BlueCats Get #6 Seed, Face #3 Seed Lexington
Published on July 25, 2005 under United Indoor Football Association (UIF)
Evansville BlueCats News Release
The UIF's regular season has officially come to a close and the first round of the United Indoor Football League's inaugural playoffs are set to begin this weekend. The Evansville BlueCats finished the regular season in second place in the UIF South division with a (7-8) record that earned the BlueCats the #6 seed in the UIF playoffs and the first playoff appearance in team history. The BlueCats will now travel to face the #3 seed Lexington Horsemen (11-4) for the third time this season.
The BlueCats and Horsemen split their two regular season contests in 2005. Back on April 2nd, the BlueCats were victorious at Roberts Stadium, 57-52. The win on April 2nd snapped a 10 game Horsemen win streak dating back to last season that included their run to last years national championship. Earlier this month on July 9th, the Horsemen defeated the BlueCats 69-62 at Rupp Arena.
Eight teams are eligible for the playoffs in the UIF's playoff format. The seedings for the inaugural UIF playoffs are as follows: 1) Fort Wayne Freedom, 2) Sioux City Bandits, 3) Lexington Horsemen, 4) Omaha Beef, 5) Sioux Falls Storm, 6) Evansville BlueCats, 7) Ohio Valley Greyhounds, 8) Tennessee Valley Raptors.
The Evansville BlueCats balanced offense attack ranks 3rd in the league in passing, rushing, and total offense. They are second best in the league in picking up 3rd down conversions at 43.8 percent.
Running back Dale Jennings has 635 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns on 193 attempts this season. He ranks 4th in the league in rushing yards and 7th in the league in scoring with 128 points. Jennings also has 17 catches for 115 yards.
Running back and kick returner Otis Shannon has rushed for 599 yards on 142 attempts and 18 touchdowns. Shannon has 10 catches for 83 yards and 3 more touchdowns. He's returned 51 kicks for 999 yards and 3 touchdowns. Shannon's outstanding season has broken BlueCats team records for kick return yards, kick return touchdowns, kick return average, and all-purpose yards in a season. Shannon ranks 2nd in the league in scoring with 146 points. He ranks 5th in the league in rushing yards and his 1,681 all purpose yards rank 5th best in the league.
Quarterback Ramon Robinson has completed 193 on 369 attempts this season. Robinson ranks third in the league in passing yards per game. He's shattered previous BlueCats team records with 2,184 yards and 37 touchdowns this season. He's thrown 16 interceptions.
Wide receiver Byron Curtis ranks 3rd in the league in receiving yards per game and 4th in the league in receptions per game. Curtis has 51 catches for 604 yards and 8 touchdown. Wide receiver Gerald Clark ranks 4th in the league in receiving yards per game. Clark has 44 receptions for 616 yards and his 15 touchdowns this season tie a BlueCats team record for touchdown catches in a season.
The defense rank 2nd in the league in rushing defense and 3rd in total defense. The defense is led by defensive backs Connie Brown and Tywaiin Dismuke. Connie Brown leads the league tackles and is the BlueCats team record holder for tackles in a season. Brown has 107 total tackles this season, 6.5 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, and 8 pass break ups. Dismuke ranks 5th in the league with his team leading 6 interceptions this season. He has 59 tackles, 6 interceptions, and has broken up 9 passes. Dismuke's 6 interceptions is a new team record.
Lexington leads the league in scoring offense, passing offense, and red zone defense. They are the defending national champions and enter the playoff on a 5 game winning streak.
Evansville BlueCats Head Coach Ollie Guidry said, "We had a chance to work out last week but for the most part the guys had some time off. We're going to get started early this week. We feel good about the match up, earlier this year we stopped their winning streak coming off their championship season. We're confident that we'll play good versus a good team. This week we're looking to have a good week of practice and work on eliminating execution errors on both sides of the ball. It's going to be a great environment over there against the defending champs. I've always said that you're the champs till someone beats you. It'll be a tough physical game like it always is especially when our two teams play. We're very excited about the challenge and I think it will show Saturday. It all starts over now, everybody is 0-0."
The Evansville BlueCats did not have a game this past weekend. Their last game was against the Peoria Rough Riders on July 16th. Peoria defeated Evansville 41-37 at Carver Arena.
Lexington was also idle last week. The Horsemen last played on July 16th when they defeated the Tupelo FireAnts 52-25 at Rupp Arena.
Be sure to tune in to ESPN Radio 94.9 this Saturday night to catch all of the fabulous indoor football action as your Evansville BlueCats take on the Lexington Horsemen in the BlueCats first ever playoff game. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30pm Evansville time. For the complete Evansville Bluecats 2005 schedule, please visit the website at www.evansvillebluecats.com.
United Indoor Football Association Stories from July 25, 2005
- Freedom to host Raptors in first round of playoffs - Fort Wayne Freedom
- BlueCats Get #6 Seed, Face #3 Seed Lexington - Evansville BlueCats
- Lawson Returns to Help the Storm's Playoff Run - Sioux Falls Storm
- Lawson Returns to Help the Storm's Playoff Run - Sioux Falls Storm
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
