Indoor Football League Week 11 Recap
Published on May 11, 2010 under Indoor Football League (IFL) News Release
Richmond, VA: The eleventh weekend of the Indoor Football League left many in awe on Saturday. Week eleven saw twelve high octane games marked by three underdogs beating heavily favored teams, including the IFL Game of the Week which featured Central North Division rivals, Chicago and Green Bay.
Week Eleven began when the West Michigan ThunderHawks (4-4) traveled east to take on Atlantic East division rivals the Rochester Raiders (6-3).The Raiders, who had started out the season 1-2 looked to capture their fifth victory in their past six games. The game remained a close contest, until the Raiders were able to start grasping control as time dwindled down in the first half with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Perry Patterson to Kevin Concepcion. Perry Patterson was in a tight duel with ThunderHawks' Quarterback Brad Iciek. Patterson threw for 169 yards on 19 of his 27 attempts. Iciek was right there with him, throwing 168 yards on 17 completions. The difference would be the Raiders six passing touchdowns to the ThunderHawks three. Raiders' receiver Doug Beck proved to be a favorite target of Patterson as he scored three of those passing touchdowns along with five passes, and racking up 100 yards. The Raiders eventually were able to capture victory, defeating the ThunderHawks by a final score of 55-40. The Raiders look to keep rolling at home next week against divisional opponent Maryland Maniacs. West Michigan will also be at home trying to rebound against division leader, Richmond Revolution.
Played resumed Saturday as the first upset unfolded. The Omaha Beef (4-4) travelled to Arkansas to play the Diamonds (7-2). The Diamonds prior to this game had been outscoring opponents 296-191. The Beef come in looking to build off of their best performance of the season, a 66-26 win over Bloomington. The anticipated affair would prove to be one-sided. The Diamond had no answer for the Beef's Quarterback Ben Sankey. Sankey threw for eight touchdowns and 242 yards. Omaha's Luke Mcardle and Maurice Avery each had seven receptions for over 100 yards in route to stunning the Diamonds. Arkansas Quarterback James Pinkney was intercepted five times in the Omaha Beef's blow-out victory, 71-33. The Beef will look to shock Central West division leaders the Sioux Falls Storm next week. Arkansas will travel to the lone star state seeking to bounce back against the West Texas Roughnecks.
In a lone star state showdown, the Austin Turfcats (1-8) took on the West Texas Roughnecks (3-6). The Roughnecks won the Texas showdown by a final score of 46-29, sweeping Austin on the season. After sitting out last week due to a concussion, West Texas gave their hopes of securing the final playoff spot to veteran Quarterback Tommy Jones. The Roughnecks gave up on their ground game in favor of an aerial attack. Jones completed 13 of 33 passes for five touchdowns and 200 yards. Joshus Floyd would be on receiving end of most of those scores, catching three of the touchdown passes out his six receptions, 116 yard day. The Turfcats found themselves trying to come from behind in third quarter after they gave up 33 unanswered points. Austin will look to claw back into the standings next week in another clash of the Texans as they go to Abilene to play the Ruff Riders. West Texas will try and keep their playoff hopes alive as the Arkansas Diamonds come into town.
The Colorado Ice (0-9) searched for their first win of the season at home, looking to upset Central West opponent, the Wichita Wild (6-3). Despite Ice Quarterback David Knighton completing 21 of 30 completions for 195 yards, no interceptions, and four touchdowns, the Ice could not find a way to stop the Wild's tough offense. Darius Fudge continued adding to his league leading rushing performance with 67 yards on 14 attempts with two touchdowns. The Ice were once again left out in the cold are a close 32-30 finish that watched the game slip away from them in the final half of play. Colorado will keep their home front advantage heading into week 12 as they play host to the Tri-Cities Fever. Wichita will hope to go Wild in Sioux City against divisional opponent Bandits.
The Battle of I-29 took place on Saturday pitting the Sioux Falls Storm (8-1) against the Sioux City Bandits (4-4). Sioux Falls Storm receiver James Terry continued his impressive play as the IFL receiving leader with another strong Saturday showing. On nine receptions Terry caught two touchdown passes and went for 95 yards. While the Bandits kept the action close as the clock ticked down to the final minutes, with 1:35 left, Rachman Crable intercepted Bandits Quarterback Scott Jensen for an eight yard score. The Storm defense seemed to blow by the Bandits for much of the game, recording three interceptions and two fumbles. The Bandits will remain at home next week as they try and steal a victory from the visiting Wichita Wild. The Storm will strike back at home as their divisional opponents; the hot Omaha Beef come into town.
The IFL game of the week featured the favored Green Bay Blizzard (7-2) hosting rival Chicago Slaughter (4-4). The Slaughter started the scoring with a touchdown pass from Randy Hutchinson to De"Cody Fagg. The Slaughter would take a 24-17 lead into halftime. Green Bay would get back their momentum to start the second half with Blizzard Kicker Tino Amancio blasting a 51-yard field goal between the uprights. The game would ultimately come down to last second heroics, something Green Bay and their Quarterback Jake Phillips would have seemed to trademark as of late. However, it would be Chicago writing the fairytale ending in this classic. Green Bay had tied the game in the fourth quarter with a Tino Amancio field goal with 1:35 left on the clock. Hutchinson would drive the Slaughter down the field as Chicago kicker Chris Nednick drilled a Green Bay crushing 25 yard strike between the uprights for the 46-43 with time expiring for Chicago's upset. The Slaughter will hope to continue their good fortunes as they open IFL action Friday night at the Bloomington Extreme. The Blizzard will have a bye-week to chill out and regroup.
The Intense Conference featured the Abilene Ruff Riders (1-8) searching for their second victory this season against the San Angelo Stampede Express (7-2). With a weekend up upsets, Abilene looked to cause one of their own by leading the Stampede 25-20 at half. However ball control would be an issue as Abilene would fumble the ball, losing possession four times. None would be more crucial then the Jeremiah Turner fumble return for a touchdown to cap off the Stampede Express' 46-37 victory. The Ruff Riders will return home next week in hopes of picking their elusive second victory over the Austin Turfcats. The San Angelo Stampede Express will look to stay hot as they travel to the Amarillo Venom.
The Maryland Maniacs (0-8) have been battling all season and looked to achieve their first win on Saturday against Atlantic East division leaders, the Richmond Revolution (8-1). If there was a hope of I-95 upset, the Revolution and IFL reining special teams player of the year, Demarcus James dash those hopes quickly as he returned the opening kick-off 50 yards for his first touchdown return of the year. James would continue to drive the Maniacs crazy as he would return a late interception for another 50 yard touchdown. James is now ranked 4th in the IFL in all purpose yards with 810 total yards. The Revolution defense would also be unforgiving. They held Maniacs QB Brian Harris to only 67 yards and an IFL record 2 points in the first half. Those two points were also from the Revolutions own doing as they were called on a holding penalty in their own end zone for a safety. Harris would rebound however, leading his team to scores on the first six possessions of the second half before spending the rest of the game watching as the Revolution defense sacked him five times. Revolution defensive end Jason Holman would account for three of the five sacks. Quarterback Bryan Randall led the Revolution's 55-39 win as he threw for two touchdown passes and now ranks second in the league with 36 touchdown passes for the season. This was also only the second time this season Randall did not throw an interception. Richmond will look to keep marching on as the visit West Michigan to play the ThunderHawks. Maryland will look to capture their first victory in another Atlantic East bout against the Rochester Raiders.
Bloomington Extreme (4-5) looked to break a two game losing streak against Central North opponents, the La Crosse Spartans (1-8) on Saturday. The Extreme would start out blistering to open the first quarter, scoring 20 unanswered points, with two rushing TDs from Benard Peyton. The rest of the game would not come any easier to the Spartans, who only managed 18 points on 172 total yards of offense in route to Bloomington's 54-18 victory. Extreme Quarterback Rocky Hinds would throw three touchdown passes with 123 yards. All this while completing 76% of his passes, going 16 for 21. Spartan Quarterback Buddy Rivera found himself pressured and hurried all night by the strong Extreme defense. Next week, La Crosse will have a bye week as The Extreme will play host opening next week's action against the Chicago Slaughter on Friday night.
The Kent Predator (3-6) travelled to take on Pacific North division rivals the Tri-Cities Fever (3-5). With a 71-24 victory, the Fever took Saturday's game as a way to grab third place in the Pacific North and lay claim to a possible playoff spot in the Intense conference. The Fever's 47-point margin of victory was its largest in more than three seasons. The Fever defense would prove dominating with five sacks and nine tackles for loss. Jo Artis Ratti would spearhead the defensive effort with three sacks and five tackles for loss. The Fever defense would also play a strong offensive role, scoring 26 points. Kent will try and bounce back in a tight division race hosting the Fairbanks Grizzlies next week. The Fever will try and remain hot as they travel to Colorado to take on the Ice.
The Amarillo Venom (7-1) controlled their own destiny heading into the game with the Corpus Christi Hammerheads (4-5). The victory would have ensured Amarillo the Lonestar West Division title and playoff spot. This was the Hammerheads first home game since late March as they went on a rather unsuccessful 1-5 road trip. So no one would possibly expect the 34-24 Corpus Christi victory. The Hammerheads scored 20 points in the first half, holding the Venom to only three. One touchdown with just under four minutes in the first quarter was by Hammerhead receiver Julius Eppinger, scoring his first touchdown of the season. Both teams kept each other scoreless, and despite a comeback by Amarillo in the 4th, their efforts were slighted with less than five minutes to go in the fourth when Venom Quarterback Julian Reese had his pass bounce off receiver Kendrick Walker's hands and into the awaiting hands of Hammerhead defensive back Henry Hall for the interception. The Venom will try again to clinch victory next week as they head home to play the San Angelo Stampede Express. Corpus Christi will have a bye week to enjoy their amazing upset.
The final contest on Saturday saw the top two Pacific North teams face off as the Billings Outlaws (8-1) hosted the Fairbanks Grizzlies (5-3). Reigning league MVP Quarterback Chris Dixon hit 13 completions on 21 attempts with four touchdown passes. Dixon even managed a rushing touchdown in route to Billings 46-24 victory over the Grizzlies. The Outlaws were able to corral the Grizzlies by outscoring them in the final half of the game 22-12. The Outlaws had four different receivers each catch a touchdown pass from Dixon. Billings will have a bye next week and the Grizzlies will attempt to prove they are the top predators of the Pacific North when they travel to Kent.
Week Eleven Vidswap.com IFL Players of the Week will be announced on Wednesday. The IFL season will continue with Week Twelve on May 12th when the Chicago Slaughter travel to face the Bloomington Extreme and the Kent Predators will play host to divisional rival Fairbanks Grizzlies.
Indoor Football League Stories from May 11, 2010
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