Saturday, March 12, 2011

Arena Football is BACK in action: AFL kick-off weekend

The fast-paced, high scoring Arena Football League is back in action as the 2011 regular season kicked off last night (Friday March 11) with a slate of three games. The night's action was headlined by last season's AFL Champion Spokane Shock.

The Shock, founded in 2006, allowed San Jose's three-time Arena Bowl-winning quarterback Mark Grieb to throw for 222 yards and six touchdowns (zero INTs). Full back Chad Cook added 21 yards and three touchdowns on the ground as the SaberCats put 76 points up on the scoreboard.

Spokane quarterback Kyle Rowley completed 30 passes for 364 yards and five touchdowns on 47 pass attempts, but his three interceptions were the downer for Spokane, whose offense managed just 48 points (which really isn't a whole lot for Arena League action).
The other two games involved the 2008 Arena Bowl champion Philadelphia Soul, and one of last season's newest teams, the Pittsburgh Power. The battle of PA ended up going in to overtime, with Philly's quarterback Justin Allgood's 300 yards and five touchdown passes--all to receiver Donovan Morgan, who also totaled 14 receptions for 189 yards by game's end--led the Soul's surging offense.

But it was veteran receiver/defensive back/returner Mike Brown whom made the game-winning play to end the game in overtime.

Pittsburgh's Bernard Morris, 264 yards, five TDs, 3 INTs committed a costly turnover when his third INT of the game was returned 15 yards for a game-ending touchdown by the fan favorite Brown. Brown, whom the Soul decided to bring back to the team after he was acquired from San Jose on February 18. The final score ended up being 58-52 in Pittsburgh as the Power starts its season with an 0-1 record.

The not-quite-as-exciting matchup between the Tampa Bay Storm and New Orleans Voodoo took place last night as well. The two made for a "low-scoring" 46-40 affair with limited mistakes. The game, believe it or not, seemed to revolve around the ground game as the two squads combined for five rushing touchdowns and just three passing touchdowns (all thrown by New Orleans' Danny Wimprine).

Tampa Bay came out on top thanks to a 24-point second quarter, allowing them to squeeze out the six-point victory.

Week One action has continued today (the Dallas Vigilantes defeated the Kansas City Command, 53-46, earlier today; Jacksonville Sharks and Arizona Rattlers face-off at 9 P.M. E.T. tonight), and will go through Monday night, with a Chicago Rush/Milwaukee Mustangs matchup capping the seven-game opening weekend.

Stay tuned for more coverage of the Arena Football League while we await the end result of the NFL labor negotiations.

Photo Credit: SportsLogos.net

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