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Leroy McFadden is hard to track down. The former All-af2 offensive specialist has made 21 catches for 359 yards and five scores, this in just two games since rejoining the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers after midseason.

He’s even harder to get on the phone. Florida Firecats defensive specialist Quincy Sorrell, a teammate of McFadden’s last year with the National Indoor Football League’s Miami Morays, called mutual friends this week hoping to find the Pioneer’s number.

He had no luck.

Rest assured, though, that the two will do plenty of talking tonight in Pennsylvania, even if the conversation has little to do with getting caught up.

This is how it always goes with Sorrell and McFadden. They even gave each other the business as teammates, with Florida’s 41-31 victory over the Pioneers in the 2004 playoffs generally assuring Sorrell of the last laugh.

Now they meet again.

“I know he’s imagining what I’ll say,” said Sorrell, who will be responsible for silencing McFadden when the Firecats face the Pioneers at 7 p.m. in a matchup of division leaders. “He heard enough of it when we were with the Morays.”

He heard it from Ethenic Sands, too. The Florida receiver was McFadden’s roommate in Miami, making it a 2-on-1 mismatch in favor of the Firecats.

Things are back to normal now. Sorrell and Sands have returned to Estero, where they celebrated an ArenaCup championship two years ago. And McFadden, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound receiver, is again on the opposite sideline.

Keeping up with McFadden, however, has proved a tireless endeavor. The one-time Moray returned to the Pioneers in time for the 2005 playoffs, but then he was gone again. He spent 10 months out of the game before reappearing four weeks ago.

His timing was perfect. McFadden has helped ease the loss of franchise receiver J.R. Thomas, who was released by the team after a Week 11 loss in Albany.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton remains a puzzle, harder to figure out than its long-winded, two-city surname. The Pioneers haven’t been the same since a 5-0 start, losing four of seven after a three-week run as af2’s No. 1 team.

The good news is that they still control their own destiny. A win tonight would not only keep East Division rival Green Bay (8-5) at arm’s length — the Blizzard crushed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 65-35, two weeks ago — it would also put the Pioneers (8-4) in position to nab homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

Florida has been a more consistent outfit, to be sure, but its situation has a similar feel. The Firecats (9-3) can earn the American Conference’s top seed if they win out, yet Memphis (9-4) trails them by just one-half game in the South Division race.

The upshot: This one’s huge.

“You’re always fighting to get homefield advantage,” said Pioneers coach Rich Ingold, whose team hasn’t played since the Green Bay debacle. “Right now Florida and us are neck and neck. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but it’s a big game for both of us. This is definitely our biggest game of the season.”

You wouldn’t hear such talk from Kevin Bouis, who prefers to measure each obstacle the same. He points to Florida’s consistency — the Firecats haven’t lost on back-to-back weekends in his two seasons as coach — as proof that the philosophy works.

There is history here. Florida and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton have met three times, with Florida owning a 3-0 series edge. Two of the games were played in the postseason.

“Right now we’re just trying to get a win,” Bouis said, repeating a statement he’s made dozens of times. “There’s still a lot of football to be played.”

Little time, though, to save face for the South Division. The East is clearly the stronger contingent, armed with six teams still alive in the playoff chase. Florida has lost twice this season to East opponents — Green Bay pulled off a 48-47 upset last week in Germain Arena — but beating the Pioneers would rectify those struggles, plus clear up the race for the conference’s top seed.

Much is on the line.

It’s not just bragging rights.

Firecats (9-3) vs. Pioneers (8-4)

-- What: Florida Firecats at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers

-- When: Tonight at 7

-- Radio: WGUF/FM 98.9 at 7 p.m.