Post by fwp on Mar 21, 2010 7:28:24 GMT -5
www.pantagraph.com/sports/football/professional/arena/extreme/article_0ab295d2-348e-11df-81a2-001cc4c03286.html
One road game can be taxing enough for any football team, and consecutive road games makes things even tougher.
But it’s hard to envision a more difficult test than consecutive road games against division rivals in a span of six days.
That’s the scenario the Indoor Football League schedule presents for Kenton Carr and the Bloomington Extreme, beginning with today’s 2:05 p.m. first meeting with the Chicago Slaughter at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.
“These are huge divisional games. I can’t stress how important these games are,” said Carr, whose team travels to play at Green Bay on Friday. “Plus we have a short week between games. If we come through these, it will be a major accomplishment.”
Bloomington (1-1) needs a win today to keep pace with the Blizzard atop the Central North Division. Green Bay posted a 48-12 home victory over La Crosse on Friday.
“It’s another division game and we’ve got to go there and win. If we do, everybody will be chasing us,” said receiver Johnny Gray. “We’ve got to stay focused and come out on top. It’s going to be a challenge.”
Carr hopes to get more production out of an offense that’s averaging 20.3 points and 118.3 yards per game. Quarterback Luke Drone has completed 47 percent of his passes with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
“We’ve got to take more chances. I thought we were a little bit too conservative, and we’ve talked to Luke about that,” said Carr. “We want him to let the athletes be athletes, not worry about throwing picks. We’ve got good receivers and Luke understands that now.”
Running back Derrick Brown will return to action after a leg injury kept him out against Green Bay. Carr expects to rotate Brown with Bernard Payton in the backfield. Receiver Ottis Lewis will miss a second straight game, while Jeff Candler will handle long-snapping duties in place of Jeff Sobol, who suffered a concussion against the Blizzard and will not play.
Winless, but Bear-ly: The Slaughter (0-2) has tried to gain attention in the Chicago market by playing up its ties to the successful Bears teams of the 1980s. Steve McMichael is the head coach, Jim McMahon became an owner in the offseason and the team’s marquee player is Jarrett Payton, the son of Bears legend Walter Payton.
Last season, McMichael and the Slaughter went undefeated in 14 contests en route to capturing the Continental Indoor Football League championship. But the franchise’s transition to the IFL is off to a rocky start following two come-from-behind losses.
Chicago opened the season by suffering a 49-47 home loss to Rochester on Adam Lanctot’s 37-yard field goal as time expired. Last week, the Slaughter fell 30-25 at Richmond as Bryan Randall hit Damon “Redd” Thompson for the winning TD in the fourth quarter.
Aries Nelson replaced an ineffective Mike Donato at quarterback in the Richmond loss, running for two TDs and connecting with De’Cody f*gg on another. Payton added a 24-yard TD run but finished with just 29 total rushing yards.
“It’s never fun to go into a game where the opponent hasn’t won yet,” said Carr. “But they’ve been in the games. Payton is their main weapon; they try to get the ball to him any way they can. It’s not going to be easy.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First road tilt
Extreme at Slaughter
Date: Sunday, March 21, 2010
Time: 2:05 p.m.
Location: Sears Centre, Hoffman Estates
Broadcast: WJBC-FM (93.7)
One road game can be taxing enough for any football team, and consecutive road games makes things even tougher.
But it’s hard to envision a more difficult test than consecutive road games against division rivals in a span of six days.
That’s the scenario the Indoor Football League schedule presents for Kenton Carr and the Bloomington Extreme, beginning with today’s 2:05 p.m. first meeting with the Chicago Slaughter at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.
“These are huge divisional games. I can’t stress how important these games are,” said Carr, whose team travels to play at Green Bay on Friday. “Plus we have a short week between games. If we come through these, it will be a major accomplishment.”
Bloomington (1-1) needs a win today to keep pace with the Blizzard atop the Central North Division. Green Bay posted a 48-12 home victory over La Crosse on Friday.
“It’s another division game and we’ve got to go there and win. If we do, everybody will be chasing us,” said receiver Johnny Gray. “We’ve got to stay focused and come out on top. It’s going to be a challenge.”
Carr hopes to get more production out of an offense that’s averaging 20.3 points and 118.3 yards per game. Quarterback Luke Drone has completed 47 percent of his passes with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
“We’ve got to take more chances. I thought we were a little bit too conservative, and we’ve talked to Luke about that,” said Carr. “We want him to let the athletes be athletes, not worry about throwing picks. We’ve got good receivers and Luke understands that now.”
Running back Derrick Brown will return to action after a leg injury kept him out against Green Bay. Carr expects to rotate Brown with Bernard Payton in the backfield. Receiver Ottis Lewis will miss a second straight game, while Jeff Candler will handle long-snapping duties in place of Jeff Sobol, who suffered a concussion against the Blizzard and will not play.
Winless, but Bear-ly: The Slaughter (0-2) has tried to gain attention in the Chicago market by playing up its ties to the successful Bears teams of the 1980s. Steve McMichael is the head coach, Jim McMahon became an owner in the offseason and the team’s marquee player is Jarrett Payton, the son of Bears legend Walter Payton.
Last season, McMichael and the Slaughter went undefeated in 14 contests en route to capturing the Continental Indoor Football League championship. But the franchise’s transition to the IFL is off to a rocky start following two come-from-behind losses.
Chicago opened the season by suffering a 49-47 home loss to Rochester on Adam Lanctot’s 37-yard field goal as time expired. Last week, the Slaughter fell 30-25 at Richmond as Bryan Randall hit Damon “Redd” Thompson for the winning TD in the fourth quarter.
Aries Nelson replaced an ineffective Mike Donato at quarterback in the Richmond loss, running for two TDs and connecting with De’Cody f*gg on another. Payton added a 24-yard TD run but finished with just 29 total rushing yards.
“It’s never fun to go into a game where the opponent hasn’t won yet,” said Carr. “But they’ve been in the games. Payton is their main weapon; they try to get the ball to him any way they can. It’s not going to be easy.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First road tilt
Extreme at Slaughter
Date: Sunday, March 21, 2010
Time: 2:05 p.m.
Location: Sears Centre, Hoffman Estates
Broadcast: WJBC-FM (93.7)