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Two of Indoor Football's Best Offenses Clash

May 10, 2011 - Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL)
Erie Explosion News Release


(Erie, PA) - Two of the SIFL's most explosive offenses will be on display at the Tullio Arena on Friday night, May 13, when the Erie Explosion return home to host the Trenton Steel with kickoff scheduled for 7 PM. Just one game separates Erie (6-2) and Trenton (5-3) in the Northeast division race, and this game has playoff seeding implications for both teams as the regular season starts to wind down. Friday night's clash is the third of four scheduled regular-season meetings between the two teams, with the teams having split the first two games, each having won on their opponent's home field. An Erie victory would mean a two-game lead in the division with just three games to play, whereas a Trenton victory would pull the two teams even with another matchup looming on the Steel's home turf.

Last weekend, the Explosion took advantage of continued stellar performances by the tandem of quarterback Adam DiMichele and wide receiver Kevin Concepcion, and a timely interception return for a touchdown by defensive back Eric Wicks, in a 65-50 victory over the Richmond Raiders at the Richmond Coliseum, completing a two-game season sweep for the Explosion over the Raiders. As it has done so often this season, Erie jumped out to a commanding third quarter lead with some help from its defense, and continued to execute offensively holding off a pesky Richmond team which trimmed the deficit to eight points on several occasions in the second half, but never got closer. DiMichele completed 19 of 35 passes for 218 yards and seven touchdowns, five of which were caught by Concepcion among his seven receptions for 108 yards. Four different Erie defensive players recorded sacks including Sam Reynolds, Phil Tillman, Jerrickus Speights, and Brenton Brady, who had two.

The Trenton Steel enter this matchup as one of the hottest teams in the league having won five consecutive games, including last weekend's 78-36 rout of the Harrisburg Stampede in Trenton. Trenton quarterback E.J. Nemeth threw for 8 touchdowns and ran for two more. Wide receivers Oderick Turner and Damon Harrison scored three times apiece, and the Steel defense forced five turnovers and recorded seven sacks, including one that knocked Stampede quarterback Brian Harris out of the game.

The first meeting between Erie and Trenton was a hotly-contested affair played in Trenton on March 26 which was won by the Explosion 76-73. In that game, DiMichele set a SIFL league record, which he has since surpassed, with nine touchdown passes. In total, he completed 26 of 41 passes for 343 yards, an Erie franchise record, and was responsible for ten touchdowns including a two-yard rushing score. Concepcion tied another franchise record with 13 catches totaling 122 yards with four scores. Tirone Morris and Trumaine Riley recorded two touchdown receptions apiece, and Ernest Jackson scored one. Morris added a special teams touchdown on a 50-yard kickoff return. In defeat, Steel QB Nemeth was very productive, throwing for 290 yards and eight touchdowns, but was picked off twice by Erie CB Chris Johnson, including one that was returned 50 yards for a defensive score early in the fourth quarter.

The second meeting between the two teams, on April 9, was another high-scoring affair but with a different outcome, as Trenton kicker Craig Camay kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired to give the Steel a 65-62 victory over the Explosion in Erie. After overcoming a 10-point halftime deficit, the Explosion built up an eight-point lead with under eight minutes to go after a 50-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Morris, but a successful two-point conversion on a broken play following a Trenton touchdown and a missed Explosion field goal gave Trenton the opportunity to win the game on the final play. Once again, both quarterbacks had impressive statistics. DiMichele threw for 233 yards and six touchdowns and one interception, plus a rushing touchdown. His counterpart, Nemeth, completed 25 of 39 attempts for 303 yards and 7 touchdowns with no picks, and also added a rushing touchdown. Concepcion had four more touchdown receptions for the Explosion, and Jackson contributed two among his team-leading eight catches for 102 yards.

"We're getting down to crunch time now. I thought we executed very well on the road last week against Richmond which was a good bounce-back win as that's a good club that will win their division, and road wins are always tough to come by. The reward we get though is getting to play the hottest team in the league right now in Trenton. You're looking at two of the best offenses in the SIFL. Both of our earlier games were high-scoring and I would expect to see that again. So clearly the team that makes the most plays on defense and special teams will be the one that wins it. During their win streak, they've shut down people, particularly in the second half. But our D doesn't get enough credit, they've done a real good job so far with making stops to help us take early leads, and then key stops late in game to help maintain leads, which have been important to our recent success. But as we've seen over the last two weeks, we need to concentrate on executing for four quarters, we won last week holding off a determined team on their home turf. No lead is safe against Trenton's offense and kicker, so we'll have to do that again. We're excited to be back at the Tullio Arena this weekend and it should be quite a show. As I've said before, it's important for us to establish and build upon our homefield advantage in order to win a championship, and we need and we're counting on a large and loud crowd this Friday night to help us get there." commented Explosion head coach Shawn Liotta.

Erie's offense is led by quarterback DiMichele who has completed 53% of his passes for 2,066 yards and 58 touchdowns, both marks tops in the SIFL, and only six interceptions. Five different Explosion wide receivers have scored at least five touchdowns on the season, led by Concepcion with 75 receptions, 917 yards, and 29 touchdown catches, all of which lead the SIFL. Ernest Jackson has eight touchdown receptions, David Ball has scored seven times in just three games, and Tirone Morris has scored 13 times, including two kickoff returns for touchdowns. Defensive back Wicks leads the Explosion defense in interceptions, and is among the league leaders, with eight, Chris Johnson has contributed three picks and two fumble recoveries returned for touchdowns, and defensive lineman Troy Blackwell leads the team in sacks with six, followed by Brenton Brady with 5.5. Erie is currently ranked in the top four in the SIFL in scoring offense, passing yardage, first downs, turnover margin, sacks by, and pass defense efficiency.

Trenton comes into the game with the #1 scoring offense and #2 passing offense in the SIFL. Similar to Erie's DiMichele, Nemeth has been one of the league's most productive quarterbacks having a 57% pass completion rate and throwing for 2,117 yards and 48 touchdowns in eight games, with just eight interceptions. Three different receivers have a double-digit number of touchdown receptions, including Dan Huff with 13 scores among his team-leading 60 catches, Turner with 14 touchdowns, and Harrison, who has ten. Camay, who kicked the winning field goal in their earlier game in Erie, is an integral part of the Trenton offense as he leads the SIFL with 16 field goals, a 57% field goal percentage, and 59 PAT's made.

Tickets are available for this and all other Erie Explosion home games at the Tullio Arena box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets. The game will be broadcast on a delayed basis on Monday night on the Image Sports Network in Erie, with long-time announcers Ray Riesdorph and Scott Wludyga calling all of the action for our viewers as the "Voices of the Erie Explosion".

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