SaberCats Media Relations

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The Arena Football League and the SaberCats announced today that offensive lineman Rich Ranglin (First Team), offensive lineman Manny Akah (Second Team) and kicker Nich Pertuit (Second Team) were named to the league’s All-Arena Offensive teams. These three offensive players join their teammates defensive lineman Joe Sykes (First Team) and linebacker Francis Maka (Second Team) as the five SaberCats to earn All-Arena honors. San Jose produced the second most All-Arena selections behind the Arizona Rattlers, who had six.

“This was the first season for all three of these players in San Jose and they earned every bit of this recognition,” Owner and Head Coach Darren Arbet said regarding the announcement today. “We as an organization are very proud of Manny, Nich and Rich for this honor.”

Ranglin (6-3, 315, Central Connecticut State) who is now a member of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League, appeared in nine games in 2012 for the SaberCats and brings home All-Arena honors for the second consecutive season (also did so in 2011 as a member of the Kansas City Command). San Jose allowed just nine sacks through the first half of the season with Ranglin as a key fixture as part of the offensive line.

Akah (6-3, 335, Winston Salem State) was an anchor along the SaberCats offensive line that did their job in protecting quarterback Mark Grieb. The offensive line only allowed 20 sacks, which ranked tied for fifth in all of the AFL. The London native, who came over from the Tampa Bay Storm in the offseason, only missed one game in 2012 and was a consistent force in keeping Grieb upright.

SaberCats kicker Nich Pertuit joined San Jose mid-season and in 13 appearances immediately stabilized a position that had been a trouble spot early in the year. Pertuit connected on 103/114 (90.4%) of his extra point attempts, including a streak of 41 consecutive conversions and played a huge role in the successful recoveries of six onside kick attempts, which tied for the most in the AFL with the Orlando Predators and Utah Blaze. On top of that, his knack for hitting the bar on kickoffs played a key role in several momentum-shifting plays throughout the course of the season for the SaberCats.

ABOUT THE SAN JOSE SABERCATS
The ArenaBowl XVI, XVIII and XXI champion San Jose SaberCats, just concluded their 16th Arena Football League season. Fans can log on to thesanjosesabercats.com, call 408-673-3400 and follow the SaberCats on Facebook and Twitter for all of the latest news on the team. Contact the front office at the above phone number for information on 2013 Season Ticket Packages.