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GAMEDAY:  @    

TV: FSN Midwest / Sun Sports (Tape Delay)

Radio: (Click on team to get broadcast) Brigade @ Predators

          Orlando, Florida - The Orlando Predators will host the expansion Kansas City Brigade in tonight’s home opener at the TD Waterhouse Centre. Both teams suffered losses in the first week of action ion the Arena Football League’s 20^th season. The Predators fell short to the defending National Conference champion Georgia Force by a final score of 48-31, and the Brigade suffered a 58-44 loss to the Dallas Desperados.

         The Predators struggled late in the Georgia game. Quarterback Joe Hamilton tossed two picks in the final minute. But the Predators played an excellent game, and the outcome was decided on only a few plays. The Predators have a young core of players who will need to step up in order for the team to excel and make an Arena Bowl run. Jimmy Fryzel was the Preds leading receiver in last weeks game.

(More to come soon)

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WEEK 2 POWER RANKINGS

#1) Utah Blaze (1-0) (Last Week: 13) - The Blaze beat an unproved San Jose team, but have a good group of coaches who know the game, and a great core of players. They could become a dominant force in the AFL.

#2) Philadelphia Soul (1-0) (Last Week: 12) - The Soul beat a veteran Tampa Bay team by a final of 52-34, utilizing their potent offense, which has remained the same strong force since the arrival of Tony Graziani. But this year will be different, because the Soul have a defense that can make the big plays when needed. This could be the year of the Soul, and I can't call them the (no)Soul anymore.

#3) Nashville Kats (1-0) (Last Week: 3) - The Kats are such an incredible team, and have carried there momentum over from the end of last year to this year, and with their new additions they are better then ever before. They are beginning to look like the old Kats.

#4) Colorado Crush (1-0) (Last Week: 1) - The defending champs beat a Rush team on the last play of the game, on a pass to superstar Damien Harrell. The reason I've dropped them to #4 is because their defense gave up 3 2-point conversions after the Chicago kicker injured his hamstring in practice. But they still won, and they are the defending champs.

#5) Georgia Force (1-0) (Last Week: 2) - The Force beat a young, unproven Predators team on a few plays that decided the outcome.

#6) Los Angles Avengers (1-0) (Last Week: 6) - The Avengers overcame their first half quarterback struggle to beat the new look Rattlers with stellar defense . If young quarterback Brian Mann continues to play the way he did, The Avengers could become very good, very quick.

#7) Dallas Desperados (1-0) (Last Week: 11) - The Desperado beat a Kansas City team full of VooDoo players that have shown us they can win in New Orleans.

#8) Austin Wranglers (1-0) (Last Week: 14) The Wranglers beat a Las Vegas team on opening night who looked bad on the field. An impressive win to begin the season though.

#9) Chicago Rush (0-1) (Last Week: 7) - The Rush put up a great fight til the end against the defending champs, and managed to score points after touchdowns even without their kicker.

#10) Orlando Predators (0-1) (Last Week: 9) - A tough lost to the Force on only a few plays that decided the game. Joe Hamilton must play better if the team wants to go anywhere.

#11) Columbus Destroyers (1-0) (Last Week: 18) - I’m sorry, but a win over Grand Rapids doesn’t impress me, at least not yet.

#12) Kansas City Brigade (0-1) (Last Week: 10) - A loss to Dallas in their opener hasn’t hurt the team that much, and with a core of veterans, look for them to rebound next weekend.

#13) Tampa Bay Storm (0-1) (Last Week: 5)

#14) New York Dragons (0-1) (Last Week: 8)

#15) San Jose Sabercats (0-1) (Last Week: 4)

#16) Arizona Rattlers (0-1) (Last Week: 15)

#17) Grand Rapids Rampage (0-1) (Last Week: 16)

#18) Las Vegas Gladiators (0-1) (Last Week: 17)

Predators fall to Force in opener

 48   31

Atlanta, Georgia - The scored showed a 17 point win for the Georgia Force over the Orlando Predators Saturday night, but the game was more closely matched the that. The game result came sown to two separate but equally important plays, both of which went in Georgia’s favor.

The Force took the lead early in the first quarter when Quarterback Matt Nagy threw a twenty-five yard touchdown pass to Chris Jackson to put the Force up 7-0. But the Predators quickly responded, when Jimmy Fryzel caught a six yard Joe Hamilton toss.

In the second quarter, the Force began with another Chris Jackson touchdown, this one off of a thirteen yard lob by Nagy. The Force would hold their 7 point lead until late in the quarter when Joe Hamilton hung on to the football and ran himself for a four yard scoring run. As the clock expired, Georgia kicker Nelson Garner spilt the uprights to give the defending National Conference Champions a 17-14 halftime lead.

At the start of the second half, Garner added another field goal to make the score Georgia 20, Orlando 14. Orlando regained three of those points when Orlando kicker Jay Taylor kicked a field goal of his own. The third quarter expired with the Force hanging on to a tree point lead with the score 20-17.

The fourth quarter is where the action truly began. Four seconds into the quarter, the Predators took their first lead of the game when Joe Hamilton connected with Scott Coleman on a five yard pass and Jay Taylor booted the extra point attempt through to put the Preds up 24-20. But the Force quickly struck back, When Derek Lee caught a five yard touchdown pass from Nagy to put the Force back up 27-24. The Predators regained their lead when DeAndrew Rubin got his hands one a twenty-five yard touchdown pass from Hamilton. The score now sat at Predators 31, Force 27. With time running out, the Force offense got back on the attack. With 1:57 left on the clock, Matt Nagy finally connected with Chris Jackson on a forth down pass for a nineteen yard touchdown grab to put the Force up 34-31. The next drive proved crucial for the outcome.

On a fourth down and ten, Joe Hamilton dropped back a threw a pass to Jimmy Fryzel. Fryzel’s shoulder pads were grabbed by were pulled by Georgia defensive back Nate Coggins, who then jumped up into the air to make a leaping interception, which he returned eighteen yards for a touchdown. Nick Ward the sealed the deal for Georgia when he picked off Hamilton and returned the interception twenty yards for the score, making the final score Georgia 48, Orlando 31.

The Predators return to action on Friday night, hosting the Kansas City Brigade at Hummer Field in the TD Waterhouse Centre.

Scoring Summary:

Quarter 1^st 2^nd 3^rd 4^th Final

Orlando 0   14   3   14   31

Georgia 7   10   3   28   48

1^st Quarter:

11:39 - GEO - Jackson, 25 yard TD pass from Nagy, Garner kick good

2^nd Quarter:

12:10 - ORL - Fryzel 6 yard TD pass from Hamilton, Taylor kick good

08:31 - GEO - Jackson 13 yard TD pass form Nagy, Garner kick good

0:33 - ORL - Hamilton 4 yard rushing TD, Taylor kick good

0:00 - GEO - Garner 29 yard field goal

3^rd Quarter:

9:55 - GEO - Garner 29 yard field goal

4:03 - ORL - Taylor 23 yard field goal

4^th Quarter:

14:56 - ORL - Coleman 5 yard TD pass from Hamilton, Taylor kick

9:43 - GEO - Lee 5 yard TD pass from Nagy, Garner kick

7:45 - ORL - Rubin 25 yard TD pass from Hamilton, Taylor kick

1:57 - GEO - Jackson 19 yard TD pass from Nagy, Garner kick

0:35 - GEO - Coggins 18 yard interception return for TD off Hamilton throw, Garner kick

0:15 - GEO - Ward 20 yard interception return for TD off Hamilton throw, Garner kick

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Gameday: (0-0) @  (0-0)

Atlanta, Georgia - The Orlando Predators and the Georgia Force will start their respected Arena Football League seasons tonight at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The AFL kicked off it's 20th season last evening when the Austin Wranglers defeated the Las Vegas Gladiators by a final score of 64-46. The Predators are entering their 16th season in the League, while Georgia is entering just their 5^th.

The Force are coming off their best season ever, going all the way to Arena Bowl XIX, in which they lost by a last second field goal to the Colorado Crush. The Predators are coming off of a some what disappointing season when they lost to the Force in the National Conference Championship game by a final score of 60-58. While Georgia has retained almost their entire starting roster, the Predators have suffered significant losses. The losses of Cory Fleming to Nashville and Michael Brown and E.J. Burt to Philadelphia was left large holes for the Predators to fill. The Predators’ final roster included nine rookies.

Edge: I’m going to have to give the edge to the Predators in this one, and here’s why. The Predators have so many rookies on their team, no one knows what they are capable of doing. It will be especially hard for Georgia to prepare a game plan against the young Predators team, while Orlando’s coaching staff can look at game tapes of last season’s Force team.

One thing is for sure though... This will be an excellent game.

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Ok folks...I'm back... Here's My Preseason Power Rankings and Week 1 Picks....

Power Rankings:

1) Colorado
2) Georgia
3) Nashville
4) San Jose
5) Tampa Bay
6) Los Angeles
7) Chicago
8) New York
9) Orlando
10) Kansas City
11) Dallas
12) Philadelphia
13) Utah
14) Austin
15) Arizona
16) Grand Rapids
17) Las Vegas
18) Columbus

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Picks: (Winners in Caps)

LAS VEGAS GLADIATORS at Austin Wranglers
ORLANDO PREDATORS at Georgia Force
NASHVILLE KATS at New York Dragons
Utah Blaze at SAN JOSE SABERCATS
TAMPA BAY STORM at Philadelphia Soul
Arizona Rattlers at LOS ANGELES AVENGERS
KANSAS CITY BRIGADE at Dallas Desperados
GRAND RAPIDS RAMPAGE at Columbus Destroyers
Chicago Rush at COLORADO CRUSH