National Indoor Bowl Championship Game Review
August 4, 2008 - United Indoor Football Association (UIF) News Release
Omaha, NE - The fourth season of United Indoor Football came to a close this weekend when this year's UIF champion Sioux Falls Storm edged the Intense Football League champion, the Louisiana Swashbucklers 54-42 in the first-ever National Indoor Bowl Championship game.
SIOUX FALLS STORM 54, LOUISIANA SWASHBUCKLERS 42
At Sioux Falls, SD
The UIF champion Sioux Falls Storm defeated the IFL champion Louisiana Swashbucklers in the National Indoor Bowl Championship game Saturday evening at the Sioux Falls Arena.
Shortly after 7 p.m., Louisiana's Whitney Hillin kicked off and the game was underway.
Storm running back Sean Treasure capped Sioux Falls' opening drive when he rushed in from four yards out to put the Storm up 7-0. On the subsequent possession, Louisiana, led by quarterback Alvin Bartie, went on a seven-play, 30-yard drive that finished with Bartie connecting with Sammy Knight on a 14-yard touchdown pass. After a blocked extra point, Sioux Falls held a one point lead at 7-6. The Storm added to their lead on the next possession when Adam Hicks drilled a 40-yard field goal to put the team up by four at 10-6. Sioux Falls added another touchdown just before the end of the quarter when Terrance Bryant found Bryan Alberty with an 11-yard touchdown pass, putting the Storm up by 11 at 17-6.
Louisiana got the ball back with just three seconds to go in the first quarter. Bartie engineered a five-play, 30-yard drive that finished when he hit Charles McCrea on a 16-yard touchdown pass, which brought the Swashbucklers back within five at 17-12. The next possession, Sioux Falls' Bryant and Marques Smith put together a drive that finished with Hicks making a 22-yard field goal to put Sioux Falls back up eight at 20-12. Louisiana came back two plays later when Bartie threw his third touchdown pass of the night, this time a 29-yard variety to Marcus Wilridge as the scoreboard now read 20-18 in favor of Sioux Falls. Four plays later, Hicks added his third field goal to put the Storm up by five at 23-18. Louisiana took their first lead of the game at 1:05 remaining when Travis Moses intercepted a Bryant pass and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown to go up 25-23. Freddie Harrison rushed in from nine yards out to add to Louisiana's lead at 32-23. Hicks made his third field goal of the game, a 36-yarder, with no time remaining. The halftime scoreboard read Louisiana 32, Sioux Falls 26.
After an interception by Brian McIntire, Sioux Falls got the ball for their opening possession of the third quarter. Bryant and Treasure put together a 20-yard drive that finished when Bryant found Dusty Hovorka on a 10-yard touchdown pass to put the Storm back up at 33-32. Louisiana's Hillin put the Swashbucklers up by two at 35-33 with a 30-yard field goal of his own. The teams exchanged missed field goals before Sioux Falls' Leon Hall ran in from 13 yards out to put Sioux Falls up 40-35 near the end of the quarter.
Sioux Falls added to their lead when they scored on their opening possession of the fourth as Bryant connected with Treasure on a 23-yard touchdown pass and went up by 12 at 47-35. Louisiana came back three plays later when Harrison found Phillip O'Neal with a 37-yard touchdown pass to come within five at 47-42. It would be the last time the Swashbucklers would score. Sioux Falls added one last touchdown the very next possession when Bryant connected with Hovorka again, this time on an 11-yard pass, to finish the night's scoring at 54-42.
Leading the way for the Swashbucklers were Bartie, defensive back Damien Huren, Hillin and wide receiver Sammy Knight. Bartie completed nine of 12 passes for 105 yards and three touchdowns to lead the offense. Defensively, Huren made a team-high eight tackles while also tallying ½' a tackle for loss and a pass break up. On special teams, Hillin contributed six points on a field goal and three extra points and Knight returned four kicks for 89 yards.
Leading the way for the Storm were Bryant, their defense, Hicks and Alberty. Offensively, Bryant completed 19 of 29 passes for 172 yards and four touchdowns. Sioux Falls' defense tallied six tackles for loss and four sacks while also intercepting three passes, breaking up five more and even blocked a kick. On special teams, Hicks scored one-third (18) of the team's 54 points with his four field goals and six extra points while Alberty contributed 44 return yards (seven missed field goal and 37 kickoff).
The Storm finish their season with a 14-3 record while Louisiana falls to 16-1. Both teams will play next season in the nearly-created Indoor Football League, which was announced at a Friday press conference.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Final
Louisiana Swashbucklers 6 26 3 7 42
Sioux Falls Storm 17 9 14 14 54
Most Valuable Player: Rachman Crable, defense lineman, Sioux Falls Storm
Four tackles, three tackles for loss, three sacks, blocked kick
United Indoor Football is the premier indoor football league of North America and is committed to serving its teams and fans. Please contact the UIF league office with any comments, concerns or suggestions.
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