The Jacksonville Sharks look to move to 3-1 this week against in-state rivals the Tampa Bay Storm at the St Pete Time Forum on Friday, April 1, 2011 at 8 pm. The game between the Jacksonville Sharks and the Tampa Bay Storm has been selected as the NFL Network Game of the Week.This will be Jacksonville’s third regular season game against the Storm as Coach Les Moss and the team is currently 2-0 vs. the Storm. As for Tampa Bay this will be Coach Dave Ewart’s first regular season game against the Sharks.
The Jacksonville Sharks scored 71 points vs. the Georgia Force and then set another record by beating the New Orleans Voodoo by 31 points. Wide Receiver Jeron Harvey is establishing himself as quarterback Aaron Garcia’s go-to weapon. Harvey is currently leading the AFL in touchdowns and receiving yards. Additionally WR Jomo Wilson is averaging 150 all-purpose yard per game. Nobody is looking more on target and in mid-season mode than Aaron Garcia. Garcia, who was awarded Offensive Player of the Week for his 8 touchdown performance last week, will be facing a Tampa team that is third worst in points allowed, tied for worst in takeaways and last in opponent passer rating.
Tampa Bay, the 2010 American Conference Champion, had a successful season last year going 11-5 and eventually lost Arena Bowl 23 to Spokane Shock by 12 points. 2011,however, started in disarray and has not gotten much better. The Storm’s longtime, successful coach Tim Marcum surprisingly resigned a month before the season began and was replaced internally by Dave Ewart. Tampa is looking to bounce back from a loss by 40 points at the hands of the Cleveland Gladiators last week. In Tampa’s two losses this season they have lost by an average of 38 points.
Jacksonville must look to contain Tampa’s defensive lineman Cliff Dukes. Dukes,who leads the AFL with six sacks, is having a career year and is only one away from tying his last years totals. Sharks offensive lineman Isaac Morales, Andy Degg and Vladimir Richard must find a way to contain Dukes and give Garcia enough time to deliver the ball to his dangerous weapons.
Sharks defensive back Micheaux Robinson and the rest of the Sharks’ defensive backfield still look to reassert their dominance from last year. The Sharks are currently last in the league in yards allowed. The defense however has allowed the least points in the AFL. Robinson was awarded Defensive Player of the week vs. the Georgia Force two weeks ago. He has picked off three passes in the last two weeks. The entire defensive backfield will look to continue their takeaway streak against Tampa Bay who has thrown five interceptions on the season.
The game will air on the NFL Network at 8:00PM. Radio play-by-play will be broadcast by 1010XL, and hosted by Terry Norvelle. (Yes, it’s the same guy who does Terry n’ Town on CW)
Related posts:
- Jacksonville Sharks vs. Tampa Bay Storm Trailing 43-38, Sharks quarterback Aaron Garcia found Sale’ Key on...
- Jacksonville Sharks Playing New Orleans VooDoo – Saturday March 26, 2011 The New Orleans VooDoo have returned to AFL led by...
- Jacksonville Sharks host Orlando Predators in round one of Playoffs This game has all the makings of an instant classic...
- Interview with Jacksonville Sharks Head coach Les Moss I got a chance to interview head coach of the...
- Jacksonville Sharks Arena Football Home Opening Game The new arena football team, the Jacksonville Sharks, played their...
