22 Jun: @ Tri-Cities 52, Colorado 42 (Playoff)

[Banana Cat]

NOTE: This preface was written on 14 June: This matchup is not final, but very likely. If Allen loses to New Mexico in Week 17, then Allen would slide into the 4th seed and travel to play Tri-Cities instead of Colorado.

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22 Jun (Fri): Colorado Ice at Tri-Cities Fever (Playoff)


These teams played twice during the regular season, with Tri-Cities winning both:

10 Mar (Sat): @ Tri-Cities Fever 64, Colorado Ice 50
2 Jun (Sat): Tri-Cities Fever 52 @ Colorado Ice 49

Who gets the win in their decisive third matchup?

[rockybighorn]

Love the options for the poll question! LOL I wish I could vote for more than 1. Gonna go Fever in this one if it happens.

[tcfeverams]

It won't be the same refs. So if the Ice get 29 flags, we will have to find someone else to blame.

[Banana Cat]

We'll rely on you to report back after the game to confirm if indeed they were different guy's. Sometimes league's say they'll bring in a different crew, but that doesn't always happen.

[rockybighorn]

Oh crap, my heart just sank when I read tcfever's post. Lehigh now "officially" (no pun intended) has a chance to beat SF. Those refs are going to show up at the SF Arena with a smile and be like "Hey, remember us? The league sent us." We're doomed.

[rockybighorn]

Also, if Colorado gets flagged 29 times it caused they deserved it, but if SF gets flagged 29 times it cause the refs were against us. LOL

[Banana Cat]

Jun 15, 2012 9:23:07 GMT -5 rockybighorn said:

Oh crap, my heart just sank when I read tcfever's post. Lehigh now "officially" (no pun intended) has a chance to beat SF. Those refs are going to show up at the SF Arena with a smile and be like "Hey, remember us? The league sent us." We're doomed.

Storm could play with 7 players (as long as the one missing isn't Dixon) and still beat Lehigh. Sounds harsh, but I believe the talent and coaching disparity is that great.

[rockybighorn]

I think that guy missing could be Dixon & we would still win. I may go so far as to say that if we were flagged 29, nay 30 times and were missing Dixon we woud still win.

[tcfeverams]

Of course I was joking when I said TC's refs were going to SF. That would be pretty funny though.

[Banana Cat]

www.reporterherald.com/sports/colorado-ice/ci_20879715/ice-play-at-tri-cities-first-round-ifl

Ice to play at Tri-Cities in first round of IFL playoffs

Bye week heading into playoffs allowed Colorado to regroup

By Sean Star Sports Writer
06/17/2012

Unbalanced scheduling can sometimes leave teams crying foul when the regular season concludes and playoff matchups are set. But all things considered, the Colorado Ice emerged with a pretty fair shake.

On one hand, the Ice caught a tough break in terms of seeding for the Indoor Football League playoffs after finishing tied for third in the Intense Conference with the Wichita Wild at 8-6. Without a head-to-head matchup to break the tie, Colorado fell to the conference's 4 seed because of the Wild's better strength of schedule. That gave Wichita a much more favorable matchup, at second-seeded Allen (who the Ice beat this year), while Colorado is left to play at Tri-Cities (12-2), who finished with a three-game cushion atop the division.

However, the IFL's slate didn't work totally against the Ice, as last week's bye could not have come at a better time following a two-game losing streak to close the regular season.

Normally a week of rest for the players, Ice coach Heron O'Neal used the bye to hit the reset button on the season, putting his players through three training-camp style practices focused on getting back to the game's fundamentals -- a problem area the coach identified during its past two losses to Tri-Cities and Sioux Falls.

"It's all 0-0 now. Nobody remembers all the games that you had in the regular season," O'Neal said. "It comes down to now what you do in the playoffs. You can't take anything and carry it over from the regular season. Hopefully we can get our heads screwed on right, and start executing our plan, and put a good effort forth. Now we know who we're playing, just go out there and do the things we need to do to try to bring home a win."

Having practiced in just helmets for the last month and a half of the regular season, last week O'Neal had his players back in full pads, with the hope they can get back to playing the brand of football that led to a pair of three-game win streaks during the season.

"Coach wanted to get back to the physical style of play ... on defense and offense," veteran defensive back Corey Sample said. "Also, for my particular position, and defense as a whole, we just worked on technique a lot this week. We know that it's going to come down to the team with the best technique, not the best athletes.

"We're a very talented team, but a lot of times talent doesn't win you championships. It's the execution part of it, or the technique of whatever you're doing for that particular play call."

Though this Friday's matchup against the Fever wasn't made official until the final week of the regular season wrapped up late Saturday night, the draw wasn't much of a surprise. As Sample said, "Mentally we were prepared to play Tri-Cities this whole week even though it was still a toss up between who we were going to play."

The game is also a rematch from last year's postseason, a 45-42 Fever victory at the Budweiser Events Center. O'Neal said that isn't much of a factor considering only four players remain on the team from last year. But for Sample, who is in his third year with the team, that loss in particular has been eating at him for almost a year now. Fueling that fire even more is the fact that the Fever have beaten the Ice again since then, a 52-49 overtime decision earlier this month.

"Those particular losses, I carried them with me. I still carry them with me to this day," Sample said. "I think about that every day."

[Banana Cat]

www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/06/18/1992188/fever-preps-for-playoff-opener.html

Fever preps for playoff opener

June 18, 2012
By Jeff Morrow, Tri-City Herald

Tri-Cities Fever coach Adam Shackleford let his team take all of last week off for good behavior, which was finishing the Indoor Football League season with a 12-2 record and the team having a bye.

IFL rules state a player can’t be paid if they don’t have a game.

“I’m not sure what we would have gotten accomplished if we weren’t healthy,” Shackleford said. “I made a commitment to the guys that if they were not getting paid, I’d give them the week off.”

Some players went home to visit family. Others travelled to Portland or Seattle. Others still went sightseeing around the Mid-Columbia.

“We still had 15 guys go out on their own to the arena and work out,” Shackleford said.

The coach also stayed busy last week, preparing for the team’s first-round playoff game — 7:05 p.m. Friday at the Toyota Center — against the Colorado Ice (8-6), and recruiting for the 2013 season.

“We’ve been game-planning all week for Colorado, and I sent out about 450 emails to players,” said Shackleford. “The reality in this league is a lot of teams didn’t make the playoffs, and they’re already recruiting.”

And this week, he’s got a message for his team, now that the players have had a week to heal up.

“Give us best the four weeks you’ve got,” he said.

If that happens, the Fever could be playing in the IFL championship, possibly winning it.

First things first — the matchup with a Colorado Ice team Tri-Cities has beaten twice, 64-50 in Kennewick, and 52-49 in overtime on the road.

Shackleford said nothing changes against Colorado mentally.

“We treat them as they are: They’re a good football team,” he said. “We’ve to got stop their quarterback. We want him to put the ball in the air.”

Ice coach Heron O’Neal made a personnel move about two-thirds through the season, starting Jeremy Sanders at quarterback and benching — then releasing — veteran David Knighton.

Knighton, by the way, is the starting quarterback for the Allen Wranglers now.

But Sanders has provided a lot more energy at QB for the Ice.

“He’s an extremely good runner,” Shackleford said. “If he is forced to throw the ball 40 times a game, that is exactly what they don’t want to happen. Our goal will be simple: to keep him under 40 yards rushing, and make him throw the ball.”

Fever quarterback Houston Lillard said Sanders has the ability to keep the ball out of the Fever offense’s hands by running the ball and chewing up time.

“We don’t have as many opportunities to be on the field when he does that,” said Lillard. “Last time we went there our kicker (Brady Beeson) had a lot of field goals. We just need to move the ball.”

Shackleford said he and his staff have a few tricks up their sleeves.

“We’ve been saving things for the playoffs we haven’t used for six weeks,” he said.

Regardless of what happens in the post-season, Shackleford has enjoyed this season immensely.

“We beat every team we played this year except Sioux Falls,” he said. “This is my most fun year of coaching football. I enjoyed these guys more than any team I’ve had here in the Tri-Cities. I have never had a team play 14 games where I didn’t questiion their effort and determination. I think that’s made that very enjoyable for me.”

Shackleford said offensive lineman Ryan Tolar should be available for Friday’s game.

The Pasco High graduate left in the first half of the team’s 66-34 win over the Wyoming Cavalry on June 9.

“It was a staph infection (on his ram),” said Shackleford. “He’s not feeling great. Luckily we got him to the hospital right away. Hopefully, he’s gonna be available.”

Running back Dennis Kennedy (knee) was pulled from the game, while defensive lineman Jake Killeen (knee) and defensive back Lionell Singleton (back) didn’t suit up.

“All of those guys, I have the feeling if we had game this week, they’d all play,” Shackleford said. “We going to practice Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and there’s no doubt in my mind we’ll be ready for this football game.”

Shackleford said he wanted to get Steven Whitehead one more reception late in the victory over Wyoming. That would have given him the outright league lead with 85 for the season.

“I have too much respect for (Wyoming) Coach (Dan) Maciejczack to do that though,” said Shackleford.

So instead, Whitehead and Cavalry receiver Jasonus Tillery — who didn’t play against the Fever — tied for first with 84 catches each.

Notes: The Ice signed four players with some NFL experience last week — DB Reggie Sullivan, DT Tommie Duhart, WR Augustine Agyei, and QB-WR Lorne Sam.

[Banana Cat]

www.reporterherald.com/sports/colorado-ice/ci_20911978/colorado-ice-look-first-round-playoff-upset-at

Colorado Ice look for first-round playoff upset at Tri-Cities

Coach says team needs to show more mental strength

By Sean Star Sports Writer
06/21/2012

Heron O'Neal knows what it takes to win championships. And just in case his Colorado Ice players forgot, he wore a T-shirt commemorating the three titles he won as head coach of the Billings Outlaws to practice earlier this week.

A key aspect of the teams represented on that shirt, O'Neal said, was their ability to battle through adversity -- a trait that this Ice team doesn't always possess. Such an inability to answer the bell, as O'Neal described it, has left the coach wondering what kind of effort he'll get tonight when Colorado (8-6) plays at Tri-Cities (12-2) in the first round of the Indoor Football League playoffs.

"That's how we won championships in Billings, high football IQ, facing adversity well, and we weren't mentally weak," O'Neal said. "Right now we are. We are mentally weak."

Being properly prepared by the coaching staff isn't the problem, O'Neal said. It's failing to put in the extra effort that is required to succeed at this time of year that has been the issue.

"The thing it comes down to is we have a very immature football team that doesn't understand you have to watch film on your own some," O'Neal said. "You have to be accountable for everything that you do. Everything that you do out here, you're getting judged on -- just like coaches are judged on wins and losses. That's what it comes down to. We're just very immature with taking care of business right now."

Tonight's matchup is a familiar one, as the teams met in the postseason last year, with the Fever emerging with a 45-42 victory at the Budweiser Events Center. Only a handful of Ice remain from that bitter loss, but with Tri-Cities again edging out Colorado in overtime three weeks ago at the BEC, 52-49, there will be no shortage of vengeance on the Colorado sideline.

"We took a bad loss, so we should have a chip on our shoulder," said defensive end Antoine Carter, whose team received the fourth and final postseason seed in the Intense Conference after losing a strength-of-schedule tiebreaker with Wichita. "We're trying to get somewhere. They're in our way, so we just have to focus one game at a time."

Tri-Cities, which was three games better than anyone else in the Intense Conference during the regular season and wrapped up the conference's No. 1 seed a month ago, boasts a significant home-field advantage, having lost just once at the Toyota Center in two years.

Ice quarterback Jeremy Sanders said road games always pose an extra set of hurdles, which makes eliminating the mistakes that have plagued the team all season that much more difficult.

"I don't want to make any excuses, but I believe it has a lot to do with how we rest before the game during the (road) trips, really the day before the game how we prepare ourselves, as far as physically, what we eat, how much sleep we get," said Sanders, who helped his team get in the playoffs by leading it to three straight dominant victories after taking over the starting role midway through the season. "You're constantly cutting and every play going full speed, so you're getting more plays in than a normal football field. So you got to have your body and your mind right, as far as what you eat and how you take care of yourself."

Because playoff seeding wasn't decided until the end of the final week of the regular season, the Ice had to make some last-minute travel plans. With a limited number of seats available on flights to Kennewick, Wash., half the team traveled Wednesday while the other half arrived Thursday. Certainly not an ideal situation, it's just one more thing the team will have to overcome.

"I'm not going to say that it's going to be easy," Sanders said. "We just have to deal with it beforehand, and be prepared. We have to know how much rest you need, or how much you need to stretch. I believe that's the biggest case when we play out of town on long trips."

[psx234]

I'd just like to say thank you Tri-cities for taking out the trash last night! Good job guys and congratulations!

[Banana Cat]

www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/06/23/1997594/fever-beats-ice-52-42-in-first.html

Fever beats Ice 52-42 in first round of IFL playoffs

June 23, 2012
Craig Craker, Herald staff writer

With the clock winding down on a miserable first half Friday, Tri-Cities defensive lineman Jake Killeen made a play that saved the game for the Fever.

The play saved its season, too, sparking one of the biggest comebacks in franchise history in Tri-Cities' 52-42 win over Colorado in the first round of the Indoor Football League playoffs.

Trailing 31-13 with 30 seconds left in the second quarter, Killeen intercepted a Jeremy Sanders pass setting up a touchdown strike.

“Sometimes you happen to make big plays in big situations,” Killeen said. “We decided to drop back in coverage on that play, and he tried to float a pass over me and I reached up and grabbed it.”

On the next play Tri-Cities quarterback Houston Lillard found Tre Young wide open for a touchdown to pull the Fever within 31-19.

On the ensuing kickoff, Brady Beeson knuckled the ball off of a Colorado player, and the Fever recovered.

Two plays later, Lillard found Steven Whitehead for a touchdown with 7 seconds remaining in the first half.

Just like that, the Fever had put 13 points on the board and went into halftime trailing 31-26.

“It was looking grim,” Fever coach Adam Shackleford said. “I told them at halftime that we needed to be six points better and then it would be one of the best comebacks in team history.”

It was definitely a memorable comeback, as the Fever went on a 25-0 run after falling behind 31-13.

Tri-Cities came out in the second half and kept the pressure on, scoring on its first two possessions. Dennis Kennedy pin-balled his way in from 15-yards out to give the Fever its first lead at 32-31. On its next drive, the Fever scored when Lillard found Kennedy all alone from 14-yards out.

Tri-Cities iced the game on a Lillard 3-yard keeper with a minute to go.

The Fever will play the winner of today’s Allen-Wichita game next Friday at the Toyota Center.

“Offensively we didn’t make a lot of adjustments,” Shackleford said. “We just needed to do the right things, and if we do the right things look how good we can be.”

The Fever didn’t do much right in the first half, fumbling the first snap of the game. Colorado scored a touchdown three plays later, leaving the Toyota Center crowd stunned.

On Colorado’s next possession, the Fever committed a personal foul on a fourth down play to extend the drive. The Ice scored on the next play for a 14-0 lead.

“We knew they’d be fired up and come out strong,” Killeen said. “We just had to slow their momentum down and take it over late.”

Another untimely penalty for the Fever led to a Colorado touchdown, and a Fever fumble led to a field goal. Lillard then threw an interception, and the Ice scored another touchdown to go ahead 24-13. After a missed Fever field goal, Colorado scored on a 41-yard touchdown pass for a 31-13 lead with 1:13 left in the half, setting up Killeen’s heroics.

“It was big,” Shackleford said. “It gave us a second breath of life. If we’re down 31-13 at half, we don’t win that game.

“Jake made a great play and then we got a great kick. I feel really good for the players. They earned it. They did the right things.”

Lillard finished 19-for-30 for 160 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions, while Kennedy carried the ball nine times for 44 yards and two scores. Tre Young had eight catches for 84 yards and a touchdown.

“We had a couple of fumbles and a couple of things went wrong,” Killeen said of the first half, “but we have as much talent as anyone and we can beat anybody.”