2011 Arena Football League season

The 2011 Arena Football League season was the 24th season in the history of the league. The regular season began on March 11, 2011 and ended on July 23, 2011.[1] The Jacksonville Sharks, in their second year of existence, defeated the Arizona Rattlers 73–70 in ArenaBowl XXIV on August 12, 2011 to conclude the playoffs.

2011 Arena Football League season
LeagueArena Football League
Sportarena football
DurationMarch 9 – August 12
Regular season
Season championsArizona Rattlers
Season MVPNick Davila, ARZ
League postseason
American Conference championsJacksonville Sharks
  American Conference runners-upGeorgia Force
National Conference championsArizona Rattlers
  National Conference runners-upChicago Rush
ArenaBowl XXIV
ChampionsJacksonville Sharks
  Runners-upArizona Rattlers
Finals MVPAaron Garcia, JAX

League business

Teams

Three franchises that competed in the 2008 season, the Philadelphia Soul, San Jose SaberCats, and Kansas City Command (formerly the Kansas City Brigade), returned to competition in the 2011 season, after an announcement made on June 19, 2010.[2]

Two teams that competed in 2010 relocated and have assumed the history of former AFL franchises. It was announced on August 21, 2010 that the Alabama Vipers would become the Georgia Force,[3] and on September 14, 2010 it was revealed that the Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings would become the New Orleans VooDoo.[4]

The Milwaukee Iron officially changed its name to the Milwaukee Mustangs on January 27, 2011, taking the name of the original franchise.[5]

The city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was awarded an expansion team on August 20, 2010. The team, named the Pittsburgh Power, was the first AFL team to call Pittsburgh home since the Pittsburgh Gladiators, one of the league's four original franchises. The Gladiators moved to Tampa, Florida and became the Tampa Bay Storm after the 1990 season.[6]

The only team that did not return from the 2010 season was the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz. Owner Phil Miller made the announcement on October 21, 2010, citing an inability to find minority investors as one reason for the decision to not compete.[7]

Realignment

With several teams relocating, returning, or leaving, the AFL announced the divisional alignment for 2011 on October 21, 2010. Both conferences each had nine teams placed in two divisions.[8]

Conference Division Teams
American East Cleveland Gladiators, Milwaukee Mustangs, Philadelphia Soul, Pittsburgh Power
South Georgia Force, Jacksonville Sharks, New Orleans VooDoo, Orlando Predators, Tampa Bay Storm
National Central Chicago Rush, Dallas Vigilantes, Iowa Barnstormers, Kansas City Command, Tulsa Talons
West Arizona Rattlers, San Jose SaberCats, Spokane Shock, Utah Blaze

Regular season schedule

Each team played an 18-game regular season with two bye weeks over the course of 20 weeks, making it the longest schedule in the history of the league. The first game of the season was played on March 11, 2011. The Pittsburgh Power began their inaugural season against the Philadelphia Soul, who played their first game since winning ArenaBowl XXII in 2008.

On July 9, the Spokane Shock and Utah Blaze played in a game billed as the "Joe Albi Stadium Summer Classic". The game was played outdoors at Joe Albi Stadium under normal arena football rules.[9]

Regular season standings
American Conference
East Division
Team W L PCT PF PA DIV CON Home Away
(2) Cleveland Gladiators 10 8 .556 904 842 4–2 6–5 7–2 3–6
Pittsburgh Power 9 9 .500 870 972 4–2 5–6 5–4 4–5
Milwaukee Mustangs 7 11 .389 872 867 1–5 3–8 4–5 3–6
Philadelphia Soul 6 12 .333 914 969 3–3 5–6 4–5 2–7
South Division
Team W L PCT PF PA DIV CON Home Away
(1) Jacksonville Sharks 14 4 .778 1158 908 8–0 12–0 8–1 6–3
(3) Georgia Force[a] 11 7 .611 1007 931 5–3 7–5 5–4 6–3
(4) Orlando Predators 11 7 .611 1001 933 4–4 8–4 6–3 5–4
Tampa Bay Storm 7 11 .389 802 993 2–6 4–8 4–5 3–6
New Orleans VooDoo 3 15 .167 826 1017 1–7 2–10 0–9 3–6
National Conference
Central Division
Team W L PCT PF PA DIV CON Home Away
(2) Chicago Rush 13 5 .722 957 833 6–2 9–3 7–2 6–3
(3) Dallas Vigilantes 11 7 .611 1061 1007 6–2 7–5 6–3 5–4
Tulsa Talons 8 10 .444 894 899 3–5 4–7 4–5 4–5
Kansas City Command 6 12 .333 854 974 3–5 4–9 4–4 2–7
Iowa Barnstormers 5 13 .278 916 1116 2–6 5–7 4–5 1–8
West Division
Team W L PCT PF PA DIV CON Home Away
(1) Arizona Rattlers 16 2 .889 1114 836 5–1 9–2 8–1 8–1
(4) Spokane Shock[b] 9 9 .500 1057 1027 3–3 6–5 7–2 2–7
Utah Blaze 9 9 .500 1082 1117 2–4 4–7 7–2 2–7
San Jose SaberCats 7 11 .389 1022 1080 2–4 4–7 6–3 1–8

Eight teams qualify for the playoffs: four teams from each conference, of which two are division champions and the other two have the best records of the teams remaining.[10]

  • Green indicates clinched playoff berth
  • Blue indicates division champion
  • Gray indicates division champion and conference's best record

Tie-breakers
  • a Georgia clinched the No. 3 seed in the American Conference based on their greater point differential in head-to-head competition with Orlando.
  • b Spokane clinched the No. 4 seed in the National Conference based on their greater point differential in head-to-head competition with Utah.

Statistics

Final statistics[11]

Passing
Player Comp. Att. Comp% Yards TD's INT's Rating
Nick Davila, ARZ42760470.7%4,91611710127.6
Aaron Garcia, JAX40256271.5%4,95311617125.4
Nick Hill, ORL38757867.0%4,7589717119.5
Tommy Grady, UTA38358365.7%4,36810712119.1
Dan Raudabaugh, DAL36058764.6%4,7419017118.3

Rushing
Player Car. Yards Avg. TD's Long
Derrick Ross, DAL1676223.73937
Nick Hill, ORL3912754.9939
Johnnie Kirton, CHI3662093.21415
Bobby Reid, TUL3131410.11339
Bernard Morris, PIT463126.8443

Receiving
Player Rec. Yards YPG TD's Long
Anthony Jones, DAL1712,232124.04243
Donovan Morgan, PHI1681,959122.43746
Jesse Schmidt, IOW1302,171120.65543
Troy McBroom, TUL1211,747116.53144
Rod Windsor, ARZ1561,830114.43644

Awards

All-Arena team
Offense
Position First team Second team
Quarterback Aaron Garcia, Jacksonville Nick Davila, Arizona
Fullback Derrick Ross, Dallas Chad Cook, San Jose
Center Randy Degg, Jacksonville Brennan Carvalho, Arizona
Offensive lineman Adam Tadisch, Cleveland
Richard Ranglin, Kansas City		 Mark Lewis, San Jose
Devin Clark, Arizona
Wide receiver Rod Windsor, Arizona
Anthony Jones, Dallas
Jesse Schmidt, Iowa		 Maurice Purify, Georgia
Donovan Morgan, Philadelphia
Reggie Gray, Chicago
Defense
Position First team Second team
Defensive lineman Anttaj Hawthorne, Arizona
Tim McGill, Tampa Bay
Caesar Rayford, Utah		 Dusty Bear, Dallas
Derrick Summers, Jacksonville
Mike Lewis, Utah
Middle linebacker Cliff Dukes, Tampa Bay Tim Cheatwood, Cleveland
Jack linebacker Kelvin Morris, Chicago Marlon Moye-Moore, Orlando
Defensive back Rayshaun Kizer, Orlando
Micheaux Robinson, Jacksonville
Vic Hall, Chicago		 Andre Jones, Milwaukee
Virgil Gray, Arizona
J.C. Neal, Tulsa
Special teams
Position First team Second team
Kicker Carlos Martinez, Georgia Fabrizio Scaccia, Arizona
Kick returner PJ Berry, New Orleans Virgil Gray, Arizona

All-Ironman team

On August 8, 2011, the All-Ironman team was announced, with P. J. Berry of the New Orleans VooDoo being named the Ironman of the Year.[12]

PlayerPositionTeam
P. J. BerryWR/KRNew Orleans VooDoo
Reggie GrayWR/KRChicago Rush
Jeff HughleyWR/KRJacksonville Sharks
C.J. JohnsonWR/KRGeorgia Force
Marlon Moye-MooreFB/LBOrlando Predators
Jason SimpsonDB/KRChicago Rush

Playoffs
Conference Semifinals Conference Championship ArenaBowl XXIV
         
1 Jacksonville 63
4 Orlando 48
1 Jacksonville 64
American Conference
3 Georgia 55
2 Cleveland 41
3 Georgia 50
A1 Jacksonville 73
N1 Arizona 70
1 Arizona 62
4 Spokane 33
1 Arizona 54
National Conference
2 Chicago 48
2 Chicago 54
3 Dallas 51

Conference semifinals
Conference Date Kickoff Away Home Final score Game site Recap
American July 29 8:00 p.m. EDT Orlando Predators Jacksonville Sharks Jacksonville, 63–48 Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena [13]
National July 29 8:30 p.m. EDT Dallas Vigilantes Chicago Rush Chicago, 54–51 Allstate Arena [14]
National July 29 10:00 p.m. EDT Spokane Shock Arizona Rattlers Arizona, 62–33 US Airways Center [15]
American July 31 3:00 p.m. EDT Georgia Force Cleveland Gladiators Georgia, 50–41 Quicken Loans Arena [16]

Conference finals
Conference Date Kickoff Away Home Final score Game site Recap
National August 6 10:00 p.m. EDT Chicago Rush Arizona Rattlers Arizona, 54–48 US Airways Center [17]
American August 8 8:00 p.m. EDT Georgia Force Jacksonville Sharks Jacksonville, 64–55 Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena [18]

ArenaBowl XXIV
Date Kickoff Away Home Final score Game site Recap
August 12 8:30 p.m. EDT Jacksonville Sharks Arizona Rattlers Jacksonville, 73–70 US Airways Center [19]

References
  1. "AFL – 2011 Season Standings/Schedule". Arena Football League. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  2. "AFL Announceds Three Teams To Be Added For 2011 Season". Arena Football League. June 19, 2010. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
  3. Bill Bryant (August 21, 2010). "It's official: Vipers have left the building". The Huntsville Times. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
  4. Tim Fletcher (September 14, 2010). "Battle Wings Moving To New Orleans". KTBS. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
  5. "Breaking News: Milwaukee Iron Become Mustangs". Arena Football League. January 27, 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-02-03. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  6. "Arena Football Comes to Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh Power. August 20, 2010. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
  7. "Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz Leaving AFL". OKBlitz.com. October 21, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
  8. "New Franchises Spark Division Alignment for 2011 Season". AFL Insider. October 21, 2010. Archived from the original on September 3, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  9. "Shock Take Arena Game Outdoors". Arena Football League. February 17, 2011. Archived from the original on July 3, 2011. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
  10. "AFL Playoff Qualification, Selection of Teams". Arenafan.com. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  11. 2011 Arena Football League Extended Individual Statistics
  12. "VooDoo's P. J. Berry Named JLS Ironman of the Year". Arena Football League. August 8, 2011. Archived from the original on October 10, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  13. "Sharks Defeat Preds, Move to Conference Finals". Arena Football League. July 29, 2011. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  14. "Rush Nab Win in Final Minute, 54–51". Arena Football League. July 29, 2011. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  15. "Arizona Beats Defending ArenaBowl Champs, 62–33". Arena Football League. July 30, 2011. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  16. "Georgia Forces Cleveland Out of the Playoffs". Arena Football League. August 2, 2011. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  17. "Arizona to Host ArenaBowl XXIV". Arena Football League. August 7, 2011. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  18. "Garcia, Sharks Advance to ArenaBowl XXIV". Arena Football League. August 7, 2011. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  19. "Garcia, Sharks Win Incredible ArenaBowl XXIV". Arena Football League. August 12, 2011. Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
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