Post by David on Jul 12, 2016 15:31:55 GMT -8
Nebraska Danger at Spokane Empire
What: The Spokane Empire host the Nebraska Danger in the Intense Conference Championship.
When: Sunday, July 17, 4 p.m. (PT).
Where: Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Washington
Empire Media: Radio - 700/1080 AM ESPN
National Media: Stream (paid subscription) - IFL Live TV
This Season: June 10 - Empire 25, Danger 23
Series History: Spokane leads regular season series 1-0 (First meeting in Spokane); First playoff meeting.
Note: This is the 4th consecutive Intense Conference Championship for the Danger; they have won the past 3.
HELPFUL LINKS
Indoor Football League Rules
Indoor Football League Schedule and Results 2016
Spokane Empire Schedule 2016
IFL Franchises and Links
The Danger finished the regular season 6-10 overall, 3-5 on the road, and 3-2 in conference play. In the playoffs, the Danger are 1-0 overall and 1-0 on the road. Nebraska is coming off a 64-52 road win against the Billings Wolves in the Intense Conference Wild Card on July 9. During the regular season, they averaged 47.8 points per game (6th in IFL) and allowed 49.6 points per game (6th). The Danger finished the regular season third in the Intense Conference.
The Empire finished the regular season 12-4 overall, 7-1 at home and 9-2 in conference play. Spokane is coming off a 21-35 road loss to the Billings Wolves on June 25. During the regular season, they averaged 50.9 points per game (4th) and allowed 44.3 points per game (3rd). The Empire finished the regular season first in the Intense Conference.
BREAKDOWN (Final Regular Season Stats)
Total Yards per Game - Danger 246.9; Empire 249.1
Pass Yards per Game - Danger 159.1; Empire 168.4
Rush Yards per Game - Danger 87.8; Empire 81.0
3rd Down Conversion - Danger 39.6%; Empire 44.7%
4th Down Conversion - Danger 56.0%; Empire 56.4%
Total Tackles - Danger 608; Empire 624
Tackles for Loss - Danger 72; Empire 72
Total Sacks - Danger 20.0; Empire 26.0
Fumble Recoveries - Danger 17; Empire 10
Interceptions - Danger 20; Empire 28
NEBRASKA DANGER
Danger QB Derrick Bernard (image courtesy of Casey Page / The Billings Gazette)
ROSTER
# - name (pos)
1 - Dello Davis (WR)
2 - Lyle McCombs (RB)
4 - Eric Thomas (WR)
5 - Jamerson Love (DB)
6 - Nick Brassell (WR)
8 - Adrian Davis (DL)
9 - Robert Johnson (WR)
10 - Okechukwu Okoroha (DB)
11 - Hunter Wanket (QB)
15 - Derrick Bernard (QB)
20 - O.J. Simpson (WR)
21 - Jabari Gorman (DB)
22 - Josh Gable (K)
24 - Tony Grimes (DB)
26 - Shamawn Wright (DB)
29 - Justin Edison (DL)
41 - David Santos (LB)
43 - Armand Nance (DL)
44 - Roosevelt Falls (DL/LB)
45 - Jimmy Lawson (DL)
56 - Matthew Hardison (DL)
65 - Lawrence Martin (OL)
71 - Kasimili Uitalia (OL)
75 - Ino Vitale (DL)
76 - Sini Tauauve'a (OL)
Mike Davis - Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator
Kyle Moore-Brown - Associate Head Coach
Hurtis Chinn - Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator
James Poynter - Offensive Line Coach
Bob Levy - Defensive Line Coach
Jamar Love - Defensive Backs/Special Teams Coach
STATISTICAL LEADERS (Postseason)
Passing Yards - Derrick Bernard 190
Passing TDs - Derrick Bernard 5
Passing INTs - N/A
Rushing Yards - Lyle McCombs 35
Rushing TDs - Lyle McCombs 2
Receptions - Dello Davis/O.J. Simpson/Eric Thomas/Lyle McCombs 3
Receiving Yards - Dello Davis 86
Receiving TDs - Eric Thomas 3
Tackles - Jabari Gorman 8.5
Sacks - Ino Vitale 1.0
Interceptions - Jabari Gorman/Jamerson Love/Eric Thomas 1
KO Return Ave - O.J. Simpson 19.7
KO Return TDs - N/A
*Not on Active Roster
SPOKANE EMPIRE
Empire RB Andrew Pierce (image courtesy of Dan Pelle / Spokesman-Review)
ROSTER
# - name (pos)
1 - Samuel Charles (WR)
2 - Lorenzo White Jr. (DB)
3 - Josh Ferguson (DB)
5 - Tyree Robinson (DB)
8 - Aaron Aiken (QB)
11 - Charles Dowdell (QB)
12 - Toby Jackson (DL)
16 - Robert Brown (DB)
17 - Pasquale Vacchio (LB)
19 - Diondre Borel (WR/QB)
21 - Cassius Sendish (DB)
22 - Adrian James (DB)
27 - Pat Clarke (K)
30 - Andrew Pierce (RB)
44 - Brett Bowers (DL)
47 - Nick Haag (LB)
56 - Dave Lefotu (OL)
62 - Dominique Duster (DL)
70 - Mike Trice (OL)
72 - Kyle Fischer (OL)
76 - Michael Boyefio (OL)
78 - Brandon Haskin (OL)
80 - Jefferson "JJ" Hayes (WR)
88 - Justin Helwege (WR)
93 - Benjamin Perry (DL)
99 - Donte Rumph (DL)
Adam Shackleford - Head Coach
Cleveland Pratt - Assistant Head Coach
Ameer Ismail - Defensive Coordinator
STATISTICAL LEADERS (Final Regular Season Stats)
Passing Yards - Charles Dowdell 2,738
Passing TDs - Charles Dowdell 63
Passing INTs - Charles Dowdell 21
Rushing Yards - *Trevor Kennedy 720
Rushing TDs - *Trevor Kennedy 28
Receptions - *Carl Sims 71
Receiving Yards - *Carl Sims 822
Receiving TDs - *Carl Sims 20
Tackles - Robert Brown 97.5
Sacks - Benjamin Perry 9.0
Interceptions - Robert Brown 7
KO Return Ave - *Trevor Kennedy 18.8
KO Return TDs - *Trevor Kennedy/JJ Hayes 1
*Not on Active Roster
DAVID'S TAKES
NEBRASKA:
It's been a rather bumpy year for the Danger. After starting the season 5-2, the 3-time defending Intense Conference Champions began a downward spiral. They would go on to lose 8 consecutive games, watching their lead in the Intense Conference fall from first place to third. They lost star QB Jameel Sewell twice - once to injury, and eventually to the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. The Danger went through a total of 6 different starting quarterbacks throughout 2016, but appeared to have settled on someone to stop the bleeding. QB Derrick Bernard, a late season addition to the team, got his first start against the Tri-Cities Fever and played well enough to start again in the Intense Conference Wild Card.
The Danger enter Sunday's game on a two game winning streak, having scored 50 or more points in 3 consecutive games after failing to score more than 25 points in their previous two. Bernard's emergence, and the return of star RB Lyle McCombs, who had missed time due to injury.
The Danger ranked 2nd in the IFL with 87.8 rush yards/game during the regular season, however the majority of those yards were the result of when QB Jameel Sewell was under center. In 12 games this season, McCombs has rushed for 466 yards and 8 TDs, but has only averaged 3.7 yards/carry. He provides a backfield threat in the passing game, hauling 27 receptions for 259 yards and 4 touchdowns during the regular season.
The Danger will try and get their passing game more involved this time around; in the last meeting, the Danger had several opportunities in the passing game to put up more points on the board, but poor throws and dropped passes resulted in several key defensive stops for the Empire. WR O.J. Simpson, who led the Danger with 1,077 yards and 20 touchdowns, was contained for the majority of the last meeting, and the Danger will try to open up opportunities for him to make an impact. Although Simpson had a quiet game versus Billings last week (3 receptions, 46 yards), WRs Dello Davis (3 receptions, 86 yards, 2 TDs) and Eric Thomas (3 receptions, 32 yards, 3 TDs) stepped up in the passing game. Davis and Thomas could get early targets in the game to try and open things up for not only Simpson, but for rushing opportunities for Bernard and McCombs.
DB Jabari Gorman, who led the Danger with 110 total tackles and 7 interceptions, will lead a Danger defensive unit that has been prone to collapse in the last quarter of games this season. Although they handled the Billings Wolves well in last week's game, they benefitted from a 20-0 run that gave enough of a lead for them to hang on.
This week, the Nebraska will face a significantly different Empire offense from their June meeting. RB Andrew Pierce will get his first action of the season, replacing injured RB Trevor Kennedy. Pierce's run style will differ from the temporary band-aid that Josh Ferguson filled in the previous meeting, providing more of a challenge for the Danger's top ranked rush defense, which gave up an average of 56.6 yards/game. Should the Danger shut the Empire's rushing offense down, they can try and put pressure on QB Charles Dowdell, who has struggled with turnovers in the last 2 games of the season. The Danger's 10th ranked pass defense, giving up an average of 198.3 yards/game, gets a break with the absence of Carl Sims, but will have to remain on guard with the Empire's talented wide receiving group.
Player to Watch: Derrick Bernard (QB)
Bernard, a former New York Mets prospect and recent starting QB for the CIF's Dodge City Law, joined the team got the nod over Ex-Fever QB Hunter Wanket in the regular season finale, snapping an 8-game skid with a 52-32 win against Tri-Cities. He played decently in his first IFL start, completing 12-of-24 for 204 yards, 4 TDs and 2 INTs.
His play was enough to convince head coach Mike Davis to give him the nod in last week's Intense Conference Wild Card game. Bernard put on a masterful performance, picking apart a stingy Wolves defense by completing 13-of-15 passes for 190 yards and 5 TDs, including a remarkable 8-of-8 start to begin the game. He also contributed yardage on the ground, rushing for 34 yards on 13 carries.
Bernard is likely going to start for the Danger on Sunday against Spokane over Hunter Wanket, who has had mixed success against the Empire in 5 games this season (4 with the Fever). With RB Lyle McCombs behind him, the Danger present a dual-rushing threat that will try and exploit the Empire's defense. In their 2 losses to the Sioux Falls Storm, Spokane was not able to contain the league's top ranked rushing offense for all 4 quarters. The Danger hope to replicate that success, especially if Bernard can replicate his passing success he had against Billings.
SPOKANE:
After 13 consecutive weeks of play, the Empire got some much needed R&R, courtesy of a league wide bye week and earning a first-round playoff bye. It couldn't have come at a better time; injuries and fatigue began to affect the Empire players over the last 3 weeks of the season, which saw the loss of key players such as WR Carl Sims, RB Trevor Kennedy, and DL D.J. Yendrey. The injuries impacted Spokane's wide receiver group; in the regular season finale against Billings, the Empire only had two healthy receivers dressed to play, resulting in several defensive backs having to play on the offensive side of the ball. With two weeks off to heal, and the addition of RB Andrew Pierce to the active roster, Spokane looks to be ready for a United Bowl run.
Pierce, who was activated off of RTR, had to sit out the final 3 weeks of the regular season due to league rules, and should provide relief for QB Charles Dowdell. Dowdell struggled at times with the absence of Trevor Kennedy, and despite the best efforts by DB Josh Ferguson in relief, the offense was out of sync. Head Coach Adam Shackleford acknowledged that Dowdell was doing too much on offense and straying away from the established system, and it showed in final regular season games, both losses, to Sioux Falls and Billings - Dowdell threw a total of 7 interceptions.
With a true running back behind Dowdell, it should help take the pressure off, giving Dowdell comfort to exploit Nebraska's statistically worst passing defense. The absence of leading WR Carl Sims is a blow to the offense, but a healthy JJ Hayes (62 receptions, 685 yards, 14 TDs), Justin Helwege (23 receptions, 249 yards, 6 TDs) and Samuel Charles (41 receptions, 456 yards, 13 TDs) should find success for an offense that has struggled to score more than 35 points over the last 3 games. The continued growth of Diondre Borel (18 receptions, 164 yards, 3 TDs) could also pay off as the "forgotten guy" that could make a big play, which could be a deciding factor in the Empire making their first trip to the United Bowl.
The Empire's defense, which has played well all year, looks to step up once again to shut down the Danger's offense. Spokane has figured out how to neutralize the passing game, something that was the only crack in their armor early on in the season. The Empire's stout defensive line, consisting of Benjamin Perry (9.0 sacks, 13 total tackles for loss), Toby Jackson (2.0 sacks, 6.0 total tackles for loss) and Brett Bowers (5.5 sacks, 13.5 total tackles for loss), has done a great job of putting pressure on the opposing quarterback and shutting down the run game. The loss of D.J. Yendrey (1.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss) is a big blow, but the Empire signed DL Donte Rumph prior to the IFL's Roster Freeze going into the playoffs. Head Coach Adam Shackleford stated Rumph was a "bodied nose-guard we have been missing throughout the year," which will be a factor in helping the Empire's linebackers and defensive backs.
LBs Nick Haag (89.5 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery) and Pasquale Vacchio (86.0 total tackles, 3 INT, 9 pass breakups) will be instrumental in attempting to stop Nebraska's rushing offense as well as covering the middle of the field from Nebraska's talented wide receivers, providing ample opportunities for DBs Robert Brown (7 INT), Tyree Robinson (6 INT), Adrian James (3 INT), and Josh Ferguson (3 INT), who returns to the defensive side of the ball after recently playing on offense the past 3 weeks. The Empire's defense was the key in their previous victory over Nebraska, and helped contain Billings to try and give their offense a chance. If they can keep the score low, and the offense can find its groove once more, the Empire should hoist the Intense Conference Championship trophy by the end of the evening.
Player to Watch: Andrew Pierce (RB)
The Empire have been struggling to establish the run since RB Trevor Kennedy went down with a broken league; the team has failed to score more than 40 points in their final 3 games, resulting in a 1-2 record. Turnovers have doomed the Empire over the past two games, and the hope is that Pierce's presence will help the Empire's offense get back to business and limit the turnovers.
Pierce comes as a welcome sight to a team that has been unable to replace Kennedy. DB Josh Ferguson, who served as the team's running back, has not seen success running the football, rushing for 36 yards and 2 touchdowns with a 1.3 yards/carry average. Pierce has experience in the Empire's offensive scheme, which was the system he played in as a member of the Tri-Cities Fever back in 2015, rushing for 415 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Despite facing a top rushing defense, Pierce is a capable receiving threat out of the backfield; last season, he caught 46 passes for 406 yards and 6 TDs. Unquestionably, his presence will help Dowdell not try to force the ball downfield and limit the number of turnovers that have plagued the Empire in recent weeks.
QUOTABLE
Empire HC Adam Shackleford on the Danger since Spokane's 25-23 win in Grand Island.
“Nebraska is a much improved team. Coach Davis has done an outstanding job of weathering the storm through injuries. They are a powerful defensive team and have playmakers at the wide receiver and running back position.”
Shackleford on RB Andrew Pierce filling in for injured RB Trevor Kennedy.
“Andrew Pierce is a very good running back with the ability to play in the backfield and at the wide receiver position. His all-league performance last year and familiarity in our system makes it easy for him to fit into our offense. His high character and leadership has allowed him to fit in even faster with his teammates.”
Pierce on his first game action since the Intense Conference Championship last June.
I'll be pumped about Sunday. I've seen the uniforms and they're very nice, they tell me the arena is loud."
Pierce on what he hopes to accomplish for the Empire's running game.
“I want to help coach (Shackleford) and the team get a championship ring.”
FEATURED TWEETS
IFL SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
July 16 - Cedar Rapids Titans (12-4) at Sioux Falls Storm (15-1), 5 p.m.
July 17 - Nebraska Danger (6-10) at Spokane Empire (12-4), 4 p.m.
EXTRA
CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE
(image courtesy of SWX)
Since he received his first arena/indoor football head coaching job in 2007, Adam Shackleford has a significant amount of hardware in his trophy case. From his days as head coach of the Spokane Shock in the af2 to his prior head coaching job as the head coach of the Tri-Cities Fever, Shackleford possesses a championship pedigree that reflects with his team's performances on the field.
From 2007-2015, Shackleford's teams have appeared in 5 total conference championships. Here's how they've fared:
Shackleford has the opportunity to add to his coaching legacy as the Spokane Empire take on the Nebraska Danger. With a win, Shackleford will join Sioux Falls head coach Kurtiss Riggs and Nebraska head coach Mike Davis as the only IFL Head Coaches to appear in 3 or more United Bowl Championships since the league began play in 2009.