Erie and Trenton Meet up Once Again this Thursday Night

May 24, 2011 - Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL)
Erie Explosion News Release


(Trenton, NJ) - Two of the most explosive scoring teams in all of professional football meet up once again, this time in a rare Thursday night game, as the Erie Explosion of the SIFL travel to New Jersey to face the Trenton Steel at the Sun National Bank Center in the next round of what has become the league's most entertaining rivalry, with kickoff scheduled for 7:05 PM. Explosion fans can follow all of the action live through our USTREAM feed at www.erieexplosion.com, hosted by Joe Criscione, Mitch Pittsenbarger, and Scott Farrington.

Erie, at 8-2, holds a two-game lead in the Northeast division over Trenton, at 6-4, and an Explosion victory would clinch the division title outright and would move Erie one step closer to securing homefield advantage for the upcoming SIFL playoffs. Trenton currently holds a 1 game lead for fourth place in the conference, but needs to keep winning in order to secure a playoff berth for the Steel in their inaugural season. Erie won two of the three previous meetings between the teams, with all of the games featuring impressive offense performances on both sides. The Explosion won the first matchup 76-73 on the road, the Steel evened it up with a 65-62 road win two weeks later, and Erie won the third meeting just two weeks ago, in one of the highest scoring games in league history, winning 90-79 on its home turf.

In the first game played back on March 26 won by the Explosion, Erie quarterback Adam DiMichele set a then-SIFL league record, which he has since surpassed twice, with nine touchdown passes. In total, he completed 26 of 41 passes for 343 yards, and was responsible for ten touchdowns including a two-yard rushing score. Wide receiver Kevin Concepcion tied another franchise record with 13 catches totaling 122 yards with four scores. In defeat, Trenton quarterback E.J. Nemeth was very productive, throwing for 290 yards and eight touchdowns, but was picked off twice by Erie CB Chris Johnson, including one that was returned 50 yards for a defensive score early in the fourth quarter.

The second meeting between the two teams, on April 9, was another high-scoring affair but with a different outcome, as Trenton kicker Craig Camay kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired to give the Steel a 65-62 victory over the Explosion in Erie. After overcoming a 10-point halftime deficit, the Explosion built up an eight-point lead with under eight minutes to go after a 50-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Tirone Morris, but a successful two-point conversion on a broken play following a Trenton touchdown and a missed Explosion field goal gave Trenton the opportunity to win the game on the final play.

Two weeks ago, both teams combined for the most points in SIFL history in a highly competitive game won by the Explosion 90-79. Erie's Concepcion registered seven touchdown catches, an SIFL and Erie franchise record, among his 14 total receptions, which set another franchise record. DiMichele, added to his MVP resume in his rookie campaign, by completing 28 of 44 passes for 400 yards and breaking his own SIFL record with 12 touchdowns, and just as importantly, no interceptions. The Steel offense put on quite a show of its own, led by Nemeth who threw for 393 yards and was responsible for 11 touchdowns, seven passing and four rushing, and wide receiver Oderick Turner who scored five times and set a league record of his own with 225 receiving yards.

"We consider ourselves fortunate that we came out of last week's crazy game with Fayetteville pretty healthy and we should have just about everybody ready to go in Trenton. A Thursday night game is tough for both teams with a short week and guys with work responsibilities, but both teams have the others' attention and winning this game is vital for both of us. We didn't execute very well defensively two weeks ago when we played them in Erie, and that needs to be straightened out this weekend in Trenton. We're capable of scoring on every drive but we can't count on that every night. Nemeth and their core of receivers, have had big games against us and we need to get pressure from our D-line and linebackers to help force them into some turnovers. No lead is safe against Trenton's offense and their kicker, so we'll have to concentrate and execute for four full quarters. It's become an intense rivalry as both teams have played very well, all our games have been close, and the teams don't like each other all that much. We're excited to get out there and finish up our regular season strong." commented Explosion head coach Shawn Liotta.

Erie's offense is led by quarterback DiMichele who has completed 55% of his passes for 2,595 yards and 76 touchdowns, tops in the SIFL, and only six interceptions in ten games. Three different Explosion wide receivers have scored at least ten touchdowns on the season, led by Concepcion with 93 receptions, 1,207 yards, and 40 touchdown catches, all of which lead the SIFL. Ernest Jackson has 11 touchdown receptions and Tirone Morris has scored 18 times, including two kickoff returns for touchdowns. Defensive back Eric Wicks leads the Explosion defense in interceptions, and is among the league leaders, with nine, Lenny Wicks has five interceptions, and Chris Johnson has contributed four picks and two fumble recoveries returned for touchdowns. Linebacker Brenton Brady leads the team in sacks with 9.5, followed by lineman Troy Blackwell with seven. Erie is currently ranked in the top four in the SIFL in scoring offense, passing yardage, first downs, turnover margin, sacks by, and pass defense efficiency.

Trenton comes into the game with the #2 scoring offense and #1 passing offense in the SIFL. Similar to Erie's DiMichele, Nemeth has been one of the league's most productive quarterbacks having a 57% pass completion rate and throwing for 2,729 yards and 59 touchdowns in ten games. Three different receivers have a double-digit number of touchdown receptions, including Dan Huff with 14 scores among his team-leading 73 catches, Turner with 20 touchdowns, and Damon Harrison, who has 13. Camay, who kicked the winning field goal in their earlier game in Erie, is an integral part of the Trenton offense as he leads the SIFL with 19 field goals, a 61% field goal percentage, and 78 PAT's made.



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