Predators Acquire FB John Martinez, DE Logan Harrell From KISS

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The Los Angeles KISS and the Orlando Predators agreed to a trade on Tuesday, according to the Predators. LA traded fullback John Martinez and defensive end Logan Harrell, in exchange for linebacker Mike Lewis and future considerations.

Lewis has racked up 169.5 tackles, 56 sacks, and 66 tackles for loss, in his six year AFL career. In 2014, Lewis earned Second Team All-Arena honors, after totaling 33 tackles and 8.5 sacks. Over his six year playing career, Lewis has played for the Iowa Barnstormers, the Utah Blaze, and the Las Vegas Outlaws. Lewis set records at Adrian College for sacks (40.5), tackles for loss (60.5), and fumble recoveries (7). Lewis won the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association defensive MVP, while also taking home First Team All-America honors as a senior in 2005.

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Martinez spent his first two years in the league with Portland, where he played under current Orlando offensive coordinator Matthew Sauk. Martinez played every game during his two seasons with Portland, as he rushed for 66 yards and 14 touchdowns. Martinez started all 30 games as an offensive guard at USC during college. He earned All-Pac-12 honors during the 2012 season.

Martinez also attended the Seattle Seahawks’ rookie minicamp in 2014. Harrell is now in his second season in the AFL, spending both of those seasons with the KISS. Before joining LA, he was a member of the Toronto Argonauts, who are in the Canadian Football League.

Harrell has also been a member of the National Football League’s San Diego Chargers. Harrell attended college at Fresno State, where he earned First Team All-WAC honors twice during his career. During his time with the Bulldogs, he totaled 148 tackles, 18.5 sacks, and 34.5 tackles for loss.

Sharks Assign DL Jordan Miller

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On Tuesday, the Jacksonville Sharks announced that DL Jordan Miller will be assigned to the team. Per usual team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Miller (6'1", 335 lbs) heads to Jacksonville after playing the multiple professional football leagues during his professional career.

Though Miller, a Southern University graduate, has yet to play a down in the Arena Football League, he comes to the Sharks having spent time in both the NFL and Champions Indoor Football. After graduating from Southern, the Chicago Bears signed Miller as an undrafted free agent in 2011.

He spent two seasons as a Green Bay Packer and another as a Jacksonville Jaguar before leaving to try out for the AFL. The New Orleans VooDoo placed Miller on league suspension, but he saw time for the Chicago Eagles in the CIF in 2016.

After playing for Largo High School in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, Miller started 31 games as a Southern University Jaguar from 2008-10. In his senior season, he led the team with 15 tackles for loss and nine sacks. The Nashville, Tennessee native finished his collegiate career with 90 tackles and 18 sacks.

Who Will Win Their First Game First? Steel or Storm?

Why the Steel Will Win First

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Seven games into the 2016 AFL season, the Portland Steel and Tampa Bay Storm have yet to celebrate a victory. They’ve been close, but to this point have been unable to put the finishing touches on a win. They each have one more opportunity this coming weekend to distance themselves from each other before they take the field together next week. Portland’s matchup is with the 3-4 Los Angeles KISS, while Tampa Bay takes on the 6-2 Arizona Rattlers.

Between those two games, the Steel have the more likely opportunity to emerge victorious based on opponent difficulty. Tampa Bay, though, has the advantage of taking on the Rattlers at home, and both of Arizona’s losses have come on the road, albeit to two 7-1 teams (Orlando and Philadelphia). With that in mind, it’s hard to envision either team coming up with a victory this week.

Thus, the Steel and Storm will meet in the Irrelevancy Bowl for the chance to not be the last team in the league with a win. The game will be on Friday, June 3, at Portland’s Moda Center.

With the emergence of Shane Austin at quarterback, the Steel finally feel like they have a legitimate presence calling signals for them. In his first game with the team, he posted a league season-high 363 yards and team season-high six touchdowns in a narrow loss to Cleveland.

Last week, throwing four interceptions derailed him a bit, but his history in the league (leading Cleveland to the Arena Bowl two years ago, finishing second in touchdown passes last year) gives Portland immeasurable confidence moving forward compared to the recent inadequacies of Danny Southwick and Darron Thomas at the position.

The June 3 matchup will be Austin’s first appearance at home, so not only will he be energized to perform in front of the home crowd, but the fans will be in an uproar to finally get behind a quarterback they can have confidence in. The combined effect of both of those realities will surge the Steel to their first win, leaving the Storm in the winless doldrums all by their lonesome.

Why the Storm Will Win First

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The Storm could easily be at a 3-4 record right now. Unfortunately for them, they have had misfortunes at the end of games. In Week 2, the Storm had a chance to win in Cleveland, but DB Joe Powell intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it for a touchdown, giving the Gladiators the victory. In their game against the Jacksonville Sharks, they had more than three minutes to score a game-winning touchdown, but failed to do so.

Starting quarterback Adam Kennedy threw as many touchdowns as he did interceptions to start the season. Jason Boltus returned to the Storm for his second season with the team. After he was given the starting job, the Storm began to play better football.

Last week, the Storm took the Gladiators to overtime, but an interception thrown by Boltus gave the Gladiators the win. Another key player for the Storm is wide receiver T.T Toliver. He has been a big part of this team, leading the team in all of the receiving categories.

With Boltus, Toliver and the rest of the team growing stronger and playing better football as the season goes on, that is why the Storm will win before the Steel. 

Arena Football Power Rankings: Week 8

8. Portland Steel

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Once again, the Steel have shown why they are the worst team in the Arena Football League in 2016 when they were blown out by the Jacksonville Sharks. The 0-7 Steel have a long season ahead of them, but right now, they're going nowhere.

7. Tampa Bay Storm

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The Storm have had bad luck at the end of games this season. In other games, there was no chance of them winning. They are playing better football than they did in the beginning of the season, however.

6. Cleveland Gladiators

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The Gladiators have games where they have a clear shot at winning, then there are games where they have to come back to win in the end. There also the games where they are just not in it at all. The Gladiators are not a consistent team, and that is why they are #6 on our list.

5. Jacksonville Sharks

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They might have beaten the Steel in a big way, but that doesn't make the Sharks a much better team than they were when they lost a 33-14 lead to the Cleveland Gladiators. They, like the Gladiators, are inconsistent when it comes to staying successful.

4. Los Angeles KISS

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Even with Nathan Stanley knocked out of the game in Arizona, the KISS proved they can definitely hang with the big boys as they only lost by 14 to the Rattlers, who at one point were the most dominant team in the league, with a backup.

3. Arizona Rattlers

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The last three games for the Rattlers have been the worst they have played all season. After starting 5-0, they were blown out by the Orlando Predators, fell behind big against the Philadelphia Soul and then only beat a backup quarterback-led Los Angeles KISS by 14 points.

2. Orlando Predators

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The Predators suffered their first loss of the season against the Soul on Saturday night, but that's not why they're #2. They're #2 because they have struggled against the lesser teams in the league this season.

1. Philadelphia Soul

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They have continued to play absolutely dominant football since their lone loss to the Jacksonville Sharks back on April 11. With a statement with over the then undefeated Predators, the Soul have shown that they may be on top of our power rankings for some time. 

Sharks Bring Back DE Geneath Moffett, Release K Jon Striefsky

On Monday, the Jacksonville Sharks announced that defensive lineman Geneath Moffett was assigned to the team. Per usual team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

(photo credit: Jacksonville Sharks/Twitter)

Moffett (6'2", 280 lbs) returns to both the Arena Football League and the Jacksonville Sharks for the first time since 2010, Jacksonville's inaugural AFL season. That year, he finished with 10 tackles (seven solo, six assisted), two sacks, two forced fumbles and two pass breakups.

As a Florida State Seminole, Moffett played 36 games along their defensive line. In 2009, his senior year, he was named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week with a pick-six in a 41-27 win over the Clemson Tigers. That year, he recorded 19 tackles and a career-high 5.5 sacks.

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Moffett went on to attend the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers' training camp, but did not make the roster. In his time away from the AFL, he spent time as the defensive line coach at Heritage High School in Palm Bay, his hometown.

A talented high school athlete out of Palm Bay Senior High, Moffett was ranked #4 in the Rivals Florida Top 50 during a senior year where he netted 160 tackles, eight sacks, and four forced fumbles as a Pirate. The Universities of Miami, Georgia, and Oklahoma all heavily recruited him before he made the decision to commit to Florida State. Off the field, Moffett was a two-time state champion in track and field.

Moffett's acquisition came at something of a price. After missing four extra points against Portland on Saturday, Jacksonville placed newly-acquired kicker Jon Striefsky on reassignment, renewing the search for Marco Capozzoli's replacement and keeping the roster at the League maximum of 24 players. Currently, there is no word of scheduled kicking tryouts, and no news of a plan at kicker for Friday's game in Orlando against the Predators.

Gladiators Hold Off Storm 70-63

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The Tampa Bay Storm hosted the Cleveland Gladiators at the Amalie Arena in Tampa on Monday night. The Storm were looking for their first win of the season while the Gladiators were looking for their second win in a row.

The Storm scored on the second play of the game when T.T Toliver caught a Jason Boltus pass and took it the distance. The Gladiators scored on their first touchdown with a little trick play. Larry Beaver found Quentin Sims for a touchdown on a reverse play to tie the game at seven. 

After the Gladiators stopped the Storm on fourth down, Arvell Nelson found Collin Taylor for a touchdown, the 23rd straight game in which Taylor caught a touchdown, and the Gladiators led 13-7 after the first quarter.

In his AFL debut, Jamie Bender picked off a Boltus pass and returned it for a touchdown to give the Gladiators a 20-14 after the Storm retook the lead in the beginning of the second quarter. 

After the Storm scored to take the lead, they attempted an onside kick, which DB Joe Powell picked up and returned for a touchdown to make it a 28-21 lead after a successful two-point conversion. 

The two teams went back and forth the rest of the way, and the two teams went into the locker room tied at 35.

On a fourth and goal from the 23, the Gladiators scored when Nelson found Quentin Sims for a touchdown. 

The Gladiators would take their lead in to the fourth quarter.

With one minute left in regulation, with the score was tied at 56, Boltus found his new receiver in Julius Gregory to give the Storm a 63-56 lead with 54 seconds left. The Gladiators would tie it up with a Collin Taylor touchdown to send the game into overtime.

Like they did at the end of regulation, the Gladiators scored when Nelson found Beavers again. The Storm would have a chance to tie it up, but for the second straight week, Marvin Ross sealed a Gladiators win. The Storm remain winless at 0-7 while the Gladiators go to 4-4. The Storm will host the Rattlers this weekend and the Gladiators head back home to face the Philadelphia Soul for the third time this season.

Rattlers Bounce Back With Win Over KISS

(photo credit: Arizona Rattlers/Twitter)

In front of 14,519 fans, the Arizona Rattlers defeated the LA KISS 47-34 at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix on Saturday night.

The win was big for the Rattlers as it ended a rare two game losing streak and got the Rattlers to 6-2, one step closer to home field advantage. Once again it was the Rattlers defense that led the way. “We got about four or five stops tonight,” said General Manager and Head Coach Kevin Guy. “I’m pretty pleased. I think we got a fumble, two picks, and two fourth down stops.”

The Rattlers got off a to a slow start in this one, like they did in Philadelphia when they were down 17 right out of the gate. The KISS scored on their first two possessions and stopped the Rattlers at the goalline with under a minute left in the first half down 20-14. But with a chance to take the lead, KISS quarterback Nathan Stanley was intercepted by Chase Deadder, who returned it for a touchdown to give Arizona a 26-14 lead, a lead that would be 34-20 at halftime. 

The two teams would trade scores in the third quarter, but the Rattlers defense was too much for Los Angeles down the stretch. Neither team scored in the final 15 minutes, as the Rattlers knocked off the KISS 47-34. 

Next up for Arizona is trip to Tampa Bay to face the now winless Tampa Bay Storm.  The KISS will head back home to take on the Portland Steel.