Beef face "Rough" test on road
April 16, 2011 - Indoor Football League (IFL)
Omaha Beef News Release
ODESSA, TEXAS -- In the first quarter of Saturday night's Indoor Football League's match up between the Omaha Beef and West Texas Roughnecks, a combined 29 points were scored against two of the league's top defenses. What looked like a high-flying barn-burner early became a gritty, heated contest. Late scores by the Roughnecks saw the home team beat Omaha 39-16.
The Beef (now 3-3) had pulled closed an early defect to 22-16 late in the third but could not overcome massive waves of adversity.
While the Roughnecks (now 5-2) were a near mirror image of the Beef in numbers going into the game, their offensive and defensive styles couldn't be anything more different. Both those led to some challenges for Omaha.
Rookie Silas Fluellen got the second start of his career, filling in for an injured James McNear. A late first quarter injury to Fluellen forced WR Maurice Avery to move behind center for the remainder of the first half.
Fluellen and Avery faced a mixture of coverage mismatches and resilient pressure. With four offensive players forced to stay behind the line of scrimmage (three linemen and the quarterback), the rookie quarterback was often faced with double teams on every receiver. The Roughneck zone defense meant that essentially every Beef receiver had at least two defenders within striking distance. Despite being prepared, the well-disguised defense meant that Fluellen had no shot at any pre-snap tipoffs as to which defenders were rushing and which were dropping into coverage.
"We addressed it coming into the game," Beef head coach Andy Yost said. "They just out-executed us."
On offense, the Roughnecks used a scheme similar to what is run in the Arena Football Leagues first division. That helped them to a 19-10 first quarter lead. Following adjustments to experiencing it first hand, the Beef defense was able to shut out West Texas in the second quarter.
West Texas scored on the game's opening drive, but Omaha stormed back to take a 10-7 lead. Fluellen's first completion of the night was a 32-yard touchdown to O.J. Simpson.
"Silas mad a play with his fee," Yost said. "OJ cut off his route and adjusted to the quarterback. It was a great play."
One week ago, Fluellen completed his first-career pass to Simpson, also a deep touchdown. CJ Gradoville hit a 25-yard field goal on the following series to give Omaha the 10-7 lead.
The Roughnecks countered with a series of odd events that saw them score 12 points on just five total plays from scrimmage in less than three minutes.
It started when Zeke Arevalo hit a 50-yard field goal with 3:16 left in the first quarter. The ensuing first play from scrimmage saw Fluellen sacked in the end zone for a safety. Just three plays later, the Roughnecks scored their second touchdown to go up 19-10 with 20 seconds left in the quarter.
On the next series, Fluellen took a sack but had his leg tangled up by a Roughneck defender, who wouldn't let go after the whistle. As Fluellen twisted to free himself, he injured his leg and would not return until after the half. To add insult to injury, the Beef signal caller was lagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for throwing the ball at the ground during the process.
That meant receiver Maurice Avery had to take the snaps for the second quarter. Avery was 3-for-8 with 22 yards in the air. He threw an interception on a WR reverse pass in the fourth quarter.
Both defenses shut out the opposing offense in the second quarter. The highlight came when the Beef defense faced a first-and-goal at the 2-yard line. They forced a three-and-out and denied the field goal.
The Beef defense gave the West Texas offense a lot of difficulties, holding them to just two touchdowns in the first 44:44 of the game.
"Our defense held them to negative 24 rushing yards," Yost said. "They did an incredible job. They kept us in the game. We just need to score points."
Fluellen returned in the third quarter and connected with Allen Burrell for a would-be touchdown, but it was negated by offensive pass interference. CJ Gradoville came back with a 50-yard field goal to cut the lead to 19-13.
The next series Gradoville outdid himself by connecting on a 55-yard attempt, bringing the score to 22-16.
"(Along with our defense), I thought CJ was the bright spot tonight," Yost said. "He did a great job. He's getting more and more accurate. His kickoffs are coming along. We're excited about that."
That was the end of the scoring for Omaha. West Texas added a touchdown late in the third quarter, one halfway through the fourth and a field goal on their final possession to cap off scoring at 39-16.
The Beef return home to the Slaughterhouse Saturday to face new in-state rival the Nebraska Danger. The Danger (now 3-3) are in their inaugural season and are coming off a 60-37 upset over the Allen Wranglers (now 4-3).
It is Kids Night with kids getting in free with a paid adult. All fans will get a special edition team poster of the Beef. At halftime, mascots from area high schools, colleges, sports teams and businesses will take to the field in a mascot football game. Kickoff is set for 7:05pm.
"Hopefully they'll bring a bunch of fans," Yost said. "We know our fans will show up and be loud. I expect a hard hitting, rowdy game."
Indoor Football League Stories from April 16, 2011
- Roughnecks Pick Up Non-Conference Home Win Over Omaha, 39-16 - West Texas Roughnecks
- Beef face "Rough" test on road - Omaha Beef
- Revolution comeback falls short - Richmond Revolution
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