Beef battle T-Cats for IPFL title

by Beef Press Release
August 22, 2001 - Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL)

Beef Press Release

The Indoor Professional Football League's irresistible force once again meets the immovable object Saturday night.

The Omaha Beef's top-ranked offense will test the No. 1 Tennessee ThunderCat defense for a fifth time this season during the 2001 IPFL Championship Game at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.

The irresistible Beef force has won three of the four meetings behind the league's top total (247.6), rushing (107.1) and scoring (56.0) offense. Omaha rolled to 72-50, 56-29 and 54-32 June victories over Tennessee.

But the immovable ThunderCat object, which leads the IPFL in total (171.5), rushing (47.2), passing (124.3) and scoring (33.4) defense, struck back with an impressive 61-34 win July 7 in Knoxville, Tenn.

The momentum expansion Tennessee carries from the last meeting may be deflated when it comes to Omaha for "Turf War 4." The Beef is 7-0 behind a 62-point scoring average at home this season. Omaha has outscored the opposition 435-229 in the Slaughterhouse.

"We've got to go up there and do something that hasn't happened all year – beat them on their own field," Tennessee coach George Lemon said.

Omaha owns the league record for points in a game (79) and season (896). Quarterback Troy Travis, the lead candidate for IPFL Most Valuable Player honors, has passed for 2,291 yards with 46 touchdowns and four interceptions. The former Omaha Benson all-stater has also rushed for 17 scores.

The Beef's thunder and lightning backfield of Clinton Childs and Calvin Jones has stormed to big numbers. Childs, who has rushed for 831 yards, leads the league in scoring (212 points) and touchdowns (34).

Jones, the third-leading rusher in Nebraska history with 3,153 yards from 1991-93, has rushed for 440 yards and 11 scores this season. But Jones has been even more explosive on special teams. He averages 30.5 yards on kickoff returns with six touchdowns. Jones has an IPFL career-record 10 KO returns for a touchdown.

Tennessee has the defensive forces to slow the Beef. James Beavers has been a wall up front with a league-high 25 tackles for a loss and 14 sacks. Tony Scollieri tops the ThunderCats with 78 tackles, while defensive back Monte Spiller of Kansas State has 77 stops.

But can those immovable objects stop Omaha's irresistible force for a second straight time?

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Indoor Professional Football League Stories from August 22, 2001

• Beef battle T-Cats for IPFL title - OSC Original by Beef Press Release

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