Post by CF4L on May 14, 2011 9:37:42 GMT -5
Bandits try to tie best start in franchise history
by Michael Brauer
siouxcityjournal.com/sports/football/amateur/article_4a8fab7d-f590-57a6-9a5d-ec64d61c119d.html
SIOUX CITY - The last time the Sioux City Bandits won their first six games, Jarrod DeGeorgia was taking the snaps.
Now, he's the one calling the plays for a 5-0 Sioux City squad chasing the legacy those 2005 Bandits -- the best team in franchise history -- left behind.
"We talk about it when we're not on the football field, when we're driving in a car or playing golf or whatever," said the offensive coordinator, DeGeorgia, referring to the team he quarterbacked to a 15-2 record before a loss in United Bowl I to the Sioux Falls Storm. "We're bitter about that. We felt like the best team didn't win that game.
"That's what we try to relay to this 2011 team," he added. "No matter how successful you are, it doesn't mean anything unless you're winning at the end of the season."
Tonight, DeGeorgia will fill in for head coach Butch Faulkenberry, who is tending to a personal family issue, as the Bandits try to become the first team ever to knock off the Mid-Missouri Outlaws on their home turf.
"Are we going to miss our head coach being there? Yes," DeGeorgia said. "Coach Faulkenberry, he manages the team, but he lets the coordinators coordinate. So, as far as coaching the offense and defense, we should be fine."
That's good news because the Outlaws (3-2) have never lost in Sedalia's Mathewson Exhibition Center on the Missouri State Fairgrounds. They're 31-0 there since 2007.
Not for long, perhaps.
Sioux City had little trouble mauling Mid-Mo 80-20 earlier this season and set a single-game franchise scoring record in the process. In fact, the Bandits have torn through their first five games since joining the American Professional Football League by nearly 33 points per outing.
A win tonight would tie the best start in franchise history. The 2005 team started 6-0 and linebacker Spetlar Tonga was in the middle for that one, too.
"The main conversations that bring it up is the fans that have been around since '05," the 31-year-old Tonga said. "They like to talk about it."
Lately, the Bandits have been giving fans something else to jabber about.
Seasoned quarterback Scott Jensen has completed 70.8 percent of his passes for 802 yards and 20 touchdowns. His go-to-guy, Damon Mothershead, another veteran, has 25 catches for 352 yards and seven scores.
Mix in the fact Sioux City has 15 takeaways (five interceptions apiece by Taylor Schumacher and Alex Ardley) compared to just two turnovers (Jensen has yet to be intercepted), and the Bandits haven't been contested since a 57-50 nailbiter in the season opener against the Iowa Blackhawks.
That's the same team Mid-Mo lost to 72-62 last week despite quarterback Kyle Middleton's eight touchdown tosses. Middleton has 15 scoring strikes with just three interceptions. Two of those came against the Bandits, along with a pair of costly fumbles that doomed the Outlaws early in that one.
Tonga had a pair 10-yard fumble returns for scores in that record-setting victory -- a game during which the Bandits' defense accounted for four touchdowns and two safeties to outscore the Outlaws on its own.
Tonga had one of those safeties, meaning he scored 14 points by himself. Any chance he breaks into the end zone again tonight?
"I'm not going to jinx myself," he said with a laugh. "I'm just going to do what I can do. If the opportunity arises that I get to score a few points, then I'll take it."
by Michael Brauer
siouxcityjournal.com/sports/football/amateur/article_4a8fab7d-f590-57a6-9a5d-ec64d61c119d.html
SIOUX CITY - The last time the Sioux City Bandits won their first six games, Jarrod DeGeorgia was taking the snaps.
Now, he's the one calling the plays for a 5-0 Sioux City squad chasing the legacy those 2005 Bandits -- the best team in franchise history -- left behind.
"We talk about it when we're not on the football field, when we're driving in a car or playing golf or whatever," said the offensive coordinator, DeGeorgia, referring to the team he quarterbacked to a 15-2 record before a loss in United Bowl I to the Sioux Falls Storm. "We're bitter about that. We felt like the best team didn't win that game.
"That's what we try to relay to this 2011 team," he added. "No matter how successful you are, it doesn't mean anything unless you're winning at the end of the season."
Tonight, DeGeorgia will fill in for head coach Butch Faulkenberry, who is tending to a personal family issue, as the Bandits try to become the first team ever to knock off the Mid-Missouri Outlaws on their home turf.
"Are we going to miss our head coach being there? Yes," DeGeorgia said. "Coach Faulkenberry, he manages the team, but he lets the coordinators coordinate. So, as far as coaching the offense and defense, we should be fine."
That's good news because the Outlaws (3-2) have never lost in Sedalia's Mathewson Exhibition Center on the Missouri State Fairgrounds. They're 31-0 there since 2007.
Not for long, perhaps.
Sioux City had little trouble mauling Mid-Mo 80-20 earlier this season and set a single-game franchise scoring record in the process. In fact, the Bandits have torn through their first five games since joining the American Professional Football League by nearly 33 points per outing.
A win tonight would tie the best start in franchise history. The 2005 team started 6-0 and linebacker Spetlar Tonga was in the middle for that one, too.
"The main conversations that bring it up is the fans that have been around since '05," the 31-year-old Tonga said. "They like to talk about it."
Lately, the Bandits have been giving fans something else to jabber about.
Seasoned quarterback Scott Jensen has completed 70.8 percent of his passes for 802 yards and 20 touchdowns. His go-to-guy, Damon Mothershead, another veteran, has 25 catches for 352 yards and seven scores.
Mix in the fact Sioux City has 15 takeaways (five interceptions apiece by Taylor Schumacher and Alex Ardley) compared to just two turnovers (Jensen has yet to be intercepted), and the Bandits haven't been contested since a 57-50 nailbiter in the season opener against the Iowa Blackhawks.
That's the same team Mid-Mo lost to 72-62 last week despite quarterback Kyle Middleton's eight touchdown tosses. Middleton has 15 scoring strikes with just three interceptions. Two of those came against the Bandits, along with a pair of costly fumbles that doomed the Outlaws early in that one.
Tonga had a pair 10-yard fumble returns for scores in that record-setting victory -- a game during which the Bandits' defense accounted for four touchdowns and two safeties to outscore the Outlaws on its own.
Tonga had one of those safeties, meaning he scored 14 points by himself. Any chance he breaks into the end zone again tonight?
"I'm not going to jinx myself," he said with a laugh. "I'm just going to do what I can do. If the opportunity arises that I get to score a few points, then I'll take it."