Sports stats

UIF Sioux Falls Storm

Storm set record with 28th straight

May 21, 2007 - United Indoor Football Association (UIF)
Sioux Falls Storm News Release


Winning 28 games in a row is exceedingly hard, so much so that no other team in the history of professional football had done it. So why should the record breaker be a walk in Falls Park?

In an effort that was more old school than indoor, the Sioux Falls Storm relied on defense and a running attack to rally past the Omaha Beef 33-19 in United Indoor Football on Saturday, breaking the pro football record for consecutive victories set by Ohio Valley in 2004 with their 28th in a row and delighting a crowd of 4,752 at the Arena.

Sioux Falls scored the final 16 points of the contest and recorded five takeaways while tailback Marques Smith rushed for two touchdowns and 83 yards, setting a franchise career mark in the category at 1,430.

"That just shows you how much of a team we are, that we don't just depend on one facet of the game," Smith said.

There are perhaps dozens of championships awarded in all levels of pro football each year, but only one team can lay claim to the mark of most consecutive victories. You wouldn't have known the Storm was that team after the game. Players handed out a few T-shirts and signed a slew of autographs, and that was about it.

"It feels really good," said Smith, who also caught a touchdown pass, "but with the championship, you get a ring. With this, it's just on paper."

But that doesn't mean they are paper champions. No, they earned this victory after trailing by as many as nine points late in the first half.

Sioux Falls (8-0) regained the lead for good at 23-19 on the last play of the third quarter, a 20-yard touchdown run by Smith. But it regained its confidence some 7 minutes earlier on Mark Blackburn's interception return for a score. With the league's highest scoring offense limited to 10 points deep into the second half, it was up to the Storm defense to pull double duty.

"I knew I had to get in the end zone to get the momentum going, to help us get our swagger back," Blackburn said.

It was the first of four second-half interceptions for Sioux Falls - and Omaha attempted only 10 passes in that time.

The Beef (4-5) were limited to 39 yards on 22 plays in the second half and came away empty on a first-and-goal situation on the possession that followed Smith's go-ahead score. Omaha ran just four offensive plays in the final 8:49, and two ended in interceptions. The first - by Shannon Poppinga with 4:11 remaining and the clubs separated by just seven points - resulted in a touchdown catch by Smith just over a minute later.

"We wanted to see if we could be the team to stop the streak," said Omaha coach Rod Miller, whose team has been beaten six times by Sioux Falls during its epic run. "For a half, it looked like we may have, but in the second half, we didn't have a chance."

Several teams have had chances to stop the Storm during the streak, two games even went to overtime, but none have succeeded. Up next: The Cleveland Browns' pro football record of 29 consecutive games without a loss, including two ties, that dates to 1949.

"I think the accomplishment is definitely something to celebrate," said Storm coach Kurtiss Riggs, whose team hasn't lost since July 15, 2005. "It's a pretty impressive thing, what we've done. It's something you celebrate and you'll always have that, a 28-game win streak and possibly more. But still, we have to remain focused on the goal at hand and that's to try to win a third title."



United Indoor Football Association Stories from May 21, 2007


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.

Other Recent Sioux Falls Storm Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central