AFL Press ReleaseFirst place in Mitsubishi Motors Western Division at stake in Week 2 on Monday night
Wednesday March 5, 2008
Philadelphia at Chicago on ESPN2; Los Angeles at Arizona on ESPN2 Highlights Schedule
NEW YORK – Two nationally-televised games highlight Week 2 in the Arena Football League as the Mitsubishi Motors Drive to ArenaBowl XXII New Orleans continues and eight of the 16 teams in action officially begin divisional play.
The season’s first of three installments of Russell Athletic ESPN Arena Football Sunday takes center stage as the Chicago Rush (1-0), no. 2 in this week’s AFLWA rankings, welcomes the Philadelphia Soul (1-0), no. 3, to Allstate Arena on Sunday, March 9, at 1 p.m. ET (ESPN2 HD).
The Rush defeated the San Jose SaberCats (0-1), 70-47, at Allstate Arena on Monday night and are 6-2 all-time in home openers. Chicago is 2-0 all-time at home against Philadelphia, and look to begin their season 2-0 for only the second time in franchise history (2004).
The Soul hopes to continue their winning ways after defeating the Orlando Predators, 77-56, at Wachovia Center in Week 1. With a win, Philadelphia will begin their season 2-0 for the second consecutive season.
Chicago QB MATT D’ORAZIO completed 30-of-42 passes for 334 yards with four touchdowns in the air and one on the ground as the Rush outscored the Soul 20-6 in the fourth quarter en route to a 54-43 victory in Week 9 action in 2007. D’Orazio is now a member of the Soul as he was acquired by Philadelphia in the offseason.
An early Mitsubishi Motors Western Division matchup takes place in the desert as the Arizona Rattlers (1-0) host the Los Angeles Avengers (1-0) on Russell Athletic ESPN Arena Football Monday, March 10, at 11 p.m. ET (ESPN2 HD).
Arizona looks to ride the momentum from their 63-62 Week 1 victory over the Utah Blaze (0-1) and begin their season with two consecutive victories for the first time since 2000.
Los Angeles swept the Rattlers in 2007 and holds a 5-2 record all-time in Arizona as they look to improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2004 after defeating the New Orleans VooDoo (0-1), 59-42, in the season opener.
Avengers QB SONNY CUMBIE completed 31-of-44 passes for 317 yards with six touchdowns as Los Angeles outscored Arizona 21-7 in the fourth quarter to take a, 55-52, victory in Week 15 action in 2007.
The Dallas Desperados (1-0) welcome the Columbus Destroyers (0-1) to American Airlines Center on Friday, March 7, at 8:30 p.m. ET in a rematch of the 2007 Divisional Round matchup that saw the sixth-seeded Destroyers upset the top-seeded Desperados, 66-59, in Dallas.
The Destroyers defense held Dallas scoreless during the third quarter, their first scoreless quarter of that season, while Destroyers QB MATT NAGY completed 20-of-32 passes for 284 yards with four touchdowns, outdueling the Desperados 38-21 in the second half.
Dallas won its season opener for the fourth consecutive season by defeating the Georgia Force (0-1), 51-41, at The Arena at Gwinnett Center. But their win came with a price as QB CLINT DOLEZEL separated his shoulder and will miss four to six weeks.
In their last regular-season meeting in Dallas, Dolezel completed 25-of-34 passes for 299 yards and seven touchdowns as the Desperados overcame a 30-7 second quarter deficit to defeat the Destroyers, 53-51, on a 16-yard field goal by K TODD SIEVERS as time expired.
Nagy completed 24-of-44 passes for 224 yards with six touchdowns to five different receivers in the loss.
The Destroyers hope to bounce back from a 50-47 loss to Colorado at Pepsi Center in Week 1.
Nagy completed 26-of-42 passes for 225 yards and four touchdowns but could not hold on as Colorado’s offense scored on six of the team’s 10 possessions.
The Cleveland Gladiators (1-0) welcome the Utah Blaze (0-1) to Quicken Loans Arena on Sunday, March 9, at 12:30 p.m. ET.
The Gladiators look to keep their momentum from their 61-49 win against the New York Dragons (0-1) in their inaugural game in Cleveland on Monday night.
Utah looks to bounce back from its 63-62 loss to the Arizona Rattlers (1-0) as K STEVE VIDETICH missed a potential game-winning 36-yard field goal with one second remaining.
The all-time series is tied 2-2 all-time, as Utah hopes to avoid its first 0-2 start in team history. With a win, Cleveland will notch its first 2-0 start since the franchise’s inaugural season as the New Jersey Red Dogs in 1997.
This week’s other games include: Georgia at Tampa Bay on Friday; Orlando at New Orleans on Sunday; Kansas City at New York on Sunday; and San Jose at Grand Rapids on Monday.
AFLWA TOP TWELVE RANKINGS
RANKING
|
TEAM
|
POINTS
|
|
1 |
|
170 |
|
2 |
|
169 |
|
3 |
|
149 |
|
4 |
|
115 |
|
5 |
|
113 |
|
6 |
|
87 |
|
7 |
|
86 |
|
8 |
Georgia Force |
76 |
|
9 |
|
58 |
|
10 |
|
50 |
|
11 |
|
27 |
|
12 |
|
24 |
Also receiving votes: Utah (21), Columbus (20), New Orleans (5). Dropped out: Columbus (9), Utah (11).
