Breaking it Down – Week 19 2011

Andy Lopusnak
Wednesday July 20, 2011

The playoff teams are all set. Chicago and Cleveland won their respective divisions, while Georgia, Orlando and Spokane clinched playoff berths. Jacksonville has dropped three straight and San Jose failed to reach the postseason for the first time since 1999. The defending champion Shock pulled off a miracle last-second play to sneak into the playoffs after starting the season 4-7. There's a lot to cover in the first Week 19 in AFL history so buckle up.

• The Mustangs scored a league-record 41 points in the fourth quarter.
• Milwaukee's Dwayne LeFall had a 40-yard touchdown run - the second longest in the league this season. It was his first rushing attempt in his AFL career. DeFall, normally a defensive lineman, also posted three solo stops, recovered a fumble and recorded a sack.
• The Barnstormers scored just twice on their eight possessions - Milwaukee scored on its final seven possessions and had three returns for TDs.
• Milwaukee had two interception returns for touchdowns within seven seconds for the game's final points.
• In a losing effort, Iowa WR Jesse Schmidt caught 12 balls for 147 yards with three touchdowns.
• Iowa actually had more first downs (25 to 24) in the blowout loss.
• Milwaukee QB Gino Guidugli completed 71% of his passes for 278 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions.
• The Barnstormers tied the AFL single-season record for kickoff returns (122) previously set by the expansion 2003 Colorado Crush.
• Iowa set another league single-season record, but not one that it wants - most points allowed. The Barnstormers have allowed 1,053 points surpassing the previous record of 1,040 set last year by Utah. Iowa's 150 TDs allowed is tied for the league mark with Utah (2010).

• The Gladiators clinched the #2 seed in the American Conference as well as the East Division title with the win and eliminated the expansion Power from playoff contention.
• Pittsburgh led 48-47 entering the fourth quarter, but three straight Cleveland touchdowns shut down the Power.
• Cleveland QB Kurt Rocco completed 71.4% of his passes for 297 yards with eight touchdowns and no interceptions.
• In a losing effort, Power QB Bernard Morris passed for 318 yards with seven touchdowns (no interceptions) and posted a rushing touchdown.
• Gladiators' defensive lineman Tim Cheatwood recovered a fumble for a touchdown, forced a fumble and recorded a sack. He has posted at least a sack in four of his last five games and leads all AFL linemen with 11.5 sacks.
• The win secured just the second winning record for Cleveland head coach Steve Thonn in his seven years as a head coach. He did so previously in his first year (1998) with the Houston Thunderbears (8-4). His team also won its division that year.

• This marked just the third overtime of the year with the home team winning twice.
• Jacksonville trailed by nine with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter, but tied it at the buzzer with a 21-yard field goal. Both teams scored in overtime, but a failed two-point conversion gave the Command the win.
• Aside from the final score, the Sharks dominated statistically with more: first downs (28 to 17), total yards (413 to 340) and passing yards (412 to 309). Jacksonville was also better on third down (3/5 to 1/7).
• The time of possession for the third and fourth quarter was exactly the same - the Command held the ball for 10:04 compared to 4:56 for each quarter.
• Kansas City QB Steve Wasil tossed for 309 yards with four touchdowns, but had three turnovers (two lost fumbles and an interception). However, the KC defense allowed just a field goal from the giveaways.
• Jacksonville QB Aaron Garcia tossed for 419 yards with six touchdowns, but was picked off twice. The Sharks defense didn't allow a point off Garcia's mistakes.
• Sharks WR/LB Jeff Hughley posted 255 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. He caught a league season high 18 catches (tied with Utah's Aaron Boone) for 179 yards in the loss.
• Over the past five weeks, Hughley has had 62 catches for 814 yards with 17 touchdowns. In addition, he has tallied 1,403 all-purpose yards in these five games.

• The Force led 17-0 before the Storm got on the board and extended that to 31-7. Georgia outpaced Tampa Bay the rest of the way for the 18-point victory.
• Georgia QB Brett Elliott was injured in the second quarter and didn't return. His backup Darnell Kennedy tossed five TDs. Georgia's offense tallied just 170 yards of offense in the game.
• The Force's defense forced five turnovers with two returned for touchdowns.
• Danny Southwick became the Storm's fourth QB to start this season, but was pulled at halftime with the Storm down 31-7.
• Southwick's backup, Matt Grothe, tossed five touchdowns in his AFL debut but completed just 50% of his passes.
• The game's first seven combined drives resulted in just a Force field goal.
• In a losing effort, Storm rookie WR Amarri Jackson caught eight passes for 112 yards with three scores. Jackson, who had just three catches for 28 yards in the first three games of the season has posted 116 receptions for 1,475 yards with 31 TDs in the last 14 games. He has seven 100-yard games - all in his past ten games.
• Tampa Bay has lost its last four games and hasn't scored more than 41 in any of them.
• To show how significant the 11 losses are for the Storm this season, it took four seasons for Tampa Bay to lose 11 total games (including playoffs) after the franchise moved from Pittsburgh in 1991 (the 11th loss came in its 45th overall game). The Storm has lost eleven of its last 16 games.
• The Storm defense added two more sacks to its AFL lead and is just a sack away from tying the league record set by the 1988 Pittsburgh Gladiators (12-game season.)

• Orlando starting QB Collin Drafts was benched after starting 0-of-4.
• Nick Hill came in with the Preds down 7-0 and led Orlando on a league-season high 85-point scoring spree.
• Hill ended with 345 passing yards with eight touchdowns and no interceptions.
• The 85 points scored by Orlando is the most in Predators history and ranks sixth most by a road team in league history and is tied for 12th most overall.
• Orlando's Bobby Sippio, back after missing the San Jose loss last week caught 12 passes for 167 yards with three touchdowns. He also added a rushing touchdown.
• Sippio surpassed the 7,000 receiving yardage mark for his career during the game becoming just the 25th player to do so in league history (Chicago's Derek Lee became the 26th to reach the mark less than an hour later). In addition, Sippio passed Calvin Schexnayder for 14th all-time in receiving touchdowns.
• Predators DBs Rayshaun Kizer and Kenny McEntyre had two interceptions apiece. Kizer is now tied for the league lead in interceptions with 15 (also a league single-season record). He tallied his third INT return for a touchdown during the game.
• Tulsa QB Justin Allgood was benched after tossing two picks and his team down 56-28 in the third quarter. Backup Bobby Reid added two rushing scores, including a 36-yard scamper, but was also intercepted twice. Reid has rushed for 97 yards on just eight rushes in the last two weeks (with three rushing scores).
• The win secured the 19th consecutive playoff appearance for the Predators - a league record. Orlando has made the postseason in all but its expansion season of 1991.
• Predators WR/KR Josh Bush scored two special teams touchdowns - one a net recovery and the other a 57-yard kickoff return.
• On back-to-back plays, each team scored on a safety when each QB was sacked in the end zone.
• Orlando forced six takeaways while not giving up the ball at all.
• In a losing effort, the Talons' offense was a perfect three-for-three on third down. 

• Dallas led by 16 at halftime, but was outscored 32-7 in the second half due to scoring just once in its final six drives
• The Rush clinched the Central Division and will host the Vigilantes in the first round of the playoffs.
• With the win, Chicago has a new franchise record of 13 victories in a season. The team's previous record was 12 set in 2007 (a year after winning the ArenaBowl).
• Dallas set a new AFL single-season record for rushing attempts (204) surpassing the 202 set by the 1996 Milwaukee Mustangs. That record was set in a 14-game season.
• There were no turnovers in the game.
• Chicago QB J.J. Raterink tossed for 294 yards with six scores.
• Just three Rush players caught passes - all of which had at least six catches for at least 70 yards with at least a TD. Tops among them was Reggie Gray, who had 126 yards and three scores on six grabs.
• Dallas QB Dan Raudabaugh had 337 yards with four scores.
• Vigilantes FB Derrick Ross added 30 yards and two touchdowns to his AFL leading rushing totals.
• Dallas WR Tiger Jones added to his AFL leading receiving yardage total with 173 on 11 catches with a touchdown.
• The Vigilantes entered the game on a five-game winning streak.
• Rush rookie head coach Bob McMillen became just the second rookie head coach in league history to win 13 regular season games. He joins Rob Keefe who was 13-3 with Spokane last year. Keefe was the first rookie head coach since Jay Gruden (1998 Orlando) to win the ArenaBowl in his first year.

• New Orleans went ahead by three with 35 seconds left, but Utah scored 26 seconds later to re-take the lead. The VooDoo had one chance from its own 11 with nine seconds left but QB Danny Wimprine was picked off.
• Despite the win, the Blaze was eliminated from the playoffs.
• Utah set a new AFL single-season record for passing touchdowns (121) surpassing the previous record (119) set by the 2007 Georgia Force.
• Blaze QB Todd Hammel tossed for 316 yards with five touchdowns and an interception. It was his first 300-yard passing game since Week Seven of 2005 when he had 348 in the 48-45 win over Grand Rapids as a member of the Chicago Rush.
• Utah WR/KR Chris Bocage tallied 224 all-purpose yards and scored three times (one rushing, one receiving and one on a kickoff return).
• In a losing effort, VooDoo WR/KR P.J. Berry posted his ninth 200+ all-purpose yardage game (249).
• New Orleans made three of its four field goal attempts. For the season, Utah has attempted just two FGs (missing both). The league record for least FGs attempted in a season is five by the 2010 Spokane Shock. If Utah doesn't convert a FG in its finale next week, it will tie the league record of fewest made with the Chicago Bruisers that had zero in the four-game 1989 season
• Utah became the first team in league history to score 1,000 points in a season and also give up 1,000 points in the same season. In the last two seasons, the Blaze has give up the second and third most points in league history.

• Spokane took its first lead with 58 seconds left after San Jose WR/KR Marco Thomas was ruled to have come out of the end zone and back in for a safety. SaberCats kicker Juan Gamboa recovered the ensuing kickoff (his third recovery of the season) and San Jose got down to the Spokane 11 and called a timeout with 11 seconds to go. On the next play, San Jose scored but left 3.9 seconds on the clock and Spokane put up a prayer with no time remaining and Randy Hymes answered with his fourth TD of the night to win the game and put Spokane into the playoffs.
• Hymes caught 12 balls for 100 yards with four scores in his Spokane debut.
• Shock QB Kyle Rowley came off the bench after starter Erik Meyer and completed 77.4% of his passes for 281 yards with eight passing scores and a rushing TD.
• San Jose was called for 17 penalties (104 yards), seven of which resulted in Spokane first downs, compared to just five Shock flags.
• On the first Spokane offensive possession, San Jose DB Eddie Moten was ejected after a helmet-to-helmet hit. Without Moten, the SaberCats turned to WR Victor James who had never played defense in the AFL for help at DB. James posted 6.0 tackles and earned Ironman of the Game status (also had two rushing scores and a net recovery) but was by no means an Eddie Moten.
• San Jose defense now has the distinction of allowing AFL single-season records for total yardage, passing yardage and passing touchdowns. 
• There were four blocked kicks in the game (two by each team). On one of them, the refs blew a call by flagging San Jose for kick-catch interference. By rule, there's no flag for KCI when a field goal is blocked. This was one of many questionable calls made by this game's officials.
• San Jose QB Mark Grieb had 315 yards and seven scores in the game. He had two receivers go over 100 yards: James Roe (11-132-4) and Ben Nelson (8-103-2).
• Roe surpassed the 800-catch mark in his AFL career (10th player ever to do so).
• San Jose OL Mark Lewis added 31 yards on two grabs to his league-leading yardage total for all linemen.