Omaha Beef Dominate Preseason Contest
February 22, 2011 - Indoor Football League (IFL)
Omaha Beef News Release
The Beef ¬â¢s 2011 season has officially started with the opening game at the Omaha Civic Auditorium or as it is affectionately known in Omaha as the Slaughter House. The visiting team from the St. Louis area the Warren County Cyclones was the opponent and the Beef impressed their fans with a 66-0 victory.
The crowd arrived at the game excited that indoor football had finally arrived back in Omaha with many wearing the orange and black jerseys. Several others, young and old alike had their faces painted with ready to cheer on the Beef. A nice sized crowd, even though the Daytona 500 was racing in Florida, of over 3600 all settled in for the unusual 3 p.m. Sunday kickoff.
The Beef and the head coach Andy Yost took the field greeted by the Prime Beef Dancers, the Ball Babes, Sir Loin and the first professional sports male dance team, the Rump Roosters. The fans also raised the roof with a thunderous outburst of horn, cow bells, screaming and applause to welcome the team.
The Warren County Cyclones with their Head Coach Troy Robertson also were introduced with out much fanfare from the Omaha crowd. The Cyclones were making their second appearance for a preseason game over the many years as they arrived Saturday night in the area. The club team plays outdoor football in the Greater Midwest Football League out of the St. Louis area.
It was time for football as the Cyclones won the coin toss and elected to receive. The first quarter saw no team able to put any kind of a long drive together. Both teams have not had many practices as a complete team which was apparent by the slow start.
After working out some of the butterflies and anxiety, the Beef broke the scoreless game with less than two minutes in the first quarter. Quarterback Chad Schmigel led the team 45-yards in five plays capping it off with a 16-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Allen Burrell with C.J. Gradoville nailing the extra point.
The Beef ¬â¢s defense kept the Cyclones at bay stalling several drives with the help of two missed field goals by the visiting team as well. Quarterback Silas Fluellen, playing in his first professional indoor football game, helped his team put another score on the board early in the second quarter tossing a three yard pass to wide receiver James White while John Scott Birkhofer II made the extra point for a 14-0 lead. The Cyclones tried unsuccessfully to produce any rushing drives and their passing completion rate was non existent due to the tough defensive back field of the Beef.
The Omaha Beef kept the exciting crowd on their feet by changing the scoring process to a rushing touchdown. After 34 yards and six plays, running back Steve Sankey rumbled his way six yards with great blocking from his offensive line breaking the plain of the goal line to add six points to the scoreboard with Gradoville converting the extra point extending the led to 21-0.
As the first half came to an end, wide receiver McIntosh Nicolas pulled in a 13-yard pass from Fluellen and Birkhofer added an extra point to make the score at half time 28-0.
The second half saw the Omaha Beef continue their scoring as the Cyclone ¬â¢s offense and defense started to go into shut down mode. Recently joining the Beef, quarterback James McNear finally heard his number called to lead the team by the coach as the fans greeted him with a loud ovation. In his short time in the game, he threw for a touch down and rushed for 15-yards.
With fumbles and interceptions converted to scores, Beef tossed a few more passes to eventually raise the score to a final 66-0.
Penalties plagued both teams that are normal in an exhibition game especially for the Cyclones that are use to outdoor football rules. The fans in the stands and those watching on the B-2 Network also saw their share of aggressiveness from both teams even after the whistle had been blown.
Overall both teams left with a list of things to work on prior to the opening the 2011 regular season campaign. Just about every player ¬Ëdressed out ¬â¢ for each team played allowing the top brass to check out their talents for future considerations.
The Beef will open the regular season in Chicago Saturday February 26 at 7:00 against the Slaughter. You can watch the game on the internet by go to www.beeffootball.com and clicking onto B-2.
The first home game for the Beef in Omaha at the Slaughter House will be on Saturday March 12 at 7 p.m. against the LaCrosse Spartans. A gigantic halftime show will take place by flying in from Los Angeles, CA a performer making a tribute to Michael Jackson. Scorpio, a renowned Michael Jackson impersonator will put on a performance that will impress you to no end.
The following week, Friday March 25 at 7 p.m. the Tri-cities Fever will come to Omaha to take on the Beef. $1 Night for beer and hot dogs will take place this night from 6-7 p.m. so get there early!
Get your season tickets to watch exciting professional indoor football of the Omaha Beef as they play in their 12th season by going to www.beeffootball.com, Ticket Master or call 402.346.BEEF (2333).
Indoor Football League Stories from February 22, 2011
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- Omaha Beef Dominate Preseason Contest - Omaha Beef
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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
