It Has Turned Into a Season of Growth for Some Avengers

For the 3-10 Avengers, not much has gone right. They have lost five consecutive games and probably will miss the Arena Football League playoffs for the first time in five years under Coach Ed Hodgkiss.

But there have been bright spots for the Avengers, who play San Jose at Staples Center on Saturday night. Rookie quarterback Sonny Cumbie has shown flashes of brilliance, completing 58.2% of his passes for 2,534 yards and 48 touchdowns with only five intercepted.

Rookie Antoine Burns, a big-play receiver and returner, also has stepped up.

Burns, a former standout at the University of Minnesota, spent three seasons on NFL practice squads and one season with the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe before signing a two-year deal with the Avengers in January.

He was on the injured list for the first five games but since has emerged as one of the league’s top returners, averaging 19.6 yards.

“Coming into this league, I was kind of curious about how things would work out for me and how this game was played,” said Burns, who led Minnesota in receiving as a senior in 2003. “It was an adjustment at first because everything was so tight and close. Everything happens so quick.”

Burns has run two kicks back for touchdowns and came within three yards of a third in last week’s 60-51 loss to New York.

“People told me that it was pretty hard to return kicks for touchdowns in this league, so I was really excited when I first did it,” Burns said. “I look at returning kicks for touchdowns as a challenge.”

Burns, 6 feet and 200 pounds, recently has been getting more playing time at receiver, a role he hopes to expand over the final three regular-season games.

“We have a lot of young cats on this team and we’re excited about the future,” said Burns, who has 18 catches for 230 yards and two touchdowns. “We’ve been working hard in practice and in games but we keep coming away with an L. But like they say, everybody has a down season. We just have to come back strong next season.”

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Kicker Remy Hamilton, two-way specialist Kevin Ingram and fullback-linebacker Lonnie Ford are also having solid seasons. Hamilton leads AFL kickers with 147 points, including a league-high 23 field goals. Ingram is sixth with 29 touchdown catches and his 1,143 receiving yards rank ninth. His five interceptions also rank near the top. Ford, averaging four yards a carry, leads the AFL and is fifth in rushing with 125 yards, a career best.

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Hodgkiss on the possibility of not qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in his AFL coaching career:

“We haven’t really addressed the playoffs, per se. We’re just been emphasizing that it feels a heck of a lot better to win than it does to lose. Our goal is to go out and play a complete game.”