Horsemen plan send-off for fans, team

chairman says league is safe

Herald-Leader staff report

Officials of the Kentucky Horsemen are urging fans to help send the arenafootball2 team off to its second-round playoff game.

Players and coaches will be on hand in the Cox Street parking lot, behind Rupp Arena, Thursday night at 9. The team is scheduled to leave by bus at 10 p.m. to take on the top-seeded Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers. The game is Saturday at 7 p.m.

Fans unable to attend Thursday's send-off can send a note of encouragement via e-mail to starr.williams@horsemenfootball.com.

Brett Kincaid, president and chairman of the non-profit Horsemen Foundation, also said a Wednesday conference call of af2 team leaders contradicted published reports that the Arena Football League has shut down. Rather, Kincaid said, the AFL has suspended play indefinitely. He added that the Horsemen and af2 are on solid ground.

"The AFL is a separate entity, although the AFL is our big brother," he said. "We're solid, we're paying our bills, we're rocking on."

Fifth-seeded Kentucky won its first-round game last week at South Georgia, 66-63. The Horsemen beat Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 63-56 in the second game of the regular season.

If Kentucky defeats the Pioneers again, it could host the American Conference finals, but would need sixth-seeded Green Bay to knock off second-seeded Iowa.

That would make for a matchup of former Highlands High School quarterbacks Jared Lorenzen and Gino Guidugli, who directs the Green Bay offense.