Firecats notebook: Wallace has Firecats on top of standings

Arena football is different from the outdoor game in many ways: the field is shorter, the players wear basketball shoes, the fans get smacked by tumbling wideouts.

Here's another distinction: Indoor teams lacking a good quarterback — check that, great quarterback — might as well leave their title dreams in the parking lot.

Maybe that's why the Florida Firecats, who own the best winning percentage in af2 since the start of the 2005 season, are on a roll again, riding the right arm of Chris Wallace to the top of the South Division standings.

The 30-year-old veteran broke a pair of franchise records in his first season with the team — 3,501 passing yards, 80 touchdown connections — and he is sure to surpass each mark this year. He has completed 222 of 359 passes for 2,852 yards and 69 scores, enjoying just as much individual success as the team has as a whole.

After all, they go hand in hand.

"I figure if we get to the ArenaCup," said Wallace, speaking of af2's championship game, "it means I'm playing well."

He figures right.

The Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl five years ago with journeyman quarterback Trent Dilfer, who was perceived by most as a mere piece of the puzzle. His job was to be reliable and mistake-free, allowing the Baltimore defense to dictate the outcome.

But arena football is no place for caretaker quarterbacks. The indoor passer must command the spotlight, put up big numbers and lead his team to victory.

Check out the af2 standings. The teams at the top of the heap — Florida (9-2), Spokane (9-2), Memphis (9-3), Oklahoma City (9-3) — have proven players behind center, just as the teams at the bottom do not. A winning percentage can be assumed, quite often, by quickly reviewing the league's passing leaders.

Wallace had another big outing on Saturday in Birmingham. He threw for 255 yards and seven scores, leading the Firecats to a 60-27 rout of the Steeldogs.

His counterpart struggled. Rookie A.J.

Hawk had perhaps his worst game this season, producing points on just one of Birmingham's first five possessions. He finished 6-of-11 for 76 yards, replaced by Robert Kent to start the third quarter.

Telling stuff, indeed.

"This is his second season as a starter for the Firecats," Florida coach Kevin Bouis said of Wallace. "He's surrounded by a lot of talent, but his leadership has risen to the occasion."

Wallace, the backup to Ken Mastrole on the 2004 championship team, was one of the league's top signal-callers last year. He felt his season was incomplete, though, when the Firecats fell a game short of an ArenaCup return.

That's the only downside to being an af2 quarterback. As much as he enjoys carrying Florida's destiny on his shoulders, Wallace knows he must take the blame when things don't go well.

"Your performance around here is based on championships," Wallace said. "You can't have a killer season unless you win the whole thing."

The pieces are in place.

Even though he has thrown his share of interceptions — 10 total, with three in one game — Wallace has put up career numbers this season, pushing the Firecats within a win of clinching their fifth straight playoff berth.

"I feel I'm just now coming into my own," Wallace said. "I'm anxious to see where this leads me."

OF NOTE: Defensive back Levy Brown, who had five tackles and two interceptions in Saturday's rout of Birmingham, has been named the ADT Defensive Player of the Week. ... Backup quarterback Justin Midgett, who turned 21 in January, is af2's youngest player, six months the junior of Everett lineman Calvin Greenwood. ...

Fullback/ linebacker Deon Dyer returned to the lineup last week after missing three games with a knee injury. He had perhaps his best outing of the season, rushing twice for six yards and registering a sack on defense.