Beef Derail the Diesel
May 8, 2004 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL)
Omaha Beef News Release
Omaha, NE - The Omaha Beef derailed the Tri-City Diesel in front of a small but boisterous crowd of 3340 at the Slaughterhouse Saturday night. Omaha came into the game looking for a little payback after the 30-41 set back several weeks earlier. The Beefense knew it was going to have to stop the league's leading rusher in Tri-City running back Wesley Cates. The Diesel, on the other hand, had to prepare for multiple quarterbacks from the Beef.
Beef won the toss and elected to receive. Omaha started the game with Dusty Burk at quarterback, but his first pass attempt of the game was intercepted by Tri-City free safety Dee Ross at the Diesel 5-yard line. Unable to move the ball, the Diesel attempted a long field goal, but it sailed short. Beef kick returner Stephen Lovell took it the length of the field for a touchdown, thanks to a great block by Donavon LaViness. The Beef went up 7-0.
Cates powered in a 4-yard touchdown on the next Tri-City drive, but the extra point by Arevalo was no good, making the game 7-6 in favor of the Beef.
The next Beef drive was highlighted by a 12-yard run by LeAndre Moore that left the Tri-City defensive back frozen in his tracks. Moore later scored on an 8-yard touchdown run, giving the Beef a 14-6 lead. The first quarter ended with the Beef leading by 8 points, but Tri-City held a distinct advantage in time of possession (9:27 â 5:33). LeAndre Moore led all running backs with 20 yards in the first quarter.
Arevalo opened the second quarter with a 45-yard field goal for the Diesel, making it a 14-9 game. Kahil Jones made his first appearance of the game on the next Beef offensive series. The Beef tried to get tricky with a halfback option pass from Kevin Brown to AJ Street, but it was picked off by the Tri-City defense.
Diesel quarterback Alex Neist found wide receiver Cory Junious for a 34-yard touchdown pass to give Tri-City their first lead of the night, 16-14. After trading several insignificant series, new Omaha wide receiver Johnny Ostermeyer scored his first touchdown in a Beef uniform off a 30-yard strike from Kahil Jones to make it a 21-16 Beef Lead. Tri-City had just enough time to go down the field and make 26-yard field goal, but still went into the locker room 21-19.
The second half saw the same tug-of-war as the first half until Tri-City regained the lead in less than 5 minutes of play when Arevalo took to the air and booted a 40-yard field goal to put the Kearney team up 22-21.
The next Beef possession saw running back Kevin Brown push the home team back on top in a dramatic touchdown from 4-yards out making the score 28-22.
The next series of plays saw A J Street ignite after catching a 27-yard bullet from quarterback Dusty Burk. A J took the pigskin 27-yards into the end zone pushing the Beef to a 13 point lead and ending the 3rd quarter 35-22.
A futile effort by the Diesel to try to regain the lead saw Jason Mithell drive into the end zone with a 7-yard pass from quarterback Neist bringing the score 35-29.
The Beefs' Kevin Brown again answered with a 12-yard run to put the Beef up by 13 making it 42-29.
The Kearney team tried desperately to regain the lead with several attempts that left them in the hole. They gained only 7 points when Cates popped a 4-yard run to add to the score but the Beef still controlled the game by six. (42-36)
Beef wide receiver Doug Bargman took the ball 26-yards after quarterback Burk hit him with a quick chest-high blast to score. The 49-36 lead left the Beef in control.
Trying to recapture any chance of a victory, Tri-City quarterback Neist again hit Jason Mitchell for a quick 4-yard gain reducing the Beefs lead again to 7 and making the score 49-42.
The game ended with the Beef maintaining their 7 point lead and winning 49-42 in a hard hitting game that derailed any chance of the Diesel to stand victorious.
Saturday's game left the Omaha team with a 5-2 season record.
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National Indoor Football League Stories from May 8, 2004
- Beef Derail the Diesel - Omaha Beef
- Warriors Get Big Win Over LandSharks - Utah Warriors
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