United Indoor Football Week Eight Preview

Published on April 25, 2008 under United Indoor Football Association (UIF) News Release


Omaha, NE - Welcome to week eight of the United Indoor Football season. Through seven weeks, both the Eastern and Western Conference races are very competitive. This weekend brings three first-time matchups between teams and a fourth showdown between border rivals. Omaha welcomes Colorado, Sioux Falls heads to RiverCity, Bloomington meets up with Sioux City and Wichita faces off against Billings.

COLORADO (2-4) vs. OMAHA (5-2)

At Omaha, NE

Saturday, 7 p.m. Central

The Omaha Beef return home to the Omaha Civic Auditorium and will host the Colorado Ice Saturday evening. The match-up will be the fourth for the two teams in less than 13 months. Omaha defeated the Bloomington Extreme 47-29 last Saturday to win their fourth in-a-row. The Beef were led by defensive back Diezeas Calbert and quarterback James McNear. Calbert assisted on four tackles and intercepted two passes. McNear tallied 194 yards of total offense (21 rushing and 173 passing) and had a hand in four touchdowns (two rushing and two passing). For his efforts, McNear was named UIF Offensive Player of the Week. The Ice are also coming off a win, having defeated the Sioux City Bandits 55-32 last Friday evening at the Budweiser Events Center at the Ranch. The Ice were led by returning quarterback Ryan Clement and their defense in the win. Clement, in his first game back under center, completed 13 of 17 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for two touchdowns. Colorado's defense forced two fumbles, recovering both; intercepted two passes and broke up two more.

SIOUX FALLS (4-2) vs. RIVERCITY (3-3)

At St. Charles, MO

Saturday, 7:05 p.m. Central

The RiverCity Rage complete a three-game homestand as the Sioux Falls Storm come to the Family Arena for a Saturday night showdown. This will be the first time these teams have met. RiverCity is coming off a 22-15 loss at the hands of the Wichita Wild last Saturday. The Rage were led by linebacker Joe Bevis and jack-of-all-trades Tim Blackwell. Bevis made a team-high 11.5 tackles (eight solo and assisted on seven more), 1.5 tackles for loss, broke up a pass and also blocked a Ziya Gunay field goal. Blackwell, last week's Special Teams Player of the Week, rushed for 14 yards and a touchdown; he also caught a pass for two yards and returned one kickoff for 21 yards. Sioux Falls is in the midst of a two-game winning streak, having defeated the Billings Outlaws 54-43 at home last Saturday evening. Leading the way for the Storm were defensive back Shannon Poppinga and running back Sean Treasure. Poppinga made a team-high 6.5 tackles and returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown. For his efforts, he was named Defensive Player of the Week. Treasure rushed for 49 yards and four touchdowns; he added two catches for 13 yards.

BLOOMINGTON (3-4) vs. SIOUX CITY (3-3)

At Sioux City, IA

Saturday, 7:05 p.m. Central

The Sioux City Bandits return to the Tyson Events Center and will face off with the Bloomington Extreme Saturday evening. While playing together in the UIF for the past two seasons, the teams have never met until now. Sioux City is coming off a 55-32 loss to the Colorado Ice last Friday evening at the Budweiser Events Center at the Ranch. The Bandits were led by wide receiver O.J. Simpson and linebacker Spetlar Tonga. Simpson caught 11 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns. Tonga made a team-high 10 tackles (eight solo and four assisted) and added a tackle for loss. The Extreme are coming off a loss as well, having fell 47-29 to the Omaha Beef last Saturday at home. Leading the way for Bloomington were defensive lineman Chris Burgess and kick returner Andre Raymond. Burgess made two total tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack and also broke up a pass. Raymond returned seven kicks for 160 yards, 58 of which came on a touchdown in the third quarter.

WICHITA (1-5) vs. BILLINGS (4-2)

At Billings, MT

Saturday, 7:05 p.m. Mountain

The Billings Outlaws will welcome the Wichita Wild to Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark for the first meeting between the two teams. Last Saturday, Billings fell 54-43 to the Sioux Falls Storm at the Sioux Falls Arena. The Outlaws were led by quarterback Chris Dixon and linebacker Travis Salter. Dixon had 245 yards of total offense (27 rushing and 218 passing) and passed for three touchdowns. Salter contributed a team-high 10.5 tackles and .5 a tackle for loss. The Wild are coming to Billings, having won their first game of the season, defeating RiverCity 22-15 last Saturday. Wichita was led by new quarterback Efi Eyo and their defense in the win. Eyo tallied 154 yards of total offense (24 rushing and 130 passing) and had a hand in all three of the Wild's touchdowns (two rushing and one passing, to Carlos Cavanaugh). Wichita's defense recovered a fumble and intercepted two Rage passes.

UIF STANDINGS

RiverCity 3-3 Omaha 5-2

Sioux City 3-3 Billings 4-2

Bloomington 3-4 Sioux Falls 4-2

Wichita 1-5 Colorado 2-4

United Indoor Football is the premier indoor football league of North America and is committed to serving its teams and fans. Please contact the UIF league office with any comments, concerns or suggestions.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



United Indoor Football Association Stories from April 25, 2008


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.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central