Fever Open Second Half vs. Colorado Ice

April 25, 2014 - Indoor Football League (IFL)
Tri-Cities Fever News Release


The Tri-Cities Fever are not exactly where they wanted to be at the halfway point of the 2014 season. The Fever is 2-5 having endured a five-game losing streak between the season opening win over Wyoming and the win last week over Green Bay.

And while 2-5 might not be ideal, the Fever has plenty of time to turn things around. And it starts Saturday night at home against Intense Conference leader Colorado (5-2) at Toyota Center. The Fever plays the Ice two times in the final seven games, both games are at Toyota Center. The Fever also has Nebraska (5-2) coming to town next weekend. Sandwiched in between the Fever plays Bemidji (3-4), Texas (2-4), and Wyoming (1-6) twice.

So with a strong second half the Fever could find itself back in the playoffs for the first time since reaching the IFL title game in 2012.

The Fever's first-half struggles can be attributed to slow starts and turnovers. Both of those issues appeared to be corrected last week in a 73-62 win at Green Bay.

The 73 points are the most points Tri-Cities has scored since scoring 76 points against the Arizona Adrenaline on Feb. 26, 2011.

Now if somehow the Fever could escape the injury bug, and get some cohesion going, you never know what could happen.

Injuries again forced the Fever to make some more roster moves this week - this time at wide receiver. Tre Young, in just his third game back with the Fever, suffered a leg injury and was placed on season-ending injured reserve. Ed Berry was moved to short-term injured reserve.

To fill those holes the Fever has turned to one of their top receivers of all-time to fill in: Steven Whitehead.

Last season, Whitehead, who is a former all-IFL player, caught a team-high 44 passes for 451 yards and nine touchdowns. The Fever also signed receiver Mario Washington who recently spent time with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League and the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League.

Those two targets will be on the receiving end of passes for quarterback Houston Lillard who appears to have found his rhythm after returning three games ago from an 18-month layoff.

Lillard had a big game against the Blizzard last week, completing 22 of 26 passes for 241 yards and seven touchdowns. He also ran for 41 yards. That effort earned him IFL Offensive Player of the Week this past week.

It is going to take another effort like that to get past the Ice. These two teams played two weeks ago in Colorado with the Ice winning 55-28. The Fever fell behind 38-6 at halftime and could not mount a comeback.



Indoor Football League Stories from April 25, 2014


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