The Georgia Force and Pittsburgh Power square off Saturday, July 14^th at the Arena at Gwinnett Center in an Arena Football League contest with postseason implications. Georgia and Pittsburgh met in Week 8 at the Consul Energy Center in Pittsburgh, with the Force coming from 12-points down to earn a three-point win, 55-52.

 

Georgia (8-8) is coming off a bye week while Pittsburgh (4-12) will be trying to bounce back from a tough loss at home last Saturday to the Tampa Bay Storm, 65-61. The Power had a chance to win the game on the final play, but the pass was incomplete as time ran out. The victory was the first road win for Tampa Bay this season.

 

The Force enter Week 19 trailing the New Orleans VooDoo (8-8) for the lead in the American Conference South as a result of a loss in Week 14 to the VooDoo. The Jacksonville Sharks, also 8-8, are third based on head-to-head results with the Storm (7-9) in fourth. The Orlando Predators (3-13) are the only team in the division mathematically eliminated from the post season chase.

 

Quarterback Bryant Moniz will be making his third consecutive start for Force, second in front of the home fans, and will be trying to lead Georgia to their sixth home win of the season. ‘Mighty Mo’ had a solid performance in his home debut July 1^st in the win over the Predators completing 21-of-29 passes for 273-yards and seven touchdowns without a turnover. In his two starts, Moniz has a completion percentage of 63.2 (48/76) with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions.

 

The former University of Hawaii signal caller reflected on his first home start earlier this week when he said “you have to be happy when you walk away from a game with no turnovers, also am very happy that we were able to put points on the board every time we got the ball,” he went on to say that he and the receivers “have to continue to build on our past 2 games. Building our timing and being able to finish the game. We have to be able to get positive yards at the end and not put our defense in the situation they were in this past weekend.” Moniz was referring to the failure of the offense to maintain possession on their final drive in the win over Orlando. Georgia failed to gain positive yards on successive plays, causing the clock to stop with under a minute remaining and giving Orlando a final opportunity to tie the game.

 

When asked about ‘Mighty Mo’ and his progression, Coach Dean Cokinos said that it’s “as good as you can ask for in a first year QB with no training camp or pro experience,” and went on to say “He is growing at a rapid pace,” Cokinos continued “coming into this with ‘Mo’ we knew he possesses all the tangible as well as intangible traits you look for in a QB. He understands the game at a high level.”

 

With the reassignment of Brandon McRae on Thursday, the receiving corps will consist of Larry Shipp, CJ Johnson, Mike Johnson and Shay Hodge, however, Mike Johnson is questionable due to lingering injury concerns. Shipp leads the team in receptions (124), yards (1,456) and touchdowns (29) and is averaging just under 100-yards a game in receiving yards with 97.1. CJ Johnson has pulled in 93 catches for 1,005-yards and 14 scores, while Mike Johnson (4 GP, 16 R, 137-yds., 2 TD) and Hodge (5 GP, 28 R, 321-yds., 7 TD) have been key contributors in limited play.

 

Shipp put this week’s game into perspective. “I think the Pitt game is a big game, but not a deal breaker. The ultimate goal is the championship so getting into the playoffs is the goal, and then we’ll take it from there.” Shipp also shared his thoughts on how well Moniz has protected the ball in his first two starts. “Anytime you can step in and play and have no turnovers whatsoever is great.”

 

The Force defense has overcome injuries to key players and has been solid all season. Mario Norman (8.5 TTL) and Robert Durham (8.0 TTL) led the squad in tackles against the Predators while Caleb Bostic contributed 6.0 TTL and blocked the field goal attempt on the final play of the game that secured the 56-53 win. Tracy Belton is day-to-day, and while making “great strides”, Cokinos said the question is if he goes “can he finish?”

 

CJ is now 12^th on the AFL career return yardage list with 6,456 as well as being sixth on the return TDs career list with 18, including three this season.

 

Carlos Martinez was eight-for-eight on PAT attempts. Last year’s Kicker of the Year didn’t have a three-point try in the Power game, but has hit on 13 of his last 22 tries, including nine of his last ten.

 

 

 

The Force added Darnell Kennedy to the active roster for the final post-season push. Kennedy was the Force opening day starter this season but was released in the first month of the season. His experience as a starter, both regular and post-season, will help as the team looks to move deep into the playoffs. Kennedy gives the Force an experienced alternative in the event that Moniz can’t go.

 

Kennedy said he is “extremely happy to be able to continue this dream of football alive,” and went on to say “I'm very excited and can't wait to see where this goes.”

 

As the post season tournament nears, Force fans echo that sentiment.

 

Mike began his third season reporting on the Georgia Force in March, 2012. Coverage includes weekly game previews and recaps, exclusive interviews and AFL news. Mike has been a Gwinnett County resident (the home of the Force) for two decades and provides coverage of the counties other pro sports franchises, the Gwinnett Braves (Braves Triple-A affiliate) and the Gwinnett Gladiators (ECHL, player development deals with both the Phoenix Coyotes and Buffalo Sabres) as well.