Owners have both teams in Championship
June 23, 2008 - Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)
Kalamazoo Xplosion News Release
Some sports owners wait an entire lifetime to get their team into the championship game. For the ownership group Football Enterprises, Inc., they had to wait just two years to have two Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) franchises fighting for a championship.
Mike Johnson, Esteban Rivera, and Mike Trumbell make up the fortunate ownership group, who will watch their two teams, the Saginaw Sting and the Kalamazoo Xplosion, battle for the 2008 CIFL Championship Sunday, June 29 at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo, where the Xplosion is tied for the CIFL record for wins in one arena, with 15 straight victories. Kickoff is set for 3 pm.
Kalamazoo was the first of the two teams to give the owners a reason to celebrate, with a 56-42 win in the Great Lakes Conference Championship game over the Rock River Raptors. On an inspirational night that featured star defensive back David Gater and head coach Mike Sparks dashing onto the field late, Gater due to a wedding and Sparks tardy because his mother had just passed away, the Xplosion outscored the Raptors 27-7 in the final 25 minutes to seal the victory. Sunday will be Kalamazoo?s first ever finals appearance, as it finished Great Lakes runner-up last year to the now defunct Port Huron Pirates.
Saginaw, in its inaugural season, just recently celebrated its bid to the big game with a 59-25 win Monday night over the Lehigh Valley Outlawz (Pennsylvania) in the Atlantic Conference Championship game.
?At this point, we?re winners regardless of the outcome. Now it?s up to the players and coaches of each team to resolve it on the field. Up to this point, we?ve done everything we can as owners, and now we?ll just kick back and enjoy a great game,? said co-owner Esteban Rivera, who was the only owner available for comment while the others celebrated their fantastic accomplishments.
But the train doesn?t stop here; there is still a game to be played between the best teams in each conference. Kalamazoo and Saginaw enter the championship game with the number one and number two defenses in the league, respectively, with the Xplosion allowing just 29 points per game and the Sting giving up 32 points on average.
Kalamazoo?s defense will be put to the test when the best offense in the CIFL lines up toe to toe with it. The Sting offense is averaging an astonishing 52 points per game behind the dangerous tandem of Damon Dowdell and Nick Body. Dowdell has thrown for over 50 touchdowns this season, 34 of them landing in the arms of Body, a former Wayne State University standout.
Sunday will be a battle between an offensive powerhouse and a defensive juggernaut, an eastside of the state squad with brass and westside warriors with a chip on their shoulder. The 2008 CIFL Championship game? you?ve got to see this in person.
• Discuss this story on the Continental Indoor Football League message board...
Continental Indoor Football League Stories from June 23, 2008
- Owners have both teams in Championship - Kalamazoo Xplosion
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.
