Diesel Monthly
May 6, 2002 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL)
Tri-City Diesel News Release
With a field goal in the last 39 seconds of the game,Sioux City 's Bandits remained undefeated with a 52-48 squeaker over the Diesel in the Diesel Dome.The loss puts the Diesel at 2-4 in the won/loss column.
In what appeared to be a case of "whoever has the ball last in the game will win," the teams traded scores in the first quarter.The Diesel struck pay dirt first with a surprise pass play from quarterback Justin Coleman to Juan Zarate on a tackle-eligible play that covered three yards.Darin Tankersley kicked one of his four PAT boots in the game,going a perfect four-for-four in that department.
The Bandits came back with a tally of their own,a pass play a couple of minutes later, making the score tied.Tankersley broke that knot with the first of his two field goals,
The second quarter was a scoring explosion resulting in 34 points between the two teams.The Diesel went into the intermission with the small comfort of a n 11-point lead,31-20.Justin Coleman connected for TD 's on six occasions in the game.The biggest of those came just a few seconds into the second stanza when he found Greg Albright open in the end zone on a play that covered 48 yards.Albright caught four passes in the game,good for 70 yards.Jermaine Brooks snagged three TD passes in the game,the longest of which covered 16 yards.Two of those,a fiver and a fourteen- yarder came in the second quarter.The Bandits,on the other hand,scored twice in the quarter on the ground,both one-yard bursts.The two teams only rushed for a total of 32 yards in the contest,with the Diesel getting two more than did their guests.
A Tankersley field goal five minutes into the third quarter was all the Diesel could muster in that period until that last 23 seconds when Brooks made his way into the end zone with a Coleman pass from seven yards out.The Bandits,in the meantime, tallied 19 points,leaving the third-quarter score at a very narrow 40-39 in the favor of the Diesel.
The Bandits got the lead for the first time in short order in the games final stanza on a pass play just 27 seconds into the quarter,going up 45-40.A Sioux City field goal some five minutes later edged that to 48-40,but a Coleman/Tyrone Thomas connec- tion closed that to 48-48 on a four-yard pass play.The conversion pass to Albright gave the necessary two points to tie it.
The Bandits, however, stymied by the Diesel defense,a group that had held on a four- down goal-line stand inside the Bandit five earlier in the game,found themselves with a fourth-and-long at mid-field.The field goal with just 39 seconds left in the game,a 26-yarder,put the score at 51-48.
The real clincher came on the next play,however,as the ball was fumbled away into Bandit hands on the ensuing kickoff return,snuffing any chance of a Diesel tally to either tie the score or go ahead.The game ended with the three-point difference, a hotly-contested 51-48 final tally.
Loss to Bandits Expensive
By Lynn McBride
The 51-48 loss to the Sioux City Bandits was a hard one for the Diesel coaches and players to take,having seen the team play their hearts out for the entire game.The loss damaged standings in the league and sent the Diesel record to two wins against four losses in the season.But the expense of the loss does not end there.
The Diesel lost the services of one of the most key players in the game, most likely for the rest of the season.Diesel running back and team leader Dale Van Housen left the game with an injury that has been labeled as a broken collar bone.The loss is significant for the Tri-City team.
Van Housen,a native of Polk-Hordville High School in Central Nebraska, came to the Diesel via a stellar career at UN-Kearney.The workhorse of the ground game for the Diesel continued his punishing ways into the indoor format,establishing himself as a force opponents have to reckon with on each play of the contest.
"Just having him on the field,both in games and in practice,is worth a lot,"said Coach Leland Skeen.The coach had referred to Van Housen as "not one of the flashy players,but one who has a tremendous work ethic,has consistency,and just plain gets the job done."His reliability will be missed in the healing process.
The team role model for hard work and ruggedness rushed for five touchdowns in the season opener against La Crosse.At Omaha he scored a touchdown on a pass reception.A touchdown helped in the game against Billings,and he netted three touches in the win over Casper,one of which was on the ground,with the other two being on the receiving end of passes.
A high school athlete of the year and an All-Conference performer in col- lege at UNK,Van Housen made his mark early in Diesel lore in the inau- gural season last year.The six-footer,scaling at 210 pounds,leaves a hole in more ways that one by his absence from the Diesel line up.All connected with the Diesel in any capacity wish Dale a complete recovery and a speedy return.
BILLINGS BETTERS DIESEL BY 10
By Lynn McBride
The Outlaws from Billings came to Kearney for the first game in April and went home with a 10-point victory,47-37.As with the game a week earlier against Omaha,the Diesel waited a bit too long to get on track,being down 34-17 at the end of the first half.
From that point, however, Diesel fans saw their team play even-up,if not a bit better than the opponent, but that doubling of the score at the half was just too much to make up.The Diesel outscored the guests by a touchdown in the second half,but it was a case of too little too late.
Darin Tankersley opened the Diesel side of the scoreboard with a 40-yard field goal with just three minutes gone in the game.Dale Van Housen capped a drive with a four-yard burst for a touchdown,making it 10 for the Diesel with Tankersley 's PAT kick.In the meantime,however,the Outlaws were on their way to a 21-point first quarter.
The only tally for the Diesel in the second stanza was a spectacle,a 47-yard pass play from Justin Coleman to Greg Albright.The Outlaws,much to the chagrin of the Diesel faithful,were forging further ahead with 13 in the same time frame.Albright ended the game with five catches for 93 yards.Tyrone Thomas snagged six of Coleman hit .500 in the passing,cashing in on 16 of the 33 he threw,good for 218 yards.
In the third quarter the two teams played to a stalemate.It was in the fourth quarter that the Diesel outscored the guests in the Diesel Dome,but the 20-13 stanza proved to be a little short to make up for the big first quarter put on by the Outlaws.
Billings amassed 303 yards of total offense in the game, while the Diesel put up 236.Tyrone Thomas caught a two-yard touchdown pass in the last quarter,Albright made another touchdown on a pass play from Coleman that covered 10 yards,and Coleman used the quarterback sneak for a touch from one yard out,all in the fourth period.Billings and the Diesel rushed for a mere 17 and 18 yards respectively in the game.
Diesel Wins on the Road at Casper
By Lynn McBride
The Tri-City Diesel added to the woes of the season 's record of the Wyoming Cavalry by gaining a one-touchdown victory in Casper,48-41.At the time of the game the Cavalry had yet to win one.The victory made the Diesel record stand at an even 2-2 at that point.
Dale Van Housen tallied three times in the game,two of them on passes thrown by Justin Coleman for 34 yards and eight yards.Darin Tankersley added all the point- Jermaine Brooks caught a Coleman pass on a one-yard play,as did Tyrone Thomas on a play that covered four yards.Tankersley had field goal kicks that sailed 30 and 26 yards.
The defense,in the person of Eric Ryan,also accounted for a touchdown against the Cavalry.Ryan scooped up an errant Cavalry fumble and made the short five-yard scamper for the touchdown.
The Diesel needed 15 points in the second quarter to manage a tie when the halftime intermission came.The Cavalry had taken charge of things in the game 's opening moments with a 14-6 lead after the first 15 minutes of play.Roles reversed in the second quarter,however,as the Diesel outgunned the hosting team by a 15-7 tally.
The rest of the scale tipped the direction of the Diesel,with quarters of 10 and 17 as compared to the Cavalry 's six and fourteen.The Cavalry outgained the Diesel on the ground by almost 100 yards,but gave up 309 in the air,nearly three times the 107 they managed.
Justin Coleman threw 41 passes,connecting on 25 of them.Greg Albright and Jer- maine Brooks each caught seven of them,gaining 72 and 71 yards respectively, Tyrone Thomas caught six.
Defensively Eric Ryan was in on six unassisted,and seven assists on his way to 13 tackles. Jay Christensen totaled nine and Jeremy Jensen was in on seven.tensen,Charles Verdone,and Jimmy Moore each pirated one Cavalry pass.tensen returned his 22 yards.
Sioux Falls Rebounds,Beats the Diesel
By Lynn McBride
Still smarting from the first loss of the season in the game just before the Diesel appeared on the scene,the Sioux Falls Storm did just that, stormed to a 14-point win over the Diesel,48-34,the fifth win in six games.The Diesel recorded the third loss in five games.
Sioux Falls outscored the Diesel in every quarter but the fourth,which had a 14-7 Diesel advantage.The big quarter for the Storm was the third in which they scored 21 against the Diesel 's 10.
Despite blistering the airways with 22-of-29 passing accuracy,the Storm outgained the Diesel in the passing game by just 40 yards. They were 44 yards better than the Diesel in the ground game.
Jermaine Brooks had the busy hand in the scoring department,catch- ing two TD passes,one covering seven yards and the other accounting for 17. Justin Coleman did the throwing,connecting on 18 of 30 in the game. Tyrone Thomas caught a pass for a touchdown,while Dale Van Housen capped a drive with a two-yard burst for a TD. Darin Tankersley added to his impressive PAT total by making good on all four of those kicks,while at the same time adding two field goals,one good from 23 yards and the other split the uprights from a mind-boggling 51 yards, almost the full length of the field.
Each team threw one interception,with Jimmy Moore doing the piracy for the Diesel,returning it 11 yards.
Get Ready for Omaha...the Beef is Coming!
By Lynn McBride
May 10, a Friday, marks a bit of history for the Diesel books of lore.The first Nebraska-based football team will be visiting the land of the Diesel on that night. Make plans now to be in attendance for the big showdown.The Omaha Beef will be invading Diesel territory.
The two teams met in Civic Auditorium in Omaha for the second game of the season for the Diesel.The Beef got by with a 37-20 win on their home turf.The Beef,as a result of an injury suffered in that game,lost a quarterback and have since lost their number two quarterback,another victim of the injury bug.The third QB,however,has had immediate success,guiding the Beef back to the winning track,giving the upcoming game even added interest.
In addition to the allure of what is potentially a helmet-clashing game,the Diesel office has plans to make it a Family Night Special. Under the sponsorship of T&F Sand &Gravel,the special involves the ticket prices for the game. Mike Skeen, General Manager announces,"The Diesel,with the help of T&F Sand &Gravel, offers a ticket package of four tickets for just $40.00."Besides the cost savings, which is substantial,the offer encourages a night of family relationships.The offer is one in a long line of deals sponsored by the Diesel that fosters family unity.
On top of that,the night is a special one for the Make-a-Wish Foundation,an organization that caters to ministering to those who are terminally ill.Make-a-Wish traditionally grants wishes that those who are terminally ill express.The program has brought many rays of sunshine into lives that might not otherwise have much brightness to them.
All roads should lead to the Diesel Dome on May 10, Friday night.The big second game with Omaha is one that should attract much interest.
National Indoor Football League Stories from May 6, 2002
- Diesel Monthly - Tri-City Diesel
- Red Dogs Escape With Two-Pointer Over Diesel - Tri-City Diesel
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