Regular Season Over, Playoffs Up Next for Evansville
Published on July 18, 2005 under United Indoor Football Association (UIF)
Evansville BlueCats News Release
EVANSVILLE, IN: The Evansville BlueCats ended their regular season with a 41-37 road loss to the Peoria Rough Riders on Saturday night. The BlueCats finished the regular season with a (7-8) record and finish in second place in the UIF South Division. This week the Evansville BlueCats will enjoy a bye week before participating in a first round playoff game on the weekend of July 30th. It will be the first playoff appearance in team history.
Currently, Evansville owns the #6 seed in the UIF playoffs. The only regular season game that is left to be played in UIF regular season will be this coming weekend on July 23rd when Ohio Valley plays at Peoria. A Peoria win would put Peoria in a tie with Ohio Valley and force an average point differential tiebreaker between the two teams. A Peoria win would also and lock Evansville in to the #6 spot. An Ohio Valley win would force an average point differential tiebreaker between Ohio Valley and Evansville for the #6 seed, a tiebreaker the BlueCats currently have a commanding advantage in.
For Ohio Valley to overtake Evansville for the #6 seed in the UIF playoffs, the Greyhounds would have to defeat the Rough Riders on the road by at least 29 points. Should this happen, Evansville could fall to the #7 seed and travel to Sioux City. The Greyhounds and Rough Riders have faced off one other time this season and it was a close 23-22 Ohio Valley victory in Wheeling.
It appears likely that the BlueCats will be the #6 seed and will be traveling back to Lexington to take on the Lexington Horsemen for the third time this season. Evansville and Lexington split the previous two meetings, Evansville claiming a 57-52 victory back on April 2nd, and Lexington winning 69-62 on July 9th.
Evansville BlueCats Head Coach Ollie Guidry commented on the first round of the playoffs, "It looks like a rematch with Lexington which will be a rematch of two exciting and close football games."
Peoria's victory over Evansville keeps the Rough Riders slim playoff hopes alive. It sets up an exciting battle next week between the Ohio Valley Greyhounds and Peoria Rough Riders for the UIF's final playoff spot.
Peoria had the lead for most of the game and was able to capitalize on the BlueCats turnovers. Evansville had the lead three different times, but only briefly, once at 14-13 in the second quarter, once again at 27-26 in the third quarter, and at 37-34 in the fourth quarter.
Coach Guidry said, "It amazes me that in a week 18 game, there are still people who don't know all the rules. There are things as a league we'll have to deal with at the end of the season to change up. One thing to seriously look at is dirty football players in the league. Those guys need to be held accountable for their actions."
Coach Guidry continued, "There were three phases the affected this outcome of this game. Number one is it's hard to have turnovers and win on the road, we can not give up any easy scores defensively. Second, people need to understand the rules of the game and they need to be enforced. And third, this game has a bunch of key players and number one on that list is the quarterback. At all costs, we need to make sure he is protected from desperate teams using all measures to win a game. Blatant late hits should be unacceptable. I'm disappointed in the way we played but I'm more disappointed in the other two factors."
Wide Receiver Matt Kent had a big game for the BlueCats, scoring touchdowns on 3 of his four pass receptions. Wide Receiver Byron Curtis had nine catches for 133 yards. Kenny Bell had 3 receptions for 56 yards and scored a touchdown on a 38 yard pass play in the second quarter that gave Evansville a 14-13 lead.
Quarterback Ramon Robinson was 17 for 34 for 221 yards, 4 touchdowns and one interception.
The UIF's Week 17 Special Teams Player of the Week kicker Erik Rockhold was 4-5 on extra points and also kicked a 45 yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
The UIF's Week 17's Defensive Player of the Week, defensive back and BlueCats team record holder Connie Brown, added 9.5 tackles to his already league leading total giving him 107 total tackles for the season.
Scotty Stewart had his third interception of the season. It was also his third pick in the past four games.
The playoff bound Evansville BlueCats will be off this coming weekend. Up next for Evansville is the first round of the inaugural UIF playoffs, which will be a road game on the weekend of July 30th. Be sure to watch for updates and information on the date, time and opponent. For the complete Evansville BlueCats 2005 schedule, please visit the website at www.evansvillebluecats.com.
United Indoor Football Association Stories from July 18, 2005
- Cowdrey says good-bye - Peoria Rough Riders
- Beef to host Storm in playoffs July 30 - Omaha Beef
- It's Official: Storm will Travel to Omaha for Round 1 of the 2005 UIF Play-offs - Sioux Falls Storm
- Regular Season Over, Playoffs Up Next for Evansville - Evansville BlueCats
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