Drillers to face Lake Charles on Saturday
June 17, 2004 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL)
Beaumont Drillers News Release
BEAUMONT, TX -- The Beaumont Drillers will hit the streets for the last time in the regular season as they travel 45 minutes east on Interstate-10 to tangle with the red-hot Lake Charles LandSharks. Beaumont clings to the 6th and final playoff spot in the Atlantic Conference.
GAME INFO:
Sat., June 19, 7:05 p.m.
Lake Charles Civic Center
Beaumont (7-5)
Lake Charles (4-7)
**Last time they met**
- May 28, Beaumont Civic Center: Drillers 48, Lake Charles 28
- Driller defense limited LC to just 169 total yards and six turnovers.
- QB Marc Saldana was 15 of 27 for 144 yards with 4 TDs and 2 INTs.
- Pat "touchdown" Palmer had another 3-TD game with 6 catches for 56 yards.
- Nick "Cadillac" Mitchell had his best defensive game all year with 9 total
tackles, 1 for a loss of 8 yards, 1 fumble return, 1 sack for minus-7 and 4
quarterback hurries.
- Lake Charles is 2-1 against the Beaumont franchise.
**Lake Charles Update**
- 3-3 inside the Lake Charles Civic Center.
- Average 42 points and give up 45 per. At home, LC gives up 36 while
scoring 35.
- Outscore Beaumont 49.6 to 28 in the three meetings.
- Have won two in a row (both at home) against two-playoff teams, Tupelo
(59-55) and defending NIFL champions Ohio Valley (48-44).
- RB David Winbush rushed for 130 yards and 2 scores while QB Freddie
Harrison completed 14 passes on 24 attempts with 187 yards and 5 TDs against
Ohio Valley.
- Ranks 20th in scoring offense in 32.3 points per game, 21st in total
offense (150.1 yards per), 23rd in passing offense (100.7 yards).
- Ranks 3rd in total defense (171 yards), 3rd in pass defense (115.9 yards)
and 6th in rushing defense (55.1 yards).
- Ranks 6th in red-zone defense stopping teams 62.8% of the time (27 of 43).
**Driller Injury Report**
OUT: Kevin Mohr (groin)
RETURNING: LB Eric Winchester and RB Troy Sumrall. Sumrall has not seen time
since May 8. He will split time in the backfield with Anthony Johnson and
will have a spot in the kickoff team.
**Inside the Drillers' numbers**
- 3-3 on the road, averaging 50.3 while giving up 50.8.
- Ranked 3rd in scoring offense with 54.2 points per game.
- Ranked 4th total offense with 262.6 yards per game.
- Ranked 5th in passing offense with 174.5 yards per game.
- Ranked 4th in rushing offense with 88.1 yards per game.
- Ranked 3rd in red-zone offense scoring 80% of the time (68 for 85).
- QB Marc Saldana ranks 7th in the NIFL in pass efficiency with a rating of
103.6.
- WR Pat Palmer has three consecutive 3-touchdown reception games, dating
back to May 15.
- WR Chad Luttrull is 4th in receptions (64), 5th in rec. yards per game
(62.7) and 7th in all-purpose yards with 1,285 (107.1 per game).
- Ranked 10th in total defense (210.6 yards per), ranked 9th in pass defense
(139 yards per).
- Ranked 3rd in turnover ratio with +13.
- Troy Esprit ranks 2nd with 8 interceptions.
- Nick Mitchell ranks 6th with 12.5 tackles for a loss, 9th in total tackles
with 69.5.
**A nose for the goal-line**
RB Anthony "A-train" Johnson has 18 touchdowns, 12 of them have been of runs of 5 yards or less.
**Coach's Corner**
Coach Blake says...
- "We have to eliminate mistakes. We have to figure out a way to win this
game at all costs."
- "This game is big in so many ways. For starters, we are rivals. We need to
win to clinch a spot and Lake Charles still has a chance of getting in."
- "We need to put pressure on Freddie Harrison (quarterback). His turnovers
against us in the last game were caused by the pressure we put on him."
- "We are going to try to contain their running back (David Winbush). He did
not play against us the last meeting."
- "Lake Charles did a great job on us in the red-zone last game, keeping us
from scoring. We have to do better."
**Atlantic Conference Playoff Standings**
Top six teams advance
1. Houma (9-2)
2. Ohio Valley (9-3)
3. Show Me (8-4)
T4. Tupelo (7-4)
T4. Lexington (7-4)
6. Beaumont (7-5)
7. Atlantic City (6-5)
8. Fort Wayne (6-6)
**Next up**
Beaumont has a bye next week (June 26) and will return home to the Beaumont Civic Center for the regular season finale hosting Evansville on July 3.
• Discuss this story on the National Indoor Football League message board...
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