Post by Banana Cat on Feb 16, 2013 6:13:13 GMT -5
www.argusleader.com/article/20130215/COLUMNISTS0110/302140049/Zimmer-Storm-confident-amid-uncertainty-season-opener-looms?nclick_check=1
Storm confident amid uncertainty as season opener looms
Feb 15, 2013
Written by Matt Zimmer
If you’re one of the eight teams left still trying to challenge the Sioux Falls Storm in the Indoor Football League, it’s probably easy to feel like this is the year to knock the Storm off their perch.
Winners of the last two IFL championships and six indoor titles since 2005, the Storm – whose season begins tonight in Green Bay – enter the year with far more unfamiliar faces than usual, most notably at quarterback, where Martevious Young replaces veteran MVP Chris Dixon.
Gone also are receivers Carl Sims, Clinton Solomon, Korey Williams and Lorenzo Brown; defensive backs Justin Welch, Stewart Franks and Kenny Akridge; linebackers Dejuan Fulghum and Xavier Jordan and defensive linemen Sean Kelly and John Eddy.
That may create the perception that the Storm are vulnerable, and they strongly encourage their opponents to view them as such. After all, this team has thrived for a decade on creating an us-against-everyone-else mentality, and the retooled roster gives them a new opportunity to prove themselves.
“Nobody knows what we got,” said veteran James Terry, the team’s all-time leading receiver and the only returning skill player on offense. “In the past, teams came into every season knowing exactly who we had and what to prepare for. Now they don’t know. They’re gonna find out before they know what hit ‘em.”
What the Storm have is a collection of talent that they believe is as good as any they’ve had in the past. They just lack experience – either playing together, playing the indoor game, or both.
For coach Kurtiss Riggs, who returns for an 11th season after considering stepping down, the chance to create a new chemistry is a rejuvenating challenge.
“There’s been much more application, more meetings and more intense practices this year,” said Riggs, who sports a 139-28 record after leading the Storm to their third undefeated season last year. “With those veteran teams we had you could sit back and let them play through things a lot of times, but this year we’ve done a lot more coaching. I think the other teams in the league sense that now’s the time, but I think we have enough veterans here that want to take it upon themselves to prove that we can reload and step up and do it again.”
Indeed, while the Storm are breaking in new players at virtually every skill position, they maintained the foundation of their dominance by returning their offensive and defensive lines mostly intact.
The trio of Myniya Smith, Charlie Sanders and Gerald Davis is back to pave the way on offense, while veterans Rachman Crable, Cory Johnsen and Jeremiah Price (the MVP of last year’s United Bowl) are back on the D-line. Those six players know they have a responsibility to carry the load, especially early.
“I wouldn’t say it’s pressure, because we put a lot on our back every year,” said Sanders. “We feel like the new guys definitely have the talent to keep us at the level we’ve been playing at, this year it’s on the O-line and JT and the other veterans to be more vocal and be leaders in the huddle.”
About those new guys: Young will certainly be under the most scrutiny for replacing a guy who led the IFL in passing and rushing last year, as Dixon had 3,321 yards and 67 touchdowns through the air and 711 yards and 30 scores on the ground. Young rushed for 184 yards and four touchdowns and threw for 267 yards and three scores in limited action last year for Omaha, but the 6-foot-1 Young, who turns 25 on Saturday, was the starting quarterback at Southern Mississippi for his junior season, so he’s got experience. Riggs has had former Storm quarterback Terrance Bryant in camp to work with Young, and teammates have been impressed.
“He’s come in really motivated to prove himself,” Riggs said of Young. “Our playbook is going to be a little smaller, but it’ll grow in some ways, too, because we’re going to cater it to his strengths and that will give us some things we haven’t had before.”
At running back, Tory Harrison — a teammate of Young’s at Southern Miss – is battling it out with Demetrius Crawford, who ran for more than 1,300 yards at Montana State in 2008. Mike Tatum, Blake Wilson and Darren Clark will compete for catches behind Terry.
On defense, Tyler Knight returns to the Storm after recording 102 tackles for them in 2011 (and playing in the AFL last year), but he’ll be pushed at linebacker by North Dakota alum Ross Cochrane and Michael Johnson, a 250-pound North Alabama alum who spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs. Typically, the Storm have dressed just one linebacker, but these three have been so impressive that Riggs plans to dress each of them tonight.
In the secondary, Augustana alum Dan O’Keefe returns, and will be joined by a handful of athletes, led by returner Patrick Wells and Roy Polite, who played for tonight’s opponent, the Blizzard, last year. Parker Douglass is also back as the Storm kicker.
The players admit that they’re likely to be rusty tonight, as the season approaches fast. But they’re anxious to find out where they stand, as they’ll get two bye weeks and two road games in the season’s first month before the home opener March 17. They hope by then to be in midseason form, ready to swat aside any challengers.
“We’re anxious to go against someone else, and anxious to see where we’re at,” said Johnsen, who enters his eighth year with the team. “We know there’s going to be a bullseye on our back again. We know nobody likes us because of the success we’ve had. That’s fine. We’re ready for it.”
Feb 15, 2013
Written by Matt Zimmer
If you’re one of the eight teams left still trying to challenge the Sioux Falls Storm in the Indoor Football League, it’s probably easy to feel like this is the year to knock the Storm off their perch.
Winners of the last two IFL championships and six indoor titles since 2005, the Storm – whose season begins tonight in Green Bay – enter the year with far more unfamiliar faces than usual, most notably at quarterback, where Martevious Young replaces veteran MVP Chris Dixon.
Gone also are receivers Carl Sims, Clinton Solomon, Korey Williams and Lorenzo Brown; defensive backs Justin Welch, Stewart Franks and Kenny Akridge; linebackers Dejuan Fulghum and Xavier Jordan and defensive linemen Sean Kelly and John Eddy.
That may create the perception that the Storm are vulnerable, and they strongly encourage their opponents to view them as such. After all, this team has thrived for a decade on creating an us-against-everyone-else mentality, and the retooled roster gives them a new opportunity to prove themselves.
“Nobody knows what we got,” said veteran James Terry, the team’s all-time leading receiver and the only returning skill player on offense. “In the past, teams came into every season knowing exactly who we had and what to prepare for. Now they don’t know. They’re gonna find out before they know what hit ‘em.”
What the Storm have is a collection of talent that they believe is as good as any they’ve had in the past. They just lack experience – either playing together, playing the indoor game, or both.
For coach Kurtiss Riggs, who returns for an 11th season after considering stepping down, the chance to create a new chemistry is a rejuvenating challenge.
“There’s been much more application, more meetings and more intense practices this year,” said Riggs, who sports a 139-28 record after leading the Storm to their third undefeated season last year. “With those veteran teams we had you could sit back and let them play through things a lot of times, but this year we’ve done a lot more coaching. I think the other teams in the league sense that now’s the time, but I think we have enough veterans here that want to take it upon themselves to prove that we can reload and step up and do it again.”
Indeed, while the Storm are breaking in new players at virtually every skill position, they maintained the foundation of their dominance by returning their offensive and defensive lines mostly intact.
The trio of Myniya Smith, Charlie Sanders and Gerald Davis is back to pave the way on offense, while veterans Rachman Crable, Cory Johnsen and Jeremiah Price (the MVP of last year’s United Bowl) are back on the D-line. Those six players know they have a responsibility to carry the load, especially early.
“I wouldn’t say it’s pressure, because we put a lot on our back every year,” said Sanders. “We feel like the new guys definitely have the talent to keep us at the level we’ve been playing at, this year it’s on the O-line and JT and the other veterans to be more vocal and be leaders in the huddle.”
About those new guys: Young will certainly be under the most scrutiny for replacing a guy who led the IFL in passing and rushing last year, as Dixon had 3,321 yards and 67 touchdowns through the air and 711 yards and 30 scores on the ground. Young rushed for 184 yards and four touchdowns and threw for 267 yards and three scores in limited action last year for Omaha, but the 6-foot-1 Young, who turns 25 on Saturday, was the starting quarterback at Southern Mississippi for his junior season, so he’s got experience. Riggs has had former Storm quarterback Terrance Bryant in camp to work with Young, and teammates have been impressed.
“He’s come in really motivated to prove himself,” Riggs said of Young. “Our playbook is going to be a little smaller, but it’ll grow in some ways, too, because we’re going to cater it to his strengths and that will give us some things we haven’t had before.”
At running back, Tory Harrison — a teammate of Young’s at Southern Miss – is battling it out with Demetrius Crawford, who ran for more than 1,300 yards at Montana State in 2008. Mike Tatum, Blake Wilson and Darren Clark will compete for catches behind Terry.
On defense, Tyler Knight returns to the Storm after recording 102 tackles for them in 2011 (and playing in the AFL last year), but he’ll be pushed at linebacker by North Dakota alum Ross Cochrane and Michael Johnson, a 250-pound North Alabama alum who spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs. Typically, the Storm have dressed just one linebacker, but these three have been so impressive that Riggs plans to dress each of them tonight.
In the secondary, Augustana alum Dan O’Keefe returns, and will be joined by a handful of athletes, led by returner Patrick Wells and Roy Polite, who played for tonight’s opponent, the Blizzard, last year. Parker Douglass is also back as the Storm kicker.
The players admit that they’re likely to be rusty tonight, as the season approaches fast. But they’re anxious to find out where they stand, as they’ll get two bye weeks and two road games in the season’s first month before the home opener March 17. They hope by then to be in midseason form, ready to swat aside any challengers.
“We’re anxious to go against someone else, and anxious to see where we’re at,” said Johnsen, who enters his eighth year with the team. “We know there’s going to be a bullseye on our back again. We know nobody likes us because of the success we’ve had. That’s fine. We’re ready for it.”