Week 6 AFL Matchups: Valor Host a Hot Storm Team; Undefeated Soul Host the Brigade

May 12,2017

Valor look to calm the Storm in DC, Soul will try to tame Brigade to keep winning streak alive

LAS VEGAS – The Tampa Bay Storm (3-1) will look to stay hot on their two-game win streak as they face the Washington Valor (1-2) in the teams’ first-ever meeting on  Saturday, May 13 at 7:00 p.m. ET at Verizon Center on CBS Sports Network. Storm head coach Ron James has his team on a hot streak lately as Tampa Bay has won two come from behind victories in three weeks. Behind the play of quarterback Randy Hippeard, who completed over 77% of his passes for 285 yards and eight touchdowns against the Brigade a week ago. The UVa-Wise product leads the AFL with 292 passing yards per contest and 27 touchdowns this season. The Valor look to right the ship after their bye week. Washington head coach Dean Cokinos is relying heavily on quarterback Erik Meyer to turn things around. The former 2013 AFL MVP has completed 59-of-101 passes for 657 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions in three games this season.

The undefeated Philadelphia Soul (3-0) host the Baltimore Brigade (1-3) in their second meeting this year on  ­Saturday, May 13 at 7:00 p.m. ET in the Wells Fargo Center streaming live on ArenaFootball.com.  Under head coach Clint Dolezel, the Soul have won 11 consecutive games dating back to last season. Escaping with a 2-point victory a week ago against the Cleveland Gladiators, the Soul will look to the arm of Dan Raudabaugh who has completed 64% of his passes for 956 yards and is second in the league with 23 passing touchdowns. On the other sideline, Brigade head man Omarr Smith will look to better their record after having faced Philadelphia once this season and will hand the ball to quarterback Shane Carden. In his rookie season, Carden has grabbed the attention of defenses around the league as he has completed 85-of-134 passes (63.4%) for 971 yards (2 ^nd in the AFL) and 20 touchdowns. 

For complete official statistics, game notes and media guides, go to:  www.afldigital.com .




WEEK 6 MATCHUPS

 

TAMPA BAY STORM (3-1) at WASHINGTON VALOR (1-2)
Saturday, May 13 – 7:00 p.m. ET (LIVE on CBS Sports Network)
	TAMPA BAY	WASHINGTON
REG. SEASON SERIES LEADER	First meeting all-time
STREAKS	W2	L2
LAST WEEK	W, 62-55 at BAL	Bye
LAST REG SEASON MEETING	First meeting all-time
TOTAL OFFENSE (RANK)	308.8 (2)	223.0 (5)
TOTAL DEFENSE (RANK)	319.0 (5)	257.7 (2)
POINTS SCORED (RANK)	55.5 (2)	38.7 (5)
POINTS ALLOWED (RANK)	53.0 (4)	45.0 (1)
TURNOVER MARGIN (RANK)	+1 (T-2)	+1 (T-2)

 

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:  STORM:  Storm quarterback Randy Hippeard engineered a comeback that saw wide receiver LaMark Brown catch the winning score with just 5.0 seconds left in regulation last week at Baltimore. Hippeard finished the night having completed 77.5% of his passes (31-of-40) for 285 yards and eight touchdowns… Hippeard has completed 68-of-87 (78.2%) passes for 672 yards, 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions over the course of the past two games. His 68 completions are the most over a two-game span in team history… Storm receivers Joe Hills and LaMark Brown continue to blaze a trail through the League. Versus the Brigade, Hills finished the night with 13 catches for 126 yards and four touchdowns, while his teammate caught 11 passes for 91 yards and three touchdowns. This was the second consecutive game in which the team had multiple receivers with 10 or more receptions. Hills and Brown are in the top-five of several receiving categories, including scoring where Hills leads the League with 74 points while Brown is in fourth with 56... Hills has scored a receiving touchdown in 72 consecutive games…WR Kendrick Ings – Spent part of the 2016 season in the CFL...Has 12 career games with 100+ kickoff return yards...Had 209 kickoff return yards and a 55-yard return for a touchdown versus Philadelphia (4/15)… With 346 all-purpose yards in Week 2, Ings broke James Bowden’s 17-year single-game franchise record (345)… Ings currently leads the League in All-Purpose Yards (670) and is second in All-Purpose Yards Per Game (167.5).

VALOR: QB Erik Meyer threw for 175 yards and four touchdowns on 19-37 passing against the Cleveland Gladiators in a Week 4 loss… Meyer commands the Valor offense, accounting for 657 passing yards and 10 passing touchdowns this season… WR Mike Washington heads the receiving corps with 18 receptions, 237 yards and five touchdowns. His 13.2 yards per reception rank fourth in the AFL… Veteran wide receiver TT Toliver ranks third on the team in receiving yards and is 10 points away from 2,000 career points… The sure Hall-of-Famer has caught 1,214 passes for 15,881 yards and 304 touchdowns in his illustrious career… WR Greg Carr led the Valor in receiving, hauling in nine receptions for 100 yards and two touchdowns… On defense, reigning AFL Defensive Player of the Year Tracy Belton leads the way with three interceptions and 14.5 tackles… Belton is one of three players in the AFL with a pick-six this season.

BALTIMORE BRIGADE (1-3) at PHILADELPHIA SOUL (4-0)
Saturday, May 13 at 7:00 p.m. ET (Streaming on www.ArenaFootball.com)
	BALTIMORE	PHILADELPHIA
REG. SEASON SERIES LEADER	Philadelphia leads 1-0
STREAKS	L2	W4
LAST WEEK	L, 62-55 vs TB	W, 69-67 at CLE
LAST REG. SEASON MEETING	4/29/17, BAL 34 at PHI 69
TOTAL OFFENSE (RANK)	243.8 (4)	259.0 (3)
TOTAL DEFENSE (RANK)	274.2 (3)	278.5 (4)
POINTS SCORED (RANK)	44.8 (4)	60.8 (1)
POINTS ALLOWED (RANK)	57.8 (5)	46.0 (2)
TURNOVER MARGIN (RANK)	-5 (5)	+5 (1)

 

WHAT TO LOOK FOR: BRIGADE: Rookie QB Shane Carden leads the way for the Brigade, ranking second in the AFL in passing yards (971), completions (85) and attempts (134) and third in the league in passing touchdowns (20). Last week, Carden’s 357 yards passing were a career high and the most by an AFL rookie since 2012 and his six touchdown passes marked the most by a rookie since 2015… In last week’s matchup with the Storm, Brigade WR Julian Talley set a career high with 149 receiving yards while teammate Paul Browning set career highs in both receptions (12) and receiving yards (138). Talley leads the team with 296 receiving yards on the season and is tied for the team lead with five receiving touchdowns... WR Paul Browning hauled in 12 receptions for 138 yards and three touchdowns last week against the Tampa Bay Storm… Last week against the Storm, DB Trey Wolfe led the Brigade with six tackles, all solo, and a fumble recovery… Defensive linemen Dexter Davis and Khreem Smith each tallied two tackles and a sack to continue their reign atop the AFL sack leaderboard heading into Week 6.

SOUL:. QB Dan Raudabaugh has led the Soul to three East Division Championships (2012-13, 2015) and an ArenaBowl XXIX Championship in 2016… Raudabaugh has completed 76-of-119 attempted passes and 23 passing touchdowns this season… He ranks high among the league’s QB’s with a 117.9 QB Rating…  Five-year veteran WR Ryan McDaniel continues to impress the crowd with his productivity… This season, he has hauled in 24 receptions for 283 yards and seven touchdowns… In Week 4 against the Brigade, McDaniel caught eight passes for 123 yards and five touchdowns garnering him AFL Player of the Week honors… WR Sean Kauleinamoku, better known to the team as “SK”, has caught 23 passes for 234 yards and four touchdowns in 2017… The ArenaBowl XXIX MVP tallied 99 receptions for 1,304 yards and 26 touchdowns a season ago… DB Dwayne Hollis was named the AFL Defensive Player of the Week after his 6.5 tackle, two interception performance in Week 4.