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Erie Explosion Return to Action at Home this Friday Night

April 13, 2011 - Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL)
Erie Explosion News Release


(Erie, PA) - The Erie Explosion are scheduled to return to SIFL action on Friday night at the Tullio Arena, when they host their in-state division rivals, the Harrisburg Stampede, with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 PM. This weekend's game is the second of four scheduled meetings between the two franchises. The first game, played on the opening night of the season three weeks ago in Harrisburg, was won by the Explosion by the final score of 46-25.

In that game, the Erie defense was particularly impressive, not allowing a touchdown until the third quarter, recording six sacks, three interceptions, three turnovers on downs, and a safety. Erie linebacker Brenton Brady contributed 3.5 sacks and defensive lineman Troy Blackwell added two sacks and a third tackle for loss. In his first indoor football game, Explosion quarterback Adam DiMichele completed 18 of 34 passes for 239 yards and five touchdowns against only one interception. Trumaine Riley led the Explosion wide receiver corps with nine catches for 143 yards and three touchdown receptions.

Erie (3-1) comes into the weekend with a two-game lead in the SIFL's Northeast division but looking to regain its momentum after dropping its first game of the season, a disappointing 65-62 loss to the Trenton Steel in its home opener, following three consecutive road victories to begin the season. The Explosion had a late 8-point lead but could not hold it, and Trenton secured the victory on a 34-yard field goal on the last play of the game. The Stampede have dropped their first four games of the season, having lost their last game to the Carolina Speed in Charlotte by the score of 51-36.

"Harrisburg is always a tough game for us, as these rivalry matchups usually are. You can throw out the records, they're hungry and talented, and they'll be coming here needing and expecting to win as they did last year, and we're going to have to match their intensity and continue to execute. Our defense controlled the first game in Harrisburg, but struggled in our last game against Trenton, so we know what we're capable of, but we've got work to do there. Our special teams units also need to be much more productive, if we want to win Friday and compete for a championship. We've signed a new kicker this week out of the AFL, Carlos Ojeda, who we hope can help in that regard. Adam DiMichele and all of our receivers continue to be efficient and make big plays. As long as we continue to take care of the ball, our playmakers won't be stopped. As I said last week, it's important for us to re-establish our homefield advantage in order to win a championship, and we need and we're counting on a large and loud crowd this Friday night to help us." commented Explosion head coach Shawn Liotta.

Erie's offense is led by quarterback DiMichele who has completed 51% of his passes for 1,004 yards, tops in the SIFL, and 25 touchdowns in four games with only three interceptions. Four Explosion wide receivers have scored touchdowns on the season, led by Kevin Concepcion who leads the team and is among the league leaders with 33 receptions, 365 yards, and eleven touchdown catches which leads the SIFL. Trumaine Riley has recorded five scores among his 12 receptions, Ernest Jackson has six touchdown receptions, and Tirone Morris has also scored five times, including two kickoff returns for touchdowns. Linebacker Brenton Brady leads the Explosion defense in sacks with 3.5 and lineman Troy Blackwell has three. Chris Johnson leads the team with three interceptions and Eric Wicks has contributed two, plus a recovered fumble returned for a touchdown. Erie is currently ranked second in the SIFL in passing yardage, and fourth in total offense, scoring offense, and turnover margin.

Two quarterbacks have seen significant action for Harrisburg this season, including Andre Coles and Kelvin Robinson, with Coles expected to get the starting nod once again this weekend. On the season, Coles has completed 52% of his passes for 517 yards and five touchdowns with three interceptions. Wide receiver Collis Martin is the Stampedes' leading receiver with 30 receptions and eight touchdowns. Former Erie standout J.R. Cipra has recorded five "unos" for Harrisburg in four games, but has struggled on field goal attempts, converting only 4 of 16.

Tickets are available for this and all other Erie Explosion home games at the Tullio Arena box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets. The game will be broadcast on a delayed basis on Monday night on the Image Sports Network in Erie, with long-time announcers Ray Riesdorph and Scott Wludyga calling all of the action for our viewers as the "Voices of the Erie Explosion".

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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