IFL Omaha Beef

Beef win inaugural intrastate rivalry game

April 23, 2011 - Indoor Football League (IFL)
Omaha Beef News Release


OMAHA-The first ever Indoor Football League game between the Nebraska (Grand Island) Danger and the Omaha Beef was everything you would expect an in-state rivalry game between two teams tied for second place in their division, a spot that will likely guarantee a playoff berth. The Beef recorded their highest point total of the season, winning 46-37.

"You gotta give Nebraska a lot of credit," Beef head coach Andy Yost said. "They've got a lot of veteran players, but this is a first year team. And I give our guys a lot of credit for sticking with it, not panicking when things weren't going our way and just chipping away."

Beef quarterback James McNear is called "The Matrix" but Saturday night, you could call him "True Grit." After sitting out two games with a groin injury, the Beef signal caller put his team on his back. He scrambled for two touchdowns, passed for another and followed that up with a gutsy two-point conversion run.

"It's amazing," McNear said of being back in action. "It really hurt me to not be on the field, competing with my brothers out there. It was surreal."

"He's our leader; he's our general on the field," Yost said. "When he has a good game, we perform well. And we showed that tonight."

McNear didn't miss a step. On his second play from scrimmage, he scrambled for a 30-yard touchdown scramble.

"I wanted to prove a point even in pre-game, running around a little bit," McNear said, "so they would know 'you can try to attack my injury, but nothing's going to hold me down today.' I felt great. When I escaped, I was like, I'm going to score on this play just to prove to people that I'm not hurt; I'm ready."

He had a 9-yard run in the second-quarter to convert a fourth down and capped off the series with a fourth-and-goal touchdown run. McNear also passed for a touchdown.

Maurice Avery outleaped two Danger defenders (who were flagged for pass interference) to haul in his first touchdown of the night. McNear squeezed in between two Danger defenders and the wall for the two-point conversion that put the Beef up 37-34.

"Throughout the game, we were a little off and had to find a little rhythm," McNear said. "But Mo's the type of character and the type of athlete who is like 'if you see him coming in your face, just throw the ball up.' And I trust him. I trust him every time I throw it to him. That's the type of guy he is. He's not going to let anybody else get that ball but him."

Despite recording three touchdowns on the night, McNear seamed to get most excited handing the ball off to RJ Rollins and watching him take it in.

"You've got to have some balance. Once we found out we could run that ball effectively RJ Rollins is a beast, and then our O-line out there telling us 'let's run the ball.' And we do anything our offensive line tells us to do."

The Beef ran for 128 yards, passing for 93.

"If you can take advantage of the run, we're going to do that every time," Yost said. "We've got a good offensive line, a veteran running back. I thought until they stop us, we're going to keep running it"

One story throughout the game was the Danger's refusal to live up to their name on kickoffs. Instead of kicking to Cortney Grixby, Nebraska elected to kick it out of bounds and give the ball to Omaha at the 20-yard line. On the two kicks out of 10 (one field goal, nine kickoffs) fielded by Grixby, the Beef racked up 47 return yards.

"It may not show up in the stats," Yost said, "but when they kick the ball out of bounds and concede 20 yards, that's (almost) half the field in this league. (He's) such a weapon the other team has to respect or it's gonna burn them."

While Grixby didn't get much action on special teams, he recorded three tackles for a Beef team that made some huge stops on the night.

On the opening drive, the Beef defense forced a field goal following a first-and-goal from the 4-yard line. The following drive the Beef defense forced a three-and-out and nearly recorded a safety. (They would later get that safety in the fourth quarter when the game was still in doubt.) Pig Brown also recorded 8-yard sack in the second quarter, killing a promising drive by the Danger and forcing a 40-yard field goal.

"That's what won it for us," Yost said. "the defense stepping up."

After splitting the last two games, Yost felt great about the total team effort.

"We got back on track, put 46 on the board. The defense came back with a couple of big stops. It was a great all-around effort."

The coach also acknowledged the passionate fans in the Slaughterhouse.

"Awesome crowd," Yost said. "It was so loud, I can't even here people in my headphones, and they're right in my ear. You've got to give credit to our fans because I know it's disruptive to teams, and it builds our guys up. It's a great weapon for us."

The Beef (now 4-3) host the Wyoming Cavalry April 30.



Indoor Football League Stories from April 23, 2011


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