Sioux Falls Fighting for Second United Bowl Title

Published on July 19, 2006 under United Indoor Football Association (UIF) News Release


Omaha, NE - The 2006 Sioux Falls Storm will go down in history with the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the 2000 Peoria Pirates, and the 2003 Ohio Valley Greyhounds as the only teams in professional football history to go through a regular season undefeated. The three teams from the past all finished their incredible season with a championship and Sioux Falls will have to do the same if they want to be mentioned as one of the greatest indoor football teams ever assembled.

The 2006 season started on the road with dominating victories over Omaha and Rock River. Quarterback Terrance Bryant had a hand in eight touchdowns over the first two games. Bryant finished the regular season with 52 passing and eight rushing touchdowns. The Storm unveiled their 2005 Championship Banner at the home opener on April 8 vs. Sioux City. The Storm continued their domination with a 28-6 victory. The Storm defense scored more points than the Bandits offense in the ballgame. The "Thunder Defense" finished the season by allowing a UIF record of only 384 points.

The Storm had a few scares along the way including a 47-44 overtime win in Fort Wayne. Sioux Falls came back from a nine-point second half deficit to win the game. Another scare came at home when Omaha came to town on May 13. The Storm were down by eight at halftime and came back to win by 10, 34-24. The Beef returned the favor in Omaha two weeks later by coming back from a 12-point deficit to put a scare in the Storm as Omaha failed on a 2-point conversion in the games final seconds that would have tied the game. Sioux Falls survived 40-38.

Over the course of the season the Storm broke 21 team or league records. The Storm broke seven league records that included: least amount of rushing yards allowed in a season (820), largest turnover margin for a season (+18), Least Amount of Points Allowed (384), and largest average margin of victory (20.0 Points per game). The Storm also recorded the first shutout in league and team history by defeating the Peoria Roughriders 71-0 on June 10.

Team records that were broken this season include: most passing touchdowns in a season and a career. Terrance Bryant finished the season with a team record of 52 touchdowns and has tallied 84 in his Storm career. Bryant also broke the record for most passing yards in a career with 4,171. Wide receiver Casey Veenhof set a record of his own by catching 52 touchdowns in his Sioux Falls indoor career.

The defensive side of the ball saw their share of team records fall as well. Linebacker Mark Blackburn brought his career total of tackles to 423 during the 2006 season and Shannon Poppinga caught his 31st interception of his career during the season which broke the Storm career interception mark. Defensive lineman Nate Fluit set a new Storm and UIF record for sacks in a season with 15.5. Fluit also owns the Storm's career sack mark with 46.

For the season awards Terrance Bryant was awarded the UIF Most Valuable Player, Nate Fluit received UIF Defensive Player of the Year, Marques Smith (RB) was awarded the Most Improved Player and Head Coach, Kurtiss Riggs, was given the Coach of the Year.

The Storm now waits till Sunday, July 23 to meet the Evansville BlueCats at the Sioux Falls Arena, the "Storm Shelter." Game time is slated for 3:05 pm CST. Evansville traveled to Sioux Falls for Week 16 of the season and nearly knocked off the defending champions. The Storm came out on top, 33-26.

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United Indoor Football Association Stories from July 19, 2006


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