Erie Explosion Continue Playoff Push this Saturday Night

May 19, 2011 - Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL)
Erie Explosion News Release


(Erie, PA) - Following a record-setting performance and important victory last week at home, the Erie Explosion, under Head Coach Shawn Liotta, return to the Tullio Arena this Saturday night when they host the Fayetteville Force in an out-of-division matchup with kickoff scheduled for 7 PM. Erie comes into this contest with a 7-2 record and holds a two-game lead over Trenton in the Northeast division race with three games to play. A victory over Fayetteville (3-5) would clinch at least a tie for the division title for Erie who needs to continue winning to secure homefield advantage throughout the upcoming SIFL playoffs. This game represents the debut of new Force coach Matt Steeple, formerly of the IFL's Maryland Maniacs, who was hired to replace Charles Gunnings, who resigned during the week. This is the only meeting of the season between the two teams.

Last weekend in a matchup that had been billed as a clash between two of indoor football's best offenses, Erie and Trenton both lived up to the hype as the teams combined for the most points in SIFL history in a highly competitive game won by the Explosion 90-79. Erie wide receiver Kevin Concepcion continued to show why he is the most dangerous receiver in indoor football as he registered seven touchdown catches, an SIFL and Erie franchise record, among his 14 total receptions, which also set another franchise record. Explosion quarterback Adam DiMichele, continued to add 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. For the game, Erie's offense scored touchdowns on every possession except for one, which was ended on a botched field goal snap. Tirone Morris caught 8 passes and scored four touchdowns, three receiving and one rushing, and both Ernest Jackson and David Ball recorded one touchdown reception apiece. The Erie defense struggled against Trenton's potent offense, but it did get some pressure from its defensive front, recording five sacks of Steel quarterbacks.

"That was obviously a huge win for us last week against Trenton as they were the hottest team in the league coming in. We were fortunate to be able to outscore them because for awhile, I wasn't sure we could stop their offense either. We need to get our pass defense tightened up a bit, and I'm confident we will as we come down the stretch. Our offense, led by Adam DiMichele has just been sensational. Kevin Concepcion deserved his SIFL co-Player of the Week award last week and he's been just about unstoppable, but we're also getting great production from our other receivers Tirone Morris, Ernest Jackson, and David Ball. Fayetteville is going to have a new look this week as they've struggled in recent weeks and now with a new coach coming in, I would expect major changes in scheme and personnel. So we didn't waste time watching a lot of film on them and instead we're treating this like the first game of the year, and just concentrating on us, what we do well and what we need to improve on as we come down to the last few games of the regular season and start thinking about the playoffs. Last week was definitely the most exciting football games ever played in Erie, and our fans were real loud which was great. Our guys really thrive on the energy boost from our crowd and as I've said many times before, we'll need the great fans of Erie to keep coming out to help maintain the real homefield advantage every championship team needs, and we're counting on a large and loud crowd this Saturday night to join us." commented Explosion head coach Shawn Liotta.

Erie's offense is led by quarterback DiMichele who has completed 54% of his passes for 2,466 yards and 70 touchdowns, both marks tops in the SIFL, and only six interceptions in nine games. Four different Explosion wide receivers have scored at least eight touchdowns on the season, led by Concepcion with 89 receptions, 1,119 yards, and 36 touchdown catches, all of which lead the SIFL. Jackson has nine touchdown receptions, David Ball has scored eight times, and Tirone Morris has scored 17 times, including one rushing and two kickoff returns for touchdowns. Defensive back Eric Wicks leads the Explosion defense in interceptions, and is among the league leaders, with eight, Chris Johnson has contributed four picks and two fumble recoveries returned for touchdowns, and linebacker Brenton Brady leads the team in sacks with 7.5, followed by Troy Blackwell with six. 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.

Tickets are available for this and all other Erie Explosion home games at the Tullio Arena box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets. The game will be broadcast on a delayed basis on Monday night on the Image Sports Network in Erie, with long-time announcers Ray Riesdorph and Scott Wludyga calling all of the action for our viewers as the "Voices of the Erie Explosion".



Southern Indoor Football League Stories from May 19, 2011


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