NIFL Conference Championship previews

Published on July 21, 2005 under National Indoor Football League (NIFL) News Release


It's not the big dance. It's the final tune-up to the "big one" and it all starts Saturday with the Conference finals of the National Indoor Football League.

The Atlantic Conference championship will have the surprising Rome Renegades (9-7) traveling to Cincinnati to meet the Marshals (10-6) in a 7:30 p.m. (Eastern time) kickoff at U.S. Bank Arena.

A little more than 30 minutes later, at 7:11 p.m. (Central time), the ‘Cardiac Kids' of the Tri-Cities Fever (11-5) will travel to Odessa, Texas, to meet the top-seeded Roughnecks (16-0).

Both Atlantic Conference teams are somewhat of a surprise, although it was open season in the Central and Southern Divisions of this 11-team conference.

The heavily-favored River City Rage out of St. Charles, Missouri, was defused by the Marshals, 67-64, in an overtime first-round game. What a balloon burst that caused after the Rage (10-4 regular season record) was leading both Cincinnati and the Dayton Warbirds by 2 games.

Both the Marshals and Tri-Cities (out of Kennewick, Washington) have reached the NIFL's semi-finals the hard way. Both came to this point winning two games, against excellent opponents in tough arenas, on the road.

Cincinnati would have had to play a third straight game on the road had it not been for defensive back Ron Carpenter, a veteran of several leagues including the NFL, and team physician, Dr. Phil Dinn, who came up with the guarantee (in dollars) so the Marshals would have the home contest.

With Tri-Cities, it's been a matter of making some early changes in coaches and quarterbacks and then allowing a fine owner and management group to focus on the team's needs.

The Fever had to travel to Casper, Wyoming, to meet the Wyoming Cavalry but was able to overcome a team with 10 wins and the high altitude. It was traveling to Everett, to meet the in-State rival Hawks who were undefeated (15-0), that proved the team's worthy-ness to be in the semifinal game.

Building a 21-0 lead against the potent Hawks, in front of a near capacity house, wasn't enough as the Fever relied on a Drew Dunning 41-yard field goal as time ran out to douse all Everett hopes of a perfect season, 54-52.

Now, it's on to another powerhouse, in yet another tough place to play, Odessa, where the Fever will have to again pull up[ its bootstraps if it expects to conquer another undefeated team. The winner of this game will get home-field ‘advantage' for the championship game next week.

Here is a closer look at each matchup and the players that will make the difference:

ROME RENEGADES (9-7) at CINCINNATI MARSHALS (10-6), Saturday, 7:30 p.m., at U.S. Bank Arena - Rome rumbled over the Lakeland ThunderBolts, 53-7, at home in the opening round...Then, the Renegades and head coach David Humphreys, outmaneuvered Montgomery on the Maulers home turf, 47-31...This is a solid but unspectacular team led by 5-foot-11 quarterback Bo Bartik who in two playoff games is 30-54 (.556) and four touchdowns... Statistically, the team is in the middle of the pack in almost every category, but make no mistake, the defense is where they have come through in two games...Have outscored opponents, 100-38, and had six interceptions to the enemies 3...Rome will be stingy and rely on the running of Travis Booker, Perry Tisdale, J.R. Revere and Bartik who have eight post-season TD.

Cincinnati: Because this organization has overcome some early turmoil, the players have stepped forward to make this game happen. It's the 35-year-old Carpenter's opportunity to give many of the players something they have never experienced. A championship. This team is big on stats; bigger than Rome...Marshals boast the top rusher in the league Vincent Askew (719 yards, 3.2 avg., 33 TDs)...But in playoffs, Askew has only 34 net yards in 20 carries...He's do a ‘bust-out' game and this could be it...Brett Dietz in the main offensive culprit and has hit on 48 of 80 (.600) with only one interception and 13 scores...During the regular season, Dietz had 41 TDs on a 101.99 rating but is now up to 113.54 in the playoffs...His main targets are Tobias Deans (77 grabs in the regular season with 21 touchdowns) who has 24 catches and nine scores in post-season play...Others to watch are Jeff Jourdan and Askew along with Johnell Wyatte who has surpassed his regular-season total of two receiving TDs with three and is two shy of his yearly 14 catches in 10 games.

TRI-CITIES FEVER (11-5) at ODESSA ROGHNECKS, Saturday, 7:11 p.m. (Central time), at Ector County Coliseum - Tri-Cities: This Kennewick, Wash.,-based team won seven games in a row before losing at Cincinnati to end the regular season...Led by 36-year-old quarterback Doug Coleman, the Fever will definitely throw the ball...Coleman has a playoff rating of 103.46 (32 of 47 .681) with only three picks and eight touchdowns...During the season, Coleman, who came to the Fever at the suggestion of running back Jarvis Dunn, threw for 50 TDs in 10 games...He had a 105.23 rating...Coleman's favorite receivers are Soute Wong (13 grabs, 4 TDs), Kevin Heard (8-2) and Dunn (4 catches)...Mike Rigell, who led the team during the season with 66 catches and 19 scores, could be out for this one, but Coleman has plenty of help...Dunn leads the rushing with 28 carries and 115 yards in the playoffs and three scores...He had 17 rushing touchdowns during the regular season...Look for head coach Dan Whitsett to have something up his sleeve in this one...Miracles do happen and it couldn't happen to a finer organization.

Odessa: The Roughnecks are the class of the league...Averaging a little more than 50 points a game during the regular season, they have relied heavily on their defense...But, in the playoffs, they've put up 63 a game at the Coliseum... Quarterback Jason Johnson led the team in both passing and rushing during the regular season...He connected with receivers 25 times for scores in the 14 games of the season...He has only three in the playoffs, but running back Percy Coleman has six scores in post-season play...Receiver Joel Babb had 11 regular season scores and already has five in two playoff contests...Thomas Wayne, Coleman and Clint McNutt are others to contend with in this department...Otheese Wells, Larry Thompson and John Anderson led the ‘Necks during the season on defense and they again are atop the leaders in the playoffs...Thompson had six INTs in season and 5 PBU's and Anderson had a team-high 10 picks with 6 pass breakups...John Norman also can hurt you since having 11 breakups during the season...Jerry Turner, who tied for 2nd with 12 sacks, has 2.5 in the playoffs...Look for a long night if Odessa's defense is on all cylinders.

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National Indoor Football League Stories from July 21, 2005


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