Fever closes out season vs. Ice

June 13, 2014 - Indoor Football League (IFL)
Tri-Cities Fever News Release


The Tri-Cities Fever guaranteed itself at least a .500 record this season with a win over Wyoming last week. But why stop there? The Fever can finish 8-6, and it would be the third time in four seasons it has finished the regular season with a winning record.

And while the playoffs have been out of reach for a few weeks now, the Fever hasn't played that way. Tri-Cities (7-6) has won four straight games and won six of its last seven heading into its regular-season finale against Colorado (10-3) on Saturday night at Toyota Center. Kickoff is 7:05 p.m.

To get that eighth win, the Fever is going to have to beat the hottest team in the Intense Conference. The Ice has won 9 of its last 10 games, that lone loss in the streak was a 44-35 loss to the Fever in Kennewick.

The Ice has clinched the conference's top seed and will host Nebraska with a chance to go to the IFL championship game.

The Fever and Ice have split their two regular-season meetings with the Ice winning 55-28 in Colorado.

The two teams have had some epic battles in the past seasons in both the playoffs and regular season. So one can only hope another classic is in the works Saturday night.

Colorado is coming off 49-47 win over Green Bay, where the Ice defense made a stand on a 2-point conversion in the final 11 seconds to preserve the win.

The Fever is coming off a win at Wyoming in which it used a big fourth quarter to pull away for a 64-35 win behind a huge rushing night from Keithon Flemming. Flemming went over the 100-yard mark on the ground for the second straight game, rushing for 118 yards on 14 carries and five touchdowns. For his effort he earned the IFL Offensive Player of the Week for a second time in three weeks.

The last time the Fever and Ice met at the Toyota Center, Tri-Cities held Colorado without a touchdown until the fourth quarter. The Fever defense allowed just five field goals for the first three quarters and led 30-15 heading into the final quarter. Colorado scored three late touchdowns, the final coming with 12 seconds remaining to cut the final margin to nine.

In the win, quarterback Houston LIllard had a solid night completing 18 of 26 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown.

In the first meeting, it was the Fever who struggled offensively, falling behind 45-12 after three quarters.

So what to expect this time around? With both teams playing as well as they are, probably a little bit of everything.

-- The Fever is ranked second in the league in scoring offense at 54.9 points per game; Colorado is third at 51.9 ... The Ice ranks second in scoring defense allowing 35.1 points per game; the Fever is seventh at 49.1 ... The Fever has scored the most TDs in the IFL with 98 ... The Fever is second in the league in total offense (256.4 yards per game), and Colorado is third at 251.1 ... Tri-Cities is first in rushing TDs with 39 and first in pass efficiency at 105.7 ... Lillard ranks first in the league in total offense (216.0 ypg); Ice quarterback Willie Copeland is second (211.8 ypg) ... Flemming ranks first in the league in scoring with 11.8 points per game and third in rushing (49.9 ypg). He is tied for first in rushing TDs with 17 ... Lillard ranks first in the league in passing yards per game (191.7) and first in pass efficiency (108.6). He also ranks first in pass completion percentage at 65.3.



Indoor Football League Stories from June 13, 2014


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