Week Five NIFL Preview

April 6, 2006 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL) News Release


The highlight is on the division rivalry games this weekend as the inner league action begins to heat up....here's Week Five in the National Indoor Football League...

Head Coach Eric Sellars will take his expansion Big Sky Thunder to the Three Rivers Coliseum to go against the defending NIFL champion Tri-Cities Fever in a Pacific North Conference battle on Saturday night. The Thunder is still looking for victory number one, while Tri-cities is even up at 1-1 on the year. It's a 7:05pm Kick-Off.

The Billings team of the NIFL is led by quarterback Chris Dixon, who spreads his throws around to five different receivers. The 2-0 Billings team heads to St. Joseph, Missouri to take on the Lincoln Capitols, relocated to St. Joe for the 2006 season. The Caps are 0-2 on the new season. The game is being played at the St. Joseph Civic Center, with Kick-off at 7:05pm.

The Wyoming Cavalry (2-1) can gain a tie for the best record in the Pacific West Division with a victory over the Rapid City Flying Aces on Saturday, but the Aces are undefeated so far this season at 3-0, and have the game at home at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Game time is slated for 7pm.

Head Coach Ray House of the expanded Arkansas Stars says "we need to get some offense going, and soon." His team will get another shot a victory number one on the year when it heads south to take on the Katy Copperheads in a Pacific South Division game on Saturday night. The Stars are 0-2, the Copperheads are 2-2 thus far, and Katy is looking to avenge a tough loss on the road last week against Beaumont. It's a 7:05pm start at the Leonard E. Merrell Center.

The 0-2 Twin City Gators come off an early season bye week and look to get NIFL victory number one this Saturday night when the expansion team travels to Texas to tangle with the Beaumont Drillers in a 7:05pm game at Ford Park. Beaumont is 2-1 on the season, led offensively by running back Roland Hayes, and on the defensive side by Marc Whitman. It's a Pacific South Division game.

The high-scoring, undefeated RiverCity Rage take the offensive fireworks south this weekend to battle the expansion Tennessee River Sharks in a 7:05pm contest at the Camp Jordan Arena. Tennessee Head Coach Chris Carter has his team 1-1 on the season. The Rage is 2-0, and has proven to be an explosive second half team in wins over Katy and Cincinnati. It's an Atlantic North Division match-up.

Also on Saturday, the Montgomery Maulers, with the duo quarterback employ of J.R. Richardson and J.P Holley, travel to Florida to hook up with the Lakeland Thunderbolts, with Kick-Off scheduled for 7:05pm at the Lakeland Center. The Maulers are 1-1, but coming off a victory over Tennessee last weekend. The Thunderbolts hammered Greensboro last Saturday to remain undefeated at 3-0.

Two Florida based teams get together Saturday evening to decide things in an Atlantic South Division match-up. The Osceola Outlaws head further downstate to take on the West Palm Beach Phantoms in a 7:05pm contest. The Outlaws (2-1) are looking to redeem themselves after a hard fought, last minute loss to the Fayetteville Guard last week, while the winless (0-2) Phantoms look for the first taste of NIFL victory in 2006 at the Palm Beach Convention Center.

The Charleston Sandsharks are 1-0 on the season, having won the team's first ever NIFL game last week against Arkansas. Head Coach Ted Coleman and his squad want more, and they'll get the chance this Saturday night when the Greensboro Revolution hosts the Sandsharks in an Atlantic East Division game at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Revolution is 1-2 thus far, coming off a loss last week to Lakeland. Game time is 7:30pm.

And action in the NIFL continues on Sunday, with two games rounding out the weekend.....

It's a 7pm Sunday night Kick-Off for the Cincinnati Marshals, as the team again this week goes head-to-head in an Atlantic North Division game with the new look Dayton Bulldogs of the NIFL. The two teams met last Saturday in Cincinnati, with the Marshals winning 62-28. Now it's the Bulldog's turn for revenge, at home in The Nutter Center on the campus of Wright State University.

And finally....the undefeated Fayetteville Guard travels south to play the expansion Florida Frenzy in a 7pm game at the Seminole Hard Rock. The Guard is 2-0 in 2006, and features the NIFL Week Four Special Teams Player of the Week in Walter Ford. The Frenzy have found life in the NIFL a bit tough so far, losing on the road to two other Florida based teams. Florida looks to give the home fans a taste of victory on Sunday night.



National Indoor Football League Stories from April 6, 2006


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