the Week One game is that Jacksonville has WR/KR Jeff Hughley, who didn't play in the team's first three games. Hughley has been huge for the Sharks as a dangerous return man and a receiver. Six of his seven 200 all-purpose yardage games came in the last six weeks of the regular season. He returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in the opening playoff win against Orlando. In that Week One game, the Sharks had just four total kickoff returns for 59 yards with a long of just 28.
HOME SWEET HOME
This will mark the 20th non-neutral site ArenaBowl. The home team in those previous 19 ArenaBowls was 10-9, including Spokane's win last season. Strangely enough, the last home ArenaBowl team to lose was Arizona that last to San Jose 69-62 in 2004. Prior to that game, the previous five home-venue ArenaBowls were all won by the home team. In the league's first twelve seasons, the home team won the ArenaBowl just four times (all 12 times the home team was the #1 overall seed as Arizona is this year).
This will mark the 20th non-neutral site ArenaBowl. The home team in those previous 19 ArenaBowls was 10-9, including Spokane's win last season. Strangely enough, the last home ArenaBowl team to lose was Arizona that last to San Jose 69-62 in 2004. Prior to that game, the previous five home-venue ArenaBowls were all won by the home team. In the league's first twelve seasons, the home team won the ArenaBowl just four times (all 12 times the home team was the #1 overall seed as Arizona is this year).
HEY COACH
Both head coaches are familiar with the ArenaBowl as assistants, but this is their first AFL title games as head coaches.
Rattlers head coach Kevin Guy was the defensive coordinator of the 2007 San Jose SaberCats that won ArenaBowl XXI. Sharks head coach Les Moss was an assistant under his father when the Detroit Drive won the 1990 ArenaBowl and an assistant under Jay Gruden for titles with Orlando in 1998 and 2000.
Both also had success in the af2. Guy was the 2003 af2 Coach of the Year with the Tennessee Valley Vipers (now known as the George Force) and was inducted into the only class of the af2 Hall of Fame in 2009. Moss earned af2 Coach of the Year honors the following season with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Pioneers.
ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR FIRST
Jacksonville is the 19th different team to make it to the ArenaBowl (this assumes that the Storm/Gladiators and Kats/Force franchises are considered separate teams - if not then 17th). Those teams in their first ArenaBowl appearance are a combined 10-8. This is the sixth straight ArenaBowl that a team will be making its first ArenaBowl appearance. The others: 2010 Spokane (won), 2008 Philadelphia (won), 2007 Columbus (lost), 2006 Chicago (won) and 2005 Colorado (won). You can also put the 2005 Georgia if you don't count the Force as the Nashville Kats, which is where the team originally came from.
NUMBER ONE OVERALL SEED IN THE ARENABOWL
Arizona reached the ArenaBowl with the best regular season record. In the AFL’s previous 23 seasons, the team with the best regular season record won the ArenaBowl just eight times. This includes the last two ArenaBowls (2010 Spokane and 2008 Philadelphia). The top seed didn’t win the title game in the previous five years (2003-07) prior to the Soul's 2008 win.
In the AFL’s first 12 years, the top seed advanced to the ArenaBowl all 12 years, but had just four wins. In the next ten seasons, the top seed won three while advancing to the ArenaBowl five of ten possible years. This is the third time that Arizona has hosted the ArenaBowl and is 1-1 in those games.
IF HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
Here's some interesting situationals from the first 23 ArenaBowls. The record of the winning team is this in the ArenaBowl if...
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SITUATIONAL
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RECORD OF WINNER
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NOTE
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Scores First
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16-7
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Leading after 1st Qtr
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12-5
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There were four ABs ties
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Leading at Halftime
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22-0
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ArenaBowl X was tied at 28
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Leading after 3rd Qtr
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23-0
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OTHER ARENABOWL NOTES
The first points scored in an ArenaBowl have been done five different ways: fumble return (1), safety (2), field goal (five), receiving TD (six) and rushing TD (eight). In this pass-happy league, it took eight ArenaBowls to get the first points via the air when Ben Bennett connected with Alex Shell on a five-yard strike in ArenaBowl VIII.
Last year, the losing team (Tampa Bay) scored first and held a 7-6 lead after the first quarter.
Twice has a team been shutout for the first three quarters (both obviously lost). The Pittsburgh Gladiators were held scoreless for the first 48:43 of ArenaBowl I and Arizona was shutout for the first 50:36 of ArenaBowl XVI.
There has never been an overtime game in ArenaBowl history. The closest was ArenaBowl XIX and ArenaBowl XIV that were decided by short field goals as time expired.
HOCHULI NAMED OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR
The league named Shawn Hochuli as its official of the year. Hochuli officiated the Week One Sharks-Rattlers game and you'd assume he'd be officiating ArenaBowl XXIV since he was after all the best official in the league (according to the league that is), but that's still unknown.
Hochuli, the son of NFL official Ed Hochuli, and is very familiar with the Rattlers since he was raised in the Phoenix area. Last year, he was the regional official for Rattlers games. This year, he was the white cap for three other Arizona games (wins at Utah and home against Spokane as well as a home loss to Chicago). Other than the Week One tilt, Hochuli didn't officiate any Sharks games this season according to league stats, but the stats crew in Jacksonville forgot to input the officials in four home games so maybe he did. Milwaukee's stats crew did the same thing for five home games.
According to the league's game books, Hochuli was the head official of 14 regular season games. He traveled to the four West Division teams for 11 of those games (4 in San Jose, 3 in Arizona, 3 in Utah and once in Spokane). The other three games were in Tulsa (twice) and Kansas City (once). In those 14 contests, the home team was 10-4. The road wins were by Arizona (at Utah), Chicago (at Arizona), Georgia (at San Jose) and Dallas (at Tulsa).
Nine of the 28 possible teams were penalized at least ten times in these games, including the April 1 Kansas City-Spokane game where the two teams combined for 27 flags and 180 penalty yards. His least penalized game was on May 28 when the Rush and Talons combined for seven flags and 58 yards. SaberCats fans will remember Hochuli as the ref that flagged OL Aaron Kia for holding as time expired that wiped out the potential game-winning touchdown against Georgia on May 28. San Jose was flagged 15 times that game - the most that Hochuli's crew penalized any single team.
ADAMLE FAR FROM PREPARED
For the American Conference Championship game, NFL Network used Mike Adamle as its play-by-play announcer. Adamle was a staple for AFL games in the mid-1990s on ESPN with Mike Golic, but for this game he appeared to be completely unprepared. There were a bunch of mistakes and thankfully former Philadelphia Soul head coach Bret Munsey was there to add some great insight into the play calling or this would have been much uglier than it was.
Adamle said the game was on NBC instead of NFL Network. He also told the audience that six of the eight players play both ways, which hasn't been the case since 2007 and even said that Aaron Garcia played for the New York CityHawks apparently confusing Garcia with Mike Perez. Adamle must agree with me that the AFL is a more fun and entertaining game than the NFL since he mentioned the ArenaBowl as the Super Bowl at least twice, including when the Sharks sealed the victory.
IS JACKSONVILLE THE NEW SPOKANE?
At last year's ArenaBowl, the league made numerous announcements and even had signs made to tell the fans that interfering with game play would not be tolerated and fans caught doing so would be ejected. Monday night on NFL Network, the league was embarrassed when a fan not only interfered with a kickoff but mauled Georgia WR/KR C.J. Johnson trying to get a football. To make matters worse, the incident was laughed at by the NFL Network announcers as "part of the game." Within seconds after the play three Sharks players came and congratulated the fan on the assault. Twice more during the game plays needed to be re-played because of fan interference. Sadly, the kickoff mauling is the ONLY clip on NFL.com from the American Conference championship game that I could find on their site. By the way this was the second most view video on NFL.com on August 9. Check here to re-live the embarrassment.
2010 ARENABOWL ANNOUNCERS BACK FOR 2011
On Tuesday, it was announced that the same announcers that called the ArenaBowl XXIII last season would be back for this year's game. Paul Burmeister will call the action with 2011 AFL Hall of Fame finalist Kurt Warner adding analysis. Ari Wolfe and Anthony Herron will provide sideline reports during the game.
WARNER IN THE ARENABOWL
In addition to announcing back-to-back ArenaBowls for NFL Network, Warner played in back-to-back ArenaBowls as the starting QB for the Iowa Barnstormers (1996 & 1997), losing to the Storm in ArenaBowl X and to Arizona a year later. In both seasons, Warner entered the game as a First Team All-Arena performer. After he left the Barnstormers, Iowa won just one playoff game before the team moved to New York and became the Dragons in 2001 (the team failed to make the playoffs a year after Warner left).
Against the Storm, he tossed 316 yards and four scores, but was picked off three times; including one that ArenaBowl X MVP Stevie Thomas returned nine yards for a touchdown (just 23 seconds after he caught a 35-yard TD). Warner had four opportunities to win the game for Iowa near the Storm goal line but his last three passes either were broken up or fell incomplete.
A year later in his last AFL game before eventually going on to NFL glory, Warner returned the Barnstormers to the ArenaBowl, but this time it wasn't close as the Rattlers won by 22. Warner had 325 passing yards and three scores, but had two interceptions (one returned 30 yards for a TD by ArenaBowl XI Ironman Hunkie Cooper).
Looking at Warner’s ArenaBowl and Super Bowl appearances, he holds the record for career 300-yard games in both title games (two in the ArenaBowl; three in the Super Bowl). Warner was the first AFL player to pass for 300 yards in an ArenaBowl (316 in 1996) and his 325 a year later was the record until 1999 – it stands as the fourth most today.
Including Warner's three Super Bowl appearances, he passed for over 300 yards in all five professional football championship games he played. He still holds the ArenaBowl records for most completions (31) and pass attempts (51); both were set in ArenaBowl XI against Arizona (1997).
HOF ANNOUNCEMENT COMING FRIDAY
At halftime of the ArenaBowl, the AFL will announce its first Hall of Fame class since 2002. All ten finalists should get in, but the league decided that just five be selected even though it's been nearly a decade since the last class was inducted. My top five again are: George LaFrance, Barry Wagner, Eddie Brown, Stevie Thomas and Hunkie Cooper. I wish that the commissioner would just allow all ten to get in, if not there's going to be a backlog on great players for years to come and someone's going to be shafted. It's not too late. BTW, if somehow say a Sylvester Bembery made it, I'd be elated. He was a beast at his position.
BREAKING IT DOWN PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Aaron Garcia, Jacksonville QB
Garcia had a stellar night Monday against Georgia. He had more touchdown passes (eight) than incompletions (six) while passing for 313 yards and no interceptions. This was Garcia's third Breaking it Down Player of the Week honor. He previously earned the distinction in Week Three when he had a perfect passer rated game and in Week 16 when he almost duplicated the feat. In those three games, he combined for over 900 yards and 25 passing touchdowns for a near perfect passer rating.
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2011 BREAKING IT DOWN PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
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Wk
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Player, Team
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Stat Notes
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1
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Mark Grieb, SJ
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84%, 222 yds, six TDs, 143 rating
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2
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Tommy Grady, Utah
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67%, 306 yds, 9 TD (7 pass/2 rush)
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3
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Aaron Garcia, JAX
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89.5%, 308 yds, 8 TD, perfect 158.33 rating
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4
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Brad Banks, Iowa
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65%, 383 yards, 11 TD (10 pass/1 rush), 138.9 rating
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5
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Sergio Gilliam, KC
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3 interceptions, 5.0 tackles, 1 pass breakup
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6
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Rod Windsor, AZ
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16 receptions for 217 yards and five TDs
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7
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Kyle Rowley, SPK
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72%, 293 yards, 10 TD (8 pass/2 rush), 1 INT, 126.69 rating
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8
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Kyle Rowley, SPK
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67.7%, 219 yards, 9 TD (8 pass/1 rush), 1 INT, 114.11 rating
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9
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Tommy Grady, Utah
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73.3%, 344 yards, 10 TD, 0 INT, 134.63 rating
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10
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Nick Hill, ORL
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79.3%, 267 yards, 8 TD (6 pass/2 rush), 0 INT, 144.61 rating
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11
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Tommy Grady, Utah
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71.9%, 319 yards 10 TD (9 pass/1 rush), 0 INT, 143.1 rating
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12
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Dan Raudabaugh, DAL
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87.8%, 433 yards, 10 TD, 0 INT, 156.37 rating
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13
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Bobby Sippio, ORL
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9 receptions, 124 yards, 6 TDs
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14
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J.C. Neal, TUL
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6.0 tackles, 2 INT returned for touchdowns, 95 INT yards
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15
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Tommy Grady, Utah
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79.5% (31-of-39), 313 yards, 10 TD, 0 INT, 139.69 rating
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16
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Aaron Garcia, JAX
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81.5%, 289 yards, 9 TD, 0 INT, 150.69 rating
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17
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Nick Davila
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79.3%, 291 yards, 9 TD, 0 INT
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18
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Tiger Jones, DAL
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17 catches for 208 yards with five touchdowns
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19
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Kyle Rowley, SPO
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77.4%, 281 yards, 9 TD (8 pass/1 rush), 0 INT, 144.0 rating
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20
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Benji McDowell, GEO
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Game-winning rushing TD, 4.0 sacks, 1 FF, 6.5 tackles
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DIV RD
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Jeff Hughley, JAX
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Two 57-yard kickoff returns for touchdowns
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CONF.
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Aaron Garcia, JAX
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78.6%, 313 yards, 8 TD, 0 INT, 152.83 rating
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Andy Lopusnak is an 11-year AFL front office veteran, spending time with the Tampa Bay Storm, San Diego Riptide and Grand Rapids Rampage. He works as a statistician for NFL and college sports for CBS Sports and is a freelance photographer. Lopusnak received two Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of South Florida and has been a fan of ArenaBall since its inception.
