Rage prepare for tough battles in final two games of regular season
June 18, 2005 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL)
RiverCity Rage News Release
The division crown has been won, the home field advantage in the conference playoffs is secure. But for the River City Rage of the NIFL, there's still some unfinished business. Two final regular season games loom large for Coach Mike Wyatt's group, a team that now must be the post-season favourite to butt heads with the Pacific Division champion for the trophy and rings that await the winner of the 2005 Indoor Bowl slated for the end of July.
Determined to get his team "into a playoff type intensity right now, beginning this weekend," Wyatt says Saturdays game against the Lubbock Gunslingers, on the road, "will give us an opportunity to get above .500 on the road, because we may end up having to play a championship game away from home. If we do make it to the Indoor Bowl, there's a good chance it'll be a road game, so this team needs to get into the mindset of taking games away from teams that have home field advantage. These next two games present that kind of challenge, and Lubbock could make it's season by besting us at their place. We can't let that happen."
Game number thirteen is set for Saturday night at the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum, with kick-off on tap for 7:05PM, St. Louis time. The game can be heard on 1380 ESPN Radio, with the pre-game show beginning at 6:45PM, and can also be heard audio- streamed on the internet on both the ESPN and ragefootball.com websites.
The Rage come into the game having captured the Atlantic East division crown on Friday night with an impressive 75-54 win over the Cincinnati Marshals at Family Arena. The victory capped a perfect 8-0 home field record on the year, but on that high note, The Rage bid 'adios' to the St. Charles facility and set it's sights on securing the same type of fan support and crowd intensity at Savvis Center in downtown St. Louis. The home of the Blues and The Steamers will be the playoff venue for The Rage in the chase for the title, the first playoff game scheduled for the weekend of July 8-10th. As many as three playoff games could be played at Savvis, with the possibility of the 2005 Indoor Bowl being showcased there as well the weekend of July 29-31st.
One thing for certain, the scoreboard operators employed at Savvis will be earning their pay! Over the course of 12 games this season, The Rage have maintained the points per game average that has kept this offense at or near the top of the NIFL in most major scoring categories. Down the stretch, The Rage currently average 60.1ppg, good for second among 22 NIFL team, and are secured in second place as well in Total Offense with 923 rushing yards, 2,217 passing yards on 564 plays, good for 3,180 total yards and 99 touchdowns. The Rage maintain an average of 265 yards per game and 5.6 yards per play.
Wyatt's respected passing game is also second in the league overall, with a pass rating of 106.2%. The quarterback combination of starter Clay Groefsema and backup Anthony Fisher ranks 6th in the NIFL with 210 completions in 336 passing attempts, good for 62 touchdowns and an average of 184.8 yards per game through the air. They've thrown only 13 interceptions on the year.
Wyatt gives credit to the Offensive Line, which has continued to improve week after week. Jay Carmack, Barry Brueggeman, Robert Reeves, Lawrence Clark, Chase Denton, Gabe Dunkmann and Chris Kelley have hung tough all year, giving both Groefsema and Fisher ample time to find their targets downfield. The Rage 'O' line has given up only 12 sacks thus far.
And it slams holes into the opposing defensive line to pave the way for the Rage to lead the league in first downs! Chalk up 251 so far this season, a Red-Zone percentage of 79.1%, scoring on 72 of 91 chances, good for 3rd overall. Equally impressive on the year, the team is:
1st in Non-Kick Scoring with 658 points
4th in Rushing with 963 yards on 228 attempts, good for 37 TD's and an average of 80.2 yards per game
A Turnover Margin of +8
Individual leaders on offense include:
Wide Receiver Scott Pingel, 5th in league scoring with 22 TD's and 14XPT's good for 146 points.
Pingel leads the NIFL with 77 receptions, good for 753 yards, an average of 9.8 yards per catch
Sha-Ron Edwards ranks 6th overall in scoring, with 23 TD's and 6XPT's good for 144 points in the 10 games he's played this year
Edwards is 3rd in rushing, chalking up 600 yards on 141 rushing attempts for an average of 4.3 yards per game. He's rushed for 19 touchdowns.
Rage QB Clay Groefsema has completed 189 passes in 299 attempts, good for 2,027 yards. Groefsema on the year has thrown 54 touchdown passes and 8 interceptions.
Finally, Hurtis Chinn continues to standout in a variety of ways, ranking 7th in All-Purpose Yards. Chinn has racked up 79 rushing yards, 687 receiving yards, and 583 kick-off yards thus far, good for 1,349 yards overall and good for an average of 134.9 yards per game
Offense wins football games, defense wins championships!!
And on the other side of the line, The River City Rage get the message and send it to the opposition. Rage 'D' has been steady, giving up an average of 43.3 points per game in the first 12 contests. And aggression is the name of the game, as The Rage lead the NIFL in Sacks Recorded, 31 on the year, accounting for a loss of 127 yards.
On defense:
D-Back Andy Peterson leads the team
Maurice McClain is a pass defense leader, breaking up
Sack leaders include Bruce Blue with 11, James Green
Finally, Tackle leaders on The Rage rank 2nd and 4th in the NIFL!
Linebacker Terrell Washington takes second place overall with 55 un-assisted and 81 assisted pull downs in 12 games.
D-Back Clarence 'CJ' Jones is fourth with 43 unassisted and 67 assisted tackles so far.
The Rage hold the top spot in the Atlantic East Division with a record of 10-2, The Dayton Warbirds are in second place with a mark of 6-6, Cincinnati is third with a record of 5-6 and The New Jersey X- treme are winless at 0-10.
SHUFFLING THE CARDS
When The Rage head to Texas on Friday, some roster re-vamping will be in order. Wide Receiver Moses Regular will miss the trip due to work related commitments and will be replaced on the 22 man active roster by Kareem Wise, a 6'2" 205lb product of the University of Missouri. Wise is no stranger to the indoor game, having won a championship ring last season with the Tulsa Talons of the AF2. He's practiced with the team all year and will suit up for the first time this season on Saturday night.
Also, for preventive reasons, starting D-Back Clarence Jones will not make the trip and will be replaced at defensive back by Joe Bevis. 'CJ' suffered a slight shoulder injury in the Cincinnati game last weekend, and will take treatments this week to assure Wyatt he's ready to go against Dayton and healthy for the playoffs.
Finally, Rage Defensive End James Green will have a bit of extra incentive when he hits the turf on Saturday night. James was a member of the Lubbock Gunslingers last season, recording 10 sacks in the ten games in which he played.
RIVER CITY RAGE HEAD COACH MIKE WYATT TO APPEAR ON "UNDER THE ROOF" THIS WEEK River City Rage head coach Mike Wyatt will appear on this week's episode of "Under the Roof," OurSports Central's weekly online radio show dedicated to indoor and Arena football. The new episode will be available on OurSports Central (//www.oursportscentral.com) beginning at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time Thursday. Wyatt has led the Rage to a 10-2 record and division title.
Hosted by Dean Jackson and featuring correspondents from the Arena Football League, arenafootball2, the National Indoor Football League, United Indoor Football and the Atlantic Indoor Football League, the program features the top insiders in the game "Under the Roof." The show airs every Thursday on OurSports Central, and episodes are also archived on OSC's radio page at //www.oursportscentral.com/services/oscrad io/ .
For more details on how to get your game clips on "Under the Roof" or to schedule team personnel for on-air interviews, please email us at admin@oursportscentral.com or call 920-923-3959 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Central time.
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QUOTES FROM RAGE HEAD FOOTBALL COACH MIKE WYATT
(On playing Lubbock on Saturday)
"They played a great game against Lincoln last weekend, and with that win, put themselves on the bubble for a playoff slot, so this is a very important game for them. Remember too, Lubbock was the runner-up in the Intense Football League title game last year and have much of the same talent back this year. For us, we need to zero in on playoff intensity right away, starting now, and that's going to be our focus come Saturday."
(On travelling by bus 14 hours to get to Texas)
"Well, we knew these games were there waiting for us at the end of the year. We had hoped to fly, but it didn't work out, so you do what you can to minimize the adverse effects of such a long trip. But no doubt, it's quite an equalizer."
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National Indoor Football League Stories from June 18, 2005
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