Between the walls

by Josh Stein
Published on July 14, 2004 under National Indoor Football League (NIFL)

It's playoff time! Okay, so maybe I'm a week off on that, but I guess you could call it the playoff time that we started the season with! Eight teams remain in the hunt for Indoor Bowl IV, including the two-time champion Ohio Valley Greyhounds. This week, we'll look at the four matchups to determine the conference championships...

ATLANTIC CONFERENCE

(6) Fort Wayne Freedom @ (1) Ohio Valley Greyhounds

For the second straight year, the title goes through Wheeling (Lake Charles was the #1 seed in 2002, but they lost in the first round). Fort Wayne comes in after beating the Show Me Believers in Fort Wayne, and they come in with possibly the worst road record in the playoffs (2-5). This is a bad omen going into a place that has 34 straight home wins. Fort Wayne is also not at 100%, with Antoine Taylor banged up and Dayna Overton suspended. Bryan White, however, has done fine at QB for the Freedom, and will most likely start. Fort Wayne has a potent attack, but the Greyhounds have possibly the best defense in the NIFL, led by Angel Estrada, who had the most interceptions in the NIFL with 14. On the other side, Fort Wayne's defense and the Greyhound offense are both about average. The wild card in the game, as will be the wild card the rest of the year is Jason Hupp. The newly resigned OL/DL doesn't let his Greyhound teammates slack off, and that was probably the cause of the three losses. Fort Wayne has had a pretty decent run this year, especially with extra playoff teams this year, but that run is going to end here in Wheeling. If they can figure out their away woes, Fort Wayne is a title contender, easily. Greyhounds 54-40.

(2) Houma Bayou Bucks @ (3) Lexington Horsemen

No matter how it happened, I have my hunches. But, there's no need to discuss NIFL politics here. Houma's players feel slighted, and the Horsemen are the beneficiary. Lexington may have bought the game or had it given to them, but Rupp is not much of a home field advantage. Fans go there watching football, waiting for a basketball game to break out. However, with these offenses the score certainly could look like one. Houma's big weakness might be a big advantage this week, as Lexington's run game isn't that great. But at 67 yards a game, they could do damage on Houma's very poor run defense. Houma's offense will have to find a way to beat Lexington's pass defense, which has recorded 33 interceptions (second in the league, but only 26 if you don't count the joke game against Waco). I think they can do it. Houma's players will be heated up enough from recent events to the point that they will be able to handle all of the adversity. Bucks 56-50.

PACIFIC CONFERENCE

(6) Utah Warriors @ (1) Sioux Falls Storm

Utah comes in to Sioux Falls finally playing good football. To the naysayers that didn't agree with me at the beginning of the season, Utah did go 6-8! I just didn't think 6-8 would be playoff material. Sioux Falls is the best team out west, and they will welcome Utah in with another full house. Utah's defense hasn't played very well all year, and a Sioux Falls offense with Jose Fuentes and Justin Bivins should have some fun. Utah's offense is plenty good to stick with Sioux Falls for awhile, but in the end, the home team is going to win, just like the other five times the teams have met. Storm 49-31.

(4) Omaha Beef @ (2) Billings Outlaws

Omaha comes in with a newfound offense, with Josh Luedtke and Damon Benning at the helm. Finally, someone was able to come in and show the league just how good AJ Street is. No matter how good the receiver is, it doesn't matter if the quarterback can't get him the ball. Luedtke is one of the NIFL's best, and he showed that last week by going 8/15 for 161 yards and 2 touchdowns, in his second start in two years. Benning also recorded a pair of touchdowns in the 46-40 win. Billings will start someone at QB (no matter if it's Higgs or Ragsdale, it's an all-league performer), and that may be a problem, as Omaha (nor anyone else) doesn't know who that someone is. Most every statistic and what-not point to Billings getting the win, but I can't see that. Luedtke and Benning offer a lot to this Omaha squad. Although Sandy Buda is only 1-3 in playoff games, I think he breaks through with his biggest win yet. Josh Luedtke and Damon Benning aren't bad pieces to get there, either. Beef 38-35.

Am I going to be right? Who knows. The NIFL is still on track to possibly do something it's never done before. Never in the NIFL have the home teams gone undefeated in the playoffs. They're 4-0 so far, but I'm predicting two to go down this week. We'll just have to see if that's actually how it goes. Until next week (yes, I'll actually be able to write for two consecutive weeks), this is the War Between the Walls.

National Indoor Football League Stories from July 14, 2004

• America's fastest growing sport looks at Dayton, Ohio - Nutter Center for expansion - NIFL
• Between the walls - OSC Original by Josh Stein

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.