Erie Explosion Look to Bounce Back this Weekend at Richmond

Published on May 6, 2011 under Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL)
Erie Explosion News Release


(Richmond, VA) - Following a disappointing road loss last week in Harrisburg, the Erie Explosion return to SIFL action this Saturday night when they travel southeast to Virginia to take on the Richmond Raiders at the Richmond Coliseum with kickoff scheduled for 7:00. This will be the second matchup of the season between the two division leaders, with the Explosion having won the first game in Erie by the score of 74-54 behind a record-setting performance from quarterback Adam DiMichele. Explosion and SIFL fans can follow all of the action live through our USTREAM feed at www.erieexplosion.com, hosted this weekend by Joe Criscione, Mitch Pittsenbarger, and Scott Farrington.

Erie comes into the weekend with a 5-2 record and a one-game lead in the SIFL's Northeast division over the Trenton Steel. The Explosion have won three of their four road games this season, but will face its toughest road test to-date against Richmond (4-3) which is in desperate need of a bounce back win of its own following two tough road losses, against Erie back on April 23 and Albany (GA) last week, in order to maintain its slim one-game lead in the SIFL's Mid-Atlantic division. For the Explosion, this will be the second game in a two week road trip that did not start well, before heading home to the Tullio Arena next week to host Trenton in a critical divisional matchup.

Last week in Harrisburg, Erie had a chance to redeem itself despite having given up a 24-point fourth quarter lead, but a potential game-winning 26-yard field goal attempt by Carlos Ojeda in the last few seconds was missed, resulting in a disappointing 41-40 road loss to the hometown Stampede. Erie outgained Harrisburg by a considerable margin but committed several particularly untimely turnovers, and the Stampede took advantage of an impressive performance by its defense in the second half, and kicker J.R. Cipra who converted three field goal attempts and added three unos. In the loss, DiMichele completed 20 of 42 passes for 203 yards and five touchdowns passing, adding to his franchise record and SIFL-leading total of 51 touchdown passes in just seven games, and one touchdown rushing. However, he was sacked three times, fumbled twice, and threw two interceptions. Wide receiver Kevin Concepcion once again led the Explosion receiver corps with 10 catches for 131 yards and four touchdowns, which added to his own Erie franchise record and league-leading total of 24 touchdown catches on the year.

When Erie and Richmond met two weeks ago, the Explosion, behind the exploits of DiMichele and several key defensive stops in each half, defeated the Raiders at the Tullio Arena in Erie by the final score of 74-54. DiMichele, who had set the league record for touchdown passes in a game the previous week with ten, broke his own record with 11 touchdown passes against the Raiders and just as impressively, threw no interceptions against one of the league's best defensive units.

"Obviously we were all disappointed last week, we got careless with the lead against a team we should beat but they were just hungrier than us. While we're already moved forward from that game, hopefully the lesson will stay with us, which is that we have to execute on both sides of the ball for the full four quarters because as we've seen time and again in the indoor game, no lead is truly safe. Going forward, as I've said several times in the last few weeks, our offensive does a great job with the opportunities it gets, we're putting up tons of yardage and a lot of scores, but it's our defense that has to set the tone for us. In our first game against Richmond, our defense made key stops which allowed us to build an early lead, and in the second half, we never stopped attacking which allowed us to protect and build on that lead. If our D can make a few stops and force some turnovers whether it's on downs or picks, we won't lose. Offensively against this particular team, we must have better protection than we had last week against Harrisburg and some of that falls on Adam DiMichele too, who's having a great year, but we can't afford the turnovers like we had in Harrisburg. Our group of wide receivers is the deepest and most talented unit in the league, and if we give Adam time and a clean look, and stay away from turnovers, we'll win on Saturday night, but we know that won't be as easy as sounds. Richmond lost to two tough opponents on the road the last two weeks and I'm sure they're glad to be home, so this will be a hungry motivated team we'll be facing. But our guys really enjoy potential statement games like this, so it should be a lot of fun." commented Explosion head coach Shawn Liotta.

Erie's offense is led by quarterback DiMichele who has completed 53% of his passes for 1,848 yards and 51 touchdowns, both marks tops in the SIFL. All four of the Explosion wide receivers who are expected to see action this weekend have scored at least six touchdowns on the season, led by Concepcion with 68 receptions, 809 yards, and 24 touchdown catches, all of which lead the SIFL. Ernest Jackson has eight touchdown receptions, David Ball has scored six times in just two games, and Tirone Morris has scored eleven times, including two kickoff returns for touchdowns. Defensive back Wicks leads the Explosion defense in interceptions, and is among the league leaders, with seven, Chris Johnson has contributed three picks and two fumble recoveries returned for touchdowns, and defensive lineman Troy Blackwell leads the team in sacks with six. Erie is currently ranked second in the SIFL in passing yardage, third in total offense and scoring offense, and second in turnover margin.

The Explosion next return home on Friday, May 13 when they host the Trenton Steel with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 PM. Tickets are available for this and all other Erie Explosion home games at the Tullio Arena box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets. For more information on the Erie Explosion, visit www.erieexplosion.com and follow them on Facebook.

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