News Danger, Nighthawks Meet to Decide Playoffs
June 13, 2017 - Indoor Football League (IFL)
Nebraska Danger News Release
GRAND ISLAND, NE - The playoff aspirations of five teams in the Indoor Football League hang on the outcome of a game in Grand Island on Saturday night. The Danger will host the Wichita Falls Nighthawks in the final game of the regular season on Humane Society Night this Saturday.
Wichita Falls will travel to Nebraska looking to clinch one of the two playoff spots in the United Conference. With a win, Wichita Falls would make the playoffs. At the same time, the Sioux Falls Storm and Iowa Barnstormers will be battling in Iowa for the #1 seed in the United Conference and home field advantage in the playoffs. To make matters even more interesting, Wichita Falls holds the tie-breakers over both Iowa and Sioux Falls so if Wichita Falls wins, the loser of the Iowa/Sioux Falls game is out of the playoffs. If Wichita Falls loses, they are out of the playoffs.
The Intense Conference playoff possibilities are less confusing, but are also not yet completely decided. The Arizona Rattlers already locked in at the #1 seed in the United Conference with a three game lead on second place. The Danger and the Spokane Empire are tied with 8-7 records, but the Danger hold the tiebreaker thanks to a 42-36 win over the Empire on April 1st. For the Danger to clinch a spot in the playoffs, they either need to beat Wichita Falls or have Spokane fall to the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles on Friday night. Spokane would make the playoffs with a win and a Danger loss.
"The playoff possibilities are a complete mess, so all we have been preaching to our guys this week is to focus on beating Wichita Falls," said Danger head coach Hurtis Chinn. "Win and we are in. Wichita Falls is a very good football team, so they have our complete focus."
The Nighthawks have had one of the hottest offenses in the IFL all season and can put up points very quickly. The Danger and Nighthawks have met twice this season and the Danger were able to pull within two points (42-44) and four points (40-44) in the fourth quarter, but fell both times, 48-65 and 40-57 respectively.
"Finishing the entire fourth quarter has been problem for us this year," said Chinn. "We have a lot of young guys that haven't experienced how quickly points can be put up in the indoor game, but I feel like our team has improved a lot since we last met Wichita Falls. Our defense is stout and our offense is really coming together and are starting to click at the right time."
Kickoff is set for 7 pm Saturday night at the Heartland Events Center in Grand Island, with Humane Society Night as the feature. Doors open at 6:00 with pre-game activities beginning at 6:30.
Tickets for Saturday night are available at area Pump & Pantry stores, the Heartland Events Center Box Office, or via Ticketmaster. The game will be broadcast live on 2DayFM 103.1, or streamed live at www.2dayfm1031.com with live video available at DangerFootball.com/Watch.
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Indoor Football League Stories from June 13, 2017
- News Danger, Nighthawks Meet to Decide Playoffs - Nebraska Danger
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