Blackhawks move past OutlawsBy Tony Boone
southwestiowanews.com/articles/2011/05/08/council_bluffs/sports/doc4dc60f8a51d7b905884271.txtIowa and Mid-Missouri went at it again Saturday at the Mid-America Center.
The American Professional Football League rivalry, which had seen its first four games decided by five points or less, reached another level in the fifth meeting.
Eighty-one total points. Two ties and seven lead changes. Two ejections.
And that was only in the first half.
By the end, the Blackhawks separated themselves enough to hold off the Outlaws 72-62 in a game that featured 13 consecutive possessions with touchdowns.
“All of the offenses in this league can score points,” Iowa quarterback Chuck Wright said. “It’s not easy. All of the teams in the league are like this now. It’s really come down to every time you’ve got the ball, you’ve got to score.”
Both teams did that for most of the night Saturday in a rematch of last year’s APFL championship game participants. A late third-quarter stop by the Blackhawk defense probably kept this fifth meeting between the teams from ending like the others.
Up 54-48, Iowa held the Outlaws on downs to end the third period. A scoring pass four plays into the final quarter made it a two-TD game and ruined Mid-Missouri’s chances.
“That was huge,” Iowa coach Mike Wolff said. “It allowed our offense some breathing room.”
Wright finished with a career-high eight touchdown passes on a 22-for-26 night in which he threw for 281 yards. Not to be outdone, Blackhawk nemesis Kyle Middleton had eight TD tosses of his own while throwing for 286 yards for the Outlaws.
Three receivers had 10 or more catches. Iowa’s Robert Kirvin and Mid-Missouri’s Marcus James each scored five touchdowns and topped the 100-yard receiving mark.
The 6-foot-4 Kirvin finished with 151 receiving yards on 14 catches on a career night.
“I’m bigger than all the defensive backs I go against, so that kind of helps out,” he said. “And they actually let me go deep this time instead of just going in the middle.”
Kirvin had three TD catches of 25 yards or more as Iowa pulled even with the Outlaws for second-place behind unbeaten Sioux City in the APFL standings. Both teams are now 3-2.
“Tonight was a must-win for us,” Wolff said. “We had to win this one, otherwise it would’ve put us three behind. It puts us on a level playing ground with (Mid-Missouri), but we’ve got to play them two more times.”
Tempers boiled over on a number of occasions Saturday, including a major altercation following a failed point-after attempt by the Blackhawks in the second quarter.
Kicker Zach Kohlhoff picked up a poor snap and was buried by the Outlaws. Players from both sides then got involved, and five penalty flags ended up on the field, including one that Mid-Missouri’s Reggie Singletary threw into the crowd.
Kohlhoff was ejected from the game for kicking an Outlaw, and Singletary was thrown out for throwing a punch. He was assessed another penalty for tossing the flag out of play.
With its kicker gone, Iowa was forced to go for two after every score the rest of the way. The Blackhawks converted on four of those chances.
Mid-Missouri (3-2) 7 34 7 14 – 62
Iowa (3-2) 13 27 14 18 – 72
I: Tavaris Capers 25 pass from Chuck Wright (kick failed)
MM: Aaron Luebbe 13 pass from Kyle Middleton (Jon Gutierrez kick)
I: Kaylon Price 1 run (Zach Kohlhoff kick)
MM: Marcus James 11 pass from Middleton (Gutierrez kick)
I: Robert Kirvin 36 pass from Wright (Kohlhoff kick)
MM: James 28 pass from Middleton (kick failed)
I: Kirvin 25 pass from Wright (run failed)
MM: James 7 pass from Middleton (Gutierrez kick)
I: Price 6 run (Andrew Seymour pass from Wright)
MM: James 18 pass from Middleton (Gutierrez kick)
I: Steve Rush 22 pass from Wright (pass failed)
MM: James 1 run (Gutierrez kick)
I: Capers 13 pass from Wright (pass failed)
MM: Jermey Spears 39 pass from Middleton (Gutierrez kick)
I: Kirvin 12 pass from Wright (Kirvin pass from Wright)
I: Kirvin 4 pass from Wright (Mell Holliday run)
I: Safety, Middleton intentional grounding in end zone
MM: Luebbe 8 pass from Middleton (pass failed)
I: Kirvin 28 pass from Wright (Eric Johnson run)
MM: Luebbe 2 pass from Middletown (Aaron Vaeao run)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: MM, James 5-11. I, Price 7-24, Holliday 3-14, Wright 1-(-2), Team 1-(-2).
PASSING: MM, Middleton 31-44-0 286. I, Wright 22-26-2 281.
RECEIVING: MM, Luebbe 14-95, James 10-107, Spears 4-44, Johnson 2-21, Jones 1-14, Vaeao 1-5. I, Kirvin 14-151, Capers 5-75, Seymour 2-23, Rush 1-22.