AFL Week 5 Recap

The first month of this year's Arena Football season has come and gone, as we entered week 5 with two unbeatens and three teams still looking for that elusive first victory. It's still a little to early to look at the playoff picture, but every week matters here in the AFL. This week featured all fourteen teams in action, good for seven thrilling games between Friday and Saturday nights!

Jacksonville Sharks 40, Iowa Barnstormers 34

The Sharks sported their all-red home uniforms in-front of 8,011 at Sea Best Field on Friday while trying to become the first team to reach the 5-0 mark this season. The Barnstormers entered trying to snap a two-game slide by doing something that no one's been able to do this season; beat the Sharks.
Iowa gained two first downs in as many plays after receiving the opening kick, but their momentum was quickly dounced when Terrance Smith intercepted J.J. Raterink's end-zone pass. Bernard Morris would complete five of his first six passes while throwing two touchdowns, a 29-yarder to Markee White on the opening drive and Jeron Harvey caught a 16-yard TD pass on the second possession to give the Sharks a 13-3 lead with under three minutes in the first quarter. The next three possessions all resulted in touchdowns, keeping the Sharks in the lead with a 20-16 advantage at the seven-minute mark of the second quarter. It was the Iowa defense that made the next stop when Rodney Gnat and Mike Lewis combined for a fourth-down sack that followed three straight incompletions by Morris. The sack gave Iowa a great opportunity to take their first lead by having the ball at the Shark-3, but despite the great field position their chance to capitalize escaped when Raterink was sacked on fourth and goal by Jerry Turner. Mat Marcorelle scored on a one-yard run at the end of the half to give Jacksonville an elevan-point lead at the break. The Sharks looked primed to blow this one open after picking up a first down in three qucik plays, but that changed when their next three plays netted a loss of one-yard to set up a fourth-and-long. This time, Mike Lewis made sure the Barnstormers seized a great opportunity when he sacked Morris and forced a fumble that was recovered run into the end zone by Darnell Carter for a "scoop-and-score." The Sharks' next drive ended in a similar fate when Jason Simpson intercepted a Morris deep-ball, after the Sharks had gained 23 yards and two first downs. Iowa was presented with another chance to grab their first lead and did so this time when J.J. Raterink connected with Marcus Harris on second-down for a 43-yard tocuhdown. Despite the dominant quarter by the Barnstormers, the Sharks still managed to carry a 34-28 lead into the fourth quarter when Jeron Harvey caught his third touchdown of the night on the final play of the period. Iowa looked poised to answer with a touchdown of their own, but that ended when Raterink fumbled when he was sacked by Aaron Robbins at the Shark-13. After the Iowa defense forced a four-and-out by the Sharks, it only took two plays for Raterink to tie the game with his 26-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Harris. Jacksonville responded with a five-play, 38-yard drive of their own that resulted in Markee White's five-yard touchdown reception; Marco Capozzoli's extra point was no good so the lead was only six for the Sharks with 2:57 remaining in the game. For the first time this season Jacksonville's perfect record was at-stake late in a game when J.J. Raterink led the Barnstormers out on the field at their own six yard-line. Iowa began the series in fluid-motion, gaining 15 yards in three plays to place the ball at the their own 21 for a second down play with one minute left to play. With the tension in the building rising it was the Shark secondary that stepped up, forcing three straight incompletions by Raterink to preserve the lead. Bernard Morris hit Jeff Hughley for an elevan-yard completion and Rendrick Taylor gained positive yards on three consecutive runs to expire the clock and wrap up the hard-fought 40-34 win for Jacksonville. This game was a classic example of the importance each possession and where extra points can solely make up the differnce in the AFL.

Stat Leaders:
Iowa (2-3)                                                 Jacksonville (5-0)
J.J. Raterink 17-30, 240 yds, 3TD, Int      Bernard Morris 25-36, 237 yards, 5TD, Int,
Marco Thomas 4 rec, 51 yds, TD,                                          15 rush yards
                           23 rush yds                     Rendrick Taylor 5 rush, 22 yards
Marcus Harris 6 rec, 130 yds, 2 TD          Jeron Harvey 8 rec, 81 yds, 3 TD
Ter'Ran Benton 12 tackles                        Jeff Hughley 10 rec, 75 yds
Jason Simpson 9 tackles, Int                     Markee White 6 rec, 73 yds, 2 TD
Iowa D 3 sacks                                          Terrance Smith Int
Darnell Carter Fumb Rec-TD                   Tracy Belton 12 tackles
Phil Marfuggi 1-1 FG (17), 1-5 PAT        Jerry Turner/Aaron Robbins sack each

Pittsburgh Power 46, New Orleans VooDoo 43

The Power and VooDoo each entered the Graveyaard in desperate need of a win. Both sides were coming off of being on the embarrassing end of blowouts in week 4 and were looking to move past them with a nice win in week 5.
Both offenses got off to much better starts this week, scoring on thier opening possessions to have the game tied at seven midway through the first quarter. The VooDoo re-took the lead when Kurt Rocco found a wide-open Donovan Morgan for an 18-yard touchdown that sparked a quick run of 16 unanswered points; featuring a sack by James Bryant that resulted for a safety and a 57-yard kick return touchdown by Quorey Payne on the ensuing sequences. In a blink-of-an-eye the Power had fallen behind by three scores but responded with 13 unanswered points of their own on the next two series; occuring when Jordan Jefferson engineered a five-play drive that ended on the first play of the second quarter with Perry Baker's 25-yard touchdown reception and on the following VooDoo possession Sergio Gilliam intercepted Rocco's second down pass and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown. The turnover problems continued for the VooDoo on their next possession when on first and goal Donvan Morgan took the hand-off, ran towards the left, and fumbled when Darius Powell hit him shy of the boards. Jefferson capitalized on his defense's efforts by directing a four-play, 48-yard drive that ended on a 28-yard catch-and-run touchdown reception by P.J. Berry; giving Pittsburgh its first lead of the night. The Power would force a turnover for the third straight possession when Chris LeFlore knocked the ball out of  Donovan Morgan's left hand and recovered it at the New Orleans-22. This time the Power offense was unable to reward their defense's effort, as two plays lost 21 yards and on fourth-and-long Jefferson was sacked to give the ball right back to New Orleans. The VooDoo moved quickly and scored with 13 seconds left in the half to retake the lead on Kurt Rocco's one-yard touchdown run; he would left the game with an apparent ankle injury and did not return. Both sides traded touchdowns on their first possession of the second half, but the trend ended when Jordan Jefferson got sacked on second down and followed with back-to-back incompletions, giving the ball to New Orleans at the one. Zack Eskridge, Rocco's replacement, scored on a one-yard qb keeper to give the VooDoo a ten point lead with two minutes left in the third. The lead was quickly reduced back to three when Jefferson hit P.J. Berry for a 47-yard touchdown on the next play. The start of the fourth quarter brought on a low-scoring fifteen minutes. Eskridge got sacked on back-to-back plays on the VooDoo's opening series and P.J. Berry scored on a two-yard touchdown run on the next play to give the Power a 46-43 lead. Gary Cismesia's 30-yard field goal attempt went wide-left on the next possession and Berry's touchdown run would stand as the lone six points in the quarter. The Power defense recorded three sacks and prevented New Orleans from scoring in the fourth to secure their first win of 2013. Quorey Payne made his season debut on Friday night recording 112 all-purpose yards and a kick-return touchdown.

Stat Leaders:
Pittsburgh (1-3)                                              New Orleans (1-3)
Jordan Jefferson 19-30, 223 yds, 5TD,            Zack Eskridge 8-15, 29 yds, TD, Rush TD
                               30 rush yds                        Kurt Rocco 7-13, 86 yds, 2TD, Int, Rush TD
P.J. Berry 4 rec, 95 yds, 2 TD, Rush TD          Donovan Morgan 3 rec, 42 yds, TD, 2 fumbles
Perry Baker 6 rec 75 yds, TD                           Derek Lee 5 rec, 50 yds, 2 TD
Mike Washington 9 rec, 61 yds, TD                 James Bryant 10 tackles (3 TFL), 2 sacks, safety
Chris LeFlore/Darius Powell FF/FR each        Marlon Favorite/Michale Janac 0.5 sack each
Sergio Gilliam Int-ret TD
Dominie Pittman 2 sacks

Spokane Shock 69, San Jose Sabercats 47

The Shock and Sabercats met in HP Pavilion for a wild western showdown. Spokane entered looking to join the Sharks at 5-0, while the Sabercats were looking to avoid a second straight loss.
Spokane wasted no time getting comfortable in another hostile environment, as Paul Stephens intercepted Aaron Garcia's second pass of the night to give his offense the ball at their own 15 yard-line. It only took three plays for the Shock to score their first points of the night when Erik Meyer threw a 19-yard pass to Adron Tennell, who made a spectacular one-handed catch for the touchdown. Garcia and Meyer both threw touchdown passes on their next two possessions to give the Shock a 21-14 lead at the 14:18 mark in the second quarter. It looked like the Sabercats would respond with a third consecutive touchdown-drive but on fourth down from the Spokane-9 Stephens made his second interception of the night to deny Garica and the 'Cats. Meyer would find Kamar Jorden for an 18-yard touchdown two plays later to make it a 13-point game. Aaron Garica rebounded by leading a three-play, 40-yard drive that ended on Jason Willis' 27-yard touchdown catch. Spokane made their mark in the final four-and-half minutes of the half when Meyer directed a nine-play, 31-yard drive that concluded on Duane Brooks' three-yard touchdown reception and a couple plays later Paul Stephens recorded his third interception of the game. Spokane broke the game open in the first five minutes of the third quarter when they took the opening possession and marched down the field in a six-play, four-minute drive that resulted in Kamar Jorden's third touchdown catch, and when Paul Stephens intercepted Aaron Garcia's first pass of the half and returned it 26 yards for another touchdown. Garcia and Meyers would match touchdown passes on the ensuing possessions and the Shock carried a 55-27 lead into the fourth. A 28-point margin was quickly cut in-half when Garcia found Jason Willis for a four-yard touchdown, capping off a ten-play, 42-yard drive, and J.C. Neal forced a fumble on the next possession which turned into a three-yard touchdown run by Brian Folkerts. The essence of a wild comeback was quickly calmed when the Shock recovered the ensuing onside kick and Adron Tennell caught a six-yard touchdown to get the lead back to 21 with 9:40 left to play. San Jose scored quickly, but failed to recover their second straight onside kick. The Shock milked three-and-half minutes off the clock and Tennell scored his fourth touchdown on a two-yard run to seal another road victory for the orange and blue. Paul Stephens set an AFL record by recording his fifth interception on Garcia's final pass of the night and without will be this week's defensive player of the week. Shock go to 5-0, while the Sabercats fall to 2-2.

Stat Leaders:
Spokane (5-0)                                                        San Jose (2-2)
Erik Meyer 26-37, 242 yds, 8TD, 14 rush yds      Aaron Garcia 28-45, 309 yds, 6TD, 5 Int
Adron Tennell 9 rec, 117 yds, 3 TD, Rush TD      Jamarko Simmons 11 rec, 126 yds, TD
Duane Brooks 10 rec, 63 yds, TD                          Jason Willis 9 rec, 123 yds, 3 TD
Kamar Jorden 5 rec, 49 yds, 3 TD                         Clevan Thomas/Ken Fontenette 7 tackles
Terrance Sanders 10 tackles
Paul Stephens 6 tackles, 5 interceptions,
                          1 Int-ret TD
Beau Bell/Chase Vaughn sack each

Tampa Bay Storm 53, Orlando Predators 35

The first meeting between these two hated rivals marked the 51st edition of the War on I-4. The Storm entered the hostile "Jungle" looking to stay perfect on the road, while the Predators tried to get the first win of 2013. 
Entering this matchup the Predators faced questions about who would be their starter this week; we got our answer when Kyle Rowley took the field on the opening drive of the night. Rowley got off to a good start, completing his first four passes, but on the seventh play of the series his pass intended for T.T. Toliver in the end zone was intercepted by De-Audra Dix who returned it 37 yards before fumbling the ball to teammate Rashad Barkdale who finished the "pick-six" by running the last 15 yards to score the touchdown. The struggles continued for Rowley when his eight pass was an over-throw that got intercepted by Chris Smith; and resulted in Adrian McPherson's one-yard touchdown run four plays later. Facing a 14-0 deficit and seeing Rowley throw two interceptions caused Doug Plank to make a quick change to Chris Dixon. The decision proved to be the correct one as Dixon instantly led a seven-play, 37-yard drive that ended on Jermaine Richardson's one-yard touchdown run. McPherson and Dixon would each direct two touchdown drives in the second quarter to keep the Storm's lead at six by halftime. A pair of goal-line stands by the Predator defense, the second of which coming on the opening drive of the second half, created the opportunity for Orlando to take their first lead of the game. Dixon answered the call by completing three straight passes to three different receivers, finding T.T. Toliver for a 30-yard touchdown and Mark Lewis' extra point gave the Preds their first lead of the night with 7:35 left in the third. The lead would be short-lived as Adrian McPherson completed his fourth-down pass to Greg Ellingson who did the rest to turn a short dump-off pass into a 40-yard touchdown, making it 33-28 Storm. De-Audra Dix forced Amarri Jackson to fumble on a 15-yard reception, and two plays later Michael Lindsey caught a 25-yard touchdown to give Tampa Bay an elevan-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. Orlando responded with a nine-play drive that resulted in a 16-yard touchdown run by Chris Dixon to cut the deficit to four with 8:49 reamining, but Dixon was injured when he dove into the end zone and left the game. It only took three plays for the Storm to counter when McPherson hit Joe Hills for a 33-yard touchdown, bringing the lead back to double digits with 5:39 left to play. Kyle Rowley was forced to re-enter the game and threw four incompletions which effectively ended any hopes of a wild finish; two plays later Adrian McPherson scored his second rushing touchdown to ice the game. The Storm take the all-time lead in the series (26-25) and more importantly move to 3-2 on the season, while the Predators faulter again in the Jungle. A couple notes for the Predators, T.T. Toliver made his 2013 debut and Kyle Rowley had a forgetable night only completing 6 of 17 passes for 70 yards to go along with two interceptions.

Stat Leaders:
Tampa Bay (3-2)                                             Orlando (0-4) 
Adrian McPherson 12-20, 223 yards, 4TD,     Chris Dixon 17-21, 198 yds, 3TD,
                                7 yds and 2 TD rushing                           60 rush yds, TD
Joe Hills 4 rec, 83 yds, 2 TD                            T.T. Toliver 6 rec, 106 yds, 2 TD
Greg Ellingson 4 rec, 79 yds, TD                     Amarri Jackson 5 rec, 65 yds, TD
Michael Lindsey 4 rec, 61 yds, TD                  Marcus Everett 4 tackles, sack
Jean Fanor 10 tackles, Fumb. rec
Chris Smith/De-Audra Dix Int each
Rashad Barksdale Def TD
DeMarcus Tyler 2 sacks

Cleveland Gladiators 64, Philadelphia Soul 57 F/OT

Entering week 5 this matchup between the Soul and Gladiators looked like it would be nothing more than a blowout; but folks.....thats why we play the game!
Things got off to a fast start in Philadelphia when both teams traded opening-drive touchdowns but LaRico Stevenson created some space when he forced and returned a fumble for a touchdown to make it a quick 14 points for the Soul. The teams would again trade touchdowns on the following possessions to keep it a seven-point margin early in the second quarter. The Soul looked prime to pull away when Joe Goosby made an interception on the Gladitors' 21-yard line and returned it to the six, setting up a six-yard touchdown reception by Tiger Jones to make it 28-14. Brian Zbydniewski responded by throwing a 34-yard touchdown pass to Thyron Lewis on the next series to cut the lead in-half. Dan Raudabaugh engineered a 12-play, 43-yard drive that concluded with a touchdown run by Derrick Ross to give the Soul a 14-point lead at halftime. Everything looked to be going as planned, the Soul led by 14 and looked as they we be able to expand the lead to 21 with on the opening possession of the second half; but that all changed when Raudabaugh's pass on third and goal was intercepted by Maurice Williams in the Cleveland end zone. It only took three plays for the Glads to capitalize on the stop with Jamar Howard's elevan-yard touchdown catch to get the lead back down to seven. Philadelphia looked to be on the move again after Raudabaugh completed his first two passes on the ensuing drive but it all ended when his third pass was intercepted by Brandon Anderson, giving Cleveland a great opportunity to tie the game. Zbydniewski completed two of his next four passes, finding Jamar Howard for a 17-yard touchdown to tie it at 35. The Soul capped off a five-play drive on the second snap of the fourth quarter when Raudabaugh fired a strike to Tiger Jones for a 15-yard touchdown to put his sideback up by seven. Cleveland answered with a six-play, 45-yard drive that resulted in Zbydniewski's one-yard touchdown run which made it 42-41 with 9:05 to play; the extra point was missed. The night of surprises was just getting started, Alvance Robinson fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Zbydniewski fired a 30-yard strike to a wide-open Jonathan Wilson for the go-ahead touchdown with 7:50 left. The Soul were facing their first deficit since early in the first, but responded with a nine-play, 47-yard drive that resulted in a four-yard touchdown catch by Andrae Thurman, who also caught the two-point conversion, to give Philadelphia a three-point lead with 55 seconds remaining. The Gladiators recovered the ensuing onside kick (typical AFL strategy by the leading team to better their chances at either running out the clock or getting themselves one, final possession) and scored on the next play when Zbydniewski threw an 18-yard touchdown to Thyron Lewis to give Cleveland a four-point lead with 47 seconds left. The Soul took over at their own ten and just needed three plays to retake the lead on Tiger Jones' 13-yard touchdown reception, leaving ten seconds for Cleveland. Brian Zbydniewski completed his only pass of the final series to Howard to set up a 45-yard field goal try for Ross Gornall; which Gornall drilled down the middle to tie the game at 57 as the buzzer sounded to force overtime. Cleveland received the opening possession of the overtime period and moved down the field in five-plays, re-taking the lead on Thyron Lewis' 16-yard touchdown reception. The Soul started their OT-possession needing to gain 39 yards for the tying touchdown. Dan Raudabaugh completed his first pass to Thurman for 16 yards, but misfired on his next three attempts that also featured a false start to set up a fourth and fifteen. With the game on the line Raudabaugh dropped back and looked deep in the front of the end zone for Tiger Jones but his pass was out of the reach for Jones and fell harmlessly to the ground, sending the Gladiators home as winners for the first time in 2013. For the second consecutive season Cleveland has come to Philadelphia and beat the Soul to pull off the upset of the 2013 season to this point.

Stat Leaders:
Cleveland (1-3)                                                   Philadelphia (2-2)
Brian Zbydniewski 24-33, 316 yds, 8TD,           Dan Raudabaugh 31-50, 306 yds, 5TD, 2 Int 
                                  Int, Rush TD                      Derrick Ross 6 rush, 17 yds, 2 TD, 2 rec, 7 yds 
Thyron Lewis 6 rec, 122 yds, 4 TD                     Tiger Jones 13 rec, 143 yds, 3 TD
Jamar Howard 9 rec, 95 yds, 2 TD                      Andrae Thurman 9 rec, 82 yds, TD
Jonathan Wilson 7 rec, 87 yds, 2 TD                   Joe Goosby 8 tackles, Int
Brandon Anderson/Maurice Williams Int
Ross Gornall 1-1 FG (45), 7-8 PAT

Arizona Rattlers 83, San Antonio Talons 40

How would the Rattlers bounce back from their first loss of the season is what we were all wondering heading into this week 5 matchup; to answer the question I think they bounced back just fine.
The Nick Davila to Rod Windsor connection got off to a hot start, five receptions for 89 yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter which coupled with two defensive stops to give Arizona an early 21-7 lead. The offensive efficency continued for Davila in the second quarter, completing two out of two passes for 29 yards and two touchdowns to match another stand by the defense to give the Rattlers a 34-14 lead midway through the period. Nick Hill and Davila traded touchdown passes on the ensuing possessions to keep the margin at 21 points with 4:42 left in the half, but then the Rattler defense made another timely stop by recording back-to-back sacks of Hill which forced a 64-yard field goal attempt by Stefan Demos that was way short and wide left, giving Arizona the ball at their own twenty-yard line with 99 seconds left for Nick Davila to work his magic. Davila only needed 92 of those seconds to lead the Rattlers down the field in five plays and throw his seventh touchdown pass of the half, a 13-yarder to Rod Windsor to extend the lead to 48-20. The Rattlers received the opening possession of the third quarter and marched smoothly down the field in four plays, resulting in Davila's eighth touchdown pass which was a 17-yard strike to Kerry Reed. Nick Davila and the Rattlers offense was unstoppable the entire night and Virgil Gray's interception inside the final minute if the third ended any possibility of a dreamy Talons comeback. Arizona responded like any defending champion would, crushing the Talons 83-40 to stay unbeaten in the Snake Pit while moving to 4-1 on the season.

Stat Leaders:
San Antonio (1-3)                                         Arizona (4-1)
Nick Hill 20-40, 293 yds, 4TD, 2 Int,            Nick Davila 22-26, 278 yds, 9TD
                  14 rush yds, 2 TD                         Odie Armstrong 3 rush, 26 yds, TD
Jomo Wilson 10 rec, 164 yds, 3 TD               Rod Windsor 12 rec, 166 yds, 5 TD
Dwayne Eley Jr. 4 rec, 54 yds, TD                 Jared Perry 5 rec, 93 yds, 2 TD, Rush TD
                                                                        Kerry Reed 4 rec, 47 yds, 3 TD
                                                                        Virgil Gray/Jeremy Kellem Int
                                                                        Tyre Glasper 2 sacks

Chicago Rush 59, Utah Blaze 56

This week's CBS Sports Network game of the week featured two foes who are going opposite directions. The Rush entered on a two-game winning streak, while the Blaze were trying to avoid a third-straight home defeat.
Carson Coffman got off to a cold start, throwing incompletions on three of his first four passes which gave Utah the ball at the Rush-22. Tommy Grady didn't waste anytime getting the first points of the night when his first pass fell into the arms of Aaron LeSue for the touchdown. It became a touchdown show as both offenses caught fire in the and traded scores all the way until Utah's fifth possession with 28 seconds remaining in the first half. The Rush defense rose to the challenge and got their first stop of the game when Tyus Jackson and Brian McNally combined for a sack with one second left and Vic Hall intercepted a hail mary in the end zone to ensure the half ended in a 28-28 tie. Tommy Grady and the Blaze took the opening possession of the second half and went down the field in four plays, 43 yards to retake the lead on Mario Urrutia's 16-yard touchdown grab. Coffman responded on the next series with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Gray to re-tie the game at 35. The barrage of touchdowns came to an end before it got started in the second half when Jorrick Calvin intercepted Grady on a deep ball and six plays later Carson Coffman fumbled at the line on a fourth-and-one to give the ball back to Utah. Tommy Grady answered by engineering a five-play, 46-yard drive that resulted in five-yard touchdown reception by Urrutia. Adrian Trevino missed the extra point on the touchdown, but made up for it by recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to give the ball right back to Grady and the offense at the Rush-16. It looked like the Blaze would be able to create some space but Joe Phinisee had other ideas, recording the third interception of Grady on the final play of the third quarter to keep the Rush within six. Chicago began the fourth quarter at their own five-yard line and were guided 45 yards down the field on eight plays by Coffman, who threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Gray to give Chicago a one-point lead with 9:56 left in the game. Tommy Grady answered with three straight completions, the third of them to Aaron LeSue for a 24-yard touchdown to give the lead back to Utah. The Rush didn't trail for long as Coffman hit Jared Jenkins for a 30-yard touchdown to get the lead right back with 5:54 to play. Three plays later Kelvin Morris made the fourth interception of Grady and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown, making it 56-48 in favor of the Rush. Utah got the ball back with 2:51 to go and only needed one play to score, a 45-yard touchdown reception by Brandon Thompkins cut the deficit to two and Grady hit Mario Urrutia for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 56. The Rush recovered an onside kick and began their final possession on their own 22-yard line with 90 seconds to work. Coffman would lead an efficent seven-play, 20-yard drive that setup a 23-yard field goal try for Jose Martinez with one second remaining. Good snap, good hold, and Martinez's kick was down the middle, good for the Rush win! Jose Martinez's game-winning 23-yard field goal sent the Rush home with their third straight win and sole possession of first-place in the central division, while Utah loses their third consecutive home game.

Stat Leaders:
Chicago (3-2)                                                 Utah (1-3)
Carson Coffman 22-37, 275 yds, 5TD            Tommy Grady 27-42, 345 yds, 7TD, 4 Int
J.J. Payne 4 rush, 8 yds, TD, rec, 8 yds           Aaron LeSue 8 rec, 136 yds, 3 TD
Rodney Wright 4 rec, 38 yds, 3 Total TD       Brandon Thompkins 9 rec, 117 yds, 2 TD
Jared Jenkins 4 rec, 58 yds, TD                       Mario Urrutia 9 rec, 82 yds, 2 TD
Reggie Gray 9 rec, 121 yds, 2 TD                   David Hyland 9 tackles
Kelvin Morris Int, Def-TD
Vic Hall 4 rec, 50 yds, Int
Jorrick Calvin/Joe Phinisee Int
Jose Marinez 1-1 FG (23), 8-8 PAT 

Week 5 Players of the Week
Offensive Player of the Week: Brian Zbydniewski, Cleveland QB 
- Zbydniewski played his best game as the Gladiators starter, completing 24 of 33 passes for 316 yards and eight touchdowns. He also added a rushing touchdown to lead Cleveland to a 64-57 overtime upset of division-rival Philadelphia; earning the Glads their first victory of the season.
Defensive Player of the Week: Paul Stephens, Spokane DB
- Paul Stephens set an AFL record with 5 interceptions and returned one for a today in the Shock's blowout win over San Jose. Stephens owned Aaron Garcia all game and set the tone on the defensive side of the ball for the Shock who are now 5-0 on the season; with four of those wins coming on the road.  

Playmaker of the Week: Rod Windsor, Arizona WR
- Windsor and Nick Davila had an early connection vs. the Talons and the numbers were very impressive. On the night Windsor caught 12 passes for 166 yards and five touchdowns; recording five catches and three scores in the first quarter. The Rattlers bounced back with a dominant performance which was led, in-partial, by Rod Windsor's outstanding performance.

 

For more on any of these seven games, or the Arena Football League go to: http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/sched/afl-a-footbl-sched.html