Post by indoor on Feb 26, 2011 11:20:56 GMT -5
Publish Date: 2/26/2011
Ice display improved defense to win opener
By Mike Brohard | Loveland Reporter-Herald
The trend in football is the defense is supposed to be ahead of the offense in the early stages of a season. More importantly for Colorado, its defense was light years ahead of its 2010 performance.
Under new defensive coordinator Heron O’Neal, Ice defenders set a tone with consistent pressure, giving the offense time to settle in to what became a 37-26 victory Friday night at the Budweiser Events Center.
“We knew,” Colorado coach Collins Sanders said. “We talked about it. The speed of our defense is incredible. You saw the push we got up front and harassing the quarterback; Coach O has done a great job with them.”
One game into 2011, the Ice are already halfway to last year’s victory total. Even more impressive are the defensive numbers. Colorado was near the bottom of almost every crucial defensive category in the Indoor Football League, allowing 48.9 points per game, grabbing just seven interceptions and recording 12 sacks, the latter two figures second to last in the IFL.
Friday night, they intercepted Amarillo quarterback X’Zavier Bloodsaw three times, forced four fumbles (recovering one) and sacked him four times.
“The defense is jelling very well,” said Idly Etienne, who had an interception, a fumble recovery and nailed a round-off back flip that impressed him the most. “Everybody was communicating right when we came to camp, and that’s the best part of it. The defense set a tone today, and this is what we’ve got to do throughout the whole season. We can’t let up. We can’t go down after this.”
Even in the later stages of the third quarter, the game looked a lot like the ones the Ice found ways to lose last year. Amarillo held a 26-17 lead after returning a second kickoff for a touchdown on what was far from a memorable performance for the Ice special teams. In all, kicker Rocky Stevens missed three field goals and a point-after, all to the left. The Ice also botched a snap on a PAT try.
“They were horrible,” Sanders said. “We lost our holder on Wednesday, and that made a huge difference. It wasn’t all on Rocky, it wasn’t all on the snap, it wasn’t all on the hold. That’s something it has to be picture-perfect.”
But from there on out, the Ice defense dominated. The Venom, a playoff team in 2010, lost the ball on downs, followed by two interceptions and a fumble on their last four series. While Bloodsaw was effective on the ground (he ran 13 times for 44 yards, many of them scrambles that extended drives), he was the reverse when throwing the ball, completing just 12-of-30 passes for 95 yards and the three turnovers. Much of that could be attributed to the Colorado pass rush, with Chase Vaughn picking up two sacks and Dominic Applehans 1.5 in addition to blocking a field goal.
Colorado quarterback David Knighton bounced back from two first-half interceptions to throw for 222 yards and three scores, completing 19 of 30 passes. Two of those scoring tosses came in a span of Colorado’s last three possessions, with running back T.J. Pitts’ second touchdown run of the game sandwiched between. Pitts rushed for 44 yards and also proved to be an effective outlet receiver, catching four passes for 32 yards.
The flip side of Knighton’s performance is that scouts from the CFL’s Calgary and Montreal franchises were in attendance to watch him. Being the first returning quarterback in Ice history, Sanders was thrilled with the outing but can only wait to see if he can back it up in the next game, against Wyoming on March 6 at the BEC.
“I hope we don‘t lose him,” Sanders said with good reason.
Some of his numbers were aided by some highlight catches by Jason English, Duane Brooks and Kenneth Witter. English, who did double duty in the secondary (he had a pick), thinks the Ice receivers will be a major factor all season. Brooks had the last touchdown catch, crashing through the gate into the Amarillo bench, but still holding on to the ball. English went into the first row catching a 2-point conversion.
But best of all was celebrating from Day One.
“This feels real good,” English said. “If we keep this momentum and keep playing together, I think we’ll go a long way this year. This is like a mini-championship it feels like. If we keep this up, I think we can go a long way.”
Ice display improved defense to win opener
By Mike Brohard | Loveland Reporter-Herald
The trend in football is the defense is supposed to be ahead of the offense in the early stages of a season. More importantly for Colorado, its defense was light years ahead of its 2010 performance.
Under new defensive coordinator Heron O’Neal, Ice defenders set a tone with consistent pressure, giving the offense time to settle in to what became a 37-26 victory Friday night at the Budweiser Events Center.
“We knew,” Colorado coach Collins Sanders said. “We talked about it. The speed of our defense is incredible. You saw the push we got up front and harassing the quarterback; Coach O has done a great job with them.”
One game into 2011, the Ice are already halfway to last year’s victory total. Even more impressive are the defensive numbers. Colorado was near the bottom of almost every crucial defensive category in the Indoor Football League, allowing 48.9 points per game, grabbing just seven interceptions and recording 12 sacks, the latter two figures second to last in the IFL.
Friday night, they intercepted Amarillo quarterback X’Zavier Bloodsaw three times, forced four fumbles (recovering one) and sacked him four times.
“The defense is jelling very well,” said Idly Etienne, who had an interception, a fumble recovery and nailed a round-off back flip that impressed him the most. “Everybody was communicating right when we came to camp, and that’s the best part of it. The defense set a tone today, and this is what we’ve got to do throughout the whole season. We can’t let up. We can’t go down after this.”
Even in the later stages of the third quarter, the game looked a lot like the ones the Ice found ways to lose last year. Amarillo held a 26-17 lead after returning a second kickoff for a touchdown on what was far from a memorable performance for the Ice special teams. In all, kicker Rocky Stevens missed three field goals and a point-after, all to the left. The Ice also botched a snap on a PAT try.
“They were horrible,” Sanders said. “We lost our holder on Wednesday, and that made a huge difference. It wasn’t all on Rocky, it wasn’t all on the snap, it wasn’t all on the hold. That’s something it has to be picture-perfect.”
But from there on out, the Ice defense dominated. The Venom, a playoff team in 2010, lost the ball on downs, followed by two interceptions and a fumble on their last four series. While Bloodsaw was effective on the ground (he ran 13 times for 44 yards, many of them scrambles that extended drives), he was the reverse when throwing the ball, completing just 12-of-30 passes for 95 yards and the three turnovers. Much of that could be attributed to the Colorado pass rush, with Chase Vaughn picking up two sacks and Dominic Applehans 1.5 in addition to blocking a field goal.
Colorado quarterback David Knighton bounced back from two first-half interceptions to throw for 222 yards and three scores, completing 19 of 30 passes. Two of those scoring tosses came in a span of Colorado’s last three possessions, with running back T.J. Pitts’ second touchdown run of the game sandwiched between. Pitts rushed for 44 yards and also proved to be an effective outlet receiver, catching four passes for 32 yards.
The flip side of Knighton’s performance is that scouts from the CFL’s Calgary and Montreal franchises were in attendance to watch him. Being the first returning quarterback in Ice history, Sanders was thrilled with the outing but can only wait to see if he can back it up in the next game, against Wyoming on March 6 at the BEC.
“I hope we don‘t lose him,” Sanders said with good reason.
Some of his numbers were aided by some highlight catches by Jason English, Duane Brooks and Kenneth Witter. English, who did double duty in the secondary (he had a pick), thinks the Ice receivers will be a major factor all season. Brooks had the last touchdown catch, crashing through the gate into the Amarillo bench, but still holding on to the ball. English went into the first row catching a 2-point conversion.
But best of all was celebrating from Day One.
“This feels real good,” English said. “If we keep this momentum and keep playing together, I think we’ll go a long way this year. This is like a mini-championship it feels like. If we keep this up, I think we can go a long way.”