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Post by CF4L on Jun 12, 2011 1:41:45 GMT -5
APFL STANDINGS AFTER WEEK 11 Sioux City Bandits 10-0 Iowa Blackhawks 5-4 Mid-Missouri Outlaws 5-4 Kansas Koyotes 3-6 Springfield Wolfpack 2-7 Florida Scorpions 0-2 Kansas City Matadors 0-2 Week 12 Results11 June (Sat): Springfield Wolf Pack 25 @ Iowa Blackhawks 59 11 June (Sat): Kansas Koyotes 20 @ Sioux City Bandits 59 11 June (Sat): Florida Scorpions 27 @ Mid-Missouri Outlaws 53 Week 13 Games18 June (Sat): Kansas City Matadors @ Kansas Koyotes 7:05 PM 18 June (Sat): Springfield Wolf Pack @ Sioux City Bandits 7:05 PM 18 June (Sat): Iowa Blackhawks @ Mid-Missouri Outlaws 7:05 PM
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Post by CF4L on Jun 12, 2011 1:46:05 GMT -5
Blackhawks roll over SpringfieldBy Tony Boone Senior Writer southwestiowanews.com/articles/2011/06/12/council_bluffs/sports/doc4df4347aa71de426273084.txtThe rematch with Mid-Missouri is set, with the No. 2 seed for the upcoming American Professional Football League playoffs on the line. Iowa (5-4) took care of business Saturday with a 59-25 win over Springfield at the Mid-America Center to set up a winner-take-all showdown with the Outlaws (5-4) in Sedalia, Mo., next weekend. The two teams remain tied for second in the APFL standings behind unbeaten Sioux City after both won on Saturday. They’ve split their two previous meetings this year, each winning at home, and are 3-3 in their all-time series since 2009. “We fully expect to win, and we plan to win,” Iowa quarterback Chuck Wright said. “This was merely the stepping stone to get back to play the giant up in Sioux City. We fully expect to go down there and win ... no ifs, ands or buts about it.” The veteran signal-caller from Dana College threw for six touchdowns for the Blackhawks in his final regular-season game at the MAC. Wright, who has helped Iowa win the last two APFL titles, said this will be his final summer of indoor football. “I was a little emotional before the game, probably more than the guys knew,” he said. “They took a guy from Tampa, Fla., that played NAIA football and made me feel like I played in the NFL. I couldn’t be more grateful to the coaches and the guys I’ve played with.” Wright connected with four different receivers for scoring passes in the opening half as the Blackhawks built a 38-7 lead at the break while snapping a rare two-game losing streak. Iowa also scored a pair of special teams touchdowns, on a Chris Moore fumble recovery and an Andrew Seymour return, while dropping fifth-place Springfield to 2-7 on the season. “It was a great effort on all sides of the ball,” Blackhawks coach Mike Wolff said. “The team is really coming together. And our goal is to get better each week and peak at the right time.” After facing Mid-Missouri in Sedalia on Saturday, Iowa wraps up its regular season with a road game in Topeka, Kan., against six-time league champ Kansas. The playoffs begin on July 2. Springfield (2-7) 0 7 12 6 - 25 Iowa (5-4) 22 16 7 14 - 59 I: Andrew Seymour 5 pass from Chuck Wright (kick failed) I: Safety, Justin Strodman sacked in end zone I: Mike Stuart 12 pass from Wright (Zach Kohlhoff kick) I: Chris Moore fumble recovery (Kohlhoff kick) I: Kohlhoff 34 FG S: Otis Thomas 3 run (Josh Pell kick) I: Steve Rush 36 pass from Wright (Kohlhoff kick) I: Robert Kirvin 3 pass from Wright (run failed) S: Larry White 1 run (run failed) S: Reicorda Bennett 11 pass from Strodman (pass failed) I: Kirvin 17 pass from Wright (Kohlhoff kick) S: Thomas 2 run (run failed) I: Seymour 8 kickoff return (Kohlhoff kick) I: Brunow Augustine 5 run (Kohlhoff kick) INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING: S, Strodman 11-23, Thomas 9-33, White 9-22. I, Holliday 9-19, Augustine 5-17. PASSING: S, Strodman 4-13-0 50. I, Wright 15-26-2 212, Rush 0-1-0 0. RECEIVING: S, Bennett 3-40, Cullom 1-10. I, Seymour 5-81, Kirvin 5-79, Rush 2-40, Stuart 1-12.
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Post by CF4L on Jun 12, 2011 1:48:40 GMT -5
Bandits stay undefeated, help fans forget flooding for a bitby Michael Brauer siouxcityjournal.com/sports/football/amateur/article_2ccb0535-6a3a-5110-85b4-befdfb3f3a9d.htmlSIOUX CITY - Whether he's tossing sandbags or touchdowns, right now quarterback Scott Jensen calls being a Sioux City Bandit a "full-time job." Judging by the way he and his teammates played on Saturday, the busier, the better. Jensen played near-perfect football again and the Bandits knocked out the Kansas Koyotes early in a 59-20 rout that provided fans in Sioux City a distraction from the area's historic floodwaters - for a few hours, at least. "We hope it helps everyone get their mind off the flooding that's going on," said Jensen, who threw two touchdowns and ran for another. "Spend some time with their families and friends and us - that's what we're here for." Jensen completed eight of 10 passes for 133 yards for the unbeaten Bandits (10-0), who have already locked up home-field advantage for the playoffs with two regular season games still to go - both of them in Sioux City. Saturday was the beginning of the Bandits' homestand to round out the schedule. It was also their first game at Tyson Events Center since the rising Missouri River swelled past its flood stage and forced residents in nearby Dakota Dunes and South Sioux City to evacuate their homes. Several Bandits spent the past week sandbagging and loading trailers, and the team gave away tickets for Saturday's game to flood victims and volunteers. Those who showed up Saturday night were treated to another dominating performance. The Bandits forced four turnovers and outgained Kansas 245 yards to 133 en route to blowing out the Koyotes (3-6) for the third time this season. "I looked up and it seemed like there were a lot of people that took advantage of the tickets," Bandits' head coach Butch Faulkenberry said. "I really hope they enjoyed the football game. If we can contribute that way, just to lift everyone's emotions for a short time, then that's great for us." It didn't take them long to do it. On the first play from scrimmage, Koyote quarterback Carlos Kelly threw a duck off his back foot that landed right in linebacker Spetlar Tonga's hands. The interception set up a 41-yard field goal by Nick Hope, just the beginning of the Bandits' first-half onslaught. "We want to win for the community," Faulkenberry said. "This team is playing for Sioux City, and everyone on this team knows it." The Bandits picked it off again when Taylor Schumacher intercepted his franchise-record 10th interception of the season off a deflection in the end zone, then flipped a lateral to Tonga - who returned it all the way to midfield. Kelly, obviously frustrated and under pressure for most of the night, had as many interceptions in the first half - three - as he did completions. That helped the Bandits build a 31-0 lead by intermission. They coasted from there. The most excitement in the second half came when the Koyotes' Emmanuel Howard punched Pertilla and got ejected for fighting. The two got tangled up going after an incomplete pass, and after the whistle Howard threw a left-hand jab at the wide receiver's helmet. Officials tossed Howard, but not before slammed his helmet to the ground as he walked off the field - drawing another unsportmanlike conduct penalty. The Bandits, meanwhile, looked calm and collected - especially with Jensen at the helm. The quarterback even scored on a scramble, darting up the middle and knifing through a pair of defenders who sandwiched him as he crossed the goal line to make it 10-0. A little later, Jensen hit a streaking Fredrick Bruno in stride for a 41-yard bomb that put the Bandits ahead by 17. Bruno then scored untouched on a three-yard reverse and Jensen tacked on a 34-yard scoring strike to Damon Mothershead before the first half was up. Kelly finished 8 of 21 for 101 yards, and led the Koyotes (3-6) to a couple late, scoring drives capped by touchdown tosses of four and 25 yards to Josh Freeman. By then, it was all but over - and Sioux City soaked up the final moments of another Bandit victory before heading back to work. Though the Tyson Events Center itself wasn't threatened by water, fans driving in could see the stadium on one side of Interstate 29 and the bulging river on the other. A sand-bag barrier lined the outer rim of the Tyson Events Center exit ramp from the north, a grim reminder of the flood fight in which much of Siouxland has been immersed the past two weeks. "We were out there helping players, coaches, fans, or whoever else that needed help. And you know? We still are," Jensen said. "If people still need help out there, we'll do what we can." Including trying to win a few more in front of that hometown crowd. "Home is home," Jensen added. "This is where we belong."
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Post by CF4L on Jun 12, 2011 1:50:39 GMT -5
Middleton, Palepale lead Outlaws past Scorpions in 2nd halfby Seth Stringer www.sedaliademocrat.com/sports/football-34790-outlaws-arena.htmlBloodied, with a rip along his right pant leg, Matt Selby had a glaze over his eyes as the Florida Scorpions and Mid-Missouri Outlaws gathered at midfield of the Mathewson Exhibition Center on Saturday for the postgame huddle. The Scorpions quarterback, taking a moment to reflect on the 53-27 loss, looked defeated after taking five sacks, throwing an interception and completing just 11 of 33 passes on a night where his thin frame routinely was slammed to the turf. Standing there quietly, he found little solace in the affection of his significant other, who greeted him with a long hug. At the same time, not five feet away stood his counterpart, Kyle Middleton, dressed in a T-shirt without a nick on him. The Outlaws quarterback, looking like he had just come from a spa visit, had thrown for six touchdowns and 173 yards without an interception, sparking a comeback win after Mid-Missouri trailed 20-18 in the third quarter. “At halftime, me and (head coach) Ben (Lyles) talked about how I wasn’t helping myself,” Middleton said. “I was rolling out of the pocket too quick and we talked about how I had the protection to step up and make my throws. Once I did that, it was ballgame. I felt so comfortable in the pocket tonight.” Spraying the ball to a collection of wideouts, the five-year play caller threw two touchdown passes to Darryl Madry and one each to Anthony Collins, Shawn Johnson, Aaron Luebbe and the prodigal son, Moa Palepale. “I’ve talked about doing a better job of (Middleton and the receivers) connecting,” Lyles said. “They work so hard in practice to get open, and it was good to see the timing was there for the most part tonight.” It helped that Missouri Valley College product Palepale, returning to the Outlaws (5-4) after a season in Europe, was a human highlight reel on Saturday night. Showcasing his bruising style and versatility on both sides of the ball, Palepale had three touchdowns — one receiving, one rushing and one kickoff return — in is return to the Mathewson. “He’s explosive,” Lyles said. “Last time, we mainly focused him in defense, but with all the injuries we’ve had this season, we couldn’t afford to waste a weapon like that.” And the Outlaws’ defense didn’t miss him. Forcing two turnovers and allowing just 61 yards of total offense, the defense bounced back from a five-game stretch where it allowed 57 points a game. “Defense did great,” Lyles said. “They brought the pressure and guys are playing more like a team. The action heated up in the second half. Needing a win to keep pace with the 4-4 Iowa Blackhawks, who they’ll host for the coveted No. 2 seed and a home playoff game, the Outlaws started off the game well. With Palepale’s two first-half scores accompanying a Middleton-Madry touchdown connection to start the game, the Outlaws led 18-17 at halftime. The Scorpions responded with a 9-yard Ryan Cotto field goal, his second of the game, to momentarily lead 20-18. But like Middleton said, once he stepped up in the pocket, it was ballgame. First, he found Madry up the right sideline for a 27-yard score and later he found Anthony Collins for a 1-yard touchdown to put the Outlaws up 32-20. The nail in the coffin came on the legs of Palepale. After Selby threw for his third score of the night to cut Florida’s deficit to 32-27, Palepale took the kickoff the length of the field up the left sideline, breaking three tackles and eventually cutting it back up the middle to stretch the lead to 40-27. Middleton later tacked on a 22-yard scoring strike to Johnson and a 45-yard bomb to Luebbe for insurance. “We’ve been looking for that home run ball all year and it came tonight,” Middleton said. “Now we’re just ready and excited to play Iowa.”
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Post by Banana Cat on Jun 12, 2011 2:56:02 GMT -5
Seems like Chuck is serious about retiring. I wish him the best post-football. Thanks for everything Chuck!
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Post by CF4L on Jun 16, 2011 10:10:06 GMT -5
Outlaws, Blackhawks to battle for coveted No. 2 seedby Seth Stringer www.sedaliademocrat.com/sports/outlaws-34882-battle-triple.htmlAs the Mathewson Exhibition Center scoreboard dipped to triple zeros last Saturday, drawing an end to the Mid-Missouri Outlaws’ 53-27 win over the visiting Florida Scorpions, the focus immediately shifted to the Iowa Blackhawks. Without even being prompted, Outlaws head coach Ben Lyles — following a question about Kyle Middleton’s six-touchdown effort in the postgame interview — talked only briefly about his five-year signal-caller before switching the subject. “I’m pretty excited about the Blackhawks coming next week,” the first-year coach said. And appropriately so, considering the implications surrounding Saturday’s 7 p.m. showdown at the Mathewson. In a winner-takes-all setting, up for grabs is the No. 2 seed and home field advantage in the semifinals of the American Professional Football League playoffs. “It’s a huge game and once again, we’ll be glad to have the home fans supporting us,” Middleton said after last week’s win. The Blackhawks are 0-2 against Mid-Missouri in Sedalia, where the Outlaws have won 33 of 34 games since their inaugural 2007 campaign. The track records, though, haven’t phased the Blackhawks, who kept pace with the 5-4 Outlaws last week with a 59-25 win over Springfield. Talking with Daily Nonpareil sportswriter Tony Boone, Blackhawks quarterback Chuck Wright issued a little bulletin board material following last week’s win: “We fully expect to win, and we plan to win,” Wright said. “This was merely the stepping stone to get back to play the giant up in Sioux City. We fully expect to go down there and win — no ifs, ands or buts about it.” Lyles’ response? “I admire the confidence,” the first-year head coach said. “Any of us that go out there and play or coach expect to win. That’s just the attitude you have to have. “We’re confident, too. We’re back to the point where we’re playing Outlaw football and we’re ready for that stretch run.” After a four-game skid that overshadowed a 3-0 start, the Outlaws have won two straight, including a 44-40 come-from-behind win over the Blackhawks on May 28 to keep their aspirations of hosting a playoff game alive. The win pulled the Outlaws even at 3-3 in the all-time series with the Blackhawks. Two of the losses came on a last-second ruling, which has been the norm for a series in which five of the six matchups have come down to the final play. “I expect it to be a pretty close, competitive game that will go down to the wire,” Lyles said. And the offense, which has been injected with new life thanks to the return of Moa Palepale, will go a long way in determining the outcome. Palepale, returning from a professional stint in Europe, had three scores last week to compliment a night where Middleton, who has thrown for 32 touchdowns compared to 11 interceptions, found five different receivers for scores. “He’s a sparkplug,” Middleton said of Palepale after last week’s game. “He’s great on defense, he’s awesome on offense and you saw what he did on special teams. So he’s just a playmaker for us and he’s going to be big during this key stretch.” The young offensive line — Tony Vaka, Lucas Ficken, Henry Hamilton and Dan Tuiono — has also had a huge role in the recent turnaround, giving Middleton plenty of time to step up in the pocket and make his throws. “I don’t want to lose sight of what the offensive line has done,” Lyles said. “It’s a totally new offensive line and those guys have just continued to get better.”
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Post by CF4L on Jun 17, 2011 12:07:22 GMT -5
Meet Sioux City's 'One-armed Bandit'www.siouxcityjournal.com/sports/football/amateur/article_48b11506-4c9c-5e96-889d-5ed60c4e7118.htmlby Michael Brauer SIOUX CITY -- Nick Hope is used to getting double takes when he comes out to kick a football. Not just because he has half a left arm, mind you, but also because he kicks "straight-toe" style - like an old-school placekicker from the 1950s. It isn't until Hope splits the uprights, which he does quite often, that you notice his Sioux City Bandit teammates can only high-five him from his right side. "I'm sure the first time I ran on the field people thought, ‘What the hell? Who's that guy kicking with one arm?' But it's also, 'What the hell, he's kicking it straight on?'" Hope said with a laugh. "I joke with my buddies back home - Yeah, now I guess I actually am the one-armed Bandit.'" Born minus a left hand, Hope, who signed with Sioux City five weeks ago and hasn't relinquished his kicking duties since, hasn't been hindered by what most people would consider a handicap. The Avoca, Iowa, native graduated from Wayne State in 2009 as the school's all-time scoring leader. He once made 53 straight extra points -- also a school record. Not bad for a guy who initially walked on and didn't even make the Wildcats' travel squad his freshman season. It was just a minor obstacle for Hope, who's made a habit of beating the odds. He's an Eagle Scout, and as a kid he played the piano, along with every sport he possibly could -- including baseball. He even pitched, like his childhood hero Jim Abbott. "I don't think any kid I grew up with looked at me different, because I could always do everything they could," Hope said. "Why would anybody want to sit out?" Hope doesn't wear a prosthetic hand when he plays. Only when he's working out, fishing or golfing does he strap it on. "You can't wear it in college football, so I just said the hell with it," Hope said. He'd worn one since he was 2 years old, and was the first child at Minneapolis Shriners Hospital to be fitted with a modern prosthetic that could grip vertically instead of horizontally. Somewhere in the medical journal annals there are pictures of toddler Nick, smiling as the doctors hand him toys to see which ones he can pick up. "I was in medical books and all that stuff; it was crazy," Hope said with a grin. "Trail blazer." "At first he was just banging, clanging around and didn't know what he was doing," said Nick's mother Rhonda, who remembers crying along with her little boy the first time caught his fake arm on a dining-room chair. Doctors warned her son had to untangle himself in these situations, for his own good. "Pretty soon he jiggled around and released himself," Rhonda said, her voice wavering a little. "He looked surprised; I looked surprised -- he never missed a beat after that." Including on the football field. Believe it or not, Hope didn't start out as a kicker -- which may seem like an obvious position for someone without a hand. He actually played defensive end until his sophomore year. That year in camp, Hope remembered his A-H-S-T High football coach shouting, "Anybody who knows how to kick, come over to the goal post!" Hope played soccer through eighth grade, but when he tried, he couldn't kick the ovular pigskin in the same manner. "Kicking it soccer-style just didn't come natural to me," Hope said, so he tried a straight-on approach -- a style virtually extinct in football nowadays. "For a few games I just kicked straight on with a cleat, but didn't have a square-toe (shoe) and I missed quite a bit," Hope said. So he ordered a special, left-footed kicking cleat with a flattened toe off the Internet, the only place he could find one. The rest is history -- just look in the Wayne State record books. "We knew every time we scored he was going to make the PAT; same with every time he lined up for a field goal," said former Wildcat offensive lineman Joe Bundy, now Hope's teammate with the Bandits. "That straight-on kick was really accurate. I didn't ever see that before." Bundy and a few other former Wildcats-turned-Bandits convinced Hope to try out for Sioux City's indoor football team. It took all of one midseason tryout for head coach Butch Faulkenberry to realize he'd found a gem. "The other day in practice we took him back and he made one from the 5-yard line," Faulkenberry said. "That's a 55-yarder there." One month later, the Bandits are 10-0 and two wins away from an undefeated season. Two more victories after that, and they're American Professional Football League champions. "I've never been on a championship team," Hope said. "But I want to feel like I've earned my spot on this team, rather than just kind of walk into a championship." That's something even his idol never did. Abbott, Hope's hero, threw a no-hitter for the New York Yankees in 1993 despite being born without a right hand. Hope has never met Abbott, but a display case in Hope's bedroom sits a personalized, autographed picture of the former major-leaguer that a friend once got him. "I'd really like to meet him some day," Hope said. And just like Abbott, Hope is never one to shy away from talking about his "disability". "I can't hide it. What am I going to do, tuck it in my pants or something?" he said. "I decided a long time ago that this is the way I am. You look like you look." "All I've got to do is kick the ball and people think what they think." That kicker without one hand? Turns out he's got one heck of a leg.
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Post by Banana Cat on Jun 17, 2011 20:10:05 GMT -5
Going with Kansas (duh), Sioux City (double duh), and Iowa this week.
Can Iowa avenge my only blemish on APFL predictions this year or will they bite it again in Mid-Mo (it'd better be the former or I'm going to short sheet their beds).
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Post by CF4L on Jun 18, 2011 0:51:42 GMT -5
Flooding could slow BlackhawksBy Tony Boone southwestiowanews.com/articles/2011/06/18/council_bluffs/sports/doc4dfc2adabd7e1387177373.txtIn their two previous trips to Sedalia, Mo., the Iowa Blackhawks have had long bus rides back to Council Bluffs following a pair of controversial last-minute losses to Mid-Missouri. Saturday’s venture will be a bit longer, both ways, no matter the outcome of the game. The closing of Interstate 29 in southwest Iowa and northwest Missouri due to the recent flooding means the Council Bluffs team will travel out of its way for its biggest matchup of the American Professional Football League season. “The bus company has advised us to count on at least a two-hour delay,” Iowa coach Mike Wolff said. “We’re leaving a little bit earlier than we normally would, then hoping we don’t have any problems getting down there.” Iowa and Mid-Missouri meet at 7 p.m. at the Mathewson Exhibition Center with the No. 2 seed in the upcoming APFL playoffs on the line. Both teams are 5-4 with two weeks remaining in the regular season, and they’ve split their two previous meetings this spring. The Blackhawks, who squandered an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter of their last trip to Sedalia, have put together solid back-to-back performances since their last loss to the Outlaws. “I expect our guys are going to come out and play a good football game,” Wolff said. “The only thing week lacked down there a couple of weeks ago was a killer instinct. ... If we get a team down like that, we just have to put them away. “We’ve had two great efforts in a row. I see no reason why we’d let off at this point.”
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Post by CF4L on Jun 18, 2011 0:55:12 GMT -5
Bandits look to ground game against Wolf Packby Michael Brauer www.siouxcityjournal.com/sports/football/amateur/article_78fddde6-95ef-5b14-b2ea-4c8906d01a84.htmlSIOUX CITY - Back in spring camp, one speedster in particular caught Sioux City Bandit head coach Butch Faulkenberry's eye. Drew Prohaska's lightning-quick, 40-yard dash and his 11-foot standing long jump tend to do that. Faulkenberry remembered pointing those out to his offensive coordinator Jarrod DeGeorgia and saying: "That's our running back." Only one problem - at Briar Cliff University, Prohaska mainly played wide receiver. "I asked him what he saw himself doing if he was a Bandit and he said, ‘I want the ball. I want to be in the backfield and I want to be our running back,'" Faulkenberry recalled. "That was the answer I was hoping to hear." Said Prohaska: "They said right there that I was going to be running back for the Bandits. I kept an open mind - wherever they want to put me." Three months later, Prohaska is the leading rusher for an undefeated Sioux City squad that's rolled through much of its schedule with two regular season games remaining - the first one tonight against the Springfield Wolf Pack. Springfield is hoping to avenge last month's 43-21 loss to the Bandits, a game during which Sioux City (10-0) faced its lone second-half deficit of the year. The Bandits have already clinched home-field advantage for the upcoming American Professional Football League playoffs. And in a style of football known for its high-scoring aerial assaults, they've done a lot of it by overpowering teams in the trenches. In fact, Faulkenberry credits much of the Bandits' success to their punishing ground game. "Arena football does have a lot more passing, but we have a more simplistic approach to it," he said. "There is an overlap from 11-man football, and we find it's a big part of our philosophy." That's good news for Prohaska, who's turned into the catalyst of the Bandits' run game. Listed generously at 5-foot-8, 190 pounds, the fleet-footed tailback is averaging five yards per carry with 367 yards and six scores so far this season. "The first couple games, he was still getting his feet wet," Faulkenberry said. "He used to be able to get outside, turn the corner and use his speed, but on a 27-yard wide football field he's not able to get outside as much. "Now, he's able to hit the hole immediately and turn the ball north and south right away. He's figured that out." Prohaska agreed. "In March it was all just learning," he said. "I feel like I have the basis now. I still don't have everything learned - I'm still a rookie - but I feel way more comfortable taking handoffs." Because of college graduation commitments, Prohaska was one of nine graduating Bandits who missed out the last time Sioux City faced Springfield. The game nearly took a bad turn for the Bandits. They trailed 21-19 early in the second half before rattling off the final 24 points and eventually running away with yet another rout. It was the first of three straight losses for Springfield (2-7), which rushed just 11 times for 12 net yards against the Bandits - partly because of Sioux City's stingy defense and partly because the Wolf Pack favor their throwing game. Quarterback Brenton Roggow was 11 for 20 for 119 yards and a trio of touchdowns that game, but he was also intercepted four times - three by Taylor Schumacher, the Bandits' season record-holder with 10 picks thus far. Sioux City has 40 takeaways compared to just 10 turnovers, one of the reasons they're outscoring opponents by an average of nearly 37 points per game. A win tonight would technically wrap up a perfect APFL campaign for the Bandits, since their final opponents on the schedule - the Stockton Wolves - aren't affiliated with the league. "That was one of our goals this year, so that's an important milestone for us," Faulkenberry said of the perfect APFL mark. "But we're still just 0-0 right now and we want to come out of this week 1-0."
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Post by CF4L on Jun 18, 2011 0:57:33 GMT -5
Koyotes eyeing final playoff spot by Rick Peterson Jr. cjonline.com/sports/football/2011-06-17/koyotes-eyeing-final-playoff-spotThe Kansas Koyotes will have a golden opportunity to clinch the fourth and final spot in the American Professional Football League playoffs this weekend. The Koyotes (3-6) will face the Kansas City Matadors at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Landon Arena. The Matadors have been outscored by a whopping 194-6 margin in their only two APFL appearances this season. Kansas can clinch a playoff spot with either a win or a Springfield loss. The Koyotes will finish the regular season at home June 25 against Iowa. “I really want to win these last two games at home,” Koyotes coach Troy Biladeau said. “We’ve won our last three at home, and we’d really like to make this one number four and then beat Iowa next week for number five. We want to get momentum going into the playoffs. “Kansas City’s obviously a team we should beat, but we’re hoping to get a big win and play as many guys as we can to get the momentum going. Iowa’s going to be a tough test next week, so we want to make sure we’re playing our best at this time of year.” The Koyotes are looking to bounce back from a 59-20 loss a week ago to undefeated Sioux City. The Bandits put the Koyotes away immediately, scoring the first 31 points of the game. “They’re a team you cannot get off to a slow start against,” Biladeau said. “The last two times we played them, we scored first against them, so it was a reversal. But we just dug way too big of a hole. The guys fought back in the second half but it was just too much to overcome.” Koyotes quarterback Carlos Kelly went 8-for-21 with three interceptions and 108 yards against Sioux City. Josh Freeman caught two touchdown passes in the loss. With the National Guard giving out thousands of vouchers, the Koyotes should draw a sizable crowd Saturday night. “Anybody who plays or coaches wants to be in front of a good crowd, especially at home,” Biladeau said. “And we’ve been playing pretty well at home. Hopefully we’ll get a good crowd and we’ll give the fans a good game.” If the Koyotes secure the fourth seed in the playoffs, they most likely will have to face Sioux City in the first round.
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