SOME NOTES ABOUT THE SERIES:
The New Jersey Red Dogs and the Milwaukee Mustangs met once this year in the pre-season in Milwaukee, after a New Jersey loss to Nashville to open the warm-up rounds. The Red Dogs were a team that was trying to build a little confidence in one another and the Mustangs were starting to roll already as they were coming off a big win against the Albany Firebirds and were hungry for more. The AFL’s Career leading passer, Todd Hammel, was 19 of 28 and threw for 247 yards and five TD’s. The Stangs won the game on the leg of Kenny Stucker, one of the league’s deadliest kickers’s. Stucker nailed a 30-yard field goal with only eight seconds remaining to give Milwaukee the win. Jersey rolled into Wisconsin wanting a win and left disheartened. The Red Dogs lost 41-34 as they only managed three points in the first quarter. There was no rhythm, no confidence, a team that was learning as they went. Milwaukee struggled in the early goings as well but they began to roll in the second half as Hammel threw three of his five scores in the second half, including a 1-yard pass to Herb Duncan that proved to be the back breaker for the Red Dogs. New Jersey has recovered somewhat as they are sitting on a 3-2 record so far this season. They reeled off three wins in a row, although the teams that they faced were not as strong, except for a strong Albany team. They should have won convincingly and they squeaked them out, two were by three points or less. Milwaukee lost a heartbreaker on Monday to the San Jose Sabercats by the count of 56-49. Milwaukee seemed to be on their way to their first win of the season until Steve Pappin returned a kickoff 57 yards for the touchdown with eight seconds left that doused all hopes of a Mustang victory.
THE RED DOGS LAST WEEK:
EAST RUTHERFORD, N. J. - Quarterback Browning Nagle came back to the Meadowlands for his Arena Football debut in front 4,128 of his former fans on Friday night at the Continental Airlines Arena. Orlando, who was riding a one-game losing streak, won a wild one but without Nagle and improved to 3-2 on the season while the loss ends the Red Dog winning streak and sends them to 3-2 as well. After trading touchdowns with the Red Dogs in the first quarter, the Predators opened the game up in the second quarter. Nagle, who only totaled 79 yards off of 5-7 passing and 1 touchdown, went down with a separated right shoulder and left the game. Former starter Pat O’Hara came in to replace Nagle and immediately made his presence known as he threw an 18-yard touchdown pass on that same drive. O’Hara finished the night going 14-24 for 164 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Red Dogs seemed to be staying with them until a wild missed field goal return to end the first half started the Predators on a three in a row scoring run to put them up by 10 with 3:35 to go in the third. New Jersey had another great defensive effort in the fourth to bring the Dogs back into the game with a missed field goal by David Cool with 6:50 to go in the game. The Red Dogs scored twice to tie the game at 38, the game-tying score came as Rickey Foggie handed the ball to fullback Jermaine Younger who punched it in for six. Orlando had a chance to win the game off a last second Cool field goal but he was wide on the right and sent the game into overtime. O’Hara wasted no time after the Predators won the toss and on the first play of the drive he hit a wide open Barry Wagner, who was the Ironman of the game, on a 26-yard pass to put the Predators up by 7. New Jersey has the chance to tie again, an AFL overtime rule allows the other team the opportunity to score in OT, but as Foggie dropped back he lost the ball and Bill Hall scooped it up for the touchdown and the win. Foggie finished the night going 26-44 for 233 yards and 3 touchdowns in the loss. New Jersey will be looking to head to their week seven bye with a win over the Milwaukee Mustangs who will be in town to face the Dogs this Friday night at 7:30 PM.
GAME NOTES:
The Red Dogs, now 1-1 at home this season, lose for the first time in the last four games... Alvin Ashley continues his streak of catching at least one touchdown in a game, he now stands at 29... The Red Dogs’ offense reached a season low in points with 38 for the second time...The Dogs’ defense recorded 1 sack, 6 pass breakups and 1 fumble recovery.
ALVIN ASHLEY WATCH:
Alvin Ashley stretched his regular season touchdown streak to 29 games, which goes back to week 5 of 1997. Alvin is becoming a one man show for the Red Dogs as he is accounting for over 50% of the teams’ offense in 1999. Ashley has racked up 652 yards off 54 receptions and 16 touchdowns. The next closest Red Dog’s are Manny Pina and Marvin Bagley, who have 196 yards and 208 yards respectively. Alvin is currently 1st in the League in Receptions with 54, 2nd in Receiving Yards (652) Scoring (96 points) Touchdowns (16), 3rd in All Purpose yards with 1,079 yards. Alvin is averaging 12.1 yards per catch as well as 215 All Purpose yards per contest.
THE DEFENSIVE STORY:
New Jersey’s defense played another tough game as they only gave up a total of 243 yards to the Predators. The Dogs’ "D" recorded one sack, six pass breakups and three forced fumbles. Over the last four games New Jersey has recorded five sacks, five forced fumbles, five fumbles recovered and a whopping 19 pass breakups. The pass defense is currently third in the league, allowing 223.4 yards per game. The Dogs are fourth in total defense with a 251 yards allowed per game mark.
SOME MORE GAME NOTES:
Alvin Ashley extended his streak of catching at least on touchdown in a game to 29, which dates back to Week 4 of the 1997 season... Ashley also had 109 return yards, giving him 210 all-purpose yards for the game. Ricky Foggie threw for 233 yards and 3 touchdowns on 26-of-44 passing... Foggie now stands fourth in the league in total offense with 1,253 total yards (250.6/gm)... Four different receivers had at least 5 receptions, showing Foggie’s gaining confidence in spreading the ball around... The Red Dogs’ offense reached a season low in points with 38 for the second time... Jermaine Younger’s total of 5 rushing yards vs. Orlando marked a season high in rushing for the Red Dogs’ offense... Tommy Dorsey’s 51-yard TD return of a missed field goal for Orlando was the first time in Red Dogs’ history that the opponent has done so... Through 5 games this season, the Red Dogs have been outscored by the opposition 227-223... With his 10 receptions versus Orlando, Alvin Ashley took over the league lead in receptions with 54, an average of 12.1 receptions per game.
Despite mounting losses, Hammel racks up impressive numbers:
(MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN) -- While the season has not been kind to the Milwaukee Mustangs (0-5, last place in the Central Division), quarterback Todd Hammel is quietly solidifying his place in Arena Football League (AFL) history. In a Week 3 loss to Grand Rapids, Hammel became the first player in AFL history to pass for 18,000 yards and complete 1,500 passes. This season could also see him reach the 300 career touchdown mark as he only needs 22 more to reach the magic number. Last season saw Hammel set a personal best with 60 TD passes, breaking the career high he set in 1997 by 16.
Players to Watch for the Mustangs:
Gary Compton: The leading receiver for the Mustangs, Compton comes into the game with 38 receptions for 522 yards and 10 touchdowns. He is also second in the AFL with 1,120 all-purpose yards. Last season, he led the Mustangs with 101 receptions (5th in the AFL), 1,484 receiving yards (3rd in the AFL), and 33 receiving TD’s (all career highs).
Todd Hammel: A veteran in his 8th season in the AFL, Hammel holds numerous passing records, including most career passing yardage (18,630) and most career completions (1,539). This season, Hammel has performed well under the mounting pressure of leading an 0-5 team off to its worst start in history. Through five games, he has gone 92-of-178 for 1,143 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Lincoln Coleman: The Mustangs leading rusher (3rd in the AFL) enters the game with 75 rushing yards on 14 carries, good for 5.4 yards per carry. Before joining the AFL, Coleman played two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL. Coleman, who did not play in 1998 due to a league suspension, had his best AFL year in 1997 when he gained 253 yards on 59 carries, an average of 10.0 yards per carry.
Wayne Wade: A defensive specialist out of Akron, Wade leads the team (11th in AFL) with 26 total tackles. Last season, Wade turned in a career year despite holding out for the first four games of the season. He had a career high 78 tackles (56 solo, 22 assists) which led the team and was good for fifth in the AFL. He also led the team with 4 interceptions.