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UIF Will Kick-off Week Eight Friday Night

May 12, 2006 - United Indoor Football Association (UIF) News Release


Omaha, NE - For the first time since Week 5, all ten teams of the UIF will take the field this weekend. Three division match-ups take place Saturday night when Peoria heads to Bloomington, Omaha travels to Sioux Falls and the Lexington Horsemen host the Evansville BlueCats. Also on Saturday is Ohio Valley in Sioux City. Tonight (Friday) will feature one game as the Ft. Wayne Freedom host the Rock River Raptors.

Tonight's game is the first of two match-ups between the Raptors (4-3) and the Freedom (3-4). Ft. Wayne is on a four game losing streak after they started the season 3-0. They have been without their All-League running back, Rocky Harvey, for the last few weeks after he sprained his right ankle in their overtime loss to the Sioux Falls Storm back in Week 5. Rock River has yet to win or lose two games in a row this season and still remain on top of the Central Division. Raptors QB, Ben Sankey, went down in last week's game against the Extreme and remains questionable for tonight. Both Sankey and Rock Harvey are their team's main offensive threats. Tonight's game kicks off at 7:30 pm EST at the Allen County Memorial Stadium.

Evansville will bus to meet the Lexington Horsemen in the first match-up of Saturday night. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm EST at Rupp Arena. The BlueCats (2-4) have been the closest team to almost knocking off the unbeaten Horsemen (6-0) when they lost in a 33-26 battle in Roberts Stadium back in Week 5. The BlueCats notched their second win of the season last week as they beat the Rough Riders in a 37-13 victory. Lexington has the top rated offense and a defense that is also near the top, also. The game may be decided on penalty yardage and give the BlueCats the advantage as they average only 39.2-yards in penalties a game which leads the league and the Horsemen average the most with 70.3. This will be the last time these two teams meet this season. Currently the Horsemen lead the East Division and Evansville sits tied for third.

The Omaha Beef travel to Sioux Falls for the first time this season. The Beef (3-3) hosted Sioux Falls (7-0) in the first game of the 2006 season and came up short in a 29-51 loss. Both teams have one of the top linebackers in the league as Chris Eads, a former Storm player, has led the Beef defense this season with 46 total tackles in just six games to rank him third in the league. Mark Blackburn leads the Storm and is the all-time leading tackler in the clubs history. Blackburn has racked up 44 tackles this season and sits in fourth position among the rest of the league. Eads has received Defensive Player of the Week twice this season and Blackburn was given the award this past weekend when the Storm defeated the Ft. Wayne Freedom, 44-25. The game will take place at the Sioux Falls Arena with a 7:05 pm CST kick-off.

The Peoria Rough Riders (0-6) will look to mark their first victory of the season this weekend as they head to the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington to face the 2-4, Extreme. The Extreme grabbed their first win in the franchises history in Week 1 as they defeated the Rough Riders in a 44-40 battle in Carver Arena. This is the last time the two teams will face each other in 2006. Both teams are coming off losses as the Rough Riders were taken down by the BlueCats and the Extreme loss to Rock River in Week 7. Game time is slated to start at 7:05 pm CST.

The last game to kick-off on Saturday night will be when the Ohio Valley Greyhounds (2-4) take the field with the Sioux City Bandits (3-4). Game-time is scheduled for 7:30 pm CST in Sioux City, IA at the Tyson's Event Center. Ohio Valley should be well rested after their bye week and will look to get back on track after they had their two-game winning streak broken in Week 6 by the Sioux Falls Storm. The Bandits are coming off a loss to the Lexington Horsemen from Week 7 after they went on a three-game winning streak prior to the loss. Hounds quarterback, Matt Kohn, is leading the league in passing yard a game with 188.5 and in total offense with 215.3-yards a game. For Sioux City, former Storm running back, Bobby Ruffin has lit up the scene as of late as he has only suited the last four games and has already totaled 176-yards rushing and 5 touchdowns on the season.

Be sure to check back at the UIF's official web site throughout the weekend to catch scores, stats and highlights from Week 8. While there, be sure to sign up for U-Scores and the weekly UIF newsletter.

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United Indoor Football Association Stories from May 12, 2006


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