1996 Minnesota Fighting Pike season

1996 Minnesota Fighting Pike season
File:Minnesota Fighting Pike.png
Head coach	Ray Jauch
Home field	Target Center
Results
Record	4–10
Division place	4th
Playoff finish	Did Not Qualify

The 1996 Minnesota Fighting Pike season was the 1st season and only season for the team in the Arena Football League. The team's lack of exposure or advertising was the key reason for the team's folding at the end of the 1996 season. The team did not have a regional television deal to promote their games or have the games advertised in newspapers and other media. The Pike's final game of the season against the Memphis Pharaohs was played in Tupelo, Mississippi, because the Pharaohs had been evicted from their arena. After the game, the Pike ceased operations. There were no announcements nor press releases; players left town and staff did not receive their final paychecks.

Coaching

• Ray Jauch, was the head coach. He was assisted by John Coatta Jr. on offense and Frank Haege on defense.

Season schedule

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
April 27	Texas Terror	Away	W 36–24
May 4	Iowa Barnstormers	Home	L 43–59
May 10	St. Louis Stampede	Home	L 22–59
May 18	Albany Firebirds	Away	L 30–85
May 24	Tampa Bay Storm	Home	L 16–41
May 31	Anaheim Piranhas	Home	L 23–49
June 7	Arizona Rattlers	Home	L 27–59
June 15	Florida Bobcats	Away	L 28–63
June 28	Milwaukee Mustangs	Home	L 49–61
July 5	Connecticut Coyotes	Away	W 44–40
July 12	Orlando Predators	Away	L 12–56
July 19	Texas Terror	Home	L 51–51
July 26	San Jose SaberCats	Away	W 40–31
August 3	Memphis Pharaohs	Away	W 50–25

Personnel moves

Acquired

The roster was full of players that had played at the University of Minnesota or other Minnesota colleges and universities. Former Gopher Rickey Foggie was the quarterback and he struggled adapting to the Arena Football League after many years in the Canadian Football League. Once during the season he was benched in favor of Southwest State's Jeff Loots, who threw four interceptions in a game. Loots was playing on his third expansion team in three seasons. Another player from Southwest State was Alvin Ashley. Perhaps the best-known ex-Pike is kicker Mike Vanderjagt, later a star in the CFL and NFL.

1996 Roster

1996 Minnesota Fighting Pike roster
Quarterbacks 14 Rickey Foggie 11 Jeff Loots Running backs -- Harry Jackson -- William Freeney Wide receivers -- David Andrews -- Alvin Ashley -- Reggie Brown -- Fernando Evans -- Wayne Hawkins -- Eric Jennings -- Bruce LaSane -- Tony Levine		Offensive linemen/Defensive linemen -- Scott Dolfi -- Jon Garber -- Sheldon Haliburton -- Brian Krulikowski -- Roosevelt Nix -- Mike Sunvold -- Franklin Thomas Linebackers -- Norman Brown -- Nate Johnson III -- Macey Stephens -- Kevin Wolfolk		Defensive backs -- Joe Fuller -- Kevin Guy -- Tony Harris -- Adrian Lunsford -- D.J. McCarthy -- Randy Smith -- Tony Young Kickers -- Ty Stewart -- Mike Vanderjagt Rookies in italics Roster updated August 16, 2012 32 Active, 0 Inactive, 0 PS → More rosters

Stats

Offense

Passing

Place	Player Name	Completions	Attempts	Comp%	Yards	TD's	INT's	Rating
1	Rickey Foggie	224	443	50.6%	2269	40	16	73.1
2	Jeff Loots	40	75	53.3%	484	7	8	57.2

Rushing

Place	Player Name	Car	Yards	Avg	TD's
1	Harry Jackson	22	26	1.2	0
2	Guy Howard	11	19	1.7	0
3	William Freeney	5	18	3.6	0
4	Rickey Foggie	17	17	1	4
5	Bruce LaSane	6	12	2	0
6	Wayne Hawkins	3	12	4	0
7	Willie Jennings	8	9	1.1	0
8	Kevin Wolfolk	2	8	4	0
9	Norman Brown	1	2	2	0
10	David Andrews	1	2	2	0
11	Jeff Loots	3	−2	−0.7	0

Receiving

Place	Player Name	Rec.	Yards	Avg	TD's
1	Reggie Brown	79	964	12.2	17
2	Alvin Ashley	69	971	14	19
3	Eric Jennings	29	230	7.9	0
4	Bruce LaSane	22	275	12.5	6
5	Wayne Hawkins	15	164	10.9	1
6	Harry Jackson	15	128	8.5	1
7	Kevin Guy	9	96	10.6	0
8	Tony Levine	8	83	10.4	1
9	Guy Howard	5	22	4.4	0
10	Franklin Thomas	3	43	14.3	0
11	D.J. McCarthy	2	53	26.5	1
12	Fernando Evans	2	23	11.5	0
13	Tony Harris	2	15	7.5	0
14	Nate Johnson III	2	14	7	0
15	Tony Young	1	45	45	1
16	Tracey Martin	1	14	14	0
17	Adrian Lunsford	1	7	7	0
18	Norman Brown	1	5	5	0

Touchdowns

Place	Player Name	TD's	Rush	Rec	Ret	Pts
1	Alvin Ashley	19	0	19	0	114
2	Reggie Brown	17	0	17	0	102
2	Bruce LaSane	6	0	6	0	36
4	Rickey Foggie	4	4	0	0	24
5	Adrian Lunsford	2	0	0	2	12
6	Wayne Hawkins	1	0	1	0	6
7	Harry Jackson	1	0	1	0	6
8	Tony Levine	1	0	1	0	6
9	D.J. McCarthy	1	0	1	0	6
10	Tony Young	1	0	1	0	6

Defense

Place	Player Name	Tackles	Solo	Assisted	Sack	Solo	Assisted	INT	Yards	TD's	Long
1	Kevin Guy	52.5	49	7	0	0	0	2	0	0
2	Tony Harris	43.5	41	5	0	0	0	1	10	0
3	Adrian Lunsford	41	37	8	0	0	0	7	29	2
4	Alvin Ashley	28.5	27	3	0	0	0	2	42	1
5	Brian Krulikowski	25	19	12	1.5	1	1	0	0	0
6	Nate Johnson III	23	19	8	4.5	4	1	0	0	0
7	Norman Brown	22.5	21	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	Mike Sunvold	21.5	18	7	4	4	0	0	0	0
9	Harry Jackson	19	18	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	Franklin Thomas	16	15	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Bruce LaSane	15.5	13	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	Guy Howard	14.5	12	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	Joe Fuller	11.5	11	1	0	0	0	1	13	0
14	Roosevelt Nix	10	8	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	Kevin Wolfolk	9.5	9	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	Reggie Brown	9	8	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	Scott Dolfi	8	7	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	Randy Smith	6.5	6	1	0	0	0	1	21	0
19	William Freeney	5	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	Wayne Hawkins	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
21	Sheldon Haliburton	4	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	Tony Levine	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	Ty Stewart	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	D.J. McCarthy	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
25	Jeff Loots	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	Tony Young	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	Jon Garber	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	Fernando Evans	1.5	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	Ricky Foggie	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	Eric Jennings	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	Macey Stephens	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Special Teams

Kick Return

Place	Player Name	Ret	Yards	TD's	Long	Avg	Ret	Yards	TD's	Long	Avg
1	Alvin Ashley	52	951	0
2	Adrian Lunsford	22	393	2
3	Reggie Brown	3	23	0
4	Tony Harris	2	26	0
5	Wayne Hawkins	2	9	0
6	Kevin Guy	2	0	0
7	Eric Jennings	1	0	0

Kicking

Place	Player Name	Extra pt.	Extra pt. Att.	FG	FGA	Pct.	Pts
1	Ty Stewart	37	43	16	52	30.8	87
2	Mike Vanderjagt	7	10	2	6	33.3	13

Regular season

Week 1: vs Texas Terror

at The Summit, Houston, Texas

Attendance: 4,520

Week 2: vs Iowa Barnstormers

at the Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 14,840

Week 3: vs St. Louis Stampede

at the Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 8,726

Week 4: vs Albany Firebirds

at the Times Union Center, Albany, New York

Attendance: 11,712

Week 5: vs Tampa Bay Storm

at the Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 7,781

Week 6: vs Anaheim Piranhas

at the Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 8,117

Week 7: vs Arizona Rattlers

at the Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 8,207

Week 8: vs Florida Bobcats

at the West Palm Beach Auditorium, West Palm Beach, Florida

Attendance: 4,450

Week 10: vs Milwaukee Mustangs

at the Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 7,207

Week 11: vs Connecticut Coyotes

at the Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut

Attendance: 9,249

Week 12: vs Orlando Predators

at the Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida

Attendance: 15,107

Week 13: vs Texas Terror

at the Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 7,380

Week 14: vs San Jose SaberCats

at the HP Pavilion, San Jose, California

Attendance: 14,901

Week 15: vs Memphis Pharaohs

at the BancorpSouth Arena, Tupelo, Mississippi

Attendance: 4,520

Notes

• All game scores and statistics are from arenafan.com

External links

• Minnesota Fighting Pike statistics

Template:Minnesota Fighting Pike

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