The Edge

by John Bronkhorst
June 11, 2003 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL)

Bismarck Roughriders (7-4/4-4) @ Utah Warriors (8-2/6-2)

These two teams played back on May 17th in Bismarck with the Warriors coming out on top, 63-53. In some circles, fans say that is a low scoring game between these two teams. Some are saying this game is a showcase of the Pacific Conference as a whole - a lot of offense, very little defense and two of the league's top quarterbacks.

You really can't ask for a bigger game for either of these squads at this point in the season. Bismarck is coming into the game with a win over Wyoming last week that helped propel them into the thick of the Pacific playoff Race. Utah is coming in after losing a tough game to Sioux Falls, and to be quite honest, has not looked as dominating in the past couple of weeks as they had earlier in the season. And to make things worse, with that loss they now find themselves behind Omaha for the number one seed in the Pacific.

Bismarck comes in with the top ranked scoring offense, but with the 23rd scoring defense. Utah enters with the number two scoring offense and the 19th scoring defense. Hey look at that, Utah has a better defense than one of their opponents.

The two QB's in this game are the real story. Danny Ragsdale and Chris Schwab are the leagues first and second ranked passers, respectively. Ragsdale averages 250 yards/game, has thrown for 2,505 yards, 52 TD's with 10 INT's and has a QB rating of 111.1. Schwab averages 226 yards/game, has thrown for 2,265 yards 68 TD's with 10 INT's and has a QB rating of 109. Both teams feature some of the best receivers in the league as well. AJ Street of Bismarck leads the league in all-purpose yards (1640), receiving yards/game (76.2) and is second in receptions (59). Utah's Emmitt White and Cory Grow highlight the Warriors attack. White is fifth in all-purpose yards (1093) and third in receptions (58). Grow is third in receiving yards/game (69.8) and second in receptions (59).

The key to victory is fairly obvious - whose defense is going to step up in crunch time? Bismarck's Kendall Rollins leads the team with 70 tackles and 3 sacks. The Roughriders defense surrenders 78 yards/game on the ground and 209 yards/game thru the air. Jeff Main's 42 Tackles and 2 sacks lead the Warriors. Utah gives up 72 yards/game rushing and surrenders only 165 yards/game passing. The question is who is going to slow each others QB's down? Ragsdale is still nursing injuries from all the beatings he takes and teams are starting to do an effective job of taking away his take ball, making him sit in the pocket longer and hit his 2nd and 3rd options. By doing this, this forces him to hang onto the ball longer and gives the defense more time to hit him. There is no doubt that both QB's want the deep ball, I expect both defensive coordinators to use a lot of soft zones and combos of man and zone to take the deep ball away, force both QB's to throw to their secondary options and hold on to the football longer. By doing this, you keep the receivers in front of the defensive backs at all times and you give your defensive lineman more opportunities at shots on the QB. If they are able to do this, you will see each QB start to get out of their rhythm and might get them to start forcing things in to see if they can create something. When you get QB's thinking about creating instead of playing, you have one half your battles. I also expect both teams try to employ a zone-blitz scheme this week and try to get pressure up the middle and drop a DL into a zone. It is important for both defenses to try and get these QB's on the run, not allowing them to set their feet and get into rhythm. Neither team can afford to sit back and wait; they must attack on every down.

With all that said and the emphasis being on the defenses, I expect a track meet this weekend in the city of the Great Salt Lake, with Utah winning at the wire.

UTAH – 68
BISMARCK – 65

See you next week...

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National Indoor Football League Stories from June 11, 2003

• The Edge - OSC Original by John Bronkhorst
• Utah Warriors are on a Rampage - Utah Warriors

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