Rage look to be Maulers in game against Montgomery

April 6, 2005 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL)
RiverCity Rage News Release


The River City Rage of the NIFL will be looking to turn the tables on the Montgomery Maulers this Saturday at Family Arena when the two teams pair up for the first time.The Rage are undefeated at 2-0, the Maulers are 2-1, but are coming off a victory as well, having defeated the SW Louisiana Swashbucklers last weekend. Over 5 thousand fans saw the newly expanded Montgomery franchise win their first-ever home game , as former Univeristy of Arkansas star running back Chrys Chukuma rushed for 138 yards and scored 4 touchdowns in the 41-30 victory.

The Rage will be looking to improve to 3-0, and in doing so, give Head Football Coach Mike Wyatt his 200th career victory. Last Saturday, The Rage defeated the Cincinnati Marshals at the U.S. Bank Arena, 55-53, as quarterback Clay Groefsema threw for 4 touchdowns and ran for two more. Rage wide receiver/return specialist Hurtis Chinn was an offensive sparkplug for Coach Wyatt, catching 12 passes for 122 yards, gaining 142 yards on 8 kick-off returns, and gaining 14 yards on 2 rushes. He scored 2 touchdowns and gained 268 all-purpose yards.

Kick-Off is slated for 7pm on Saturday. The theme for the game is St. Charles Schools Night and Lindenwood Night. Halftime entertainment will be provided by various St. Charles High School bands.

2 MINUTE DRILL

HEAD FOOTBALL COACH MIKE WYATT SEEKS CAREER VICTORY No. 200

In a coaching career that has spanned more than a quarter of a century and 2 Continents, success has truly been a follower of Rage Coach Mike Wyatt. This Saturday at Family Arena his current team, the River City Rage, will be trying to present Coach Wyatt with a true coaching milestone, his 200th career victory! With a record of 199 wins, 69 loses, and 2 ties, Wyatt's winning percentage stands at a remarkable 74% . With literally one-half of his coaching career spent in Europe, Wyatt has back-to-back Pro European Football Championships to his credit, winning titles in Stockholm in 1994 (11-1) and 1995(10-2). His team won the Italian National Championship in 1990 with an undefeated season, finishing 13-0. Wyatt pulled double duty for 8 seasons while in Europe, coaching youth teams comprised of high-school and junior college players playing an 8 game schedule in the fall. His Pro European teams played their schedule in the Spring and Summer, rounding out some 20 to 22 games per year. Coach Wyatt is in his second year with the Rage. Last year the team saw it's first winning season in the NIFL, going 9-5 and making the playoffs for the first time ever. For that effort, Mike Wyatt was named the Atlantic Coach of the Year in 2004. Wyatt admits he has looked forward to this for a while and when asked about it's importance, had this to say. "Obviously it's a source of some pride and I can only thank the teams that I've had over the years for giving the effort to help make it come about. I'll say this, 200 wins is 200 wins, so to speak, whether it's in the Pop Warner League or College or Professional football. I've enjoyed coaching at every level, especially my time spent in Europe and now here with the Rage and the NIFL. When this win comes about, be it this weekend or later, hopefully THIS weekend," he chuckled, " I'll look back and really feel good, knowing that a huge percentage of the time, I've validated my ticket as a coach. I'm humbled to think that it puts me in an elite group of coaches who can point to a winning percentage of over 70%."

OTHER QUOTES FROM COACH MIKE WYATT

( On Montgomery and the game Saturday Night)

"We need to focus our defense to stop their ground game. Our rush defense has to step up and do the job, something we didn't do very well last week against Cincinnati. We can't let another running back run wild like Askew did last week."

"Montgomery last week held their opponent scoreless in the fourth quarter, and that's not easily done in this league. Our offense will have to meet the challenge to play four full quarters of football. We did against both Fayetteveille and Cincinnati, this Saturday at home, we've got to answer the bell again"

(On newcomer Sha-Ron Edwards play at running back last weekend)

"Sha-Ron proved to be up to the challenge last weekend. The key will be to see if he is equally as impressive week after week. It's a long season, but I will say this, I've seen enough of him in our practices and on game film to feel pretty confident about his ability to meet the test week after week."



National Indoor Football League Stories from April 6, 2005


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